Chapter 37 Chaos’s Price
Chaos’s Price
Zahra shivered in Namir’s arms, the words of the prophecy playing in her mind.
The obelisk tolled six times in the distance.
When they finally stopped running, she muttered the words as Namir leaned her against a wall.
She couldn’t tell where they were—somewhere outside of the pr-aa—but she knew they were safe. For now, at least.
Namir dabbed at the blood trickling down Zahra’s face, pressing hard against her wound. Her eyelids fluttered from the pain, and she gasped, moving underneath his grasp. He took her hand in his other hand. “Breathe. I am right here.”
“You refused her power,” the Pharaoh Queen said once she had sat Ramses down. She looked at Zahra in wonder. “That should have been impossible. No mortal has ever done that before.”
“She is a sibyl of Nebthet,” Namir said, looking at his mother in anger. “I tried to tell you, Mwt. She is strong.”
The Pharaoh Queen moved closer, looking Zahra over. “The cracks are spreading.”
Zahra and Namir glanced at her.
“You can see them?” Namir asked.
The Pharaoh Queen nodded. “The same thing happened to your father before he died.”
Zahra’s brow furrowed. She should have made the connection sooner. The Pharaoh King died from apollos. Zosar and Iset must have been behind his death as well.
Zahra wheezed, scrunching her eyes as pressure built in her head. She mouthed the words of the prophecy. What was to come next?
“What is she saying?” the Pharaoh Queen asked.
“I—I was wrong,” Zahra rasped. Her gaze landed on Namir. “It is coming.”
Namir’s eyes narrowed. “What is?”
“I thought we prevented the prophecy from being fulfilled, but I was wrong. It has begun.”
The Pharaoh Queen’s face grew ashen-colored. “What prophecy?”
Zahra summoned a breath, repeating the prophecy once more. “It is happening. I thought we could stop it, but we can’t.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Namir said. He looked at his mother. “Do we know how much longer the blood moon will last?”
The Pharaoh Queen did not respond, instead staring at the ground with shocked eyes.
Namir looked at Ramses, who was dressing his leg. “Ramses.”
After a few more calls, Ramses looked up. Namir used one hand to sign.
Ramses looked up at the sky, signing in reply. “Another half hour, at least.”
Zahra’s heart faltered as Ramses returned to his task. “Why did Nubia not follow us?”
Namir’s brow furrowed, pain in his eyes as he put pressure on her wound. “I don’t know. Nubia was…speaking to her. We did not stay to hear what they were saying.”
Tears came from Zahra’s eyes as she blinked. The third line of the prophecy.
Worry filled Namir’s eyes as he wiped her tear away. “Zahra?”
The Pharaoh Queen interrupted, looking up with solemn eyes. “Nubia has opened Tartarus’s gate. With Zosar gone, Iset had no vessel, so she was forced from this world. But the gates can be opened and she can return if someone gives themselves to be her vessel.”
Namir gritted his teeth. “No. We just have to outlast the blood moon.”
“Menes.” The Pharaoh Queen placed her hand on his arm, her eyes ashamed. “The day you were born, the sky turned dark and the sun was gone. Your father thought it was a bad omen, and when you became ill, I thought he was right.” She hesitated. “Until a sibyl came to our door.”
Zahra swallowed. “My grandmother—Doris.”
The Pharaoh Queen nodded. “She told us this prophecy, saying that one of our children would be the doom of the other. Your father and I thought she was a servant of chaos, and we banished her to death in the desert.”
Namir’s jaw flexed. “Why did you never tell me this?”
“Because we did not believe the words of the prophecy,” the Pharaoh Queen cried.
“We thought it was a lie, but in your father’s final moments, he saw something I did not.
He told me that we were wrong about you.
I thought he meant that you should rule, but I see now it was more than that—you were meant to save us. ”
Namir pulled away from her, his eyes angry. “You ignored the sibyl’s warning, and now you have doomed us all!”
The Pharaoh Queen and Zahra locked eyes. Grief bubbled up in Zahra’s chest. Her grandmother, her mother, and all of her ancestors had suffered because of the Pharaohs’ ignorance. Now, the night of the prophecy had come, and Zahra was not sure what to do next.
