A God's Bargain (EgyptianGod!Brothers and Reader)

Chapter 18

"Don't...touch me, Set," Despite the fatigue, my tongue remained sharp, "You have no right to hold me."

The deity merely stared down at me before instantly yanking his hands away, allowing my upper body to freefall onto the ground with a thud. His pale yellow eyes lowered to his hands, "...interesting."

Coughing out my surprise and regaining the breath that was lost from the fall, I clutched Thoth's feather and sat back up. While I had expected Set to ignore my demands, the obedience he showed was uncharacteristic. He seemed surprised by it, too.

"I am pleased that Apep has been dealt with, but it was your fault that he was summoned in the first place. Don't expect me to show gratitude for fixing your mistake," Set wandered away from my position a few paces before looking up to the night sky filled with stars, the dark canvas empty of the moon, "You've caused quite a bit of trouble."

"I can repeat those words back at you," I remained seated, worried that my strength would give out should I stand, "You've been...nothing but a pain in the backside since you dragged me here!"

"What else was I to do, then?" He wheeled around and instantly leaned over my form, his fangs gnashing mere inches from my face, "Just let my wife do as she wished?! Let that spawn of Osiris thrive?! She betrayed me and I dealt with the problem accordingly!"

"<Osiris raped her, you asshole! You refused to listen to her!>"

Set's eyes widened at the accusation, standing up a little as I caught my breath from screaming out what Nephthys didn't have the strength to say. His size slowly shrank down to match my own, the sand collecting underneath him as he 'knelt' in front of me.

Taking his silence as confusion, I dared to speak further, "Yeah, Set. Your brother -- the same one that you dismembered and strewn around Egypt -- was the one that forced himself on Nephthys after he was drugged. I saw everything...felt everything."

I flinched as he lay one of his furred hands on my own, the touch not completely unwelcome.

"If you truly did...experience it, I will listen to your retelling."

Something in Set's voice sounded different, as if he was regretting an action.

"Only on the condition that you allow me to rest first."

"...granted."

Set never left my side as I found a comfortable place to lay, Thoth's feather still in my hands as I breathed in its faint scent of paper and ink. It was a dreamless sleep, the emptiness a welcome comfort after the chaos I had endured within the past twenty-four hours.

The deity didn't move from his position, only looking at me when I sat back up.

When I was certain his attention was on me, I told him of the memory I had about Isis suggesting that Nephthys help Osiris fall asleep, of how she suggested wearing her shawl that only served to paralyze the deity while Osiris had done whatever he wanted to her. I spoke of her fear of Set finding out what really happened, of the punishment he'd surely give her for being unfaithful in his eyes. When the story progressed to him finding out about the pregnancy through Isis' declaration, I could feel a sudden heat roll off his body while his expression remained neutral. The labor and birth were difficult to describe, and Set finally broke eye contact when I told him of the spell Nephthys had cast right before he killed her.

"My sister...would do something like that?" His voice startled me, the silence finally broken after what seemed like a few hours, "Isis..."