Chapter 11
Horus
It takes all of my self control not to openly stare at the gorgeous woman across from me. When she walked out in the casual outfit that Bas gave me, I realized I need to make her a very nice dinner as a thank you soon. Seeing Charlotte in that outfit, sitting in my room, and caring for her has unlocked something in me that I didn’t realize was there.
I’ve never felt the need to take care of anyone before, but I desperately want to help this woman and make her feel safe. Of course I can’t tell her this because gods only knows that she doesnt feel the same way about me at this point. The last thing I want to do is scare her off and make her feel uncomfortable.
So, here I am about to tell her the story of our downfall and how she fits into this crazy narrative. I figure the best place is to start at the beginning.
“So, what do you know about Osirus and Set? How familiar are you with the gods?”
“I know some of the basics. Set is your uncle and Osirus your father, right? Also, they hate each other? Always fighting?”
“They weren’t always at each others throats. There was a time where they ruled justly as brothers. I can’t pinpoint an exact instance, but over time Set became jealous of my father. Of course, Nephthys seducing my father also didn’t help the situation.”
“How did your mother react?”
“Not kindly at first, but once she realized that Nephthys had changed herself to look like my mother, the event eventually was forgiven. Also, Anubis was a product of that union and my mother was happy to step in and care for him when Nephthys abandoned him.”
“I didn’t realize you and Anubis were brothers.”
“Half brothers, but yes. He has always acted like an older brother to me and is somewhat of a confidant. Anyways, my father and Set eventually grew into rivals. Many wars were started due to feuds between the two. Eventually, in battle, Set killed my father and chopped him into several pieces. It took years, but my mother found all of the pieces of his body. With Thoth and Anubis’s help, they were able to perform the proper death rites to allow his spirit to move on to the Duat. Now, my father rules the underworld and is extremely powerful, even in death. My uncle was furious when he realized that his brother was ruling the land of the dead. For, you see, to rule death means that you have power over the living as well. Set could not stand that my father had even an ounce of power. So, he decided he wanted to take the Duat for himself.”
“Wouldn’t that mean that Set needs to die?” Charlotte asked. She was so engrossed in my tale, I realized she was no longer eating. So, I patiently looked at the plate of food and back at her. She took the hint and started munching on grapes and cheese.
“Not exactly. My mother could not stand to be parted from my father. So, she and Thoth were able to perform powerful magic, much of it beyond my understanding. Ultimately, they were able to create a gateway to the Duat that did not require death. It was powered through the use of a stone tablet we called The Tablet of Osiris. It allowed her and others to come and go into the Duat as they pleased as long as the tablet’s magic continued to work.”
“So that your mother and father could be together. How romantic,” she said with a wistful smile on her face.
“Yes, they have always had a strong love and devotion to one another. Well, as you would expect, this peaceful reunion did not last forever. Set eventually heard rumors of this gateway and he wanted to use it to bring an army to the Duat. He planned to kill my father once and for all and take over.”
“I still don’t understand how I fit into all of this?”
“I’m just getting there, doe eyes. Now, thousands of years ago we not only were worshiped, but we also worked hand in hand with the humans to help them advance their civilizations and improve their way of life. We especially became close with the rulers of Egypt since they had so much influence. One particularly important pharaoh to note was Cleopatra.”
“Oh. my. god. You knew her, didn’t you? Do you know where she is buried? How exactly did she die? There are so many rumors, but no one has been able to figure it out!”
“Slow down there. Yes, we all knew her but some of her secrets are not mine to tell. What I can tell you is that she was intelligent and beautiful just as historians have depicted, but she was also a friend to many of us, my mother especially. So much so that Cleopatra and her lethally trained handmaidens were tasked with guarding the gateway during the final days of her reign while we were out fighting off Set and Octavian’s forces. What we didn’t realize was that Set was able to slip past our lines and get this very temple before our alarms were sounded. He ransacked this temple and found the gateway, but Cleopatra realized what was happening. Before it was too late, Cleopatra broke the tablet, closing the gateway, and sent the pieces off with her handmaidens. When Set realized he had been bested, he killed Cleopatra. As far as we know, he never found any of the handmaidens or the pieces they were carrying.”
“That’s what was in the jewelry box, wasn’t it? A piece of the tablet?”
“Yes, we believe so.”
“Have you been searching for them all of this time?”
“Yes, we have been hunting down every lead we could find, but Cleopatra trained her maidens well and this has been the first true sighting of a tablet piece since the last pharaoh died.”
I see her mind churning with questions, but the next question surprises me, “Did your mother feel betrayed by Cleopatra? You said they were friends, after all, and her friend made it impossible for her to see her one true love.”