The Pharaoh Queen turned to Namir. “Sadiki, is she your choice?”
Namir blinked in surprise, but he smiled and nodded. “She is.”
“And you.” She turned to Zahra. “Rhodopis. Do you love my son and my kingdom? Do you swear to do all in your power to protect them both?”
Zahra smiled through the pain in her head. “I swear it.”
The Pharaoh Queen nodded, looking between them both. “Then I will wed you now.”
Namir’s eyes widened. “Mwt.”
“It must be done.” She pulled in a long breath. “The Pharaoh is made of two crowns. You are stronger together. Re’s promise protects you from all of the netjeru. It will protect you from Iset.”
“But then Nubia will be heir,” Namir said.
The Pharaoh Queen shook her head. “She forsook her heritage when she joined forces with Iset.”
Namir considered her words, glancing at Ramses. Ramses had finished wrapping his leg and was watching their exchange with confused eyes. Zahra raised her hands and explained. When he understood, he nodded. “It will keep you both safe.”
Namir sighed, taking Zahra’s hand. “As long as we are sure it will not let Iset win.”
Zahra looked over at the Pharaoh Queen, but the Pharaoh Queen avoided her gaze, guilt marring her features.
Namir took the fabric from Zahra’s head. The cut on her face had stopped bleeding.
The Pharaoh Queen placed her hands over their hands and began to speak. Her words were soundless, but air rushed from her mouth, circling around them. Zahra gasped as her sibyl mark lit up, her body vibrating from the power. Namir clutched her hands, clenching his jaw as their hands shook.
Words fell from Zahra and Namir’s lips without either of them meaning to speak, words that did not make sense to their ears but that they understood the meaning of. They were two crowns that would rule as one. The land called Aur was their domain, and they would protect their people at all costs.
What followed was a promise to each other, words they spoke in sync: “In life. In death. Always.”
Zahra and Namir leaned forward into each other, gasping as the power rushed through their veins. Namir’s mother—Nefertari—leaned back on her hands. Her voice was hoarse as she spoke. “It is done.”
Zahra and Namir looked into each other’s eyes.
Though they both breathed hard, there was within them a new strength.
In their eyes was a spark—a burning fire with the potential to be as bright as the sun.
Zahra and Namir opened their palms, and within their shared grasp came a small, burning flame.
A breathless laugh slipped from Namir’s mouth, and Zahra smiled.
A mix of snarls, growls, and hisses came from nearby. Nefertari stood, holding up her khopesh. “We need to move.”
Namir stood, helping Zahra stand. She grunted as she got to her feet. “I…I can walk on my own.”
“You are still weak,” Namir said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
Zahra looked down at her skin. With the power of Re, she could see her psyche.
Glowing orange cracks worked their way toward her elbows.
They had begun to spread on her feet as well, slowly moving up her legs.
Her fight with Iset had put much strain on her psyche, more than any death ever had.
That must have been why they were still spreading.
Ramses stood on his good leg, using a long stick he had found as a crutch. His other hand gripped his sword, and he bowed his head toward Namir and Zahra with a determined look on his face.
Zahra’s face softened, and she leaned on Namir. “Let us go.”
They skirted the edge of the pr-aa toward the gardens. The night was quiet except for the growls in the distance and the murmurs from the city below. Nefertari led the way, sword in hand, and Ramses hobbled behind them.
Zahra gasped when some fallen medjay appeared in their path. Their bodies trembled, and Nefertari slid to a stop. They watched in horror as keres—physical and dripping in tar—emerged from the fallen soldiers.
Namir took a few steps back, pulling Zahra with him. Ramses turned around, lifting his sword to block their path. Namir stumbled to a stop, his eyes narrowing in anger on something in front of them.
Zahra looked up, her breath hitching in her throat.
Nubia was standing there. A deep gash from Katerina’s claws was over her right eye, and it was swollen shut with blood. Her other eye was as a dark pit, and cracks had formed down her face. Her hands dripped with flames. Her teeth gritted, but instead of anger, fear sat in her features.
