The Feather on My Scale: Ch 17

The gilded building sat shadowed beneath a canopy of ginkgo and weeping willow along the edge of a man-made pond. A rock garden bordered its opposite side in a mimic of the koi pond.  On the porch extending off the pond, Seth and Nebra had seen to the preparation of trays of finger foods and were enjoying the coolness of the water.  Lunam mumbled something to Nour as we approached.

“They are your partners like Ptolemy and Wash are, Henu?” Nour nodded to Seth and Nebra. 

I stalled at that assessment well before we reached the building. “How did you know that?”

“Lunam.” He thumbed to his boss.  “Anywhere private where he won’t be watched by palace staff? He says you have eight more guards within this grove alone.” He eyed the trees within the courtyard of my palace grounds. My inner sanctum. I would think it sacred ground to not be trodden on by servants of the palace, but it would not surprise me if there were those hidden within the shadows, persistently watching my comings and goings.

“Join me in the teahouse. There is a room with no windows that can function as somewhere private.” I motioned the group through the door.  Lunam raised an eyebrow at the structure. “Unless there’s someone in there?” I hedged at his hesitation.

“There is one man lying in wait beneath the floorboards of the entrance. A sharp knife, and poison. Is he yours or after you, Henu?” Nour tapped Lunam on the shoulder. The black-haired man nodded to a spot and sidestepped a series of boards. A thin flash of silver dashed between a slip in the floor. 

“Not mine.” I stepped back from the knife as Ptolemy pulled Wash and motioned Nebra and Seth from the deck.

“Shall we dispose of them, sir?” Nour asked, an elated grin barely submerged beneath a contemptuous frown.

“Be my guest. Anyone in here other than my family is not here at my bidding.” I motioned to the trees and the buildings. I was curious about this small group that supposedly had done away with twenty troops upon entering the dome.

“Cortex?” Lunam motioned the brown-haired man and Sanctus to my family. Tempestatis was directed to the far side of the pond. Maria Mater was sent to the west edge.   “Borrow power, please?” the ex-soldier held out a hand to me, a soft expression contrasting my expectations of him.

Skittering resonance bounced beneath my skin as I let the man take my hand. He pulled my back to his chest, his hand going to my throat. “Hold, king,” he whispered, twisting, a knife flashing across our path. He swung wide, releasing me as he caught a palace priest, the man disintegrating into a pile of grey ash. Cortex had a massive blue-green shield of fire circling my husbands and wife, Sanctus’s fingers light along the man’s jaw. Lunam pulled the knife from the turf in his circuit, grasped onto my fingers, turned me again, and flicked the blade to the tree line. A grunt and thud. A priest fell from a branch to land on the lawn.

A loud thooming pop had me swallowing as heat hurtled past me. The world swirled as I was pushed under Lunam and he covered my head, a brilliant blue orb rippling over us. He kept a tirade of commands going between his people as fireballs and firey twisters erupted around the koi pond. My next glance from the grass at my hands was for Ptolemy. He had Nebra and Seth huddled beneath his stature. Wash stood over them, Sanctus’s hand at his lower back, directing a series of panthers to chase priests from the branches. His jackals herded them toward Nour and Maria Mater.

“Healthy, king?” Lunam asked, his black eyes pulling me from the chaos. Fangs morphed his lips. Re take me, the man terrified me.  I nodded mutely, looking around at the devastation. Multiple bodies bled out on the field.  A pair of ash piles accumulated near us.

Sanctus approached as Lunam pulled me to my feet. Ptolemy put himself between us as Lunam tugged Sanctus under his arm.

“Are they gone?” I placed my trust in the man.

“Thirty behind flat.” Lunam nodded to the three-story wall that circled my private sanctuary.

“They are meant to be there,” I reassured.  Nour approached us, as did the rest of the group. “If this isn’t Adom’s work, I would be surprised. What should we do with the bodies? I wouldn’t summon the Temple priests and alert Adom of a failed plot. Not yet.” I motioned to the corpses.  Nour translated.  Lunam shrugged and proceeded to wipe all evidence of their existence from the lawn.

Returning to the teahouse, a shiver ran down his arms as he got within range of us. “Room?” he motioned his question.

“This way,” I went to invite the group in. Cortex and Nour slipped between him and me, blocking me from the building.

“What is the meaning of this?” Ptolemy demanded. 

“Henu’s safety,” Nour warned, as Maria Mater and Sanctus ducked Lunam into the structure. 

“He just has to eat,” Wash protested, confused. Nebra and Seth joined us at the deck.

“You would watch his Repercussion?” Nour mused under his breath before calling out a question to the empty door frame. Maria Mater gave an indifferent reply. Nour chuckled. “Might be good to have the extra hands. No screaming, Pharaoh.”

Inside, we found Sanctus in Lunam’s embrace, the ex-soldier’s hood drawn up to block off his face and his actions. His shoulders tensed at our approach, a warning growl crawled along the floorboard. Ptolemy haulted our progress, wary.

“He’s a bit protective of Sanctus,” Nour cautioned, approaching Lunam slowly. The man stilled, raising his head from his husband’s shoulder. Nour rolled the sleeve on his button up and held it to Lunam.

Vampire. I took a step back as fangs sank into Nour’s wrist. Fingers buried into my hand. Wash had turned a palled corpse color. “Different kind of Consumptionist,” I whispered to him.

