Chapter Twenty-Seven

"I want to go into the city, and I want you to come with me."

"What?"

I sighed, turning away from the balcony in Set's chambers, the one with the perfect view of the city beyond the Nile. Stepping out of the sun's hot rays, I backed up against the silk drapery, reaching up to push the hair out of my face so I could see Set lounging on the bed, sprawling out like a lethal cat on a tree branch, his head resting on his arm, his legs open on the bed, his chest rising and falling steadily for a moment before he hesitated.

He blinked, then propped himself up with a frown.

"Why the city?" He asked dryly, as if he could think of nothing less entertaining. I smiled, pushing off the drapes and approaching the bedside, sinking down on my knees. Set's eyes glinted and he drew closer, wrapping an arm around my waist so pull him close. He closed his eyes and ran his tongue up from my groin to my navel, tongue dipping in the flat planes of my stomach.

"I want to look around, see if I can bring anything back for Lucifer," I added. Set's expression became annoyed as he peered up my body at me, and something about it was incredibly sensual.

"Must you bring him up?" He asked. I laughed softly, reaching down to run my fingers through his hair, enjoying the silky strands slipping between my fingers, feeling his scalp beneath my fingernails as they scraped by. Set seemed to purr at the touch.

"You know I don't speak of him like that," I told him, "Lucifer is my friend, my brother."

"The very thought of him makes me soft," Set deadpanned. I laughed and ruffled his hair now, watching him roll his eyes as he fell back on the bed, throwing an arm up over his head, his other hand resting on his stomach.

"Good," I said, standing up again, "Then we can go into the city." Set's brows drew together in a nervous frown. I waited patiently for him to figure out how he wanted to respond.

While it was true, I wanted to purchase a gift for Lucifer and Lillian, I also wanted to have Set confront his next fear-- being around other creatures. He'd been locked inside his own cage for so long, terrified he would become angry and lash out at the innocent. He was so accustomed to his own company that meeting other people made him bashful. While it was sweet, cute even, it wasn't entirely healthy. He could blush all he wanted, but he needed to speak to others, become at least a little more social than he was now.

"If you won't go, I'll go. Alone," I added, drifting toward the bathing quarters to rinse off in the pool. Set made a noise of distress, climbing out of the bed to come after me. He didn't touch me, didn't speak, just followed me into the bathing quarters. He watched from the doorway as I climbed into the water, picking up a small bucket to pour water down over my head. His eyes were on me the entire time, and I felt the room rise a bit in temperature with Set's arousal.

"Alone," I reiterated. Set growled, moving from his position in the doorway, unfolding his arms, and walking into the pool with me. I turned to him, arching a brow, daring him to touch me. He didn't, he understood that I wasn't in the mood, and he gave a heavy, frustrated sigh.

"Fine," he grumbled, "But I will not enjoy it. Any of it." I smiled, picking up the bucket with water and holding it over his head, pouring it out. He slammed his eyes shut, letting the water pour over him, rinsing away the scent of sex, leaving behind his own natural aroma that lit my heart on fire.

"Somehow, I doubt that," I murmured to him, leaning in to kiss his nose. He peered an eye open, then both so he was staring me right in the eyes, his silver ones gleaming with fascination. I bathed him, and he bathed me, before we stepped out together and dressed.

Moments later, we were transporting from Set's palace out in the desert to the bustling city on the other side of the Nile. The air was hot, dry, but a cool breeze sailed up and down the streets, streets unpaved and packed down from the thousands of people walking along them. The simply built buildings from homes to businesses lined the streets, along with street vendors and open stores, colorful clothing and blankets out on display. Handmade pots and bowls caught the glint of the sun, golden jewelry glimmering, gems sparkling. The sound of music drifting through windows, the sound of thumping drums, the hum of a sharp string instrument, a flute singing with the sound of a woman's voice coming from one of the many taverns.

It was beautiful. It was so much different than Hell. In a way, it felt oddly more advanced here.

And the easy lilt of the ancient language spoken amongst the locals was lovely, smooth and quick. The females tended to stick to their own groups, laughing out loud and bumping their hips together in a teasing motion, some leaning in to whisper whenever a male happened to walk by. The males were spread out, from working their shops to leading their families around. A couple of females were twirling and dancing at the end of the street, swaying their hips and throwing their arms up over their heads, a group of males nearby playing their music.

