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"I'm here!" Kemes said, hurrying back into the room. "I had to change because Fen cheated and tossed me into the pool."
"It's called winning, not cheating," Fen pointed out.
Some of the tension in Khan's face eased. "I swear to the gods, I leave you all alone for less than an hour…"
Kashmet laughed. "Better get used to it, baby cousin. We got to do something to keep her entertained for the next year. Right, wolf that destroys the world?"
Khan held out a hand to Fen. She hesitated before taking it and letting him help her up to her feet.
"You don't need to worry about it, Kash," Khan said, not letting her hand go. "I'm going to have plenty of things to keep Fen busy with."
Twelve
Despite their assurances that they had only been training, Khan checked Fen over for injury. Her arms had a few red marks, but that was all. He couldn't believe that Kash and Kemes didn't give her a day to settle in before they were challenging her to brawls.
Can't you, though?They trusted people even less than Khan did and would want to test her mettle.
Fen had changed out of the whorish dress Nektos had forced her to wear, and her hair was in braids that hummed with magic.
Khan fought the urge to touch their golden strands, his curiosity about her power making him forget his good manners. Gods, she was pretty, though. He was man enough to admit that.
"I have had servants bring some food. I doubt that Nektos fed you properly ever since you arrived in Aaru," Khan said as they walked side by side through his apartments.
"Aaru…" Fen rolled the word around a few times. "This is the name of this world?"
Khan's brows rose. "Yes. They didn't even tell you that?" Fen shook her head. It shouldn't have surprised him. "Come, I'll show you."
Khan led Fen to his study and tried not to be embarrassed about how untidy it was. Fen instantly gravitated to the small altar on one side of the room where Khan had been burning incense to Inanna that morning. The clay statue of the goddess looked serene amongst the flowers he had placed by her feet.
"Who is this?" Fen asked. Her hand hovered near the statue and then quickly pulled it back, her cheeks flushing. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. That's the goddess, Inanna. She protects Atrahasis, and my mother was one of her high priestesses before she married the pharaoh as a part of a peace agreement," Khan replied, surprising himself. He didn't talk about his mother with anyone but Kashmet and Kemes; even then, it was rare. He had learned since coming back to Ankhara that it was better to hide his pain and grief from everyone, including his father.
Khan quickly grabbed a map and unrolled it across the table in the center of the room. "This is Aaru."
Fen walked over and looked down at the map curiously. Atrahasis was painted in greens and blue in the north, with lush rainforest-covered mountains where the city was nested. It was close to the sea and to the mouth of Iteru, the great river that stretched down through the leagues of deserts to the city of Ankhara.
Fen traced the ankh shape of the city. "It really was built in this symbol, like Kemes said."
"Yes. Ankhara is the city of gods. You see how the main ankh of the city is painted in different colors? Each district is run by a certain house that is dedicated to its god. I'll take you and show them all to you when we can," Khan promised. He pointed to the red mark of the arena. "This is where you were being held, in the Sekhmet district, and now you are here, in the royal district of Ankh."
"Sekhmet is the goddess of slaves?" Fen asked, frowning.
"No, she is a war goddess. Her house also trades in the entertainment and pleasure houses. The slaves purchased for the Feast of Sacrifices honor the goddess with blood to keep her house flourishing," Khan replied, a trace of bitterness in his voice that he couldn't hide.
"You don't approve?"
"No. I disapprove of buying people and slaughtering them for entertainment. I've been trying to convince the Pharaoh to ban the practice, but the House of Sekhmet is too rich and powerful."
Fen clicked her tongue. "Your sister, Hasina, is in this house, yes?"
"Yes, she is. We had different mothers. Hasina is the ruler of the house, no matter what anyone claims." Khan straightened the silver cuff on his wrist, trying not to be uneasy. "Did she hurt you this morning before I came?"
Khan didn't like how close Hasina had been to Fen and that she had gotten to Nektos first.
"She didn't hurt me. She wanted me to spy on you," Fen replied. She smiled a little at him. "I didn't get a chance to answer before you arrived."
"A good thing I did. I would have understood if you had been tempted to agree."
