“Yes. Many have confused him for a phoenix. Unlike a phoenix that rises every five hundred years, the benu bird is immortal. He was likely watching our”—Horus paused and narrowed his eyes at the bird—“exchange and chose the perfect moment to reveal himself.”
“Reveal? Meaning he was already here?”
“He can make himself invisible. He was probably here all along. It’s a rare thing to see him, as he hasn’t revealed himself in centuries.” Horus frowned. “It’s interesting that he does so now.”
“Does he mean to help me, then?”
“It would appear so.”
“He’s very beautiful.”
Horus snickered. “I’m sure he likes to think so.”
Slowly, I approached the bird and held out my hand. “I’m Lily,” I said. “Thank you for coming to help us.”
Opening his beak, the benu bird twisted his head so one eye peered down at me, and then he sang out, the notes haunting and beautiful and like nothing I’d ever heard before.
“How lovely!” I exclaimed when the song was finished.
Horus cupped the back of his neck and stared long and hard at the bird. “He’s unique, all right.”
“Did you create him?” I asked.
Chortling almost uncomfortably, Horus answered, “The benu bird came into being by himself. If Amun-Ra is the sun, then the benu is the sunrise.”
I glanced at him in puzzlement, but then the benu bird flapped his wings, rising, and turned into a streak of light that disappeared through the high window. Rematerializing on the other side, he tapped the glass with his beak and circled.
“He wants you to follow him,” Horus said.
“Right.” I turned toward the pile of clothing and picked up the white dress. Horus stood behind me with his arms folded across his chest, an eyebrow lifted, the corner of his mouth tilting upward. “Would you mind leaving while I dress?” I asked.
Glancing up briefly at the window the bird had disappeared through, he muttered, “I suppose that’s for the best.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll wait for you outside and escort you as far as the city wall. The benu bird will take you from there.”
I nodded, and when the door closed behind him, I quickly doffed the robe and stepped into the white dress. The gleaming material was gathered at the empire waist and flowed down my body, ending just above my white sandaled feet. The beaded top covered the entire bodice like a yoke and encircled my shoulders. I twisted my hair up in a knot and secured it with the white tie from the robe; put on my shoulder harness, adjusting it to fit over the dress; secured the strap of the quiver across my body; and took hold of the bow.
As I looked at myself one last time, I felt Tia’s discomfort. “What is it?” I asked. She didn’t answer, so I cocked my head and tried to access her thoughts. “Ah,” I said finally. “It’s the dress.”
I just don’t know how we are supposed to run and fight with all this material encompassing our form. We would do better to go naked.
I laughed. “Maybe. But then we’d freeze. I don’t have a coat of fur like you.” I bit my lip. “How about a compromise?”
She caught the edge of my thoughts and I felt her acquiescence. Summoning the power of the sphinx, we shortened the dress to the length of a tunic and covered our legs with a supple pair of white leggings.
Horus met me in the hall and gave me a quick look of approval, including an appreciative glance at my legs, and then led me through a maze of hallways until we came to a door.
Once out of Amun-Ra’s home, the golden god caused quite a stir. Citizens of Heliopolis stopped whatever they were doing to watch him as he led me through a bustling thoroughfare to the edge of the city. Though I looked for the benu bird in the sky above us, there was no sign of him.
“Are you sure he’ll meet me?”
“Yes,” Horus answered flatly as a group of merchants saw him and paused mid-transaction.
“What’s wrong with them?” I asked.
He flinched. “We don’t typically walk among our creations.”
“Really? Why not?”
“It makes them…uncomfortable.”
“How so?”
Shrugging uneasily, he allowed himself to be distracted when a woman dropped a bowl of purple fruit at the sight of him. One orb rolled to his feet. Horus picked it up, dusted it off, and handed it to me. “They don’t want to stare into the faces of those who made them. It reminds them that they are mortal. Most