The Curse in Her Blood

Chapter 28

Before

So far she had snuck away for a clandestine meeting only three times.

Two of those times at banquets.

Horus would hide himself away in the shadows and then tug her in while she was walking past. He was always sure to do so when Set was not near her, when he couldn't see. They would kiss, deeply, for as long as they could, before he'd have to relinquish his grasp on her and she'd run back to Set's side.

It was getting hard and harder to get him to let go. It was getting harder and harder for her to say no to his advances.

Unlike with Set she had not given herself up to him right away. She had, instead, been playing hard to get, making him work for her.

She wasn't going to give herself to him until she knew she had him hooked. Until she knew this wasn't just a fling to him.

Once she had him hooked she could drop Set, once and for all.

She'd be Goddess of the Sky. Or maybe she'd be petty and ask for Hathor's love powers. Were those tied to her marriage to Horus? She'd have to ask him at some point.

Not this morning, of course, as she was still working on him.

That morning she was meeting him after one of Set's rituals. Every now and then he'd go to his people's land and bless it.

It involved blood, and sacrifice, and she was supposed to help with that. But it was barbaric and she had no intention of ever assisting with one of those rituals. She didn't even want to go into Duat or anywhere near his people.

So he had told him that she wasn't feeling well, and wouldn't be able to handle the sight of blood. He had let her stay back, and she managed to get enough beauty sleep for this meeting between her and Horus. She knew that Set was back, because he had come to her.

She had specifically requested a room to herself to keep him from her bed as much as possible. He had been good so far, but every now and then he'd come to her, wanting... something.

He knew better than to just slip into her bed, as well. She had trained him to stroke her hair and she would awaken to him. She told him that she was not in the mood, that she still wasn't well, and he had left her to her sleeping. It was a lie, she was perfectly fine, she just didn't want him touching her when she was off to meet Horus in a few short hours.

By now Set was lost to the world in his own sleep. Which meant she could sneak away. She knew better than to leave by conventional means, because then the palace staff, these grey mumbling gruesome souls, would tell Set that she had left while he was sleeping. There would be questions, and while she was certain she could get out of them, she wasn't in the mood to have to concoct stories. Instead she stepped out onto her balcony and in a flash of warm golden light she was swept up and away to the golden kingdom.

When the brightness subsides she is in the sunning room.

This large atrium of sorts where Horus calls for the sun to rise into the sky for both the Upper Kingdom and the mortal world.

"Please sit down," he told her once he saw her. "There's a little picnic set up for us. I just need to raise the sun first."

She should have been annoyed that he was going to make her wait, and she was going to make him suffer for it. That was another day he'd have to wait before she allowed him to indulge in her more carnal of pleasures.

To really make sure he was going to suffer she would have to play up the sultry act. Get him burning for her, and then leave him to put the fire out himself.

She went about pretending like she didn't care that he was there. She watched under covert eyes as he went about calling up the sun. This involved a lot of movement of his arms, his muscles rippling under his bronzed skin.

She picked through the sweet dates and other nibbles he had set out for them, she even started drinking the wine out of the golden goblets. She was so happy to be sitting on a spread of gold, everything in the Under Kingdom was black. Yes there were golden accents, but most of the time it was black and blood red.

The colors of death.

Up here, with Horus, it was the colors of the sunshine and the sky. That was where she really wanted to be.

When the sun was in the sky, he cames to sit with her, taking a place both too close and not close enough. Close enough to reach out and touch her, but not close enough to actually bump into him.

He took a sweet date and popped it into his mouth while smiling at her.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

His smile widened. "Why I always smile like this when you're with me. I am happiest when you are by my side."

She shot him a coy smile and lowered her eyes. She was putting on a pretense of being demure to intrigue him.

"You are too kind."

No, he was too good with his words... and he knew it. She'd have to be careful. She'd have to be sure that he was the one getting caught in her spell and not the other way around.

She had to play her game a little harder and better than him.

He reached out, took a hold of her hand and brought it to his lips. She met his eyes, holding them as his kiss lingered against her knuckles.

It was like a lightning bolt of pure desire flickered between them. It was like that with him a lot. The energy that fizzled between them, it was what was keeping her going. It was what made all this subterfuge worth it.

That and all the gold of course.

"I have something for you."

Oh did he? Was he thinking that he could ply her favour with a few gifts? Because if so, it was going to take something large and expensive to land him a place between her thighs.

He reached into his robe and then offered something smaller than she was expecting. She cocked an eyebrow up at him, was this how he thought he'd get her to agree to let him bed her?

It was a simple ring made entirely of braided gold, but in the middle was a white gemstone twinkling up at her.

It was nice, but it wouldn't win him anything except a few kisses.

"I pulled a star from the night sky and put it in this ring for you," he whispered. "So you might shine at all times."

Astarte found herself breathless in surprise. A star? Really? He had pulled a star out of the heavens for her? He could do that?

She let him slip the ring onto her finger and illogically felt like maybe she might cry. She stared down at her ring, noting that it did emit a shine like no diamond could.

"It is beautiful."

"Just as you are," Horus said.

Astarte couldn't get the words out of her mouth to thank him. She seemed altogether choked up with too much emotion. And since she couldn't vocalize her thanks for such a stunning and priceless gift, she reached out for him instead.

He came to her willing and ready, his lips seeking hers to win her sweetened kisses. She let him cover her, she let him disrobe her, she let him come to her. And she relished in every touch, every kiss, every measured thrust into her.

She lost herself in the passion, in the feel, in the very taste of him. She let herself believe that whatever it was that was brewing between them wasn't just experienced by her. That her happily ever after was tied up in his love for her.

After that morning, it wasn't Horus who was caught in her spell, but Astarte caught in his.