Servant of Chaos (Forgotten Gods Book 3) Page 6

  "Aren't you a god, sire?" I immediately regretted my question, especially as Motep sucked in a sharp breath.

  "Indeed, I am," Seth answered. "And you'd do well to remember that fact. And that you are a slave hardly worthy of my note."

  I bowed my head, but not in subservience. I didn't want him to realise that every word he said lit the fire of rebellion within me. I was growing more determined to find a way to topple him.

  "It looks like they've finished down there." Seth waved his hand towards Ra's retinue.

  I looked over the wall and gasped. Debris and bodies lay strewn against the sandy floor. Tears sprang to my eyes. I'd risked my life trying to warn them about this, and it had all been for nothing.

  "I do hope one of them isn't your god." He swept away and down the stairs.

  It didn't matter that I knew nothing as simple as a stab wound would be able to hurt Abu. Seth's words still stung. I worried for him, and knew there was no way of alleviating that until I met up with him. That night couldn't come soon enough.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  THE BEATING of my heart was the only sound I could focus on. If I was caught, then a whipping would be the least of my problems, especially with the hieroglyphic covered parchment that was hidden down the front of my dress. If I had it in my hand, then there was a chance I could have played it off as nothing more than an order from Seth himself, but I wasn't sure what the words on the page meant. Actually, that was inaccurate. I could understand most of the words. I just wasn't able to piece together what they meant together.

  Which was how I knew it was important. Abu needed to see it. After finding the parchment on Seth's desk while I'd been tidying, I'd made a hasty copy of it. Yet another reason being caught would end badly. But I'd had no choice. If the parchment had gone missing, Seth would have known something was wrong, and that could have dire consequences for a lot of people. Me included.

  I glanced back and forth, trying to make sure I was alone in the garden before I crossed it. Seth didn't often bother with guards on the entrances. Everyone knew the penalty for running away, so no one tried.

  That was going to make all the difference to me tonight.

  I strolled across the garden, even though every part of me wanted to run. Nothing would make me look more suspicious though, so I held my pace.

  "Rhodopis?" a voice snarled.

  I cursed at the sound of Charaxos saying my name. I hated the way he did, with enough stress that I knew what he was thinking about at any given moment. He'd just have easily taken me after Seth had done his whipping.

  I held back the shudder that wanted to rip through me.

  "I'm sorry, Charaxos, I'm on an errand." The lie tripped more smoothly from my tongue than it had any right to.

  "What errand? I haven't been told of any errand."

  "That's because we work in different departments," I pointed out.

  He scowled. "Where's your little friend?" he demanded. "She'll do instead."

  Sophia. Her name rattled around inside me, breaking my heart all over again. No matter how happy I was to have found Abu, her death hung over me in a way I didn't enjoy.

  "She's dead," I reminded him. Surely he already knew? No one in the entire temple could have avoided the knowledge of her death. It certainly haunted me in a way I'd never forget. Her vacant eyes, the stench of blood.

  "Probably got what was coming to her," he muttered.

  I bit my tongue. Fighting to defend Sophia's honour wasn't going to get me out of here any faster, and it certainly wasn't going to go unnoticed. Charaxos would no doubt take his own twisted sort of revenge before he even told Seth about what I'd been up to.

  I'd never hated this temple more.

  "I'd like to get on my way," I said evenly.

  "What errand are you on?" He looked as if he wanted to reach out and grab hold of my arm, to shake me into submission or some other dastardly deed like that.

  "I was asked not to reveal the details to anyone." I was full of lies this evening. I had to be.

  "I'm not just anyone."

  "You are," I returned quickly. "You're a slave, just like me. You only think you have more freedom than the rest of us." And maybe he did. But it wasn't enough that he could lord it over me the way he did.

  A scowl crossed his face, deep enough that it was easy to see in the moonlight.

