Forgotten Gods, page 2
I managed a small smile in return before pulling my attention away and taking my seat at one of the long tables. Isis and Osiris sat at the other end, completely engrossed in conversation with one another and as in love as they had been thousands of years ago. At least they weren't as bad as Nut and Geb, though thankfully, I was yet to see either of them or their outrageous displays of affection this evening.
A priestess appeared and poured some wine into my goblet.
"Thanks," I responded, picking it up and swirling it around. The heady scent of Egyptian wine reached my nose. It was probably a vintage from one of the wine gods who supplied the banquets at Karnak when they weren't busy tending to their fields.
I scanned the room, taking note of who was here, and who was conspicuously missing. Seth's absence wasn't a surprise, he was busy in his compound out in the desert doing whatever it was that Seth did when no one was watching. I couldn't say I was particularly sad about that, though his wife's absence was more of a pity, Nephthys was always good company at events like this and could be trusted to make amusing asides.
Without meaning to, my gaze landed on Maahes again and I took a moment to appreciate him, something I didn't think I'd ever actually done before. His skin shone in the light of the banquet hall and his muscles looked even better from here. I didn't think anyone would have any trouble guessing he was a war god.
If they believed in gods to begin with. Considering how much our power had waned in the past two thousand years, believers weren't particularly common any more.
I sighed and pulled my attention away, brushing my hair out of my face and focusing on getting something to eat. I wasn't sure why I'd bothered to come to the banquet. I never had a particularly good time these days, there was always something dull about them compared to when we were at the height of our power. Then, it was all about forging alliances and making political moves.
Now it was just because we were bored.
"Is everything all right, Ma'at?" Isis asked, her attention seeming to have pulled away from her husband while he talked to one of the priests.
I forced a smile to my face and nodded at the other goddess. "As always."
She raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything to contradict me. No doubt she was well aware of the direction of my thoughts. She probably had some similar ones herself. "I heard that Horus has retreated to his temple in Luxor again."
"Mmm, I believe he and Hathor ran into one another on one of the rare occasions she left her temple here." Which was hardly ever considering how much of a recluse Hathor could be. But who was I to talk? I only really left my temple when my attendance was necessary at an event such as this.
"Ah, that would explain it. I've never truly understood why the two of them dislike one another so much," Isis mused.
I shrugged. "Who are we to understand the way of gods?"
She let out an amused laugh. "I suppose we have no chance if we haven't worked them out in the past few thousand years of knowing them."
"Hmm." I took a drink from my goblet, savouring the wine.
"Though I don't know about you, but it feels as if there's change in the air," Isis said.
"Change? How?" If she said she thought the humans were going to go back to the old ways, then I would be disappointed. I'd like to think she was more intelligent than that. But as the less senior goddess of the two of us, I wouldn't correct her.
"It just is," Isis responded somewhat cryptically. "Sometimes the air has something about it that signals change, this is one of those times."
"I see." I didn't, but who was I to argue with someone as important as Isis? She was the first-ever Queen and powerful beyond any measure.
Osiris reached out and brushed a hand against her arm, bringing her attention back to him.
I almost sighed with relief. Better that she was talking to him than confusing me with all her talk of things changing. It wasn't that I didn't believe her, she was probably right. It was more that I didn't see how any of that would affect us when we were slipping closer and closer towards obscurity with every passing year.
Change wasn't going to mean anything good, for any of us.
Chapter 3
The heat of the waning day hit me as I reached the roof of Karnak temple, but it was welcome and felt like home. I made my way to the edge of the building and leaned against the stone wall. I closed my eyes and let the light wind brush through my hair and push my dress against my body.
The whole experience was soothing in a way that I rarely found anything else to be, perhaps because being on top of the temple gave me a chance to actually think. Here, there weren't any other gods, any priestesses trying to do my bidding, or any reminders of everything that had been lost with the fall of Ancient Egypt, especially at this time in an evening when the tourist side of the temple was closed for the day.
Just for a moment, I could pretend that everything was how it always had been, and that nothing had changed. It was a pointless dream and imagining, but I liked it nonetheless.
Scuffling sounded below, but I ignored it. No doubt it would be someone going about the daily business of running the temple.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise anyone was up here."
My eyes snapped open and I turned to find Maahes standing at the top of the stairs that had brought me to the top of the temple, a genuine look of surprise on his face.
"Ma'at," he said, even more surprise showing as he recognised me. He must have expected someone else.
"Maahes," I responded, mostly because I had no idea how else to.
"I should go." He gestured back down the stairs but didn't move.
I shook my head. "It's fine. I can leave."
"You were here first."
"So now it's your turn," I said, stepping away from the edge.
"Or there's room for two," he responded. "I have some beer from Bes." He lifted a flagon.
"No glasses though."
A smile lifted the corner of his lips. "Are you trying to tell me you've never drunk beer straight out of the jar before?"
