The Queen Of Gods

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Anku kept eyeing up Ptah's priest when she thought I wasn't looking. I'd have to take her aside afterwards and let her know that it was all right if she decided she wanted to try and pursue something with him. I never wanted to stand in the way of my priestesses' happiness, they were too important to me. Besides, they wouldn't be the first priest and priestess to move between gods for their dalliances. It was a common enough practice throughout the temple.

"When will you be able to start?" I asked the builder, pulling his attention away from my high priestess.

I really did need to encourage her to do something about this. The feelings she was experiencing were clearly mutual, and I was picking up on some serious desire from both of them. It was bringing my sexuality aspect to the surface. I might not be a s*x goddess, a nuance no one seemed to understand, but that only gave me a stronger ability to recognise attraction.

"There's a few things I'll need to check with the others before we can," the priest said.

I nodded. I'd expected nothing less. He probably had to check with Ptah about how far up the list of priorities we were too. I hoped the builder god thought highly enough of me to not push us to the bottom. Though I doubted he would. Especially not if he'd heard how far up in Ma'at's favour I was. People seemed to want to do just about anything for the goddess of truth and justice.

Except Amun. Who thought her cause was ridiculous and pointless. Not that I was going to tell her about that. When I finally plucked up the courage to explain about Amun's betrayal, I'd be keeping well away from any criticism about her goals. Especially as I personally believed they were worthwhile. I might have been difficult to convince at the beginning, but I'd come to realise it wasn't a good idea to let Seth run wild around the world. He could cause far too much hurt and destruction.

"But please, don't worry yourself, Your Eminence," the priest continued, pulling me back to the conversation. "We're going to make your temple even more impressive than it was before."

I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't sure how that would be possible. The building Seth had ordered to be destroyed had been standing for thousands of years, and had withstood wars and famines aplenty. It had been magnificent, and replacing it would be tricky, especially with the more modern building techniques not providing as much finesse as the ancient ones. In my humble opinion.

Which I kept to myself. I wasn't a builder or craftsman, and they wouldn't appreciate my interference.

"I look forward to seeing it," I said instead. "I do have some other matters that require my attention at the moment. If you would liaise with Anku, I'd appreciate it. She'll bring any matters that need it to my attention."

My priestess straightened at the sound of her name, and I repressed a smile. I was only being partly truthful. I could have dealt with it myself easily enough, but if she liked Ptah's builder, then I was going to make things easier for them.

The flicker of a smile passed over the man's lips. It was getting harder and harder not to share my glee at that. I wouldn't be surprised if I caught the two of them in a compromising position soon. Which was good for them. There was no reason for Anku to live a celibate life.

I was about to excuse myself when loud shouts came from the other side of the door.

"Would you like me to go and find out what's happening?" Anku asked, forgetting to address me properly in the process. She might not feel like it once she realised, but to me, that was progress.

"No, you stay here and finish going over the plans. I'll go."

She glanced between me and the priest, clearly conflicted over which of us she wanted to please more. But it didn't matter to me. I was happy enough to help her with her goals.

I swept away from the two of them and towards the door, holding my head high and readying myself to use goddess voice if I had to. With no idea what was waiting for me, it seemed pertinent to prepare to dismiss troublemakers with a scathing tone. If I didn't have to use it, then that was all good. But it was better to be safe than sorry. No one got to my age without learning a trick or twenty.

The moment the doors swung open, I scanned the room. It wasn't difficult to place the source of the commotion. Khonsu stood in the doorway, tears streaming down his face.

Dread settled in the pit of my stomach. This couldn't be good. He'd been on top of the world when he left me before my bath. But this wasn't the same god standing in front of me.

He was a heartbroken man.

"Out. Now," I barked at my priestesses and attendants. I'd apologise to them later. Right now, I only had my friend on my mind.

It only took a couple of minutes for the entire room to empty.

"Sit," I ordered Khonsu.

I went over to a tray of wine one of the women had left and poured us two glasses. I had no idea if the stuff was any good. Sometimes, the underlings around the temple had a warped idea of what was good quality and what wasn't. Probably because most of them hadn't lived through as much time as the gods and goddesses had. Even the youngest among us was ancient.

I pushed the thoughts aside. For now, I needed to focus on Khonsu and nothing else. I'd deal with my priestesses' poor taste later.

"What happened? If he's done something to hurt you, I'll personally rip his wings from his back one feather at a time," I threatened, not knowing if that was even possible. There was a good chance Horus was like me and couldn't actually shift into his sacred animal. There didn't seem to be much rhyme or reason behind who among us could do it, and who couldn't.

"He didn't do anything," he responded, wiping away a tear with a little too much force and scratching himself instead. Blood welled up from the cut, but we both ignored it. There was nothing we could do about it, and it wasn't going to hurt him much. Certainly not compared to what Horus has done.

"Then what's happened?" I pressed. If he didn't tell me soon, then I was going to have to assume the worst. and given Horus' charming personality, that wasn't a good thing.

"He's gone," Khonsu whispered.

"You don't know that," I protested. "I thought he'd gone back to his temple..." At least, that was what Khonsu had said was going on earlier, and it seemed unlikely that he'd lied to me. It wasn't in his nature to do anything like that.

"He was supposed to be back by now. The two of us were going to have lunch together."

I refrained from raising an eyebrow, but only just. Horus had become almost domestic in a very short amount of time. At least that must mean he cared for my friend. I took a swig of my wine, then almost spit it out. It was far too bitter for my taste. Finished with the glass, I placed it down on the table beside us next to the moon god's. He hadn't even touched his, which was for the best. I knew he'd believe me when I told him we had better stuff here, but it was still a lousy impression to give off.

Khonsu's face hadn't scrunched up in pain. "Something isn't right," he whispered. "I feel it. Here." He pressed a fist against his stomach.

I reached out and placed a hand on top of his. "We'll figure out what's causing it," I promised. "He might just have been asked to do something urgent while he was at the temple."

Was I seriously defending him? I couldn't believe the words were actually coming out of my mouth. Horus was only nice to me for Khonsu's sake, and even then, it was with thinly veiled contempt.

"Maybe. But I don't think so." He chewed on his bottom lip.

I sighed. "Why don't you go and clean yourself up? Have something to eat, and a lie down. I'll go to Horus' temple and see if he's there."

"And what if he isn't?" His lip trembled as he contemplated what might have happened.

"If he isn't there, then I promise, we'll do everything we can to find him."

Khonsu let out a dry chuckle. "Even if you don't like him?"

I managed to crack a wry smile at that one. "I like you, though," I pointed out. "You're my friend, and I'll do anything I can to help you." I placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

He lifted his own and placed it over mine. "Thank you, Hathor. This means the world to me."

I nodded, but didn't say anything. Mostly because I didn't have any words to say. I'd never had a friend like Khonsu before. He saw me for the person I was, not the goddess I was supposed to be. I'd do anything for him. Even if it meant tracking down Horus. Again.