Malchus gripped onto the parapeted edge of the wooden turret he rode in to keep himself steady. Like a galley over the waves, the giant carriage swayed atop the back of Mago, the mighty bull elephant, as he lumbered through the woods. The undulating motion had lolled Malchus into a queasiness that seeped down into his stomach while branches and leaves kept slapping him in the face and tugging at his hair and beard.

He would not let any of those minor aches and pains soil his mood. The pharaohs of o...