  "I really must be going." I gestured in the opposite direction to where I needed to be. That was safest. "As always, it has been wonderful talking to you." Sarcasm dripped from my tongue. I usually held it back, but tonight I'd had enough.

  Charaxos opened his mouth as if to retort, but I didn't give him the time. I stormed off in the direction I'd indicated, leaving him behind and speechless.

  Once I was out of sight, I leaned back against one of the big stone walls and let out a huge sigh of relief. That hadn't gone the way I'd intended it to, but I was glad to be out of Charaxos' way. He was a bully at the best of times, and I knew it would only get worse if I'd stayed around.

  I waited for as long as I dared before venturing out into the garden once more, this time sticking to the shadows. I might look more suspicious if anyone saw me, but I just had to hope that they didn't. It was the best chance I had of getting to the door and into the desert itself.

  Slipping through an open doorway, I stumbled and nearly lost one of my shoes. I let out a small yip of surprise, before catching myself. I checked around, hoping no one was nearby to hear me. If someone decided to check on what had happened, then I could end up in another conversation like I had with Charaxos. Unless it was Amun, then he'd probably help me get out of the temple. The more I thought about it, the more his presence here felt strange to me. But I'd never have an explanation, that much was a certainty.

  No one came forward, and I breathed a sigh of relief. If I was going to keep sneaking out of the temple, then I was going to have to come up with a better plan than I had in place right now, or I could end up in real trouble.

  I didn't let my guard down, even as I approached the door that would lead me out into the sandy desert beyond. Then I just needed to cross it without being spotted and get to the oasis. Then back before dawn. There was no reason to be worried about any of that.

  At least, that was what I kept telling myself. I should have planned this out better, but I'd been worried that if I had, I'd have realised the dangers I faced and have chickened out.

  Without a backward glance to the temple, I slipped through the door and out of the compound grounds.

  The air felt different out here, and it took me a moment to realise that was because this was the first time I'd been outside since I'd been bought. Several thousand years. It was a long time to go without feeling freedom on my face and in my hair.

  I dallied longer than I should have done, but I wanted to enjoy the moment. No. I deserved to enjoy the moment.

  But Abu was waiting for me, and I didn't want to keep him. Not when I had information that could help Ra avoid whatever disaster Seth was planning.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  I KNEW he was there the moment I stepped into the oasis. I didn't know how I knew, just that I did. The cool evening breeze wafted through the trees, giving this place a peaceful quality that Seth's temple didn't have. This was the kind of place where I wanted to spend my time.

  He paced by the banks of the pool of water, clearly nervous about our coming meeting. He didn't need to be, but I supposed he had no way of knowing if I'd gotten out of the temple without any problems yet.

  I didn't call out. There was no way I wanted to risk it in case someone had followed me. While Seth didn't need guards, I wouldn't have put it past him to have people stationed along the walls anyway. Hidden and out of sight. Or maybe that wasn't chaotic enough for him. I wasn't sure how seriously he took his vocation among the gods.

  "Abu," I half-whispered once I was close enough.

  He spun around, his eyes lighting up the moment his gaze locked with mine.

  "R
hodopis," he returned.

  Unlike when Charaxos had said my name, I liked it when Abu said it, even if we'd gotten off to a bad start in the bathhouse. But the way he said it was filled with reverence and all the positive emotions I hadn't realised were missing in my life until he'd shown up.

  The moment we were close enough, he pulled me into his arms, crushing his lips to mine and kissing me as if he was dying of thirst.

  I melted into him, enjoying the feel of his hand against my back and the way our bodies touched at every possible point. His other hand pushed back the headscarf I'd put on to keep the sand out of my eyes and mouth, letting my hair fall out. He threaded his fingers through it, tugging lightly.

  I groaned into his mouth, not in pain, but for the way he made me feel.

  Eventually, we pulled apart, both of us breathing heavily. Neither of us said a word. On my part, I didn't want to change the way it felt between the two of us. The connection we shared. But I knew we had to. We needed to talk about the things I'd found, and what had happened when they'd been on their way away from the temple.

