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“Khepria…”
At the sound of my name I scrambled to get back to Isolarel’s side, cradling his head so that his antennae wouldn't break. His large eyes bore into me, a silent plea I could feel deep into my soul. I put my forehead against his and whispered that I would find a way. I just needed more time.
“Khepria, the mortal woman who couldn’t leave well enough alone,” he chuckled softly through his pain. How could he laugh at a time like this? “Do not cry for me, Khepria. I do not deserve your tears.”
“I know that you deserve more thanthis,” I snapped, anger and frustration fighting for dominance within me. “Isolarel, what did you do?”
Maybe if I heard his story, I could find a clue as to how I can break this.
He sighed and turned away from me but I slapped my hand on his shoulder and stopped him. “Isolarel. Help me help you, please! I can’t watch you go through this again.”
He jerked my hand away and rolled until he got into a sitting position. His shell audibly cracked and I winced, unable to comprehend why he was now moving as if he was numb to the pains his body endured.
Something pulled me and I followed my gut. I wrapped my arms around him from behind and cried between his shoulders. His body shuddered and then deflated, whatever stance he took in his short lived anger dissipating into the desert air.
“I can’t let you go through this again. I simply can't…” I pleaded, tightening my arms around him. Though I was well read, I wasn’t well versed in conversation. My father always told me I was too blunt, another reason why I hadn’t gotten a suitor to come to our doors, in his opinion. And as far as I had gotten from my father’s negativity, his words still rang in my ears from time to time. I didn’t want my failures to turn Isolarel away from me. Not when I had a deep longing to free him from his misery. I had never felt this deeply about anyone before, other than Mr. Redding—who slowly grew into a Father figure for me after I left home and found safety between the walls of his majestic library.
Isolarel took a deep breath and turned in my arms, cradling my face up with his upper set while wrapping his lower set around me. We sat there in each other’s embrace for a few awkward silent moments, something passing between us. My skin prickled with awareness as I stared into his inhuman face, wondering things I shouldn’t.
“I think I found something,” came Mr. Redding’s voice, breaking the moment.
My breath stuttered as I reluctantly turned away, and looked behind me. “What did you find?”
Mr. Redding, lost in his ancient tome beckoned me with his hands frantically before adjusting his glasses. “It says here that there is an ancient order in which the gods followed. Meetings are rarely called under the reign of Amun, the king of the Egyptian gods.”
I turned to Isolarel. “Did you anger Amun?”
He growled and threw one of his arms up. “Of course, I didn’t! I’m not a fool! …Unless something was spoken behind my back.”
Yet, you managed to get yourself cursed anyhow. What are you hiding, Isolarel?I couldn’t voice my thoughts, not if I wanted him to cooperate.
“You mentioned that his curse involved the sun, is this correct?” Mr. Redding continued.
“Yes, the things I witness—I-I can’t explain any better than what I’ve already mentioned,” I answered, my tone lowering with each word as the memories of Isolarel’s ascent to death bombarded me. I shivered and blinked back my tears as the sound of a crack came from beside me. I couldn’t bear to look or see his expression as I was sure the memories that haunted him were worse than mine.
“Ra then?—”
“I’ll save you all the trouble with the complications of family trees between the gods,” Isolarel cut in. “After Ra was poisoned by Isis, she gave birth to a son. Horus. Except he refused his birthright and handed it off to an overlooked cousin who took it with greedy arms. Heliox.”
My mind whirled with all the ancient lore that I had heard through the years. Yet, that was the problem, wasn’t it? They were all just tales that took different shapes through the ages the more it was told. What was the truth and what was the lie? I sat there, staring at a beetleman in the flesh pondering which family gossip reigned accurate. Chuckling to myself, I wondered how my life took such a sharp turn where hybrid animal deities and insect men made more sense than the deity’s family scandals.
As if snickering himself with the clicking of his mandibles, Isolarel looked at me and flicked his head. “You would find much entertainment among the gods. Why they choose to create more drama among mortals when they had enough of their own always baffled me.”
Mr. Redding mumbled to himself all he was learning as he continued to rapidly flip through the pages. I scooted back toward Isolarel, fascinated with all the knowledge he had to offer. With his eyes trained on me, he tilted his head, waiting for my next question.
Was there truly such a thing as kismet and preordination?
Isolarel, lifted one of his limbs slowly and traced it along my jaw, watching my reaction. I let out a breath and closed my eyes, letting my own mind create fantasies in a world where we met under much better circumstances.
I vigilantly watchedwhile Isolarel’s body rested on the ground beside me when a familiar voice from a distance caused the hairs on my arms to rise.Not again.
"So, mortal, you did not heed my warning. Do you think tending to his wounds will comfort him? The follies of men will never cease to amuse me." Seth’s voice echoed through the serene night, cutting the calls of insects around us.
My body shook with fury for Isolarel. If he thought he would scare me off with words, he would be sorely mistaken. I got to my feet and stood my ground before Isolarel. What Seth didn’t know was that I was surrounded by words. My entire life encompassed the power of words and the impact it had on the human psyche.
It was mind over matter. Belief of overcoming the weapon of the tongue.
“What amuses me is that you have nothing else to do with your life but to come down here and meddle on mortal ground, Seth, supposed god of whatever you are.”