I looked at Set to see his reaction to the sudden stimulation, and he appeared fascinated by his own culture, his eyes sweeping the crowd, drifting up the buildings, then cast toward the sky where the sun gleamed like a smoldering hot ember.

"When was the last time you were here?" I asked. Set shook his head slowly.

"There were not many people here, last I came," he murmured. I smiled at that, then took a breath of air to take in the scents. Hot sand, meat roasting on a spit somewhere, spiced perfumes, and warm fresh bread. Set seemed to enjoy the smell too, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply.

I led the way down the street with Set close to my heels, his eyes swinging back and forth to take in the sights around him. The abrupt stimulation of activity had been one of my main concerns in bringing Set out of his palace. I'd seen plenty of negative reactions to the sudden change in environment, from the dark peace of a room to the bustling loudness of a village outside.

However, Set appeared to love every moment of it. His reaction was positive, enlightened, and childlike fascination that touched a part of my heart I'd long forgotten existed. I found his awe and his innocence incredibly endearing.

He stayed close, though, as we approached our first shop. A special shop for female clothing, in which I hoped to find a gift for Lillian. Upon entering, we were surrounding by wooden dummies draped in the colorful clothing of females and heavily adorned dresses. It was all beautiful, and Set appeared to admire the clothing, reaching out to touch the silk headdress on a particularly lovely red and gold outfit.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" We looked up as a female came sauntering over, her hips swaying in a very sheer white pleated skirt that fell to the floor on one side, the other side occupied by a long slit that revealed her dark flesh all the way up to the thigh. Her black hair was a dark curly mass contained by a thin gold band around her head, her dark eyes hooded as a smile swept her lips, her attention mainly focused on Set, who didn't appear to notice the fascination as he looked back at the outfit.

"It's lovely," I replied, then looked at Set, "For whom were you considering it?"

"Anka," Set said, surprisingly me with how easy it was to gain that bit of information, considering how much he avoided all my questions before, "She's always loved these colors." The merchant arched her brow, folding her thin arms over her chest.

"Your wife?" She asked. Set made a face.

"My... daughter," he said slowly. The merchant smiled slowly once more, lowering her arms and sweeping over to the outfit to pick the thin material up in her hands to show the sheerness of the silk, the softness, as it appeared to pool like red liquid in her palms.

"Oh, then this is absolutely perfect. Judging from what you've chosen, I'd say your daughter was bold, is she not?"

"Yes," Set replied, looking impressed by the merchant's deduction. The female nodded matter-of-factly, stroking the silk between her fingers.

"Oh, yes. She's quite feisty, stubborn, like her father. She is wild like a flame, but only tamable by those she deems worthy. She is beautiful. She is strong. She will make a fine wife, perhaps a fine warrior even," the female continued. Set seemed utterly enthralled in the fact that the female could tell so much about his daughter. Then again, Anka herself spoke of Set fondly as if she truly was of his blood, and if there was one thing I had learned in this universe, it was that blood did not a family make.

Family ran deeper than just blood.

And Set and Anka were a perfect representation of such.

The female gave her price, and without hesitancy, Set bought the outfit and had it neatly wrapped in thin imported rice paper before she gently tucked it into a bag made of rough material.

"And you," the female said, turning her sharp gaze to me, "What do you wish to purchase this fine morning?" I scanned the shop.

"I wish to purchase for the wife of a friend. She is a dear friend. A succubus. Very fair, rather fickle to be frank, but friendly and open-minded nonetheless," I murmured, picturing Lucifer's beautiful wife in my mind's eye. She even held no qualms in sharing her husband with me, in a manner of speaking. And in her eyes, there was no shame in what I did, in my particular interests. Lillian was a friend I held dear to my heart, and even more so knowing that she would soon give birth to the Savior's true love.

"She's pregnant, about to have her babe," I added. The female nodded.

"I have the perfect gift in mind, come hither," she gestured and I followed with Set lingering in the main room of the shop to admire a row of handmade brooches. Leaving him to his curiosity, I approached the next room, smaller than the first with limited inventory, with a few mirrors for customers to try clothing on. In the corner was a working center, where multitudes of fabrics hung from rolls all the way to the ceiling.

