“I still don’t understand why marrying him was necessary. You don’t love him,” he stated, and yet she heard the hesitancy in his words, the underlying question.
“No. I don’t. But it was a means to an end.”
“Then promise me that the end, once it comes, will bring you happiness.”
Taking his hand, she lifted it to her cheek and pressed a soft kiss on his palm. “I promise.”
Gently, he stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. She shut her eyes, relishing the tender caress, and then he eased back and helped her stand. “I’ll need to take care of this as soon as possible, then. Will you come with me?” he asked. “That is . . . if you’re not in pain,” he added, glancing at her back where her lovely wings used to be.
“I’ll get accustomed to it. Besides, it will help to have me there. Isis will need me.”
“Will you still be able to transform into a kite?”
Nephthys shook her head sadly. “The benu bird will have to fly on his own.”
Amun-Ra’s jaw tightened. “Then the benu bird will remain grounded until such time as you can join him again.”
“That might be a very long time. Won’t you miss flying?” she asked.
He turned to her, and his eyes were full of regret and the tender new beginnings of something else. “I would miss having you by my side more,” he said.
Her mouth turned up into a soft smile. “We must go,” she said.
Amun-Ra took her hand and led her to his sunlit chamber, where she knew Isis and Osiris waited. With the wave of a hand he sent a summons for Seth, one that brooked no argument.
Nephthys knew that the longer she could delay her new husband from seeking his path of destruction, the better. The stars whispered to her that Wasret would not be born until the dawn of the last great age and that only she would have the power to unmake the unmaker. Until then, Nephthys must perform a complicated dance, move the pieces on the board, and keep Seth too busy to notice the mortal queen until she was ready to rise.
Epilogue
Yield
Nephthys emerged from her place behind Amun-Ra’s throne the moment Seth entered the room and positioned herself alongside her husband, faking a smile as she did so. Isis gave a soft gasp, which probably meant she’d noticed Nephthys’s lack of wings. The act of seeing his chastised wife seemed to appease Seth, and he took hold of her hand, squeezing it possessively. Nephthys noticed Amun-Ra’s frown as he glanced at their hands, and when she gave a slight shake of her head, Amun-Ra focused his frown on Isis and Osiris instead.
“Tell me everything,” Amun-Ra commanded.
And they did. Isis and Osiris talked about all they’d seen Seth do, regaled Amun-Ra with information, including the fact that Seth had recently unmade the great forest, turning it into a desert so vast that even Nut could not send rain upon it. During the interview, whenever Seth tried to say something, Amun-Ra simply gave him a look and it served to stifle Seth’s tongue, though he took out his anger on his wife’s hand.
Despite her determination not to do so, Nephthys winced and Amun-Ra immediately noticed. “Seth,” he said with an air of menace. “You will step away from your wife.”
Seth obeyed, though he merely slumped into a chair with a disrespectful scowl.
“Did you use your power to kill Osiris and unmake Nephthys’s wings?” Amun-Ra asked him with an expression that could freeze an erupting volcano. “Did you do all the things they accuse you of?” He indicated Isis and Osiris.
“I did,” Seth answered straightforwardly. “It was . . . an accident. I didn’t mean to do it. It’s just that when I get angry I can’t always control what I do. Besides, my new wife did the unthinkable. Nephthys diminished the Waters of Chaos to bring back Osiris. It’s unfortunate, but isn’t it right that she should sacrifice something of hers to make up for it? Perhaps it was the cosmos’s way of bringing back balance.”
Amun-Ra ground his teeth. “You assume much, Seth. You should have brought the matter to me instead of handling it yourself.”
“Isn’t it a man’s right to handle his own wife?” Seth asked.
Amun-Ra scoffed. “Any man, mortal or god, knows there is no handling a wife. Women handle themselves and intelligent men get out of the way. But I wouldn’t expect a boy like you to know that yet.”
Anger lit Seth’s features, but before he could respond, Amun-Ra asked, “Speaking of being wet behind the ears, why didn’t you tell the Ennead about your newly developed power?”
Seth shrugged. “I didn’t want to say anything until I’d practiced more.”
“I’d say you’ve had enough practice.”
Seth’s glower transformed into a crocodile smile when Amun-Ra turned his ire on Isis and Osiris. “As for you two, I’m sorry, but what you’ve done comes with grave consequences.”
“What?” Osiris wrapped his arm around Isis, tucking her against his body. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Amun-Ra said with a sigh, “your power, Osiris, has been diminished. You have returned to us as half the god you once were. Isis broke the rules. Not once but twice. She wove spells that reworked the nature of the cosmos. I have determined that the two of you cause trouble when you’re together.”
“What are you saying?” Isis demanded.
“I’m saying that there is a terrible price that must be paid. Unfortunately, the two of you will need to be separated. Osiris, you are hereby banished to the afterlife, where you will have no contact with Isis until such time as I deem the both of you have learned your lesson.”
Angry tears sprang to Isis’s eyes. “It wasn’t his fault. It was mine! I’m the one who brought him back. Punish me.”
“The afterlife is not a punishment. It is a duty,” Amun-Ra said kindly. “One that Osiris will be able to manage as long as he has the help of Anubis and Ma’at. Watching over the fields there will give him a measure of peace, since he’s no longer able to perform the same duties in the mortal realm.”
“And what about Seth?” Isis demanded. “What is his punishment?”
Seth stifled the glee he felt over Amun-Ra’s decision and attempted to adopt a mien of contriteness.
“Seth will make a vow not to use his power against any of the gods ever again. He will be closely supervised by me. I promise you.”
“That’s all?” Osiris asked. “After everything he’s done, he just gets a rebuke best reserved for a naughty child?”
“You are not to question my decisions,” Amun-Ra said. “Your job is to see to your duties.” He leaned forward, an expression of sympathy on his face as he turned to the weeping goddess. “I am sorry for this. I truly am. But know this is for your own good. I will grant the two of you a reprieve until tomorrow. Take comfort in the love you feel for one another tonight and I’ll send Anubis to fetch Osiris in the morning.
“As for you.” He turned to Seth. “Until you have demonstrated to me sufficiently that you know how to treat a wife, you will keep your hands off this one.”