"Would you believe me if I said no?"
He chuckled, a rich sound that I found I liked more than I thought I would. "No."
"You'd be right." I moved over so there was more space for him.
He came to stand beside me, the heat radiating from him surprisingly comfortable. He pulled the stopper off his beer and took a swig before handing it to me.
My fingers brushed against his as I took it from him, a strange feeling coming over me as I did. I pushed it to the side. I was probably just feeling that way because of everything that was going on with my feather and it wasn't actually anything to do with Maahes himself.
I took a sip of the beer, almost surprised to find it was good. I should have guessed. If it came from Bes, then it was bound to be good considering he was the patron of beer brewers, among other things.
"Thanks." I handed it back.
"You're welcome."
"I didn't realise anyone else spent any time up here," I said as I looked out at the dunes, enjoying the way the sand danced in the evening breeze.
"There are stairs."
I rolled my eyes. "I know that, but I've never run into anyone here before, it's not unreasonable to think that people rarely come up here."
"I do when I'm in residence here," he said. "Mostly when I want to think away from the noise below."
"Same."
He raised an eyebrow. "So things aren't always calm for the goddess of truth, justice, and balance."
"How do you think I stay balanced?" I quipped, holding my hand out for the beer.
Maahes laughed and handed it over. "I don't know whether to believe you or not."
"I come here when I need to think about something specific," I responded. "When something's bothering me."
"Ah. I'm sorry for interrupting that."
"Don't be."
"You can share what's bothering you," he said. "They do say that talking about a problem over beer can be the best medicine."
I didn't meet his gaze and passed the flagon back to him. "It's not really something I can talk about." There was a part of me that wanted to tell him, but I knew it wasn't the best idea. As far as I was aware, Maahes was trustworthy, but I had no actual frame of reference for that. Trusting him would be foolish.
"Ah, you're feeling weak," he said, his gaze not straying from the dunes.
"I didn't say anything of the sort."
The expression on his face told me what I already knew. I'd responded too quickly for him to even begin to believe me.
I sighed. "It's probably just fewer people saying my name."
"Mmm, I think we're all suffering from that," he responded. "But it might not be that." He held out the beer to me.
I frowned, taking it and drinking some of it down. "What makes you think that?" Even if I shouldn't be talking about this with him, I had to admit to being intrigued.
"Have you been keeping tabs on Seth?"
I shrugged. "He's in his compound licking his wounds from the last time we all put him in his place."
"That was hundreds of years ago," Maahes pointed out.
"He has a big ego, it takes him that long to even start recovering after he's been released again."
"I see your spy network isn't what it used to be."
"I've never had one," I responded. "I'm the goddess of truth."
"Among other things."
"Yes, but they aren't as pertinent right now. I don't trade in rumours, I work in facts."
"Sometimes those things are linked," he said, looking out at the dunes. "Particularly where war is involved."
"Hmm."
"Can't you tell if I'm being truthful?" he asked.
"No."
Surprise flitted over his face.
"And now you know a secret of mine. Everyone assumes I'm able to tell the truth from lies, and they act accordingly. But my magic has never actually done that. I can only discern one from the other thanks to millennia of practice." I wasn't sure what made the words come tumbling out of my mouth, but they were out in the open before I'd had a chance to consider whether revealing it to him was a good idea or not. At least I'd missed out the part where some of my priestesses were able to discern truth from lies.
"Or are you just telling me this so I think you can't tell?" he asked.
I turned to him, a smile curling at my lips. "I suppose that depends on whether or not you believe I'm capable of lying?"
He leaned in, bringing us surprisingly close together. "I imagine that you're an accomplished liar, Ma'at," he murmured.
"But?"
"How do you know there's a but?"
"I can sense it."
"Another one of your powers?"
"I made it my job to learn how to read people long ago. There's a lot that can be discerned from the way someone says things, how they move, or what beer they bring to the top of the temple." I took the flagon from him, not breaking eye contact the entire time.
He cleared his throat. "I think if you lie, you lie well, but you don't do it often."
"You'd be right." I took a sip of beer. "So, tell me about Seth."
"There's not much to tell. Some of my spy networks have reported more comings and goings at Seth's compound. There might not actually be anything in it, but last time that happened..."
"He was amassing more allies," I finished for him. "I remember." I tried not to feel the frustration growing within me. Why was Seth like this? Every few hundred years or so he'd do everything he could to send the gods into a war. I wasn't entirely sure what his goal was other than chaos. Perhaps there wasn't one. He certainly took his godly role to the extreme when it came to melding it to his personality.
"I'll ask them to investigate further," Maahes said.
"You shouldn't put them in danger."
He shrugged. "They're priests to a war god, they enjoy a little danger."
I snorted. "Do you really think that's true?"