  "Have they mistreated you?" Abu asked. "You're not flinching when I touch your back."

  "I heal quickly." I always have done.

  "That's because you're a goddess," he pointed out. I should have known this was going to come up again.

  "Or I'm just lucky," I countered. "Or it could be due to the fact I am a demi-goddess." Most of the long-lived slaves were. It was what made us so valuable.

  "I don't think that's true." He brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes.

  "It's immaterial." I waved away his theory. "But no, they haven't done anything else to me since you left."

  "Good. I'd march back in there and give them a piece of my mind if I had to," he vowed.

  Despite myself, a giggle escaped. "Is it bad that a small part of me wants to see that?"

  He chuckled in return. "Not at all. I think Seth has it coming, but I doubt I'll be the one who does it." He drew me over to where a blanket lay on the ground, a spread of cold meats and fresh fruit laid out for the two of us.

  "This is beautiful," I whispered.

  "I thought it would be worth making this a little bit less of a meeting and more of a get-together. I can't describe the depth of my feelings for you and I don't want you to get the wrong idea about them by not offering you refreshments while you tell me what you know."

  "That sounds so formal," I quipped. "Is there something I should have brought?"

  "Nothing beyond your beautiful self."

  I smiled despite the cheesiness of what he was saying.

  "What happened when you left the temple?" I asked once we were both seated.

  "Wine?"

  I nodded, then waited for him to continue.

  "You were right. Seth had something planned. An attack of some kind. We're not entirely sure what his full plan was, but we guessed enough of it to be able to cope."

  "How?" I gaped at him before realising it probably looked ridiculous and took a sip of my wine instead.

  "We faked it. We have a couple of priests with strong illusion powers and they managed to create what looked like a battle and the aftermath."

  "So, no one fought?" I double-checked. "And no one got hurt?"

  He shook his head. "There wasn't a single drop of blood spilt on either side."

  "But...Seth's soldiers didn't say anything about there not being any of your retinue there," I pointed out, confusion setting in. "That doesn't make any sense."

  He chuckled. "We took a little bit of a risk there. We assumed that none of Seth's men would want to admit that there'd been no fighting, especially when the aftermath could be seen from Seth's vantage point. You can't tell me that any of them want to admit to having failed?"

  "Alright, that's a good point. And kind of genius."

  "Why thank you," he ceded. "None of it would have been possible without you."

  A blush rose to my cheeks, but I hid it by reaching out and taking one of the grapes from in front of me. I popped it into my mouth and bit down, filling my mouth with the sweet juice from it.

  "I found something," I said softly, hoping that with this revelation, we could get the business part of the evening out of the way and move on to the more important part.

  "You did?" His eyes lit up.

  I reached down the front of my dress and pulled out a piece of parchment. "I copied it, so there may be some mistakes. I couldn't make any sense of what it is though." I handed it over, glad to be rid of the incriminating piece of evidence. I might be able to talk my way out of trouble in regards to coming out to the oasis, but I doubted I'd be able to get away with having a copied plan of some kind on me.

  Abu unscrolled the parchment and began to read. His brow furrowed. "It looks as if it's some kind of battle formation. But that can't be right."

  "Why not?" Battle plans would be consistent with Seth's obsession with taking over the world.

  "There can't be battles like there were. Mankind would take pictures, videos. They'd spread the word that gods and goddesses walked among them."

  "But isn't that a good thing?" I took another sip of my wine. "The more people believe in you, the stronger you'll become."

  He thought about it for a moment. Or that was what I assumed his silence meant. Sometimes, it was hard to tell.

  "I suppose there is some merit in that, but I don't think that is the case here."

  Hmm. "What are you going to do with them?" I asked.

  "May I keep it?"

  I nodded. "It's best I don't have it on me in case I'm caught when I sneak back into the temple."

