Chapter 10
Charlotte
Horus is leaning against the door frame with a smug smile but a look of relief on his face. “I’m glad to see you are finally awake.”
“Apparently I owe you a big thank you, muscles. I don’t think I would be here if you hadn’t come crashing to my rescue.”
“Muscles?” Anubis asks while looking at Horus.
“Long story,” Horus and I say in unison. I feel my cheeks heat and his eyes crinkle in amusement.
“How are you feeling?” Horus asks.
“Physically, fine. I feel like my body shouldn’t be fine but I feel great. Mentally… overwhelmed and confused.”
“Thankfully we were able to get you here in time before you bled out completely. Ammit got in a good slice on your arm.”
“I remember. Is she… dead?”
“No,” he replies as his eyes get serious, “She managed to escape, but don’t worry. She will get what’s coming to her.”
“Well, I’m going to pull this curtain closed and start examining the security guard’s body to see if we can get some more answers about this attack,” says Anubis. “Just yell for me if you need anything, Charlotte.”
“Thank you very much, Anubis. I’ll have to figure out a way to repay you.”
“Nonsense. It’s been humbling to be working with a human again,” he replies as he draws the white curtain to separate me and the dead body in the room.
Horus walks over slowly to the table that I am still sitting on. I take a moment to look at myself and realize that I am still in the clothes that I arrived in to the museum except there is a huge tear down the side of one arm, the fabric is peppered with small tears, and most disturbingly there is blood all over my outfit.
Horus must realize that I’ve concluded that it’s my blood all over my clothing. Before I can have another freakout, he grabs my hands, gets in my face, and says, “Let’s get you a nice warm bath and some new clothes to wear. How does that sound?”
I nod my head in agreement because words are hard at the moment. He gently lifts me off the table but still holds on to my hand to make sure that I am stable. Once he seems satisfied with my balance, he leads me out of the white room and down a series of hallways. I should probably be paying attention to memorize my way back, but my mind is still reeling from the fact that I am covered in my own blood.
It takes me a moment to realize we have entered another room and Horus has stopped moving. He is looking down at me as if he is worried I’m about to fall apart. I look away from him and realize we are in a dimly lit room, if you can call this a room. It’s more like an ancient-looking penthouse suite with tan marble columns throughout the space. Flamed torches line the walls and flicker to give a calming ambiance. There are tapestries on the walls depicting gods and battles. We are currently in an area that seems to be designed like a sitting room, with rich red and orange cushions throughout the space. Behind Horus, I can make out a large area with a huge four poster bed with thin burgundy, gauze material surrounding it. There seems to be another opening on the far wall of the bedroom, but I cannot see where it leads.
Horus steps up to me with my hand still in his and asks, “How are you feeling, doe eyes? You don’t need to pretend with me.”
“I will be okay, but I need to get these clothes off of me and take a bath. I can’t think with all of this blood on me.”
He searches my eyes for a second and must realize I’m telling the truth, because he silently leads me into the bedroom area and heads to the opening I couldn’t see properly from the sitting area. Turns out it is a gigantic bathroom the size of my flat. There is a tub already filled with steaming water that is submerged into the floor that is so large it could hold a horse. He stops in front of the humongous tub and turns to me.
“This is a bit excessive don’t you think, muscles?”
“I’m a god, remember? This is nothing compared to the temples that were erected in my name.”
“Oh… right.” For some reason his immortality keeps escaping my notice.
“Take your time,” he says, gesturing towards the bath. “I’m going to get you something to eat and try to find some clothes.”
I nod and he walks out of the room. Once I hear the outer door close, I strip off my bloodstained clothes and sink into the bath. Once the warm water hits my skin, it’s like a weight is lifted off of me. I submerge myself into the lavender scented water, close my eyes, and let the water soak my worries away.
Eventually, I notice there are bottles on the far side of the tub which I assume are for washing. I swim over and sniff the first bottle which smells like sandalwood and citrus. It’s heavenly and I startle slightly when I realize it smells like the god I’m trying not to overanalyze.
“It’s just body wash, Charlotte. Just use it and relax,” I chastise myself.
As I start scrubbing, I examine my body for signs of injury. I know there was a large gash on my arm, but as I look I can only see a faint scar that spans my upper arm. Logically, I know that injuries shouldn’t heal this quickly, but clearly I am not dealing with normal healers. I also don’t see evidence of bruising or scrapes which I know should litter my body and come up short. If not for the thin scar, I would question whether that attack even occurred.
As I am floating in the water that seems to never get cold, I hear the outer door open and footsteps come my way. I lower myself fully into the water except for my head and use my arms to cover any important bits.
Horus comes into view of the doorway and to his credit only looks at my face. “I found some clothes that should fit and I have some food in the sitting room. Take your time but I’ll set the clothes here,” he says as he puts them next to a towel on the marble counter. “I’ll just wait out here until you are finished.” Then he leaves before I can thank him.
I decide that I have hidden from my problems for long enough, and climb out of the monstrous but heavenly bath to towel off and dress. It seems he was able to find some underthings that fit me. He also brought billowing white palazzo pants with a fitted hunter green top and tan sandals. It’s not something I’m used to wearing but beggars can’t be choosers.
Once I’m able to brush out my hair and tame it into a half up half down look, I start towards the sitting room where Horus is sitting on a cushion facing away from me plucking food off a tray on the table in front of him.
He must sense me approaching because once I’m halfway to him, he turns and scans my body from head to toe and back up again. He keeps his face neutral so I can’t tell what he thinks about this change of style on me, but I really shouldn’t care what he thinks. Right?
“Please sit with me and eat. You must be starving.”
Once I see the plate of meat, cheese, and bread, my stomach takes that opportunity to make itself known.
“Haha,” he chuckles as I sit on a cushion opposite to him, “See, I told you it’s hungry. Go ahead and try whatever you like.”
“Thank you, Horus. You didn’t need to do all of this, but I appreciate it all the same.”
He looks at me with an emotion I can’t read and then smiles softly. “Of course I did. You are only in this situation because of something that began long ago. I’m sure you have many questions. Let me tell you a story, and after that I will answer whatever questions that you have. My only request is that you eat while I talk. Sound good?”
I nod and he then looks meaningfully at the food and back at me. Taking his meaning, I grab a cracker and stack it with meat and cheese before putting it in my mouth. Once I’m eating, he launches into a story of gods, a queen, and betrayal.