Page 20 (1/2)

'Yes, sire We cannot be too careful, sire Clearly they are not here, sire'

'You look as if you could do with a breath of fresh air,' said Teppic, upbraiding hi it, nevertheless Dios at a loss was an awe-inspiring sight, and slightly disconcerting; it s

'Yes, sire Thank you, sire'

'Have a sit down and soo and inspect the pyramid'

Dios sat down

There was a terrible little splintering noise

'He's sat on the boat,' said the king 'First huave a newto the word 'massive' It bent the landscape around it It see the shape of things, stretching the kingdom like a lead ball on a rubber sheet

He knew that was a ridiculous idea Big though the pyramid was, it was tiny co, co else Anyway, , the fabric of the universe was used to the idea The pyraht to be

It was also very cold The blackwhite with frost in the roasting afternoon sun He was foolish enough to touch it and left a layer of skin on the surface

'It's freezing!'

'It's storing already, O breath of the river,' said Ptaclusp, eating 'It's the wossname, the boundary effect'

'I note that you have ceased work on the burial chambers,' said Dios

'The menthe temperatureboundary effects a bit too much to risk' muttered Ptaclusp 'Er'

Teppic looked from one to the other

'What's the matter?' he said 'Are there problems?'

'Er,' said Ptaclusp

'You're way ahead of schedule Marvellous work,' said Teppic 'You've put a tremendous amount of labour on the job'

'Er Yes Only'

There was silence except for the distant sounds ofwhere it touched the pyraet the capstone on, the pyra properly, no problem Er'

He indicated the electruly small, only a foot or so across, and rested on a couple of trestles

'We should be able to put it on to us with the capping-out cereripped the hean to twist it 'There's drinks,' he stuttered 'And a silver trowel that you can take aith you Everyone shouts hurrah and throws their hats in the air

'Certainly,' said Dios 'It will be an honour'

'And for us too, your sire,' said Ptaclusp loyally

'I h priest He turned to the wide courtyard between the base of the pyramid and the river, which was lined with statues and stelae cohty deeds[20], and pointed

'And you can get rid of that,' he added

Ptaclusp gave him a look of unhappy innocence

'That statue,' said Dios, 'is what I aht once you saw it in place, you see, in the right light, and ith Hat the Vulture-Headed God being very-'

'It goes,' said Dios

'Right you are, your reverence,' said Ptaclusp ht now, the least of his proble to think that the statue was following him around

Dios leaned closer

'You haven't seen a young woman anywhere on the site, have you?' he demanded

'No women on the site, my lord,' said Ptaclusp 'Very bad luck'

'This one was provocatively dressed,' the high priest said

'No, no women'

'The palace is not far, you see There must be many places to hide over here,' Dios continued, insistently

Ptaclusp sed He knew that, all right Whatever had possessed him

'I assure you, your reverence,' he said

Dios gave him a scowl, and then turned to where Teppic, as it turned out, had been

'Please ask him not to shake hands with anybody,' said the builder, as Dios hurried after the distant glint of sunlight on gold The king still didn't see the people wanted was a et out of the way in ti their hands behind their back

Alone now, Ptaclusp fanned hiered into the shade of his tent

Where, waiting to see him, were Ptaclusp IIa, Ptaclusp IIa, Ptaclusp IIa and Ptaclusp IIa Ptaclusp always felt uneasy in the presence of accountants, and four of theether was very bad, especially when they were all the same person Three Ptaclusp IIbs were there as well; the other two, unless it was three by noere out on the site

He waved his hands in a conciliatory way

'All right, all right,' he said 'What are today's problems?'

One of the IIas pulled a stack of wax tablets towards hi that thin; razor-edged voice that accountants use to preface so unexpected and very expensive, 'what calculus is?'

'You tellon to a stool