Pyramids

the gods, sometimes disembowelling or flaying alive hundreds of people in a day in order to make sure they’re getting it absolutely right.

    King Teppicymon XXVII’s casket lay in state. Crafted it was of foryphy, smaradgine, skelsa and delphinet, inlaid it was with pink jade and shode, perfumed and fumed it was with many rare resins and perfumes…
    It looked very impressive but, the king considered, it wasn’t worth dying for. He gave up and wandered across the courtyard.
    A new player had entered the drama of his death.
    Grinjer, the maker of models.
    He’d always wondered about the models. Even a humble farmer expected to be buried with a selection of crafted livestock, which would somehow become real in the Netherworld. Many a man made do with one cow like a toast rack in this world in order to afford a pedigree herd in the next. Nobles and kings got the complete set, including model carts, houses, boats and anything else too big or inconvenient to fit in the tomb. Once on the other side, they’d somehow become the genuine article.
    The king frowned. When he was alive he’d known that it was true. Not doubted it for a moment…
    Grinjer stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as, with great care, he tweezered a tiny oar to a perfect l/80th scale river trireme. Every flat surface in his corner of the workshop was stacked with midget animals and artifacts; some of his more impressive ones hung from wires on the ceiling.
    The king had already ascertained from overheard conversation that Grinjer was twenty-six, couldn’t find anything to stop the inexorable advance of his acne, and lived at home with his mother. Where, in the evenings, he made models. Deep in the duffel coat of his mind he hoped one day to find a nice girl who would understand the absolute importance of getting every detail right on a ceremonial six-wheeled ox cart, and who would hold his glue-pot, and always be ready with a willing thumb whenever anything needed firm pressure until the paste dried.
    He was aware of trumpets and general excitement behind him. He ignored it. There always seemed to be a lot of fuss these days. In his experience it was always about trivial things. People just didn’t have their priorities right. He’d been waiting two months for a few ounces of gum varneti, and it didn’t seem to bother anyone. He screwed his eyeglass into a more comfortable position and slotted a minute steering oar into place.
    Someone was standing next to him. Well, they could make themselves useful…
    “Could you just put your finger here,” he said, without glancing around. “Just for a minute, until the glue sets.”
    There seemed to be a sudden drop in temperature. He looked up into a smiling golden mask. Over its shoulder Dios’s face was shading, in Grinjer’s expert opinion, from No. 13 (Pale Flesh) to No. 37 (Sunset Purple, Gloss).
    “Oh,” he said.
    “It’s very good,” said Teppic. “What is it?” Grinjer blinked at him. Then he blinked at the boat.
    “It’s an eighty-foot Khali-fashion river trireme with fishtail spear deck and ramming prow,” he said automatically.
    He got the impression that more was expected of him. He cast around for something suitable.
    “It’s got more than five hundred bits,” he added. “Every plank on the deck is individually cut, look.”
    “Fascinating,” said Teppic. “Well, I won’t hold you up. Carry on the good work.”
    “The sail really unfurls,” said Grinjer. “See, if you pull this thread, the—”
    The mask had moved. Dios was there instead. He gave Grinjer a short glare which indicated that more would be heard about this later on, and hurried after the king. So did the ghost of Teppicymon XXVII.
    Teppic’s eyes swiveled behind the mask. There was the open doorway into the room of caskets. He could just make out the one containing Ptraci; the wedge of wood was still under the lid.
    “Our father, however, is over here. Sire,” said Dios. He could move as silently as a ghost.
    “Oh. Yes.” Teppic hesitated and then crossed to the big case on its trestles. He stared down at it for some time. The gilded face on the lid looked like every other mask.
    “A very good likeness, sire,” prompted Dios.
    “Ye-ess,” said Teppic. “I suppose so. He definitely looks happier. I suppose.”
    “ Hallo, my boy ,” said the king. He knew that no one could hear him, but he felt happier talking to them all the same. It was better than talking to himself. He was