the way he smelled. Stop it! I said to her, and focused on the rushing of servants instead as we walked through the long hallways.
“Your home is beautiful,” I remarked, attempting to ease into some small talk.
“Thank you.”
We entered the dining room, and though Horus made a stumbling attempt to sit next to me, Amun-Ra bluntly told him that his seat would be on the opposite side. Though many women bustled around bringing dish after dish to the table, the three of us were the only diners. When our goblets had been filled with a golden liquid Amun-Ra called ambrosia, the servants lifted the domes off the dishes as one.
Fragrant steam wafted from platters filled with orange duck, creamy mashed root vegetables, a salad dotted with edible flowers, and a sort of pudding dessert that snapped with fire, and my mouth watered. I hadn’t realized just how hungry I was. Amon would have appreciated Tia’s zest for feasting. Having long gotten over my need to maintain my New York City svelte figure, it wasn’t too hard for Tia to convince me to enjoy second and even third helpings. I ate until I was so stuffed I could barely move.
“Thank you,” I said when I was done. I dabbed the corners of my mouth carefully with my napkin, even though Tia would have preferred that I sweep my lips with a fully extended tongue. Seeing Horus groan in near pain as he watched me do something as simple as patting my lips was bad enough already. If I had done what Tia wanted, he’d likely expire on the spot. I threatened her that I would happily never eat meat again if she continued sending me her brazen thoughts, and she sulkily retreated to the back of my mind and listened moodily.
Since, thanks to Tia, it was at the forefront of my mind, I asked Amun-Ra, “Why are you not as affected by me as Horus is? Even Anubis seemed to be having problems with my heart scarab.”
Amun-Ra leaned back, his eyes twinkling. “It affects me as much as the next man, but I have more self-control than my nephew. He hasn’t practiced the discipline of self-denial much over the years. To put it frankly, he’s weak.”
Horus finally broke eye contact with me and glared furiously at his uncle. “You shame me.”
“You shame yourself,” Amun-Ra replied with a sigh and a shake of his head that indicated he wasn’t angry with his nephew at all but more frustrated. “If you exercised self-control, you would find the temptation easier to bear.”
“Is it that painful, then?” I asked.
“It is the worst kind of pain,” Horus exclaimed. “I see you sitting there so close and yet I feel every fraction of distance between us as if each is an unbreachable, unending chasm. I am undone by it.”
Amun-Ra rolled his eyes at Horus. “Do I need to banish you from the room?”
Horus gasped as if someone had punched him in the gut. “Please do not jest with me like that. I cannot leave her.”
“I am entirely serious. If you wish to remain, then you will keep your overtly swooning comments to yourself. Lily and Tia do not need to bear your insufferable fascination.”
Grinding his teeth, Horus nodded pertly and went back to his quiet staring.
“Is everyone in the netherworld going to react that way?” I asked. “Or does it only apply to immortals that are more…human?”
“It will have an influence over every immortal. The form doesn’t matter. Even Nebu was charmed, though he is in love with another, which generally protects one from the scarab’s pull. Then again, perhaps he simply likes you. That’s always a possibility. You’ll never know, really. Besides, you’re assuming I’ll allow you to enter the netherworld in the first place. And I’ll warn you right now, I’m not inclined to do it.”
“What? After all I’ve…we’ve done? I’ve come so far, and Tia, well, Tia has given up everything!”
Amun-Ra held up a hand. “Please do not misunderstand me. I am not unsympathetic to what you’ve gone through; it’s just that I do not hold with the theory that the universe will come to an end should Seth return.”
“Uncle!” Horus exclaimed.
“What do you mean?” I asked at the same time.
Scrubbing a hand through his dark, close-cropped curls, Amun-Ra said, “Seth was not always the incarnate of everything evil that Horus believes him to be.”
“He’s had too many chances at redemption. He is beyond hope,” Horus declared.
Giving his nephew a meaningful look, Amun-Ra said,