Infinite Sacrifice by L.E. Waters Read Free Book Online

little of this lustful crime. I respect
Sokaris, feel he is a valuable member to the House of Life, and
thought so little of the offense taken so seriously by the
righteous temple priests. I only felt a crime occurred when this
slave, Nun, was unjustly accused and scheduled to die this new
morning. Please spare the slave’s life and have mercy on these
young lovers’ sin.
    Khons, son of Thutmose
    I burn the letter in the fire and
think of how well I averted disaster as the papyrus curls in
movements that remind me of Bastet. She should be at the temple
now, getting ready to watch Nun’s execution. I have to speak to
her.
     
    ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
     
    The sun is rising, and the land is
golden with its renewed energy. People are all gathering at the
temple square, as children stand on stonewalls trying to see over
tall figures. I search the crowd for Bastet, but even a diamond
can’t be found in such dull chaos. The drumming begins, and the
people part for the procession of guards. In the middle of the
guards walks Nun, his hands tied in front of him. As he passes, I
can see the brand of my family—a falcon, seared into his flesh with
its wings spread. Sokaris, the falcon god I am named after. They
lead him to the execution altar and lay him out on the
tablet.
    A lector priest starts reading him
holy rites, preparing him for his death. I grow bored watching and
scan the crowd, searching for my star. In the background, the drums
start to roll and abruptly cease with the quick cracking sound of
the spear going into Nun’s head. He twitches for a few moments, and
the crowd cheers. With all the movement of the crowd, there’s no
way to find her. I decide I’ll have better luck if I go back to the
temple to meet her, but I’m distracted by a loud and piercing
woman’s scream. The sea of people surges toward the
sound.
    I too go to see what happened, and
my heart beats cold as I look over the steep temple stairs to see
my diamond lying in a puddle of blood at the bottom. I rush to her
and turn her around in my arms, but she slumps lifeless in my
embrace. I pull back to see her once-flawless features ruined by a
deep gash in the middle of her forehead, from which thick blood
paints her whole face. I hold her for a few moments more until she
is gone. There is a murmur throughout the crowd that she was
pushed.
    A commoner shouts above the masses,
“It was a man. Came up right behind her and shoved her down the
steps. He ran back through the crowd.”
    The temple guards rush to break up
the hovering crowd, and when they see Bastet, they call for the
temple priests. Knowing it will not bode well to be found crying
over her, I place her body on the ground and wipe away my tears. I
head to pray the rest of the day for her soul in the temple, ending
the terrible day in the comfort of my dream chamber.
    I get back into
bed and fix the scroll with my god’s name on it, when I call for
Sehket. She doesn’t come like she usually does, so I call again.
Instead, Nun comes walking in, chuckling, and hurls Sehket’s
lifeless body next to my bed. I feel something move by my leg under
the sheet. I throw back the sheet to expose a writhing mass of
vipers, all crawling and hissing on top of me. I scream as they
bite into my flesh and my body bursts into flame .
    I recite the prayer to undo
misfortunes predicted in inauspicious dreams but still feel
unsettled and uneasy. I need to be sure Nun is, in fact, dead. I
can’t understand why I would dream of him killing me if he is gone
in this life.
    I find the lector priest who
presided over the execution and ask, “Where did they dispose of the
slave’s body?
    “One of the priests had the slave
sent for funeral rites.”
    “Funeral rites?” I
scoff.
    He shrugs and returns to what he
was doing before my interruption.
    The City of the Dead looms lonely
near Pepy Meryre’s pyramid. A wall of rectangles rises from the
ground to a singular apex in the center with a dark