“Would you look at that!” Illias jeered. “Atemu and Theo got all of us camels!”

Damien dismissed him with a wave.

“The villagers at Abydos were very kind to us on our way to rescue you.” Atemu smiled. “You’ll have the chance to thank them, since that’s where we’re going to stay the night before crossing the Nile.”

The four of us traveled in a triangular formation, Atemu at the front and Damien, Illias and I in the back. Artemisia’s body was draped over the back hump of Atemu’s camel, her wrists and ankles bound by rope, and her helmet, shield and cape tucked away in the storage box on the back of Damien’s mount.

“I really wish I saw you take her on myself.” Illias sighed. “I was too busy fighting those stuck up elves.”

His voice sounded muffled to me as I stared at the queen of Halicarnassus. 

“How’d you beat her anyways?” He continued.

My gaze remained fixed on her. 

“Did you even have to use close combat fighting or did you just use your spears?”

This entire time, it was her.

“Theo?”

She’s the murderer.

“Theo!” Illias leaned towards me and snapped his fingers in front of my face. “I’m talking to you here, man. You ok?”

“Yea.” I shook my head. “Yea I’m fine. Just tired.”

“Artemisia put up quite a fight then, huh?”

“Yea.” I shifted my weight forward to get my camel to move up next to Atemu so that I could ride next to her.

“Hey.” She glanced at me.

“Hey.” 

“Cheer up.” She half-smiled. “We won today. Aaaand, you didn’t break my ankh when borrowing it!”

“I guess we did.” I sighed. “But something feels off about it all.”

She glanced at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Her elven bodyguard disappeared right when she needed them most.” I combed my bangs to the side, as the cool night breeze had just moved them in front of my eyes. “Also, I feel like neither Themistocles nor Isadora gave me sufficient information.”

“As concerning as it is, I don’t have an answer for the elf-related question.” She shrugged. “And I can’t tell you much about Themistocles either. After all, I don’t know the guy. But Isadora deals with her information on a ‘need-to-know’ basis. I’m sure she’ll fill you in when we get back to her temple.”

“I hope so.” I adjusted my seat on the saddle. “Because I didn’t sign up for some ‘greater conflict,’ or anything beyond getting Artemisia.”

“Greater conflict?” Her lips pursed. “Who said anything about that?”

The mysterious elf in the tomb had said ‘the conflict you have just found yourself in the middle of is a big one,’ and while I wanted to tell Atemu about it, I couldn’t risk her telling Isadora.

“Uh…” I cleared my throat. “No one said anything about it. I was speaking hypothetically.”

“Uh-huh.” She squinted at me.

“Also, do you know anything about the elven guardians of the blood moon?”

“The elven guardians of the‒” Her eyes widened as her eyebrows shot straight up to her forehead. “That’s who we just fought! How’d you know that’s who they were?”

“Artemisia introduced them to me.”

“Oh.” She rubbed her chin. “I don’t know much about them, other than their name. Isadora told me about them, so she would know more.”

We rode in silence until an idea came to me. 

“Hey.” I poked her arm. “When’s the next blood moon?”

She looked up at the starlit sky in thought. “Not sure.”

Torchlight came into view in the distance as the night breeze got a little stronger. Palm trees and shrubbery started popping up, and the snorting of hippos could even be heard this far away from the Nile.

“Look.” Atemu pointed ahead. “The town of Abydos.”

“Finally.” Illias threw his arms in the air to stretch, then cracked his back. “I’m exhausted and have a saddle sore.”

Damien scoffed. 

“I also am in no mood to get attacked by leopards or scorpion-women again.” He darted ahead of us on his camel. “See you guys there!”

____________________________________________________________________________

“Thank you again for your kindness and hospitality.” Atemu bowed. “We are in your debt.”

“Nonsense!” The shirtless, middle-aged looking man replied as he scratched his beard. “We are honored to be of service to the priests of Ra.”

She smiled, bowed again, then turned around to address me as the man walked into the village.

