Recreated (19 page)

I completely ignored him while Amun-Ra twitched, clearly at his wits' end with Horus's lovesickness. “Insufferable as your manners are, you have earned the right to live under my protection for as long as I have the power to keep Seth at bay. And I would remind you that he is contained. Your exile in Heliopolis is self-imposed.”

I spoke up. “So when did that happen? Imprisoning Seth, I mean.”

“Despite my feelings on the subject,” Amun-Ra said, “the gods rallied against Seth after he nearly killed Horus, and he was cast out from our home. For a while, he left us in peace. But then Seth realized that if he destroyed the things we'd wrought, the energies of our designs, as feeble and as mortal as they were, would also return to the Waters of Chaos. Those energies would then be refashioned, and a portion, regardless of how minuscule it was, would remain with him. Wars erupted. Murderers thrived. Bloodthirsty men took power. We did what we could to counteract it, but the vow we'd made to use our powers for the benefit of others kept our hands tied. We were unable to contain him. All we could do was try to fix what he destroyed. But he became so skillful at wreaking devastation that there was often nothing left to repair.

“This was when Nephthys presented the idea of imbuing humans with our powers. She sought out three worthy young men who were willing to sacrifice themselves to protect their loved ones, and we gifted the striplings with the power to keep Seth contained. Because they were not limited by our vow, they were able to do what we could not.”

“Not all of the gifts were willingly given, I'll remind you,” Horus murmured.

Arching a brow, Amun-Ra said, “Some were reluctant, and I'll admit I was one of them. I was certain we could talk to Seth and figure out a way to resolve his concerns.”

“That's why I had to step up,” Horus said. “The Ennead approached us for help, and when Amun-Ra wouldn't comply, I had to offer my powers, as well as the golden falcon, to your Amon.”

I reached across the table and took his hand, and so incredulously happy was his expression, you would think I'd just agreed to marry him. “I've ridden on the back of the falcon,” I said. “He's beautiful. I can see why you miss him.”

Horus wrapped his fingers around mine and squeezed lightly, giving me a genuine smile for the first time, and not one glazed by lust. “He's been my truest companion since he saved me in the desert,” Horus said earnestly.

I half smiled in return and slowly removed my hand from his. “So Amon and his brothers keep Seth locked up for you, then, by performing the rite they do every thousand years?” I asked.

“Yes. They are the…How should I put it so that you can understand? They are the gatekeepers, the guardians of the prison,” Amun-Ra answered. “But they did not create its walls. A bigger sacrifice was necessary before we could contain him.”

My fingertips tightened on the table edge. “A bigger sacrifice than the Sons of Egypt giving up their lives time and time again? Not being able to live or love freely? Never being able to find happiness for themselves or having a family of their own?”

“Yes,” Amun-Ra answered frankly.

“What's a bigger sacrifice than that?” I demanded.

“We lost our grandparents,” Horus murmured.

“What?”

“Our grandparents, Shu and Tefnut, willingly gave up their corporeal forms and created a place in the cosmos, a prison made of wind and water that confines Seth. Every millennium, bits and pieces of the beings they once were siphon off and return to the Waters of Chaos. The Sons of Egypt provide reinforcement but it's really only a matter of time until the prison is weakened enough that he will break through,” Horus said.

Stunned, I asked, “Well, what will you do then?”

“Amun-Ra thinks we should just let it happen. Let Seth come for us.”

“But that means he'll kill you all,” I said.

“Probably,” Horus answered. “What's worse, though, is that he'll destroy everything we've created. Including your world.”

“Anubis said he'd enslave us if he got free,” I murmured.

“That's likely,” Horus said. “Either that or he'd just unmake the entire planet.”

“Look, if there's one thing in the universe worth living for, worth fighting for, it's love. I love Amon. He's suffering and I want to stop his suffering, plain and simple. If that helps the world, even better. If that means Seth stays incarcerated for another couple thousand years, then I'm good with that. I consider him your problem, not mine. Now, the two of you can either help us find Amon or we'll figure out a way to do it ourselves.

“I'm not asking for you to watch over me, lend me power, or even protect me from what awaits us. Odds are we won't even survive, but we've got to try. All I want is permission to travel to the netherworld. Nothing more. I appreciate your story. I understand your dilemma. But we've been sitting here rehashing the past long enough. It's time to take action.

“So I guess the real question is, Are you two gods going to stand up and act like the omnipotent, omniscient beings you're supposed to be? Or are you going to sit here and wallow in the past until it's too late to accomplish anything meaningful and, as a result, relegate the innocent who have done nothing to deserve your disregard to a fate worse than death?”

Amun-Ra tapped his lip with a forefinger, contemplating what he was going to do with me, while Horus smiled broadly. “Oh, I
like
her, Uncle. Please say I can keep her.”

