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"Hasina's cronies were getting very pushy, so I thought it best if I disappeared," Asten explained.
"Do you know how far she has gotten with the weapons you told us about in the message?" Khan asked, looking over the drawings on his table.
"Not far. The other Thothi assigned to it have all been masking what they are doing. None of Hasina's people know what they are looking at, so as long as they seem to comply, they are left alone." Asten rubbed at his tired face. "I don't know how long that will work for. Please tell me you returned with an army or something, Khan?"
Khan placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "We don't have an army, but we have a plan. We are going to need your help."
Asten cocked his head curiously. "What do you have in mind?"
Forty
At sunset, Khan, Fen, and Asten slipped out into the darkening streets. A curfew meant the journey from the Thothi district to the temple of Anubis was a slow game of hide and seek with the patrols of Sekhmet warriors.
"A week ago, there was a riot when some of Hasina's warriors killed an Osiri farmer's family," Asten explained in a low whisper. "The few rioters that weren't killed in the fight got thrown into the arena and torn apart. That is why there is now a curfew. She's doing everything she can to maintain her control, but it is tenuous."
"Let's see what Ameny has to say about the heads of the other houses. Maybe we will have allies," Khan whispered back.
With the help of Asten's magic, they blended into the shadows and crept up the dark steps to the doorway of the temple of Anubis.
"I feel…" Fen whispered, her eyes shining golden for a moment. Khan's hand tightened, and she shook herself. "I'm okay. I've blocked the magic, and it stopped."
"What has just happened?" Asten asked.
"Nothing. We will tell you later. Let's get inside first," Khan replied. Fen's connection to the gods wasn't something that should be shared lightly, even with their friends.
"There is a back entrance where they bring in the bodies for mummification," Asten suggested. "Most priests and acolytes will be at the dusk prayers to welcome the night, so no one should be around to stop us."
"Lead the way," Khan whispered back.
They were careful to stick to the gardens and away from any of the main pathways around the temple.
"Gods, what's that smell?" Fen asked, just as the reek of bitumen and rotting meat hit them.
"That's the bodies," Khan replied. They scaled a gate and dropped down into the open-air preparation areas. Bodies were arranged on wooden pallets and covered in fine netting.
Khan was horrified at the sight of so many untended dead.
"These outside areas are only meant for the delivery of the dead, but there have been so many deaths in recent weeks, they are having to be placed out here," Asten said as they walked out of the courtyard and into the temple's housekeeping areas. He picked up some black robes from where they were stacked in piles, ready for washing. "Here, these are acolyte robes. Hopefully, they won't have anything sticky on them."
"Not helping," Fen muttered. She was looking ashen, but she hadn't thrown up yet. Khan was trying to push aside his own horror and focus on finding Ameny.
Dressed in black robes and with their hoods up, the three walked out of the laundry areas and into the kitchens. The few servants that were there were too busy preparing the evening meal to notice them.
Khan grabbed an amphora of wine, and Fen and Asten took two plates of bread so anyone who saw them would hopefully mistake them for the acolytes who tended to the elderly priests.
Khan had visited Ameny many times over the years, and once they were into the central part of the priest's quarters, he quickly orientated himself. He could hear the hymns being chanted in other parts of the temple and fought the urge to stop and listen.
"What are they singing about?" Fen asked.
"They are greeting the sun god Ra's barge as it travels out of this realm and begins its nightly journey into the Duat, the Underworld, where Anubis rules," Khan explained.
"It's beautiful. You have so many stories to tell me yet," Fen replied with a smile.
Some of the tension in Khan's shoulders eased seeing that grin. "I promise I will tell them all to you."
"Let's survive the next few days first," Asten said. "Then I will tell you all about how great Thoth is."
Fen rolled her eyes. "That I could die soon is more of a reason to tell them to me as soon as possible."
