"Hmm. And how did you thank him for saving your life?" Seth asked. If I hadn't known better, I'd have said there was a hint of worry in his voice. He thought I might have traded information for my safety. In a way, I supposed he was right. But not like he thought. The information was for revenge, not my own skin.
"He asked for services of me and was done in the morning." I met the god's eyes, not breaking contact for fear he would press further.
"Gods are all the same, Rhodopis," he warned me. "They'll use you until they're done and then throw you on the wayside."
"Aren't you a god, sire?" I immediately regretted my question, especially as Motep sucked in a sharp breath.
"Indeed, I am," Seth answered. "And you'd do well to remember that fact. And that you are a slave hardly worthy of my note."
I bowed my head, but not in subservience. I didn't want him to realise that every word he said lit the fire of rebellion within me. I was growing more determined to find a way to topple him.
"It looks like they've finished down there." Seth waved his hand towards Ra's retinue.
I looked over the wall and gasped. Debris and bodies lay strewn against the sandy floor. Tears sprang to my eyes. I'd risked my life trying to warn them about this, and it had all been for nothing.
"I do hope one of them isn't your god." He swept away and down the stairs.
It didn't matter that I knew nothing as simple as a stab wound would be able to hurt Abu. Seth's words still stung. I worried for him, and knew there was no way of alleviating that until I met up with him. That night couldn't come soon enough.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE BEATING of my heart was the only sound I could focus on. If I was caught, then a whipping would be the least of my problems, especially with the hieroglyphic covered parchment that was hidden down the front of my dress. If I had it in my hand, then there was a chance I could have played it off as nothing more than an order from Seth himself, but I wasn't sure what the words on the page meant. Actually, that was inaccurate. I could understand most of the words. I just wasn't able to piece together what they meant together.
Which was how I knew it was important. Abu needed to see it. After finding the parchment on Seth's desk while I'd been tidying, I'd made a hasty copy of it. Yet another reason being caught would end badly. But I'd had no choice. If the parchment had gone missing, Seth would have known something was wrong, and that could have dire consequences for a lot of people. Me included.
I glanced back and forth, trying to make sure I was alone in the garden before I crossed it. Seth didn't often bother with guards on the entrances. Everyone knew the penalty for running away, so no one tried.
That was going to make all the difference to me tonight.
I strolled across the garden, even though every part of me wanted to run. Nothing would make me look more suspicious though, so I held my pace.
"Rhodopis?" a voice snarled.
I cursed at the sound of Charaxos saying my name. I hated the way he did, with enough stress that I knew what he was thinking about at any given moment. He'd just have easily taken me after Seth had done his whipping.
I held back the shudder that wanted to rip through me.
"I'm sorry, Charaxos, I'm on an errand." The lie tripped more smoothly from my tongue than it had any right to.
"What errand? I haven't been told of any errand."
"That's because we work in different departments," I pointed out.
He scowled. "Where's your little friend?" he demanded. "She'll do instead."
Sophia. Her name rattled around inside me, breaking my heart all over again. No matter how happy I was to have found Abu, her death hung over me in a way I didn't enjoy.
"She's dead," I reminded him. Surely he already knew? No one in the entire temple could have avoided the knowledge of her death. It certainly haunted me in a way I'd never forget. Her vacant eyes, the stench of blood.
"Probably got what was coming to her," he muttered.
I bit my tongue. Fighting to defend Sophia's honour wasn't going to get me out of here any faster, and it certainly wasn't going to go unnoticed. Charaxos would no doubt take his own twisted sort of revenge before he even told Seth about what I'd been up to.
I'd never hated this temple more.
"I'd like to get on my way," I said evenly.
"What errand are you on?" He looked as if he wanted to reach out and grab hold of my arm, to shake me into submission or some other dastardly deed like that.
"I was asked not to reveal the details to anyone." I was full of lies this evening. I had to be.
"I'm not just anyone."
"You are," I returned quickly. "You're a slave, just like me. You only think you have more freedom than the rest of us." And maybe he did. But it wasn't enough that he could lord it over me the way he did.
A scowl crossed his face, deep enough that it was easy to see in the moonlight.
"I really must be going." I gestured in the opposite direction to where I needed to be. That was safest. "As always, it has been wonderful talking to you." Sarcasm dripped from my tongue. I usually held it back, but tonight I'd had enough.
Charaxos opened his mouth as if to retort, but I didn't give him the time. I stormed off in