Nefertari sliced at the keres, but they stepped out of her path, growling but not moving forward.
Iset laughed with Nubia’s voice. “Oh Nefertari, how honorable of you! Giving your power to an Ionian?”
Nefertari stepped in front of Ramses as the keres flanked Zahra and Namir. “Leave my daughter’s body at once!”
Nubia’s brow furrowed, her voice coming through. “Mwt?”
“She has willingly given herself to me,” Iset said. “She is mine, just as you soon will be.”
Realization gripped Namir’s features, and he stepped forward, reaching out for his mother. “Mwt, no! She will kill you!”
Nefertari gripped her blade. “Go, Menes. She cannot hurt you.”
“No,” Nubia cried. “I do not understand. He is the heir.”
“They are the Pharaohs,” Iset said. “And you are not heir. She is the closest one to the Pharaohs’ power now.”
“No!” Nubia’s hands trembled as she held up the dagger. “You promised that she would be spared!”
“I am not bound by my promises, and you have no choice but to obey.”
Zahra looked back weakly at the keres, which were slowly approaching them. “Namir…”
Namir growled, throwing his hand forward. A shield of sunlight surrounded them on all sides.
Iset smirked, placing her hand on the shield. It shimmered beneath her touch, and Namir grunted. Zahra stuck her hand out as well, and she felt energy course through her fingers. The shield was strengthened in front of them.
The keres leaped forward, clawing at the shield and growling. Their attack vibrated through Zahra and Namir’s arms. Zahra looked back with wide eyes as the shield tore and a ker jumped through.
Ramses swung his blade, striking the beast in its chest. It cried out, falling to the ground. The other animals funneled in behind it, and Zahra threw her other arm out toward them, attacking them with her psyche.
The keres let out a cry as they were thrown back by moonlight. The momentary distraction was all Iset needed. She pulled her arm back, slamming her flaming palm into the shield. It shattered into pieces, and Namir and Zahra were thrown off their feet.
Nefertari held her ground, gritting her teeth as ash showered her.
Nubia let out a cry as Iset pushed her forward. “That was foolish of you, Nefertari. They are weak, inexperienced.”
“They will do better with it than I could,” Nefertari claimed. “You cannot hurt me or them.”
Iset smirked. “You are right.” She held the dagger to Nubia’s heart. “But she can.”
Nefertari’s eyes went wide. “No.”
Nubia let out a sob. “Mwt, please, help me.”
“Your daughter will die and become my slave.”
“Mwt, no,” Namir cried, getting to his feet. “We cannot save her.”
Nefertari’s khopesh shook, conflict in her face. “I…”
“Mwt, please,” Nubia screamed, the dagger trembling as it pressed against her skin. “I do not want to die!”
Zahra looked up from the ground. “Don’t do it! She is doomed!”
Nefertari clenched her jaw. “She is my daughter. If there is a chance I can spare her from her fate, I must.” She dropped the khopesh. “I, Tausret, give you permission, Iset, to take my life.”
Namir lunged forward, shouting. Nubia turned the dagger around, plunging it into Nefertari’s chest. Nefertari sucked in a sharp breath, smiling sadly at Nubia. “May Re have mercy on your soul, daughter.”
“Mwt,” Namir cried. Zahra grabbed his leg and pulled him back.
Nefertari fell against Nubia, her lifeless eyes consumed by darkness as Iset spoke her true name. Nubia screamed as smoke billowed around Nefertari’s body. Pain shot through Zahra and Namir’s bodies, and they collapsed.
Zahra writhed on the ground, crying out as the cracks spread up her arms and legs. Namir gritted his teeth, putting his hands on her and covering her with his body.
Nefterari’s frame was consumed by fire and smoke. The ash and smoke twisted together and grew longer, pulling away from Nubia. A giant snake emerged from the smoke, coiling around until its head reached the sky. The earth shook, and the Iteru’s waters dried up before their eyes.
Iset grinned with her fangs and looked at the moon. The blood moon dripped with smoke, staining the sky. The stars disappeared, and the smoke covered the sky and moon until all was darkness.