"Now? Yes. In the past? No. I'm aware that at one point entering the priesthood was seen as a good way of life, and that people would enter the temple that had space for them and their skill set. But things are different now. People are choosing based on who they actually want to serve, or what suits their abilities. We all have spaces."
"Hmm."
"You don't believe me?"
"Would it bother you if I didn't?" I asked.
"Not particularly."
I laughed. "Unexpected. But I do believe you, I just hadn't given much thought to it."
"Probably because you're one of the gods with the most followers still remaining," he pointed out. "Which would also make me think that if you're feeling a disturbance in your powers, it's not to do with your followers and all to do with something disrupting the balance in the world."
I sighed and leaned against the wall. "I hate to admit it, but I think you might be right."
"People tend to dislike it when I am."
I smiled sadly. "I don't dislike that you are, just that I'm going to have to do something about this."
"Again."
"Again," I echoed.
"I'll send a message when I've heard from my priests again."
"Thank you, Maahes. I appreciate it. And the impromptu beer and talk." I smiled at him. "I should get going. I hope you get the peace you came up here for." I pushed away from the wall without giving him a chance to protest.
"Any time, Ma'at."
A warm feeling that had nothing to do with the beer we'd been drinking spread through me at the sound of my name on his lips. Our gazes met and an unspoken understanding passed between us.
I didn't know how I was certain of it, but I could tell that the two of us shared an understanding that went deeper than I would have thought.
Perhaps it had been a mistake for me not to be talking to the war god the entire time.
I pushed the thoughts to the side and descended the stairs, all the time resisting the urge to look back. I had a lot to think about following our conversation, and something told me I wasn't going to be focusing on the parts of it that I should be.
Chapter 4
Priestesses bustled around the room tending to their various jobs. Despite the fact this was my own temple, I actually had no idea what most of them were doing. That was the domain of someone other than me, as it had been for a long time. In general, it was considered standard that the gods and goddesses would tend to the large issues, while our followers tended to the smaller needs of life.
And considering that most of my priestesses were demi-goddesses who had been alive for hundreds of years themselves, things ran well within my walls.
"Your Eminence."
I turned to find a young priestess I vaguely recognised as being a new recruit. Well, new-ish, compared to the rest of them. "How can I help you, Edrice?"
Her face showed her surprise that I knew her name, though I wasn't about to admit that I was surprised by that myself. It had only come to me at the last second.
"There's been a request for an audience from Ra," she said.
I sighed, hoping my displeasure wasn't too obvious. "All right, give me a moment and I can receive him by the pools." I gestured to the private area at the back of the main room of my temple.
"Oh, he isn't here now, Your Eminence. He wants to set up a meeting."
The urge to roll my eyes was almost impossible to ignore even if it would look bad. "All right, will you find out when he's free and choose the least objectionable time to propose the meeting?" I asked.
Edrice nodded. "Of course, Your Eminence."
"And send a letter to Geshtinanna, Ra is particularly fond of her wine, I'd better have some for when he arrives."
"I believe we already have a bottle in the stores, but I'll still send the message."
"Thank you. And if you could also check the stores to make sure we have enough fruit and nuts for guests?" I had no idea what the state of our stores currently was, which was something I should change.
"Does that include for me?" an unexpected voice said.
Warmth filled me and I turned slowly, trying not to betray how pleased I was that Maahes was in my temple.
"Your Eminence," Edrice said, dipping her head in his direction.
"I wasn't expecting you," I said to the war god.
He nodded. "If now isn't a good time, I can leave."
"Now is fine," I assured him. "Edrice, will you fetch some refreshments and bring them to us?"
"Of course, Your Eminence." She bowed and hurried off. If she was shocked about my choice of guest, she wasn't showing it.
"We should get comfortable," I said to Maahes, gesturing for him to follow me.
I pushed aside one of the semi-sheer curtains and ducked into the structure, revealing the crystal clear pool that made up the favourite part of my temple.
"I'm not sure why you need to go up to the top of Karnak when you have something like this in your living quarters," Maahes said as he took it in.
I laughed. "It's balance, Maahes. Always."
"Is there anything you do that isn't about your aspects?"
"Do any of the gods really do anything that isn't linked to them?" I asked, sitting down on one of the carved benches and looking out across the shimmering water. A few lotuses floated across the surface, but other than that, there was nothing in them.
"I would like to think I'm more than just a war god."
"You can also shift into a lion," I pointed out.
"Ah, you've been researching me."
"Hardly. We live in a temple that has all of our lives chronicled on the walls. All I had to do was stop at a couple depicting you and I knew all I needed to."
He raised an eyebrow. "So you think you know me just because of some wall paintings? And here I was thinking you were a smart woman. Weren't you just saying that you knew what Ra's favourite wine was?"
"Ra isn't difficult," I pointed out. "He just likes the best things he can get his hands on."
"Ah, he's still sore because of the humans conflating him with Amun for a thousand years or so?"
