No Mere Zombie by Fox Chris

Author:Fox, Chris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-04-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 41- Deceived

Irakesh was escorted into the throne room, a cavernous chamber in the very heart of the Ark. A narrow red carpet stretched the length of the chamber, four massive glow bulbs hovering above. Each blazed like a miniature sun, though their soft ivory light left shadows in the corners. None of the brightly clothed sycophants lining either side of the carpet were careless enough to let their booted feet touch the plush velvet. Doing so would have been a gross breach of etiquette, one they may not survive.

He strode boldly up that carpet, knowing he stood far above them all in position if not experience or age. It was a crowning moment, yet a disquieted part of his mind whispered that this was all somehow wrong. How was that possible? He was where he’d always been meant to be, the Ark of the Cradle. His mother, the goddess Ra herself, was resplendent in a bejeweled headdress and a shimmering white robe that plunged at the neckline. She lounged in opulence atop her golden throne on the raised dais. One bronzed leg was thrown carelessly over the side as she swirled the contents of her goblet. She surveyed the small army of cloaked sycophants, every last one scheming for a coveted rejuvenator when the Age of the Lion ended in a handful of weeks. She didn’t appear to have noticed Irakesh, though he knew that was an act. She’d sensed his approach hours ago, the moment he first reached her city.

“What merit could such a strike possibly possess?” Ra asked, her melodic voice sweet but eyes glittering hard like diamonds. They promised a swift but merciful death, should the answer displease her.

“What merit? We could overwhelm Isis now, right at the end. If nothing else, damage her Ark so that she cannot slumber away the millennia and live to fight us in the next age,” a bold-faced deathless explained, as if to a doddering idiot. His ill-chosen tone had likely signed his death warrant, though he seemed oblivious to his own mounting peril.

Unsurprising. Irakesh thought it a minor miracle that Khonsu had lived this long. Even his fashion sense was lacking. A tightly bound side-lock of black hair dangled down the side of his face. His silver robes had gone out of fashion when Isis had departed centuries ago, yet he’d stubbornly clung to them because of his love for the moon.

Khonsu plunged boldly ahead, hands clasped before him in something that was probably meant to be supplication. “You could assail her with lightning and death as a prelude to an assault, providing a distraction. The rest of your warriors could storm the central chamber and destroy the obelisks.”

“Galu, how old are you?” Ra called as if Khonsu hadn’t spoken. She turned towards the diminutive figure perched in a high backed chair a mere two steps below the throne. Irakesh almost never noticed the child, as was intended. She so cleverly faded into the background unless Ra brought attention to her as she had today.

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