Bast's Horror
Khnum's side squirmed nervously in their chairs. Set's side sat comfortably.
Anubis, Sobek, and Sakhmet served the food. At first they ate in uneasy silence, until Thoth broke it by saying, "What was Einstien's [sic] theory of re--"
"E=MC2," Khnum replied. [Note--I haven't the text on hand at the moment to tell if the "2" is in superscript or not. It probably wasn't.]
"Very good. Now, for what person was the com--"
"Edmund Halley," Khnum said.
"Correct. And last, who discovered el--"
"Benjamin Franklin," Khnum answered.
"Good." Thoth started to eat again, while Osiris and Isis looked at each other and shrugged. [Note--I think Thoth is trying to drag out dinner/delay the inevitable. Why he does this by referencing future events, I haven't any idea.]
When dinner was over, Bast said she'd sing a song (to waste time, to Thoth).
"Why?" Thoth said. "You joining us?"
Bast nodded. "Horus is, too." She stepped up to the head of the table and began:
"When the sun comes up each morning,
Ra's light covers the land;
The golden wheat is a beautiful sight,
The blue skies are so grand." [Note--it says a lot about your writing skills when this is the best part of the entire text!]
"Beautiful, beautiful," Osiris said, clapping his hands. Bast smiled and bowed.
Set stood up with a crooked smile.
"If you'll please excuse me," he said, "but I have to talk to Osiris alone."
Thoth clutched his throat. Sakhmet paled.
But they were all shooed out in the end. Sobek, Thoth, Khnum, Anubis, Bast, Hathor, and Sakhmet met in Bast's room.
"Now what?" Bast asked again.
"Maybe Set really has to tell Osiris something," Anubis suggested.
Nehebka came in. She had a snake's head. [Note--Nehebka is a character in dubious standing with me now. I first heard of this deity in a book on Egyptian mythology back when I was in elementary school (of course). That work claimed Nehebka was a GODDESS. However, a later work I read claimed that Nehebka was a GOD...and based on the name, it does sound like a male deity. (Female names usually end with "-et" or "-it." The only example of a male Egyptian god name I can think of which ends with a T, besides the pretty obvious "Set," is "Upuat." Even names like Isis and Nephthys, in their Egyptian forms, end this way--Aset, Nebet-Het.) And so...I really have NO IDEA what gender Nehebka is supposed to be! I decided to keep MY Nehebka 100% female...but I do not use her very much at all in my writing, for this very reason.]
"Did you see anything?" Bast asked.
Nehebka's long neck swayed from side to side. "All I did was hear Set talking."
"What'd he say?" Sobek asked.
"He said all [this] stuff about that box, how long it took to make, etc."
"See? He really is talking," Anubis said.
"I guess so," Thoth said.
"Well," Bast said, "I'm going to see if there's any milk left. Be back." She left the room.
Bast walked down the hall. Hearing Set still talking, she stopped to listen:
"Two months, you say! Did you work on it before you came?"
"I sure did. With this." Bast looked in. Set was showing the dagger to Osiris.
"Nice dagger," Osiris commented.
"Would you like to see how sharp it is?" Set asked.
"That would be nice."
Set rammed the dagger into a table, a full inch into a table.
"Goodness," Osiris said.
Set took the dagger out. "You can almost feel it, can't you?"
Osiris' eyes widened.
Gosh, Bast thought, this is getting serious.
"I sharpened it not too long ago," Set said, running the blade along his finger. Suddenly, slowly, he walked towards Osiris.
"What is it?" Osiris said, backing off and getting worried. "Set, what's wrong?"
"All these years, you've ruled Egypt," Set said. "I never had a chance. But, I thought, I'll get that chance. And I thought and thought, so I finally came up with a plan."
"What was it?" Osiris said, cornered, but out of Bast's sight behind a wall.
"This!" Set lifted the dagger above his head. Bast, in a frenzy, rushed down the hall to get help. But when a sudden shriek split the stillness, Bast knew she was too late.
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