'And you're going back to be an Assassin, are you?' she sneered.
'I don't think so. I've inhumed a pyramid, a pantheon and the entire old kingdom. It may be worth trying something else. By the way, you haven't been finding little green shoots springing up wherever you walk, have you?'
'No. What a stupid idea.'
Teppic relaxed. It really was all over, then. 'Don't let the grass grow under your feet, that's the important thing,' he said. 'And you haven't seen any seagulls around?'
'There's lots of them today, or didn't you notice?'
'Yes. That's good, I think.'
You Bastard watched them talk a little more, that peculiar trailing-off, desultory kind of conversation that two people of opposite sexes engage in when they have something else on their minds. It was much easier with camels, when the female merely had to check the male's methodology.
Then they kissed in a fairly chaste fashion, insofar as camels are any judge. A decision was reached.
You Bastard lost interest at this point, and decided to eat his lunch again.
IN THE BEGINNING...
It was peaceful in the valley. The river, its banks as yet untamed, wandered languidly through thickets of rush and papyrus. Ibises waded in the shallows; in the deeps, hippos rose and sank slowly, like pickled eggs.
The only sound in the damp silence was the occasional plop of a fish or hiss of a crocodile.
Dios lay in the mud for some time. He wasn't sure how he'd got there, or why half his robes were torn off and the other half scorched black. He dimly recalled a loud noise and a sensation of extreme speed while, at the same time, he'd been standing still. Right at this moment, he didn't want any answers. Answers implied questions, and questions never got anyone anywhere. Questions only spoiled things. The mud was cool and soothing, and he didn't need to know anything else for a while.
ing wrong with that,' she snapped. 'And see about plumbing. Apparently pipes are the thing.'
'For the asses' milk?' said Koomi, who was now totally lost in the desert.[32]
'Shut up, Koomi.'
'Yes, O queen,' said Koomi, miserably.
He'd wanted changes. It was just that he'd wanted things to stay the same, as well.
The sun dropped to the horizon, entirely unaided. For some people, it was turning out to be quite a good day. The reddened light lit up the three male members of the Ptaclusp dynasty, as they pored over plans for-
'It's called a bridge,' said IIb.
'Is that like an aqueduct?' said Ptaclusp.
'In reverse, sort of thing,' said IIb. 'The water goes underneath, we go over the top.'
'Oh. The k- the queen won't like that,' said Ptaclusp.
'The royal family's always been against chaining the holy river with dams and weirs and suchlike.'
IIb gave a triumphant grin. 'She suggested it,' he said. 'And she graciously went on to say, could we see to it there's places for people to stand and drop rocks on the crocodiles.'
'She said that?'
'Large pointy rocks, she said.'
'My word,' said Ptaclusp. He turned to his other son.
'You sure you're all right?' he said.
'Feeling fine, dad,' said IIa.