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Fen's hand tightened in Khan's at the sight of it and the hundreds of people waiting to go through. More Thothi were moving through the crowds, removing the slave collars from around people's necks and tossing them into carts to be taken away for destruction.
"Khan…you did all this and didn't tell me?" Fen asked, her eyes brimming with tears.
"I wanted it to be a surprise." Khan put an arm around her. "I told you I would end it once and for all. Everyone was given a choice whether to stay serving their masters or return to their homes. These are the ones that wished to go back."
"But how do you know where they all came from?"
"Sekhmet slavers kept records," Asten answered, joining them. "You see, Fen, these gates can create portals all over Geb, not just your homeland. With the right combinations…" He went on about energy, space, and time until Fen was cross-eyed, and Khan was trying not to laugh.
"Okay, Asten, she gets it. Please open the gates now," he interrupted gently.
Asten pushed his glasses up his nose, his excitement undimmed. "Stand back, Fen, but watch closely to see the magic."
"I will," Fen replied, shooting a wink at Khan. "Notice he doesn't care if you stand back."
"When you are around, I'm sure he doesn't realize I exist. You know he's going to want to do a hundred experiments on you when he realizes who your father is," Khan said, pulling her closer.
Fen laughed. "Keep it to yourself for a while longer."
They stopped talking as magic and solar energy combined, and the symbols on the gates of Horus lit up with golden light. It spread out in between the monoliths until the portal opened.
"Ah, here is the other part of your present," Khan said, and Kemes and Kashmet arrived with Hasina. She was dressed in commoners' clothes and had a small pack.
"Don't do this, Khan," Hasina begged. She reached for him, but Fen stepped in front of him.
"You don't get to touch him ever again," Fen snarled, her fangs dropping before she could control it. Hasina flinched back from Fen like she had been slapped.
"Exile is better than you deserve, Hasina. I hope wherever you go, you learn the value of all human life and not just your own," Khan said, his voice cold. Fen could feel the anger vibrating through him and knew that it was a hard thing for him not to just kill her and be done with it.
"Get your ass moving," Kemes said and prodded Hasina with the butt of her spear. Hasina stared fearfully at the golden light, but she still had enough spite to take one last look at Khan and spit on the ground. She went through the portal before Fen could rip her tongue out.
"Thank you, Asten. Next location," Khan said, keeping his countenance calm. Asten and the other Thothi fussed about the gates, pressing different symbols.
"That was better than she deserved," Fen muttered.
"I know." Khan was determined to show mercy when Hasina never had. Fen admired it greatly, but the wolf in her still howled for blood.
"People from Norseland, this is you," one of the Thothi called before disappearing through the light. Slaves that Fen recognized from her last trip through the gates came forward and started to file through.
"Shall we, Fenrys Rune-Tongue?" Khan asked her, offering her his arm. Fen stared wide-eyed at him and the gate.
"I…I suppose." She wrapped her arm around his, her stomach plummeting.
"Keep it open, Asten," Khan instructed.
"As you wish, my pharaoh."
Fen tried to swallow her panic as they walked through the golden light and left Aaru.
Forty-Four
On Midgard, winter had eased into spring while Fen had been away. It was still cold enough for Fen to flinch at the sudden temperature drop. People were filing back down the road, and the Thothi were handing them notices.
"What are they doing?" she asked, pointing at them.
"They are to spread the word that we will no longer take slaves from Midgard," Khan explained. "In a year, the gates will reopen for trade in everything else. There is much Aaru could share with this world, and there's much we could learn from it."
They walked a little further away from the gates to get out of the way of the people coming through behind them.
