The Prince of the Moon Temple

When Thoth told his mother and father he wanted to leave the lands of the immortals to go to school with the humans, his mother scoffed. “I blame this on you,” she seethed as she glared at her husband, Khonsu. “Me?” Khonsu paced, wringing his hands. His long dark blue robes billowed behind him. “My love, I have done nothing to encourage this.” Aset ran her fingers over the finely woven material of the sleeve of her long gown and thought, perhaps her husband had not outwardly done anything, but his tales of conquest during his youth had made their way into their son’s mind. He was also soft-hearted when it came to mortal kind, and Aset found her husband’s fondness of them repulsive and beneath his station. She believed humans were their inferiors, but their son took after his father, and how could he not want to experience the mortal world? “He longs to see the world you and your brothers sing about when you have had too much wine.” She knitted her brows and crossed her arms. Khonsu got a far-off look in his eyes and drifted to a place that Aset did not want to know about. She could tell by his expression she would not approve. “Perhaps it will be good for him. He has refused to take a wife, he has no concubines, and his temple is certainly lacking tribute offerings. Very sad, if you ask me.” Khonsu tried to make the best case possible for his only son. Whether Aset was buying it was another story. The land of Hercolubus was where the gods lived. They were immortals of various types and enjoyed the title of god and goddess. It was their power that moved the earth and the elements within it. At one time, they killed for anonymity, so much so that the large land mass that they called home had been hidden from all mortals with the exception of the humans that populated the island and served the gods. But thanks to Google Earth and other snooping map satellites, the land of Hercolubus was revealed to all the world. About the size of the big island of Hawaii and deep within the tropical waters of the Pacific, the "new" country of Hercolubus existed and thrived. The land was divided into four kingdoms, each dedicated to a particular natural force. The Sun Kingdom was to the south, the Water Kingdom was to the west, the Air Kingdom to the east, and, finally, the Moon Kingdom was to the north. This was where Khonsu and Aset sat upon their thrones. The Moon Kingdom, just like all kingdoms in Hercolubus, had a monarchy system in place. Instead of castles, though, the major royals were given palace temples from which to rule and a portion of the mortal population to watch over. In turn, their mortal subjects worked the land and paid tribute to their leaders in many ways. This is how it was and how it had been for a long time. Though Aset remembered a time when the gods and goddesses were free to roam the Earth and had a multitude of followers who adored them from all corners of the planet. But that was before the modern world killed the gods and found their own worth and self-preservation more important than any deity. Nevertheless, once the gods and goddesses had revealed themselves, they still kept their immortality a secret. The world seemed ready to embrace an exotic new land, but the monarchs of Hercolubus knew the world would never be ready for what they truly were. The country of Hercolubus was allowed entrance into the citizenry of the world, and the royalty of the land was fine with that. The less the volatile humans knew or believed, the better. Even though visitors to the land were prohibited, the desire for Aset’s husband and other patriarchal leaders of the kingdoms to foster diplomatic ties had become necessary. While she did not like it, she knew her husband loved the rock-star status of state dinners and visits from high-ranking dignitaries. So long had the land of Hercolubus been cloistered from the rest of the world that often the royals were in need of ego-stroking, and if there was anything that made a god or goddess happy, it was that. One would think immortals would be above all the doting and oohing and ahhing, but they certainly were not, particularly the men of the nation. But those visits from modern mortals from the outside world, however, made Aset sick. The queen held steadfast in her belief that mortals were to remain beneath them. Aset had not said another word to Khonsu as she waited for him to come to her side and forbid Thoth from experimenting in the modern mortal world. His response was not what she wanted to hear. “Let the boy go,” he said with an air of finality. Aset knew the decision had been made. She wanted to rake her nails across her husband’s face and beat his head until he lost consciousness, but he was the king and she could say nothing. Even though she held the title of queen, her power was limited. Her husband held the dominant throne in the Moon Kingdom and his word was final. “I have one request, husband. You could grant me that since you will send my only male offspring out into the fray.” Aset batted her eyelashes and ran her fingers over his chest, sending waves of pleasure through his skin. Khonsu could hardly resist her when she turned on her charms, one of her very enjoyable immortal abilities. “Yes, yes, what is it?” “Don’t send him alone. Send Seshet with him,” she pleaded with her sultry eyes. “I don’t know,” Khonsu thought for a moment. Seshet was, at one time, Thoth’s ceremonial betrothed, though he had not been required to take her as a wife unless a connection was made. Since he had shown no interest in her whatsoever, the betrothal had become null and void. While both the king and queen as well as Seshet’s parents had hoped the pairing would flourish, she too looked to Thoth as a friend only. Seshet’s family was one of the leading noble houses in the Moon Kingdom. Her mother was one of Aset’s favorite members of her noble entourage, and Seshet’s sister, Satet, was another viable option for Thoth to take as a bride since Seshet was no longer in the running. “I think it might be difficult for her, even though she said she was fine with the nulling of the betrothal, I can’t imagine she is over it yet.” “No. no, she is over it. Why, just the other day I saw her flirting with Babi." Aset exaggerated a little. She did see the two talking though, so who was to say it wasn’t flirting? “Babi!? Huh? That’s good. Babi would make a fine husband for her and would ally the Sun and Moon Kingdoms even more.” Khonsu seemed pleased. Babi was a Sun Prince, but he was good friends with Thoth and was often in the Moon Kingdom visiting and merry-making with his son. “Yes, but maybe she could go with Thoth before that. She has always shown an interest in learning worldly things. Perhaps the exposure to the modern world would bring her out of her shell a bit more, and it would make me very happy if I knew there was someone we trusted with him.” Aset pushed even further. “Besides, we can’t send him in as one of us, he has to pretend to be a human, and she could be another set of eyes for us.” Khonsu thought a few moments more and then agreed. Seshet would fit in fine. She was young and looked like a typical college coed. Her presence there would ensure that if Thoth fell into any danger it would be reported immediately. “Fine, fine, now how do we go about applying to get my son into college?”