“Ma’at drinks water. Cortex swept a corner of the room. Nour stacks coins. I helped a few people escape into the catacombs, but I’ve never gotten to see others like me come down. Ma’at’s a Consumptionist. The others are performers. I thought my Consumption was pricey,” he whispered, his thumb rubbing back and forth along my hand.

“Sorry, I am gross.” Lunam swiped a tongue over Nour’s wrist to stem the flow.

“You’re not done for that many burns, boss,” Nour muttered, rolling his sleeve down. Lunam turned to regard me with suspicion, his black eyes having reduced in intensity. He eyed his men before turning to me and nodding to Nour. 

“This would be why he asked for privacy, so as not to scare the people in the temple who might stumble upon us,” Ptolemy suggested.

“What is going on, Henu?” Seth asked, slipping behind Ptolemy’s stature.

“The coming of Easimal. They are here seeking an alliance,” I explained quickly.

“He’s not done yet, is he?” Nebra asked Nour, nodding at Lunam who had already taken another meal from Maria Mater and Cortex.

“It would be, for the number he just decimated, the amount of an entire body he would need. He does not press to take more than the minimum so as not to affect us while here, but…” Nour supplied. “Would there be any servants that you do trust?”

“I don’t mind helping?” Wash offered quietly at my elbow.

“You would trust him?” I asked.

“I would see that he does not mummify all of us,” he hedged.

“The offer is appreciated, but he says he would not take advantage of his host.” Nour’s feature’s darkened at his relay. Nour turned back to snap something under his breath before turning back to me and wrinkling his nose. “He doesn’t want to in front of your chosen.” He turned back again and they squabbled for a moment.

“It is not like we haven’t already seen what has happened.” Nebra approached our group. Lunam backed further into the deeper shadows of the room.

“He would like to not cause the one carrying a child more distress than necessary.” Nour bowed as the other three put themselves between Lunam and us.

“Child?” Ptolemy’s eyes bulged.

“Nebra?” Seth turned to her, placing a hand on her stomach in question.

“I only just found out yesterday, I thought. I wanted to wait until I could guarantee it,” Nebra protested the surprise.

“You’re pregnant?” I asked, suddenly a touch light headed.

She ducked her head at the question, nodding. Ptolemy, Seth, and I pressed in on her all at once in a hug. “Oof, wait, let me breath!” She protested.

We loosened up. “Sorry. I- that’s, I didn’t expect it to ever happen. You’re okay, right? You need to sit down. Here, there are pillows.” Ptolemy dragged her to a nest of cushions and pressed her down.

“I’m fine, Ptolemy, really! I have to be twelve, thirteen weeks along. I’ve made it this far already; you don’t have to worry.” She went to stand back up.

“No. No. I’m going to be a dad. Seth! Seth! Dad. Henu. Wash! I have to – I don’t know. What do I do? Henu, what do I do?” Ptolemy turned to me in excited terror.

“Calm down. That’s what you do. Wait, how did he know she was pregnant and the rest of us didn’t?” The realization caught me by surprise as I turned back to our emissaries.

“Another smell different.” Lunam tapped the side of his nose. I turned a confused glance to Nour in hopes of an explanation. The blond asked for clarification. Lunam pointed to Ptolemy.

“I’m the father? I’m the father!” Ptolemy grew excited all over again.

“Of course you’re the father, Ptol! Who else would it be?” I jostled him. “Go sit down, you fluttery bird, and bask for a moment.”

Nour cocked his head at the interchange.

“I can’t have kids. Old war wound. And Wash hasn’t been with us long enough at this point. Not unless Nebra nabbed him from the Southern temple some time before we met him?” I teased her.

“The logic stands.” Nebra waved for my help while Ptolemy bent over to press his ear to her stomach.

Ptolemy rolled in his excitement. All at once he was standing, treading past me and through Lunam’s guards to take his hand with a jubilant smile, ignoring the protests on both sides. “Have it. All of it if you need. You’ve made me the happiest man alive right now!”

Nour translated, flicking glances between myself and Lunam. “He’s his own man. It’s his offering.” I shrugged.

“If it is fine?” Lunam searched each of the individuals in the room. His eyes met mine and for the first time since meeting him in the hall, I finally found his soul. Scared. Scarred. Desperate for acceptance. He turned to Ptolemy, finding what he needed in my expression, I guess. “Arm?” He tapped my consort on the wrist.

“If that’s how this works?” Ptolemy let Lunam take possession of it, positioning himself such that Nebra wouldn’t see him eat. “Oh, that’s weird. Henu, you’ve got to feel this. Goes completely numb up to the elbow.”

“You have an odd concept of what should be terrifying?” Nour noted.

“Eh, have your leg blown off. That’ll usually fix your perspective right quick. Wish I had this numbing thing for when that happened way back.” Ptolemy rolled his shoulders.

“It is something Lunam can supply as a small trade?” Nour suggested after another flurry of quick dialogue between Ma’at and Sanctus this time.

“He can supply it?” I asked. “How much?”

“A pair of anaesthetic vials a day and a quarter of a coagulant. We sometimes have a surplus and could trade on them?” Nour dipped his toes into the odd aspect of dealing in bodily fluids while Lunam took his time. Cortex tapped him on the shoulder before Ptolemy could turn too unstable.

His excitement worn off, Ptolemy wobbled back to Nebra’s nest and sank down next to her. Pulling her onto his lap, he wrapped around her in quiet happiness. “I’m so proud of you, Nebs. Really.”

Chapel Orahamm (C) 2022-2023. All Rights Reserved.

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