Anna grabbed a comb and two shells lined with kohl and ochre mixed with lard. She motioned Mandy closer. Mandy stepped forward, watching Anna prepare the girl’s hair. She counted quietly as the comb ran through the black silk a hundred times. Anna twisted the soft, moist waves and let it fall over the girl’s shoulders.
She took the first shell and dabbed a bone stylus into the black mixture. Anna carefully lifted the offering’s eyelid, exposing the silver-violet iris. Mandy let a gasp slip out, startled by its beauty. Like an artist working with a masterpiece, Anna sketched a thick line of kohl on the girl’s lower inner eyelid. She let the one eye slide closed and repeated the motion under her other eye. Replenishing the kohl, Anna approached the offering’s upper eyelids next. She carefully pulled the liner over each eye and straight back to the sacrifice’s temples. Anna released a long and steady breath, placed the kohl down, and extended her palm. Mandy handed her the ochre shell. Anna nodded her thanks and painted the thick, glossy red gelatin onto the offering’s parted lips.
Footsteps echoed just as she finished. Anna and Mandy took a second to admire their work. With the girl’s natural features, she looked like a queen of Egypt. Mandy couldn’t deny her beauty and for a moment, her heart actually felt broken. Another pair of eyes flashed into her memory. Though warm and comforting, they brought back a twinge of sorrow and jealousy.
The footsteps were quickly approaching. Mandy relinquished her gaze and helped Anna put away the supplies before they rushed to the adjacent wall. She jumped into line, squeezing between two of her sisters, just when the wab priest walked in. All the sisters cast their eyes to the floor.
“Is she ready?” Mikael asked. Mandy nodded along with the others, keeping her focus on her feet. “Good, you can go.” Mandy started to move with the others when a hand pulled her aside. “Except you. The hem-netjer can wait another fifteen minutes for his offering.”
Mandy raised her head just enough to watch her sisters exit the room in haste. Once they had vanished, Mikael slammed her against the wall. She squealed in fright.
“Do not make a sound,” Mikael ordered. “And do not move.”
Set’s power radiated from the anklet, causing Mandy’s muscles to completely freeze. Her heart raced in her chest. She tried to command herself to move, to even just blink, but the spell was too powerful. Mikael bent her arms over his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his hip. She felt like a plastic doll, her body rigid and difficult to control. Mikael finally got a firm grip around her waist, raised her up to eye level, and braced her back on the wall. A wolfish grin spread across his face.
“Kiss me,” he commanded.
Mandy’s body sprang to life, following his instruction. Her hand glided over his shoulder blades and cradled Mikael’s cheeks. Her eyes and lips fell to his mouth. He guided the kiss into an unsteadying frenzy. With his gaping mouth and deep strides, Mandy feared he would swallow her whole. But her body wouldn’t pull away, wouldn’t fight. In fact, it acknowledged his needs, her nails digging into the skin of his neck and pulling him closer. He pressed harder into her, crushing her spine into the wall. She moaned from the pain, and a chuckle gurgled from Mikael throat.
Natti awoke to a burning heat around her. Two pillars with pots of blazing fire rose above her, one at either side. Eerie shadows danced on the dark, massive walls surrounding her. A fifty foot statue of a creature, carved from the rock behind him, stared down at her as she lay at his feet. He had the body of a man and a head of a creature she had never seen. Its features included a curved snout and long, erect, flat ears like an aardvark, with the hungry look of a predator ready to devour its prey.
Natti tried to sit up only to find herself bound to a cold, stone surface. Raising her head, she gazed down at the slab sitting four feet above the floor. Looped through the carved-out stone were leather restraints cutting into her shins, thighs, wrists, waist, and shoulders. Her heart rate picked up speed. Her body was immobilized, the belts giving little slack to even breathe. She laid back and glanced at a long, low table beside her.