“You have done well, child.”
A chill like water dripping down my spine caused me to shiver. It was not a frightening voice. In truth, it was quite comforting, but also haunting and sorrowful. Before I could turn once more to greet the god that had joined me, another voice spoke first.
“Nakht…?”
I spun more swiftly than I had the first time.
Meryt. Not a figment. Not another doll. Not the promise of him still kept out of reach within an archway, butmyMeryt stood in front of the bed.
He looked the same as he had throughout my trials, aside from in his memories. The same way he had looked on the night that he died.
Equal to my height, he stood tall and strong, broader than I was and with more definition to his sculpted muscles, bare midriff included. His broad nose, plump lips, gorgeous skin, so rich and dark, were all as alluring as ever.
His short curls were accented by the headband he wore with bright blue lotus flowers and matching blue ribbons that dangled from it. He was dressed in his complimenting dancer blue as well, the vibrant but sheer fabric leaving little to the imagination with the visible lines of his body beneath it. His sleeves, the one difference from my own ensemble besides our colors and what the gods had added, made him lovelier still.
Dusk to my dawn…
Next to him was Osiris. The wrappings covering the entirety of his green-tinted body were enough to confirm that.
Like all the gods, he was handsome, just more ethereal than some of the others, shimmering as if he were a phantom, having known death and resurrection and then choosing to serve all others who had died to better their transition and help them move on.
But I did not want Meryt to move on from me.
Not now. Not ever.
Meryt’s face had never looked more entrancing to me, staring at me with the same wonder and longing that I knew must be in my expression too. Yet we both stood frozen, terrified that if we dared touch we might be torn apart again.
“M-my lord…” I asked Osiris, though I kept my eyes on Meryt for fear of him vanishing, “…are we able to… may Iplease…?”
“You may go to each other,” Osiris answered, and it was like a footrace being signaled to start. I couldn’t have said which one of us sprang forward first or who moved faster. All that mattered was our collision, and how desperately we clung when our arms wrapped around each other.
I dug my hands up into the coils of Meryt’s hair and felt the strength of him as he held my waist. As eagerly as we embraced, our mouths moved even more feverishly when they met. I wanted to devour every part of him, tongue first, to consume him,allof him, so we could never be parted again.
I didn’t realize I was crying until I tasted the salt of my tears. Although perhaps they were also Meryt’s, for his face was just as damp when we let our lips and tongues rest and merely gazed upon each other while tightly entangled.
“It’syou,” I said, silly and obvious though the statement was. “It’s really you. You’re here.”
“As are you.” Meryt tilted his head to press our foreheads together. “And you have given me quite the performances to enjoy throughout this journey. I guess itisn’talways me who has the better stamina between us.”
I laughed at the teasing reminder of our final night together. “Well, I wouldn’t have wanted to disappoint.”
Meryt laughed too, and I hugged him closer, pressing our cheeks together now and relishing in his warmth, more so since I knew his body in the mortal realm must be cold and still.
“I won’t lie and act as though what they offered me was never tempting, but none of it could ever compare to this. To you.”
What had been amusement and joy between us quickly returned to sobbing. I didn’t want to let him go, but I knew that, eventually, I had to, although I still kept a hold of his hands when I coaxed him out in front of me.
Looking at him was just as healing as any gifts bestowed on me by the gods, and the tears in his eyes only made their black pools more lovely.
“The gods tempted you, did they?” Meryt asked. “With what?”
“You didn’t see that part?”
Meryt’s nose scrunched in the most adorable expression of thought. “If I did, it didn’t stay with me.”
“I'll tell you if you truly want to know, but it doesn’t matter. I refused it all and kept my sights on you.” I lifted Meryt’s hands and kissed the backs of each of them, pausing on the second, his left, which bore the twin of my own braided leather ring. “I was the one who stole your figs when we were boys,” I blurted.
Meryt laughed. “And then stole Ramose’s later to give me his, pretending they were yours. I know that. Did you really think I didn’t?”
