The Queen Of Gods

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Cairo was even busier than Luxor had been, and I hated it. I wasn't made for this modern life with all the people and the noise. But no matter how much I wanted to be back at the main temple, I was here for a reason, and I wasn't about to back down.

I looked behind me, half expecting to see one of my priestesses following. They weren't. I'd ordered them all to stay safely in the temple and out of the way of my mission. The last thing I wanted was for one of them to get hurt while I carried out Ma'at's wishes.

I checked the directions I'd been given and ducked into a side street. Just like I'd been told, a street stall sat at the bottom of it, a huge moon made up part of the sign.

"Gods," I muttered and shook my head. Khonsu couldn't be more obvious about who he was if he tried.

I closed the difference between me and the stall, waiting for the old woman there to notice me.

"Hello, Khonsu," I said when she didn't respond, sitting on the edge of his stall and looking his glamour straight in the eyes. He might fool passers-by, but I wasn't a mere mortal and I wasn't going to be hoodwinked by this.

"I'm not sure who you're looking for, dear," the woman croaked.

I gave him a flat look. "That's not going to work on me."

"And why would that be?" An impish grin spread over her face, one that I had no doubt meant I was on to her.

"You know why that is. Can we speak in private?" Why were all these gods being so difficult when I went to talk to them?

The expression on the woman's face told me nothing.

I sighed. "This is about Seth."

Her face fell. "Come this way." She gestured for me to stand, and I did. Just in time, it seemed, as she hit a button and her stall covered itself completely.

"All right then," I muttered.

"This way." She ushered me towards one of the doors.

Now I was going to add annoying cryptic to the list of things I knew about Khonsu. Though admittedly, my list had been fairly short to begin with.

I stepped through the door and into a dingy room with a small wooden pallet as a bed, and an equally aged looking table. I couldn't believe he'd been living here. The place wasn't fit for a deity.

The moment the door was closed, the woman snapped her fingers and the glamour dissolved, leaving Khonsu standing before me in all his glory.

It was easy to see why he'd been using a glamour. The glow around him would distract anyone he came into contact with, and wouldn't be easy to explain to people. It surprised me he was like this. But then, I spent most of my time around sun deities, not those associated with the moon.

"Is there a reason you chose that glamour?" I asked him.

He chuckled. "People know what they want to see. An old woman like that is much more approachable than this." He waved a hand down his normal form.

"I suppose that's true." I paced around the room, trying to work out where he'd be comfortable with me sitting. With only one chair, I didn't want to take it away from him, but sitting on his bed seemed a little presumptuous on my part.

"Who sent you?" he asked.

"Ma'at."

"You're one of her priestesses?"

I narrowed my eyes. Did I look like a lowly priestess? "I'm a goddess in my own right."

"Those two aren't mutually exclusive." He shrugged and sat on the bed, which left me with the chair if I wanted to get comfortable. "Unless things have changed at the main temple."

"Not really." I had no idea how long he'd been gone, but unless it had been two thousand years, not a lot had changed.

"Then I stand by my point." He flashed me another impish grin, and I had to admit that it looked better on this face than on the one from before.

Despite my wishes, I felt myself warming towards him.

"I'm Hathor," I offered.

"I know," he responded.

"But..."

"I was teasing, Hathor. Everyone knows who you are. Your portrait is in almost every single temple I've ever visited."

I crossed my arms. "That's not true."

"If you don't want to believe it, then sure, it isn't true. But every god knows your face. Weren't you just upset with me for not knowing who you were?" His tone wasn't in the slightest bit accusatory, which only served to confuse me.

"Fine, I was upset." I unfolded my arms and flopped down on the chair. "But only because I'm grumpy. I don't like the world any more."

"Adapt or die," he responded. "That's what I've done."

"And it looks like you're living in hell."

"I don't know what you mean, my abode is charming." A smirk lifted the corner of his lips. I hoped that meant he wasn't serious.

"You need to come back to the main temple," I said. "And not just because I've seen the inside of this place."

He chuckled. "I wouldn't have thought you were capable of being so cruel. Is this to do with Seth?"

I nodded. "Ma'at is convinced he's up to something."

"That's been true since the dawn of time," he deadpanned.

"I know, that's what I said too. But she's convinced we need to do something about it this time. Apparently it's worse than the others? I'm not so sure." I shrugged hoping to convey that I thought the same thing as he did.

"Why did they send you? We've never properly met?" He leaned forward.

"Because we're linked as consorts," I admitted, throwing my hand up in exasperation. "But I wouldn't take it personally, you're not the only one I've been sent after for that reason."

A barking laugh came from him, at least he finds this as ridiculous as I do. "Let's guess, Atum, Horus, Ra, and Amun."

"All but Ra. They don't need to persuade him, apparently." And I was glad of it. Ra didn't have the best reputation, especially not among the goddesses.

"Horus is going to be the most difficult," he mused.

"You're not wrong," I muttered. "But you don't seem to be that bothered by the fact I've effectively been sent to collect you."

"I always figured it would happen some time. I'm just grateful that they sent someone nice to look at and not some priests to drag me back kicking and screaming." The left side of his mouth lifted up as if he kind of liked the idea.

Talking to Khonsu was certainly odd. We'd never met, and yet there was a definite familiarity in the way we talked to one another. It was like his ba connected to mine in a way that made me feel as if we'd been friends forever.

"Oh." I had so many more questions, but no idea how to word any of them. Or if there was any point.

He leaned down and searched beneath the bed with his hands, not watching what he was doing closely enough to make a difference.

"Aha!" He pulled out a small brown bag made of hemp. "You said we needed to go back to the temple, right?" he asked.

I nodded. "Is that all you need to bring?"

"It's all I have with me."

I frowned, trying to make sense of the man in front of me. Why was he like this? Most gods I met tended towards arrogance, but Khonsu didn't seem to care about any of that.

"You said you needed to get Horus to come back, right? We can stop by his temple on the way." Khonsu rose to his feet.

"We can try. I was there a couple of days ago." I pulled a face at the thought of returning.

"He might respond to me?"

"Why are you being so helpful?" Maybe Horus had ruined my opinion on what a reasonable god would behave like.

Khonsu shrugged. "I've been waiting for something like this to happen. I came to terms with it a long time ago."

"Oh." I wished I had a better response to that, but it made sense. I'd just expected all of them to be as resistant to Ma'at's plan as I had been. Which wasn't fair. Seth's influence was going to affect them all differently.

"I'm sorry, I never offered you any wine." Horror crossed his face.

"It's all right, we can have some once we're back at the temple," I said, rising to my feet.

"Sounds good. Shall we go see Horus?" The smirk on his face was unmissable. What was it about the other god that had him so excited?