The sun god ignored his nephew and instead studied me. Finally, he shook his head. “I cannot help you.” When I opened my mouth to protest, he held up his finger. “It goes against everything I believe to assist any member of my family in the overthrowing of another. If Seth escapes, he escapes, and I will use the opportunity to guide him in the correct path as I did before. I must remain neutral, no matter the consequences, no matter the cost.”

“But—” I managed to get out before he cut me off.

“However, I will make no attempt to stop you should you wish to travel to the netherworld.”

“You know he'll never agree to take her without your approval,” Horus protested.

“Lily and Tia have a pronounced ability to talk immortals into supporting their agenda. I have no doubt they'll convince him.”

“Who's him?” I asked, but both gods disregarded my question.

Amun-Ra rose from his chair and a servant girl immediately appeared. “Please escort this young sphinx to a sleeping chamber,” he instructed her, “and do not allow Horus to know which one.”

The girl nodded and indicated I should follow. Horus cried out in surprise, making a fumbling attempt to jostle his way around Amun-Ra to join me. “Relax, Nephew, you shall see her again before she departs on the morrow.”

After we turned down several hallways and smooth-tiled corridors, the girl came to a stop.

“Here is your chamber,” she said. “I'll return just before dawn to help you with your ritual bath.”

“Ritual bath?” I echoed.

“Yes. You do wish to enter the netherworld, correct?”

“I do. I just didn't know there was a special bath involved.”

“To enter the afterlife as a mortal, you must first cross the sky river and present yourself for judgment. If accepted, you will then be granted access to the netherworld.”

“Judgment? Who will be judging us?” I asked.

“Ma'at, of course. Your heart must be weighed. That is why you must prepare yourself ahead of time.”

The object that was now the subject of our discussion began thumping wildly.
Are they going to rip it out of my chest? Was I going to have to die before walking the pathways of the afterlife and the netherworld?

After she left, I paced the room until Tia reminded me that I needed to rest. She was right; I wouldn't have enough energy to convince the gatekeeper to the afterlife, let alone save Amon. Obediently, I washed my face and put on the nightgown the servant had laid out.

I settled into the bed, closing my eyes and attempting to sleep, but several hours passed until rest found me. Even then, my dreams took me to the netherworld.

Amon was awake and traveling through a forest, unlike any I'd ever seen before. The blue trees shimmered, moving in the breeze like wind chimes, their leaves coated with what appeared to be sparkling minerals or sugar.

Though it was raining and he turned his open mouth to the sky, Amon caught nothing. His lips were chapped and he tried continually to wet them. That was when I saw her. A tiny sprite with translucent wings sat in the crook between the trunk and a branch of the tree watching him.

Finally, he spotted the little tree sprite. “I won't hurt you,” he said kindly. “Please, don't be afraid.”

“I'm not afraid,” she said with a touch of an accent I couldn't place. “There are beasties who come to the Turquoise Forest who are much more frightening than you are. You're a strange sort of monster.” She put her hands on her tiny waist.

“Am I?” he responded with a tired smile.

“Oh yes. Are ya going ta try ta sting me like the ol' scorpion? Perhaps ya can't. It looks as if yer tail is missing.”

“I don't have a tail.”

“Pity. His tail is rather impressive. There's not much about ya that's impressive as far as I can see. Are ya a dosser, then?”

“I'm not sure what a dosser is. And I'm much more impressive with my weapons.”

“A dosser's a fella up to no good. I don't see any weapons.”

“No, then I'm not a dosser. My weapons are magical. I call them from the sand.”

The sprite frowned. “We don't trust magical folk, but seeing as how yer knackered nigh ta death, ya don't seem to pose much of a threat. Been gawking at ya for the last two days.”

“Oh. That's…good, I suppose?”

“Depends. I see your thirst is somethin' terrible.”

“It is. I feel like a desiccated corpse left to dry to a husk in the blazing sun.”

“Awful for ya, then, isn't it?” She scowled and then muttered, “I heard ya! Stop interferin', ya thick excuse for a tree. I suppose we can help,” she said reluctantly to Amon.

“Can you?”

“Yes.” Then a mischievous twinkle lit the fairy's eye. “Must be hard ta be so thirsty when it's been bucketing down like 'tis.” She smiled mysteriously and lowered her voice. “I know how ta ask the tree ta give up her water. And ya can't tell anyone that we helped ya, either,” she warned. “It's my job ta guard this tree. If all the creatures in the netherworld knew how ta take her water, well, there wouldn't be any left for the trees, then, would there?”

“No, I suppose there wouldn't be.”

The tree sprite crooked her finger at Amon to call him closer. “The secret,” she whispered, “is in the wantin'. You can't want it.”

“Not want it?” Amon questioned with a bewildered expression.

“Right. If the tree knows ya want it, then she won't let ya have it. She doesn't trust men very much.”

