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"Do we?" Fen slipped her arm around his. "Is it important to you to analyze everything? Magic isn't something that can always be explained. Perhaps the goddesses recognized me because I am a woman."
Kashmet chuckled from behind them. "Have you met Khan? He's never met something he didn't want to pull apart and figure out. He used to drive his tutors in Atrahasis crazy because he could never just accept things."
Khan sniffed. "I think it's lazy, that's why. The gods gave us incredible brains to ask questions, to have the capacity to understand magic as well as use it."
"Khan, stop. You are starting to sound like the Thothi," Kemes complained.
"I would have been one if I grew up in this city."
"No, you would be a male version of Hasina. Pampered and pretty," Kashmet teased.
"And utterly dull," Fen added.
Khan's mouth twitched into a smile. "You don't find my questions about magic dull?"
"No. I think it's completely the opposite of how I was trained, but no less interesting. I believe that everyone accesses and understands magic in their own way. If asking questions and analyzing works for you, who am I to question it?"
"You always surprise me." Khan leaned down and whispered, "Please, don't ever stop."
"What are you two whispering about?" Kemes asked suspiciously.
"About you, of course," Fen said, making Kemes splutter. She looked back to the black temple. "Will you bring me back here one night?"
"Absolutely. I want to know what Amunet has to say to you. Let's go see the Thothi," Khan said, face lighting up in excitement.
Twenty-Two
The Thothi district was Khan's favorite place in the whole of Ankhara. The air positively vibrated with magic and creative energy.
It feels like home, he realized. Gods, he missed Atrahasis like he missed a limb.
Fen was taking everything in with bright eyes and insatiable curiosity. Unlike the twins, Fen could feel the magic around her and delighted in it.
"This is amazing. Do all people here use magic?" she asked.
"Majority of them. Magic abilities tend to run in families, and no matter what part of Ankhara you are born in, if you have magic, you can live here. They are one of the more open houses in that regard," Khan replied.
They reached the marketplace, and Fen actually laughed in excitement. Khan knew she would love it, but it was a joy to watch her. Maybe he had become too jaded in the past couple of years. The magic in Fen's world seemed so regulated and mysterious that to show her that it was open for everyone in Aaru gave him a strange kind of delight.
The markets of the Thothi were stands and shops crowded with magical wares, people selling spells, talismans, and jewelry. Places were catering to customers craving cantrips and curses and those dealing with the inevitable removal of both.
Mixed in with the mystical was the scientific, with stores of small solar sails for lighting up a single house, parts and kits for hydroponics, and other helpful gadgets. Fen leaned closer to him.
"This is incredible. I have no idea what most of this does! It's like I've walked into a dwarf market on Svartalfheim," she said, picking up an astrolabe and turning its dials.
"What is Svartalfheim?" Khan asked, his tongue struggling to shape the word.
"It's one of the Nine Worlds connected to the World Tree. The dwarves and elves there are master craftsmen. Do you remember I was telling you about Frey's boat that folds down?" Fen asked, and Khan nodded. He had been thinking of how such a thing could be made. "The two brothers that made the boat were from Svartalfheim. It's where the gods get their most powerful weapons and relics."
"Here on Aaru, we go to the Temple of Thoth if we want to see wonders," Khan replied. He guided her through a tight cluster of fortune-telling tents and to the temple's steps.
"Amazing," Fen breathed. It was made of green stone marble and orichalcum that shone like molten fire in the sun.
The ibis-headed colossus of Thoth looked down his long nose at everyone walking into his temple, his hand holding a writing tablet and stylus as if ticking the people off a list.
Like Anubis, Khan greatly respected the god of magic, scribes, learning, and engineering. One of the reasons was that he was still so active in how he inspired his followers to create marvels.
Inside was a bustle of worshippers, magicians, priests, and petitioners. Half of the temple was dedicated purely to worship, but the other half was a series of laboratories and libraries for Thoth's most brilliant magicians, scientists, and artists.
