Amon nodded, hazel eyes twinkling, and continued. “Once they were able to touch, they remained as close as any two things could be. Geb wrapped his arms around the willowy form of his secret wife and drew her to him. When he raised his knees, mountains formed, and Nut ringed them with the clouds of her dress.
“Geb lifted himself up on one elbow, and Nut rested her head against his chest, creating fog-shrouded hills and valleys. When they laughed, the land trembled and the sky thundered. They fit together so tightly, in fact, it soon became obvious that there was no room for mankind. To make a place for humans, Nut’s father, Shu, god of the air, was sent to separate the couple.”
“What happened?”
“Chaos. The two clung to one another, but Shu was powerful and drove them apart bit by bit. He sent cyclones and whirlwinds between them. The Earth shook and the heavens quaked and then, finally, it was done. Nut was wrenched from Geb’s heavy arms. Geb could see his wife floating far above him, but he could no longer touch her.
“Nut cried bitterly, and her tears turned into storms and heavy rains that fell upon the flesh of her husband. Pooling in the recesses of his body, the salty tears became oceans, rivers, and lakes. The waves blanketed the man she loved, but he relished having even that little piece of her and willingly allowed a portion of himself to sink beneath them forever.
“This is why water in Egypt is considered the source of chaos as well as creation—chaos because it is a sign of a love destroyed, and creation because it was the symbol of the beginning of mankind’s reign on Earth. Water unmakes and then creates anew.”
“Were they never able to touch again?”
“Over the aeons, Shu’s heart softened toward the couple, and they were allowed to touch at the four points of the compass. In the south and the west, their feet brush against one another, and in the north and the east, they thread their fingers together. But other than that, they are never to be together again. If they were, it would mean the destruction of life as we know it.”
“I don’t believe that.”
Amon shrugged. “It is a story shared by my people.”
“No, I don’t mean that. I mean that I don’t believe that doing your job, fulfilling your purpose in life, means there is no hope for happiness. No one, no god, could be that cruel.”
Amon set down the little statue, which I now recognized as the god of Earth, Geb, beneath his wife, Nut, who rose above him. The space between their bodies was wide and cold. “Sacrifices must be made so that others may find happiness,” Amon replied quietly.
Taking a step toward him, I reached up to brush my hand against his cheek. “But you deserve to have that kind of joy in your life, too.”
Amon wrapped his fingers around my hand and drew it to his lips, pressing a warm kiss against my wrist. “There are many men who do not attain the things they want while in their mortal existence, many who do not get the things they deserve. Who am I to count myself as more worthy than they? If I reached out to grab the happiness you speak of, how many would suffer as a result? How many would die? How many would dwindle in pain and agony? I cannot be that selfish, Lily, no matter how much I might want to.”
Amon’s eyes, more tawny now than green, bored into mine as if begging me to understand. He wanted me to accept his ancient notions of duty and obligation and let it go, but I was a modern girl, which meant I wasn’t going to sit like a princess who needed saving and pine for something I wanted. If there was one thing I knew about love, it was that it was worth fighting for, even if I had to pick up a sword to protect it. The miracle of finding love, real love, was a rare enough thing that it should give duty and obligation a run for their money.
Frustrated, I wrenched my hand from Amon’s. “I don’t get it. I mean, Geb and Nut, okay. Their being together physically crushes everybody, so I guess they can’t be together, but you? What are they going to do? Fire you? Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s time someone else did the saving-mankind thing for a while. You served long enough. It’s time to jump off the mummy train and live for a change, don’t you think?”