"This one," the female said, picking up a gorgeous dress from near her work desk, holding it up to display it for me. It was more than beautiful. It was made of a rich vibrant shade of blue, unlike any other I'd ever seen, with faded white near the skirt, a matching sash about the waist, and a gorgeous gold and blue headdress.

"It's lovely. Wherever did you find this shade of blue?" I asked, impressed that I'd finally come across something unfamiliar in terms of material objects. The female smiled proudly.

"It came to me in a dream," she informed, making me glance up at her, "I went to the temple of Ra the day before, prayed unto Ra to give me inspiration, and he sent to me this color in my dream that night. Ra wished for me to make such a lovely gift, I am sure of it, for you and this female."

"You're certain you wish to give it away?" I asked. The female was positively glowing at the praise, but she shook her head and began to fold the dress up carefully.

"It is my purpose in this universe to make beautiful things such as this, for beautiful people."

"You've not seen my friend," I pointed out. The female shook her head.

"The way you brighten when you speak of her as if she will change this universe is all the assurance I need." Her words made me smile. I agreed to the price and she finished wrapping the gift. I took it with a nod, then paused as I considered her earlier words of how she obtained the inspiration for such a vibrant color. I turned back to her where she was folding up some leftover cloth.

"They say that Ra vanished long ago, before the feuds of his pantheon began," I said. The female blinked, then looked up with a smile.

"I have faith that Ra still remains here with us, watching over his people. He may not speak and he may not appear before us, but in my heart, I still feel him here with us," she explained. I glanced out into the main room where Set was fingering a golden scarab brooch with interest, and turned back to the female.

"Yes. I believe the same," I told her, then went to Set, who returned the brooch and looked up at me curiously.

"You're smiling," he pointed out.

"I'm in a particularly good mood today," I responded, watching him relax as if he liked the idea of my pleasant mood, "Shall we continue?" Set inclined his head. We meandered through the city, weaving in and out of shops, making purchases. I noticed, amused, that Set bought nothing for himself personally. His heart was led to items for Anka, for her mother, for his pets even. He also bought something for one of his staff members, telling me "his sandals are in disrepair and he needs new ones". I was pleasantly surprised by his purchases and what it said about him and his cares.

We stopped at a small stall to get some midday meals, taking our treats to a long table just along the street side where a couple with their tiny child were seated and enjoying a meal. The child was no older than three, sucking his thumb, half his head shaved while the other side was gathered into a short ponytail. His mother kept reaching over to yank his thumb out of his mouth, and the moment she turned away, his thumb was back in his mouth.

The table shifted and I looked up to see Set getting up, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Where are you going?" I asked. He shook his head and disappeared into a shop beside the table. I watched him, curious, and a moment later he emerged with a small toy that he gave to the mother, who brightened at the gift and took it with a bow of her head. She gave her son the toy and he was overjoyed, switching the sucking motions from his thumb to the toy. The mother and her husband laughed. Set just awkwardly moved away and sat across from me.

"That was very kind of you," I said. Set shrugged, picking at his food.

"The toy is cleaner," was his only response. I watched him poke around in his food with his utensils before he finally set them down across his plate, then switched their position to the table.

"You're not hungry?" I asked, surprised. Set shook his head, then lifted his eyes to stare at me. I stared back, confused by his silence. His eyes swept over my face, studying me intently. There was a slight dilation in his pupils, a very faint intake of breath that was quick, and a soft shade of pink touched his cheeks. He swallowed.

"Joxeia... Or. St. John. Whatever name it is you wish I use--"

"Joxeia is fine," I replied in earnest, "Oddly enough, it does not bother me when you use it when it is just us." He nodded, then averted his eyes.

"Joxeia... May I speak to you frankly?" He asked.

"Of course. I encourage you to do so." Even so, he didn't speak after. He just stared at me. His lips started to part when suddenly his eyes veered off to the side, and his soft features became sharp and angry, his nostrils flaring and his eyes narrowing. He got up so fast I barely had time to react as I stood up, watching him swiftly move past me and toward something at the corner of the street. I took our purchases, leaving the food behind as I went to keep up with him, watching him disappear around the corner.