The two of us stood at the outskirts of Abydos, but within the bordering circle of standing torches. The houses looked very much like those at El-Arish ‒ mud-made brick, with open, high cut windows ‒ though some of the ones here were two-stories high with hanging flat-top roofs on either floor. Some of these homes had a set of stairs connecting the upper and lower parts, but others simply had a ladder.

“Illias and Damien have already found a family to stay the night with.” She combed her hair behind her ear. “And don’t worry, Illias bought a white tunic to change into to avoid attracting too much attention in his Grecian armor.”

“Good.” I nodded.

The roads were empty, as most people had already gone to bed, but the night-watch was out and about, patrolling the village’s borders. Besides the rare muffled chatter from within the homes here and there, just the cattail and bamboo plants that saturated the land nearby the Nile rustled in the breeze. 

“Has a family offered to shelter you yet?” She asked.

“No.” I shook my head. “Honestly, I don’t even think I’m gonna be able to sleep tonight.”

“Oh.” She muttered. “Well, if you change your mind, I’m sure anyone here will be willing to let a priest of Ra stay the night in their home.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good night.” She bowed her head, then ventured down the main road of the village, taking the first right and going out of sight.

As soon as I was certain she was far enough away, I began walking down the center road myself, my destination directly in front of me at the town’s center. A large wooden pole stood there, with Artemisia bound to it. She had been stripped of her armor, leaving her dressed in only the linen shirt that was underneath the cuirass, and her blue skirt. Rope was wrapped around her ankles, thighs and shoulders, with her wrists tied behind her. Her head hung down, her long brunette hair oily and ragged as it dangled over her face. As my footsteps drew closer to her, her head shot up to look at me.

“What an unexpected surprise.” She grinned through the hair still covering most of her face. “Just kidding. I knew you’d show.”

I stopped a safe distance in front of her, maybe a dozen or so footsteps, and said nothing.

“Well?” She tried to get the hair out of her eyes by whipping her head to the side, but it didn’t really work. “Have you come for information? An apology?”

All I could do was stare.

“What’s wrong?” She chided. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Why did you do it.”

“I’ve done a lot of things.” She smacked her lips. “Are you referring to my murdering of your mother?”

My breathing quivered, but I managed to control it.

“Because I was ordered to.” A single laugh escaped her. “By Darius. Your father. Why he wanted her dead, I don’t know. I simply obeyed because that’s all I could do. That being said, I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t enjoy taking her life.”

My heartrate picked up.

“It was slow, you know.” Another single laugh. “The corruption spread through her body, melting her from the inside out.”

“You’re a monster.”

“I was molded into one by none other than your father.” She scoffed. “Shaped by his own two hands. Shame that he died during his attempt to quell the Egyptian revolts. I wanted to kill him myself.”

  I turned around to leave.

“That’s it…” I heard her jerk forward, only to be snapped back into place by the ropes. “Run away from me. Run away from your past like you’ve done for the past fifteen years, coward.”

“I don’t have to listen to you.” I squeezed my fists so tightly that I felt my nails digging into my palms.

“You will one of these days.” She heaved in a breath, then exhaled. “By the way, the next blood moon is in a month and a half.”

I inhaled sharply. 

“That’s right…” She said slowly. “Connect the dots, young Theophilus. Themistocles sent you on this mission about fourteen days ago, and if my spies are to be trusted, gave you two months to bring me back to him.”

My eyes darted back and forth while looking at the ground.

“And why do you think he sent you, of all people, to capture me?” She laughed again. “I’m sure the fact that I killed your mother has nothing to do with it. It seems the politician knows more than he’s letting on.”

I snapped back around to look at her. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Be careful who you trust, Theophilus.” Her grin became a scowl. “Many people are not who they say they are.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“That is my final warning.” Her azure eyes stared up at me through her dangling hair. “Now leave me be. I would like to get some rest before the next few days of traveling slumped over a camel’s back hump.”