“I see.” Amon nodded soberly and took a step back, examining the great tree that stretched wide limbs over his head. “Well, Tree, I'm not thirsty. Nope. Not needing a drink at all, though I just crossed the desert of a thousand burning suns, where it was hot enough to make even a hell demon sweat and beg for relief.”

Slowly, a thin limb crept closer to Amon and a broad blue leaf unfurled, showing that it held nearly a cupful of water.

Drinking deeply, Amon licked the last wet drops from his lips and smiled warmly. “Thank you. I wonder how it is that you and your tree ended up stuck in the netherworld.”

The sprite said sadly, “We were tricked into coming here.”

“Tricked? How?” he asked.

“This is a fairy tree and she used ta be on the top of a lovely hill in Ireland.”

Now her accent made sense. She spoke with a lovely lilt to her voice—an Irish brogue I could listen to for hours. “An' I loved her even before I even knew she was magical,” she said. “I'd sit beneath her and dream about far-off places. Climb her branches and gaze up at the stars. It was a grand thing.

“One day a stranger eyed me at the market. Full of ill intent, he chased me until I found myself near the tree. She must'a known I was in danger, because the trunk opened and I leapt inside. It was dark, but it was better than what the man had planned for me.”

“What happened then?” Amon asked.

“The man began chantin' a spell and the tree shook. The trunk cracked and great drops of sap trickled down over my hands. I heard the crash of one heavy limb and then another. The man said she had to give up either me or her heart. Ya see, when a fairy tree gives up its heart, it releases great power.

“But she loved me and refused. Instead, she did something forbidden. She pierced the man's heart and killed 'im. She was struck down for it, died with me inside, and was sent here to the netherworld. When she was planted in the Turquoise Forest, my form changed ta this. Now it's my job ta take care of her, just like she took care of me.”

“And you do a good job of it. Do you mind if I rest here awhile?” he asked.

“Do what ya like,” the sprite said.

Amon put his back to the wide tree trunk and sank down to the forest floor, resting his arms on his knees and pressing his head against them.

“Amon?” I called. The sprite didn't react to my voice, but I sensed someone else was there watching me while I dreamed. “Amon?” I cried again.

“I'm here,” a voice behind me answered.

“Amon!” I spun around and was in his arms before another second passed. I took his face in my hands and kissed his lips, his cheeks, never wanting to let him go.

He laughed and then groaned. “Lily, you're crushing me.”

“Oh! I'm sorry.” I took an awkward step back, but he offered me a sweet smile as he took hold of my shoulders and drew me close again.

Tilting his head, he studied me, the happy expression mixed together with one of curiosity. “You're stronger,” he said. “Different.”

“I know, I—”

“Wait.” Amon ran his fingertip down my cheek. “Let me look at you first.”

As Amon peered into my eyes, I got the sense he was looking for something specific. There was no sense of romance in his gaze.

“Are you using the Eye of Horus?”

“Yes,” he murmured distractedly.

“What do you see?” I whispered, almost afraid of the answer.

He opened his mouth but paused, his eyes widening. “There's…there's too much.” His glazed eyes focused on me once again, and the corners of his mouth turned up. “I'm just glad you're here,” he said finally.

“Amon.” Gripping his hand, I looked around and pulled him back to the tree where his sleeping body rested. Biting my lip, I purposely moved to the other side of the trunk and sank down to the thick grass at its base, pulling him along with me. “We need to talk.”

He nodded and stretched up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. His hand lingered there briefly, and then he captured both of my hands in his, as if afraid that if he let go, I'd disappear.

“First of all, you should know that I'm currently in Heliopolis.”

Amon started. “You've made it that far already?”

“Haven't you been watching me when you dream?”

He shook his head. “Not in the last few days. I haven't been able to sleep as often as I'd like. Besides, I don't need sleep as much as a mortal, and this place affords very few safe places to rest.”

I let out a breath, half relieved that he hadn't seen Horus's advances. “Right. Well, I've asked Amun-Ra for help, but so far he's not too interested. Horus, on the other hand…”

“Horus's hands will be tied if Amun-Ra refuses aid.”

“Oh.”

“It's still a long way to the netherworld, Lily. You should go back. You'll be safe. Nebu will take you.”

“I can't. Not when we're so close.”

Amon cupped my face in his hands. “This is enough, Nehabet,” he said, gazing into my eyes. “What you've achieved is more than I could wish for. Being able to touch you, to hold you in my dreams, will carry me through endless torments.”

Grasping his hands, I pulled them to my lips and kissed his palms tenderly. “It's not enough for me,” I said softly. “I'm coming for you, Amon, whether you wish it or not.”

He sighed softly and collapsed against the tree trunk. “I suppose I'm not surprised. You always were stubborn.”

“Not stubborn,” I said. “Determined.”

His mouth twitched. “A determined sphinx. The gods must be shaking on their golden thrones.”

“Not all of them,” I sighed, tracing the lines on his palms. I glanced up at his handsome face through lowered lashes to find him watching me. “What is it?” I asked.