I came around the corner a second after in time to see Set grab a young male up from the ground and push him against the wall, surprisingly gentle. The young male squeaked like a rodent, which was suitable given his tiny mousy features. Dressed in civilian garb, the male was probably just past adolescence, skinny and leanly muscled, with a black wig that fell in neat little braids around to just above his throat, and those topaz eyes were wide in horror.

"What are you doing here?" Set snarled. The boy swallowed, but his response was nothing, but sputtered incoherence. Set growled. The crowd passing by paused to watch, females gaping and males tensing in empathetic anger. Clearing my throat, I set our purchases down and approached Set, placing a hand on his bicep.

"Set, it's alright, take a breath," I reminded him gently. Set growled, baring his fangs, but he slowly stepped back. The male cleared his throat, straightening as best he could, glaring at Set from under the straight cut bangs of his wig.

"You know why I'm here," he said angrily. Set gave him a cold glare.

"I do not. Your mother is not with me. She is probably with Horus," he responded in a brittle tone. The boy's eyes flashed angrily, but Set was easily two feet taller than him, so he didn't aggressively attempt to size him up. Rather, he decided to go the psychological route.

"At least he treats her with respect," the boy barked, "You sleep with a foreigner! You flaunt your relationship with a creature from another land!" Set stiffened. The crowd around us whispered about. I glanced around, then approached Set once more.

"Set, perhaps we should take this elsewhere," I murmured. Set appeared to relax to a degree in agreement until the boy spoke again more loudly now, turning to face the crowd.

"Why not, father? Why not display to all these subjects of the Nile how unfaithful you are to your wife, Nephthys?" He demanded. Set was tense again, and now the crowd was whispering fearfully with realization that the god before them was none other than Set, god of Chaos. Bloodlust. Set came forward, fast and hard, snatching the boy's arm in a death grip.

"We are to go to my palace and should you fight, I will break your neck." Without another word, they vanished from the street and I followed suite with our luggage. I sent the luggage to Set's quarters before veering off to the throne room, whereupon I stumbled into the argument going on between father and son.

It was only now, watching them get close and argue, that I saw the similarities between them. If Set was much smaller and much more... malnourished, actually. The boy shared Set's beautiful almond eyes, the way his lip curled back when he shouted, the way his nose went straight down, and those high cheekbones.

"Enough, Anubis," Set snarled, making the boy stiffen, "It is none of your concern what I do in my spare time. You have your own responsibilities." Anubis only seemed further enraged.

"It is not my job to take care of an infant! It is a servant's!"

"He is your brother, Anubis--"
"He is not! I shall not take care of him! He is gross! He vomits and it is a disgusting color. Also he has your name and it only furthers my disgust in him," Anubis added sourly, folding his arms over his chest and averting his eyes. Set said nothing to that. Just glared at him silently for what felt like the longest time. Judging from Anubis's complaints, he wasn't as old as I had originally thought. He spoke much like a child. Perhaps he wasn't an adult. Gods did tend to age rather quickly, hitting their adulthood form by the time they were sixteen. Chances were, Anubis was still a child that just appeared older than he really was.

"Why were you in the market?" Set demanded at last. Anubis groaned, a loud nasally whine really.

Yes. He was definitely a child.

"I was checking to see if it was true, if what mother and the servants say is true," Anubis grumbled, making Set frown, "That you are sleeping with a foreigner, a white foreigner. When she said white, she really meant white."

"Firstly," Set said dryly, "We are not in that sort of relationship. He is... an emissary sent by Lucifer to negotiate peace. Secondly, the color of his flesh should bother you not. Nor the fact that he is a foreigner. In case you are forgetting, that is my domain. Foreigners are my dealings. Flesh has nothing to do with it."

"He looks like a ghost."

"And you look like a twig. Have you eaten?"

"That is not what we are talking about!"

"Anubis!" Set's voice boomed off the walls and Anubis stiffened, looking stunned at being screamed at. He blinked owlishly for a moment, then shook his head slowly in answer to his father's question. Set sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose, folding an arm over his chest. He took a deep breath, then pointed out the door.

"Find Anka. Tell her I have ordered you to eat. And when I say eat, I mean actually eat. Do not summon your jackals this time. Should I hear even one howl from that kitchen, I will feed them to my pets."