  He opened his mouth, no doubt to tell me that I didn't need to return if I didn't want to. Wisely, he decided not to.

  "I'll hand it to Ra. He and the other gods heading up the movement against Seth will decide what to do with it." He placed it at the bottom of our picnic basket.

  "That sounds like a good idea." A small part of me merely rejoiced in the fact I'd managed to provide something useful.

  "But that's enough for the business side of things. Unless there's more?"

  I shook my head. "I don't think I'm trusted completely again. Not after..." I trailed off, not wanting to remind me of the whipping he'd witnessed me bear.

  "It'll come in time." He shuffled over and put an arm around me.

  I settled into him, enjoying his touch unlike anything else I'd ever experienced before.

  His fingers touched my chin, drawing it towards him so he could kiss me again. Slowly, without taking my lips from his, I lay down on the blanket, bringing him with me until he hovered over me.

  The fabric of my dress fell away easily under his touch. I'd been through these motions before often enough to know what I should be doing, but the touch of his skin against mine was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before, and it just made me desperate. Forgetful.

  His lips left mine, and he trailed kisses down my neck even as a hand slipped under my dress.

  I didn't resist. There was no need to. He was mine, and I was his.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  I BOLTED up the moment the sun warmed me to the point of waking. I didn't want to admit it aloud, but a ball of panic welled up inside me.

  "I need to get back," I blurted the moment I thought Abu was listening.

  He reached up and drew a finger down my cheek.

  Despite the urgency of my thoughts, I closed my eyes, enjoying his touch. I was going to make the most of it, especially as this had to last me another week. And that was so long as I didn't get caught sneaking back into the temple.

  "You don't have to go back," he told me.

  "I do."

  "You could come with me, Rhodopis," he whispered. "We can have a bonding ceremony, and we can talk to Ma'at about doing some kind of truth ceremony to uncover whether or not you're truly a goddess."

  "You aren't going to let the goddess thing drop, are you?" I asked, slightly amused by it.

  "Not until you accept th
at you are one. And I don't just mean you're the goddess of my heart."

  I groaned. "That was terrible."

  He flashed me a satisfied grin. "But you liked it, right?"

  I chuckled. "Yes, I suppose I did." He was wearing me down on the matter, that was for sure.

  He sighed loudly. "You're still not coming with me, are you?"

  "No. There's more I can do from inside Seth's temple."

  "You've done enough. You've already saved the lives of countless demi-gods and priests. These battle plans you found will save more, and probably some human lives too," he pointed out.

  I sighed and pushed a hand over my face. "And is that enough?"

  I didn't need an answer. His expression was enough for me. It wasn't enough. It never would be. Not until Seth had been stopped from doing whatever it was he had planned. This wasn't the first time he'd been stopped over the years, and I doubted it would be the last either. It was a never-ending cycle caused by immortality. And to some extent, boredom. At least, that was my theory.

  "I have to go back," I whispered.

  "For your revenge?" Bitterness seeped through the question.

  "No." Sophia would linger on my mind for years to come, but the moment Abu had told me what I'd stolen, I knew this was bigger than me. "I need to go back because it's the right thing to do. If I disappear now, or even soon, then surely he'll suspect that I've sneaked some secrets out with me? Ra and the others would lose the advantage they otherwise have."

  Abu sighed loudly and twisted his torso around so he could look at me. "The logical part of me knows you're right..."

  "But another part doesn't want me to be," I added. "I know how you're feeling." I wanted to say yes to him. To run away to the temple most of the gods and goddesses lived in, but I couldn't. I had too much that I needed to do.

  "I wished that wasn't the case."

  "It won't be forever." I wasn't even sure if I was lying or not. There was a chance we'd never get out of this cycle. Or that Seth would kill me. I guessed that would prove once and for all that I wasn't the goddess Abu thought I was. Nothing said mortal like dying.