The Age of Ra

''Harsh words. Not how I'd put it.''

''How would you put it?''

''This is just a job, Dave,'' said Steven. ''Something I have to do. I'm discharging an obligation. I made a deal, and this is my side of it.''

''A deal with a god.''

''Yes.''

''Who you can't even bring yourself to name.''

Steven looked away. ''You can't understand what it was like. He treated me like… like…''

''A slave?''

''No, worse than that. A dog.''

''Or how about like his property?'' David offered, recalling the image that had sprung to mind when he'd caught that glimpse of the edge of the scar back at the Temple of Hatshepsut — a cattle brand.

''Ha,'' said Steven, an empty laugh. ''Yeah, that'll do.''

''You should say his name, though. If he's your owner, you should be prepared to admit to it.''

''Why? It's obvious who he is, isn't it?''

''Still. For my sake. Say it out loud. Say who you submitted to.''

Steven said the name, softly, not even quite a whisper.

''Again,'' David said. ''Properly.''

''What for? Look. Look at this.'' Steven gesticulated at the scar. ''What does it look like?''

It looked like the head of some kind of animal, a creature with no direct analogue among the fauna of earth. It had a long, pointed snout, pricked ears, and horns like an antelope's. The name it had been given was the Typhonic Beast, after a malevolent fire-god of the Ancient Greeks.

''I know what it is,'' said David. ''Whose emblem is it? Come on. Loud and clear. Say his name.''

Steven sighed, then loudly, clearly, uttered the word.

''Set.''

34. Beast

''There,'' said Steven rancorously. ''Happy now? It's Set's emblem. Set is my master. I have been doing the bidding of the Lord of the Desert. Set rules me. How many other ways can I phrase it? Set saved my life and I've been working for him ever since. You got it out of me. Congrats.'' He stood up. ''Now, if it's all right with you, I'm going to find a spare mask, put it on and go out there and be the Lightbringer for a little while longer.''

''No.'' David thrust him back down into the chair. ''We're not done yet.''

''But the people out there,'' Steven protested, ''my people…''

''You don't care that much what happens to them.''

''They need to see that I'm there, looking out for them.''

''A few more minutes, that's all.''

Steven glared, but did not try to get up again. ''All right. Have your big moment. Lecture me on what I've done wrong.''

''I said a few minutes. That lecture would take several hours.''

''Oh, ha ha.''

''Steven, don't you see what you've done? The enormity of it? You've led three-thousand-odd people to their deaths. You've abused their trust and sacrificed them to save your own skin. You've deceived them with a lie which you don't even believe in yourself.''

''You — you can be such a high-and-mighty prig, Dave,'' his brother snapped. ''Don't you dare judge me. You weren't on that island. It wasn't your life hanging in the balance. If you'd been there, suffering like I was, you'd have done the same. You'd have leapt at the chance Set was offering you. Don't tell me you wouldn't.''

''I wouldn't.''

''Come off it.''

''No, really, I wouldn't. I'd have thought through the consequences and said no.''

''And died? Lingeringly? Agonisingly? Yeah, right, fuck off.''

''You forget. Not so long ago, I got lost in the desert. I went through pretty much what you did. I know exactly how you felt, and if Set or any other god had come to me with a bargain like that, even when I was at my lowest point, I know what my answer would have been.''

''You can't say that for certain.''

''I think I can.''

''Well then, doesn't that make you the nobler, better one of us?'' Steven spat out. ''You're the upstanding older brother, never knowingly unheroic, and I'm the weakling, the runt, the disappointment, Westwynter Minor in every way. Glad we've established that — or rather, re-established.''

''What gets me is that you gave in so easily. You didn't put up a fight. You didn't hesitate. Set barely had to ask and you were his.''

''Isn't that how it is? A perfect illustration of the relationship between the Pantheon and humankind. They screw us, and we bend over and take it.''

''You feel no shame?''

''I left shame behind somewhere in the middle of the Aegean.''

''Yes, I reckon you did and all.'' David scratched his chin. ''Tell me, this gift Set gave you…''

''Not a gift.''

''The prize you won, then. You used it on all the Freegyptians?''

''Yep. In my speeches, or on a one-to-one basis. All I had to do was sound convincing, and they'd be convinced. You could call it a heightened form of my natural charm. Sometimes it was almost too easy. They wanted what I was promising them, wanted it so much. First of all peace in Upper Freegypt, then the opportunity to spread their national philosophy — their belief in unbelief — to the rest of the world. In a way, what they were looking for was a prophet, a secular evangelist. And they got one.''

''No, they got a false messiah.''

''More harsh words.''

''Just telling it like it is, Steven.''

''Look, Dave, you can accuse me of misleading people, toying with their hopes, throwing away their lives, whatever, but as far as I'm concerned I've done nothing wrong. I've been acting on a god's commands. You do that. Everyone does that! Slag me off if it makes you feel better, but you're not going to make me feel bad.''

''Fine,'' said David. ''Then I won't try. There is one thing I'd like to know, however.''

''What?'' said Steven with an exasperated huff.

''Did you use it on me at any point? Your power?''

Quickly: ''No.''

''You're sure about that?''

''No! I mean, yes I'm sure. No, I didn't use it on you.''

''Not in order to get me to tag along with you, for instance?''

''No.'' Steven chortled. ''You definitely did that all by yourself. Remember what I said? I said Set told me that I won't be able to make anyone do what they didn't want to. I can encourage people along, I can facilitate their own desires, but I can't force them to act against their will. I meant it earlier, when I described the Freegyptians as being willing to lay down their lives for me. They are. And they wouldn't if the cause I stood for wasn't one they felt was worth dying for.''

''You made them feel that way. Manipulated them.''

''I simply showed them that that was how they felt.''

''So you never once did the same to me? About anything?''

''Why does this matter to you so much, Dave?''