The Curse in Her Blood

Chapter 32

Before

They had been successfully having this affair for months when she got the good news.

And she truly thought that this was good news.

Horus had been telling her since this started how much he loved her. How his love for her shone as bright as the sun he'd raise in the sky. That despite him being married to Hathor and her being betrothed to Set, that he wanted to be with her and her alone.

It was why she was trying so hard to pass the tests.

It wasn't because Set had tied up all his powers and the right to his kingdom into her being approved to ascend to his throne. It was because, if she became his queen, if she became a god, she could be with Horus properly.

As soon as she was made aware of her news, she rushed over to the Upper Kingdom to share in the joy of this revelation. However, when she told him her good news he wasn't happy in the slightest.

"What do you mean, you're pregnant? How do you know?"

They had just finished being intimate. She thought, lying there shrouded his light white sheets, the sun bathing their bodies, it would be a good time to tell him. It would be this magical moment they would remember forever.

But he didn't look excited. He wasn't even smiling.

"Because my monthly courses are at least three months missing and because Hathor saw something there."

Hathor was the Goddess of Love and Fertility. He would know that if she said that she was pregnant than she was entirely correct. But something on his face changes the second she mentioned his wife.

"Does she know? Did she... what did she say?"

Astarte was confused as to why that mattered. "She didn't say anything to me." But then again, Hathor didn't really talk to her, she avoided her if she could.

Astarte was sure that Hathor knew that Horus' heart now belonged to her but she had never outright said anything. She was cool but polite with every interaction. All the gods were.

But that would change once she was with Horus. They'd respect her more then.

Horus got up to pace. He paced the length of his pallet and then he moved to the window and then back.

"This isn't good... we're going to have to... you'll have to do something about it..."

There were many magics in both the Upper Kingdom and Duat, a simple tonic would deal with it in the way he was asking. But she didn't want to do that.

A hand went to her belly as if to shield the baby residing there from his words.

"No!" she cried. "Why... why would I get rid of our baby?"

"Uh... how about because I don't want it?" he cried. "How about, if your betrothed finds out you're pregnant he'll know it was someone else. That if he finds out it's me, he'll come for me again, and I'd very much like to not get into a fight with the man who can snatch my soul from my body!"

Astarte just sat there in utter shock. How could he not want their baby?

Okay yes, he was right about what Set's reaction would be, because the man as unable to bear a child. Ra had made certain of that. If she announced the pregnancy, which she would have to because she would be starting to show soon, he'd know she had been with someone else.

Could he take that claim in her back? Could he decide that this wasn't working and cancel her tests altogether?

No, she had to be a god. That was the whole point of this. Immortality and riches all tied up in the title she deserved.

"So we tell him together and then we marry," she said with a shrug. To be honest it was the option that made the most sense. "Just like we always planned. It'll just be... earlier than expected. I'm sure they'll let me continue on with the tests once it's clear I'm meant to be with you instead of Set."

It seemed entirely logical to assume that. If Set could renounce his marriage to Nephthys so he could marry her instead, Horus could definitely renounce his marriage to Hathor for her too. But he balked at the idea and she didn't know why.

"Marry you?" he echoed and then scoffed. "Marry you? I'm already married."

"You said you loved me," she reminded him. "You said if you could you'd shake all your responsibilities to be with me. That when I was immortal we could be together properly. Why would you say that if you didn't plan on marrying me?"

"Well... that is because, when one says those things, girls tend to give you what you want, which in this case was a lovely place between your thighs. At no point did I actually mean it."

He had said all of that just to have sex with her? So he had just been lying to her to get between her legs? And... and she had stupidly fallen for it.

She stared at him in horror in the wake of his confession and eventually he softened to her.

"Look, I can't offer what you want. But, when Set cuts you lose, which he will. I'll make you one of my concubines. Queen of my harem what do you say?"

She didn't want to be a concubine in his harem. His concubines didn't get to go to any of the lavish parties or events the gods had. They didn't get to sit in a place of honour at their table. They wouldn't get the riches and the gold that she'd get as Horus' wife.

"You think I'd turn myself into a common whore for you?" she spat as she got to her feet.

"Well..." he said a condescending wince on his face. "You kind of already have."

His words were like a blow. He might as well have physically hit her, it would have hurt her less. "I'm going to make you regret this," she hissed before storming away from him.

She waited to see if he would chase after her but he didn't and that was just another bead of humiliation to add to the necklace she seemed to be creating.

There was nothing left for her in the Upper Kingdom now. Horus had shown his true colors, his true face, and not only was Astarte heartbroken, but she was desperate now too. She couldn't lose her place here. She had to be someone's queen.

So she came up with an idea, a lie. One that would save her and damn Horus for what he did to her.

And then she rushed off to tell her lie to Set.

-GBB-GBB-GBB-

Robin

I bolt up in bed gasping, my head in my hands. The dream is still running past my eyes, I still feel trapped in it, like my body is hers and she still has control and I hate it. I hate it because I was so hoping that the dreams were just that, dreams. But I'm starting to realize that they're not, they're memories.

That's Set's Astarte. The girl he gave everything up for and she... she hated him. She despised him and everything he stood for, every little piece of him because all she wanted was gold and power and he couldn't give her that. Not at the level she wanted.

I hate that those are her memories, I hate that I know this, that I had to live through it as if it were me making those choices. I want to tell Set the truth, but not for the right reasons.

I wish I had proof that I could throw at him, so I could say ha I'm the better choice. But that would do nothing but break his heart. It would make everything he went through meaningless and I can't do that to him. I can't hurt him that way.

And I don't have proof.

I only have the memories in my head.

And they're making me sick to the stomach.