Impressed that she made that conclusion, I answer, “It’s a little more complicated than that but yes, Isis was there when Cleopatra took her last breaths, but ultimately she was not able to determine where the tablet pieces had been hidden. My mother went through all of the stages of grief for the husband that she may never see again and for her trusted friend who died protecting those of the Duat. Isis never wanted that sacrifice to be made and the plan was to have the army in the Duat fight off Set not just close the gateway entirely. Cleopatra went off script, so to say, but now that we have had time to analyze the past, we realize Cleopatra saved many lives that day knowing that it went against her friend’s wishes.”
“She sounded like an extremely brave woman,” she says and reaches across the table to take one of my hands. Her eyes do not show pity, but compassion which is surprising since she cannot know the depth of how those events thousands of years ago truly affected me. I lost a father, friends, and the ability to live freely in the human realm.
“She was extremely brave,” I continue. “Once we were able to pull ourselves out of grief, my mother founded the Ennead. Our main goal is to track down the tablet pieces and to stop the Black Scarab from starting any more wars.”
“The Black Scarab?”
“Set’s group of gods that he has doing his dirty business. We don’t know too many specifics on exactly who is part of his group, but we know his wife Nephthys is involved. Thanks to you, we know Ammit is here. I’m surprised Set has been able to keep that one on a tight leash for so long. She tends to be a bit unstable with the whole ‘I want to eat your soul’ thing.”
At the mention of the croc goddess, Charlotte takes her hand out of mine and puts it over her arm where I know the scar is located. She seems to shrink in on herself and is pulling away from me. I need to figure out how to get her out of her own nightmares.
“You mentioned with Anubis that you found papyrus with the piece of stone? Do you know what it said?”
That seems to do the trick. Charlotte looks at me and the talk of her discovery seems to banish the nightmares from her eyes. “Yes, there was a coded note in both hieroglyphs and Greek text with the tablet piece. I had started on a translation of the Greek portion and sent the glyphs off to be translated by a colleague of mine. She probably thinks I’m dead if I haven’t answered her by now.”
“Well, that complicates things if another person is aware of the tablet’s existence,” my mind starts racing on how we can protect this unsuspecting person from a visit from the Black Scarab.
“Lucky for you, I sent everything to Marium from my personal email on my phone and not from any work computer. So, unless someone was tracking my personal phone, she should be safe.”
That calms my nerves a bit, since Charlotte was clearly being monitored by the museum. Bas already confirmed that her flat hadn’t been visited or touched since the attack. So, that leads me to believe that the common thread was the museum and not a personal acquaintance. “Well, that’s a relief,” I say as there is a loud scratching at the door.
I walk over to the main door to my chambers and open it to find a familiar lioness standing on the other side with a satchel in her mouth. She pads right into my chambers like she owns the place and walks over to Charlotte, whose eyes are as wide as an owl.
“It’s okay,” I say to Charlotte since she looks like she is about to bolt into the bedroom. “This is Sekhem. She is Bas’s pet lion.” That earns me a growl and a look of contempt from said feline. “Sorry, I mean this is Bas’s warrior lioness companion.”
Since she no longer looks like she wants to scratch my eyes out, I must have said that right thing because she continues to walk over to Charlotte and drops the satchel in her lap.
Tentatively, Charlotte reaches a hand up to scratch the lioness behind her ears. That earns some loud, appreciative purrs from the large cat. Eventually, Sekhem is done with socializing and saunters out of the room with her tail swishing back and forth.
“That. Was. Insane,” says Charlotte who is still staring at the door where the cat exited. “I thought Bastet was a badass before, but she is definitely one now.”
“Oh really? And what am I? Just eye candy?”
“Yes, muscles, that’s exactly what you are,” she says with a teasing smile and then bursts out laughing.
Good gods that laugh is one that heals the soul. I definitely want to hear her laugh again and I want to be the cause of it because it’s like rays of sunshine light up the room when she does.
“Well, since I’m just a grunt and eye candy, I will go inform our esteemed goddess of your progress and findings,” I say with a grin. “Take some time to rest and eat some more. I will be back soon.”
“Sounds good. I need to do damage control with my friends and colleagues anyways,” she replies as she starts to pull supplies out of what I realize is her satchel with her computer.
“Good, just remember to keep things off of the museum servers. I don’t want anyone tracking you here.”
“Of course,” she replies as I turn to walk out the door. Before I reach for the handle she says, “Horus?”
I turn and answer, “Yes?”
“Thank you again for saving me and for telling me about all of this. I appreciate you trusting me.”
Well, isn’t that just a knife to the heart? I realize that I do trust this woman, but little does she realize that the others in this temple expect for me to end her once her usefulness reaches its end. Trusting humans did not end well for us last time, but maybe I can convince the others that we can learn from our mistakes.