"I thought they weren't your pets," Anubis said dryly. Set glared. Anubis pursed his lips up, then ran out of the throne room, rushing past me as if he hadn't even noticed me standing in the doorway. I watched him go, then turned back to Set, who was running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"He's cute," I commented with a smile. Set grimaced.

"In the same sense that dragons are, mayhap," he responded dryly, then he frowned down at the floor, "Chances are, he is planning to spread word of our relationship in his own terms." I shrugged, unconcerned with the thought as I approached him.

"It is of no concern to me what others whisper out of boredom, Set," I answered, making him frown, "Our relationship is of no one's concern, but our own." Set still didn't appear to sit well with the idea of gossip spreading around the realm. To distract him, I changed the subject.

"So you have two sons? With Nephthys?" I asked. Set nodded, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck, as if the thought alone was stressful.

"Anubis and Sept," he answered, then paused as he appeared to think further on the matter, then smiled very faintly, "Anubis is reaching his eleventh year and Sept is still an infant. Nephthys keeps them in her palace under the care of her maidens. It is rare that I see them." Judging from the way he spoke of them fondly, he appeared to love them, no matter how much of them he saw.

And no matter how awful Anubis spoke to him.

"Do they know of the details in your relationship with Nephthys?" I asked. Set blinked, then looked at me. His expression became clouded with a combination of anger, regret... hurt.

"In Anubis's eyes, I am the beast. I am not allowed to be in Sept's chambers without Nephthys present. It's understandable," he added immediately, moving away from me and his eyes briefly flicked toward the throne, then the floor once more as he made his way toward the window, "If the beast should become uncontrollable, I could accidentally harm him. If such a thing were to happen, I wouldn't be able to live with myself." I watched him, watched the sudden shadows in his eyes return, the nervousness of the male I had met upon my arrival.

Not wanting to see Set slip back into that dark place, I swept up beside him, taking his hand and looking up at him.

"And why would you become uncontrollable with Sept? Have you done so with Anubis?" I asked. Set frowned.

"No. But I was also not allowed to see Anubis as an infant either. In fact, he is not to be in presence without the chaperone handpicked by Nephthys. I only intend to feed him this day and send him back home with a royal guard to accompany him to ensure his safety. His god blood is extremely potent, and he is still too young to understand his powers. He wouldn't be able to defend himself against an assailant," he explained, then paused to look out the window, the concern darkening his brow indicating he was thinking about such a possibility.

The idea that he was not allowed to see his own children concerned me.

If anything would keep the beast at bay, surely it was the love he held for his children. Despite his harshness with Anubis, he did not raise his hand to his child. He also did not hurt Anubis psychologically. He was concerned that Anubis wasn't eating well, and judging from his thin stature, Nephthys wasn't concerned with his well being.

Then again, she was not the goddess of children.

She was a goddess of death.

"Do you want to see your infant son?" I asked. Set glanced at me briefly, appearing surprised for a split second, maybe almost hopeful, but it was quickly doused as he looked away.

"It is not my place. I have no purpose in his life until he is old enough to wield his abilities, and even then, Nephthys informed me she would prefer Horus to train him," he said, and when I frowned, Set sighed in frustration, "Horus, as much as it galls me to admit it, is extremely intelligent. He will be able to train Sept in a way that he understands, as he is to do with Horus."

"So, you're not in either of their lives," I concluded. A muscle twitched in Set's face, but he simply nodded.

"And Sept. His name is a form of your name, is it not?" I asked. Set cleared his throat, looking away.

"Nephthys named Anubis. It took some convincing, but she allowed me to name Sept. As long as his name should contain a symbol of her." The middle character, I realized as I spelled Sept's name in their language. It would contain a similar character.

How frustrating, though, I thought. To finally have the chance to name your own offspring, yet still being forced to associate the name with your prison warden.

Because that is what Nephthys was. She was not his wife, not his spouse, nothing of the sort. She abused Set, she restricted him. He was, but a dog on a leash, a leash held by Nephthys, and a leash that was too short.

Set may have stood against Nephthys in terms of consorts, but the only reason Nephthys agreed was due to the fact that she could now freely and openly display her other consorts to everyone. In actuality, the deal between them concerning their relationship benefited Nephthys as well.

Set still had a few more obstacles in his path, and time was growing shorter.

The next step was to introduce Set to his children. On his own terms.