He chuckled in return. "Not at all. I think Seth has it coming, but I doubt I'll be the one who does it." He drew me over to where a blanket lay on the ground, a spread of cold meats and fresh fruit laid out for the two of us.
"This is beautiful," I whispered.
"I thought it would be worth making this a little bit less of a meeting and more of a get-together. I can't describe the depth of my feelings for you and I don't want you to get the wrong idea about them by not offering you refreshments while you tell me what you know."
"That sounds so formal," I quipped. "Is there something I should have brought?"
"Nothing beyond your beautiful self."
I smiled despite the cheesiness of what he was saying.
"What happened when you left the temple?" I asked once we were both seated.
"Wine?"
I nodded, then waited for him to continue.
"You were right. Seth had something planned. An attack of some kind. We're not entirely sure what his full plan was, but we guessed enough of it to be able to cope."
"How?" I gaped at him before realising it probably looked ridiculous and took a sip of my wine instead.
"We faked it. We have a couple of priests with strong illusion powers and they managed to create what looked like a battle and the aftermath."
"So, no one fought?" I double-checked. "And no one got hurt?"
He shook his head. "There wasn't a single drop of blood spilt on either side."
"But...Seth's soldiers didn't say anything about there not being any of your retinue there," I pointed out, confusion setting in. "That doesn't make any sense."
He chuckled. "We took a little bit of a risk there. We assumed that none of Seth's men would want to admit that there'd been no fighting, especially when the aftermath could be seen from Seth's vantage point. You can't tell me that any of them want to admit to having failed?"
"Alright, that's a good point. And kind of genius."
"Why thank you," he ceded. "None of it would have been possible without you."
A blush rose to my cheeks, but I hid it by reaching out and taking one of the grapes from in front of me. I popped it into my mouth and bit down, filling my mouth with the sweet juice from it.
"I found something," I said softly, hoping that with this revelation, we could get the business part of the evening out of the way and move on to the more important part.
"You did?" His eyes lit up.
I reached down the front of my dress and pulled out a piece of parchment. "I copied it, so there may be some mistakes. I couldn't make any sense of what it is though." I handed it over, glad to be rid of the incriminating piece of evidence. I might be able to talk my way out of trouble in regards to coming out to the oasis, but I doubted I'd be able to get away with having a copied plan of some kind on me.
Abu unscrolled the parchment and began to read. His brow furrowed. "It looks as if it's some kind of battle formation. But that can't be right."
"Why not?" Battle plans would be consistent with Seth's obsession with taking over the world.
"There can't be battles like there were. Mankind would take pictures, videos. They'd spread the word that gods and goddesses walked among them."
"But isn't that a good thing?" I took another sip of my wine. "The more people believe in you, the stronger you'll become."
He thought about it for a moment. Or that was what I assumed his silence meant. Sometimes, it was hard to tell.
"I suppose there is some merit in that, but I don't think that is the case here."
Hmm. "What are you going to do with them?" I asked.
"May I keep it?"
I nodded. "It's best I don't have it on me in case I'm caught when I sneak back into the temple."
He opened his mouth, no doubt to tell me that I didn't need to return if I didn't want to. Wisely, he decided not to.
"I'll hand it to Ra. He and the other gods heading up the movement against Seth will decide what to do with it." He placed it at the bottom of our picnic basket.
"That sounds like a good idea." A small part of me merely rejoiced in the fact I'd managed to provide something useful.
"But that's enough for the business side of things. Unless there's more?"
I shook my head. "I don't think I'm trusted completely again. Not after..." I trailed off, not wanting to remind me of the whipping he'd witnessed me bear.
"It'll come in time." He shuffled over and put an arm around me.
I settled into him, enjoying his touch unlike anything else I'd ever experienced before.
His fingers touched my chin, drawing it towards him so he could kiss me again. Slowly, without taking my lips from his, I lay down on the blanket, bringing him with me until he hovered over me.
The fabric of my dress fell away easily under his touch. I'd been through these motions before often enough to know what I should be doing, but the touch of his skin against mine was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before, and it just made me desperate. Forgetful.
His lips left mine, and he trailed kisses down my neck even as a hand slipped under my dress.
I didn't resist. There was no need to. He was mine, and I was his.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I BOLTED up the moment the sun warmed me to the point of waking. I didn't want to admit it aloud, but a ball of panic welled up inside me.
"I need to get back," I blurted the moment I thought Abu was listening.
He reached up and drew a finger down my cheek.
Despite the urgency of my thoughts, I closed my eyes, enjoying his touch. I was going to make the most of it, especially as this had to last
