The Call of Eternity

62 | TO SAVE A WORLD

Sethi eyed the Etemen'anki, its top tiers towering over the sacred precinct's walls. Even here, sitting at a rickety table outside a tavern, tucked in a tiny courtyard, the stepped terraces of the vast structure could not be escaped. If the Babylonians had wanted to make sure every citizen was aware of their god watching them, the stepped pyramid had been a good choice. Sethi hated it.

"It gets to you, doesn't it," Imhotep muttered from behind his cup of beer.

Horus glanced at the topmost tier, set atop the final terrace, blue-tiled and glinting in the light of Re-Atum, as big as a palace. "Marduk was never one to do things halfway," he said, dry.

"So this is the best we can do after thirty-three days of planning," Sethi muttered, flat, setting aside his empty cup, "you want me to use my previous position as Egypt's commander to meet with the king and inform him Horus wants to meet Marduk. The king will think I am a mad man."

"He won't," Horus answered, terse. "Marduk won't be able to resist my offer." He paused. "Unless you have another way to get past those walls and inside that thing?"

"I want to find Istara first," Sethi said, meeting Horus's implacable look. "At least allow me the chance to say goodbye."

"You want to go back to the trade quarter?" Horus asked, tight. "And hear again about the caravan from Egypt which didn't survive the earthquake--about the regal dresses they found and sold?"

"My lord Horus," Imhotep said as Sethi lunged to his feet, toppling his stool over. "I beg you. Cease."

"She is alive," Sethi said, low. "Urhi-Teshub would have protected her. He--"

"I can't sense Baalat," Horus cut in, his gaze sliding past Sethi to the ziqquratu's bulk. "I haven't for two weeks--since the day the earthquake struck. You don't need me to tell you what that means."

Sethi turned away, unwilling to accept the once-god's words. "She still lives," he persisted, dogged. "We still don't know if your losing contact was an artifact of Imhotep's ward."

"I cannot rule it out," Imhotep said, diffident, into the taut silence. "When gods become involved in the lives of mortals anything can happen."

"Enough," Horus said, harsh, standing up. "She's gone. They both are. One died, and the other followed. You saw the gaping chasms out there. Half the cliff had fallen away. No one could survive that."

"To think I once worshiped you," Sethi roared, shoving the table aside and ramming Horus up against the courtyard wall. "You are a monster. Heartless."

Horus shoved Sethi back and pushed past him to the opening of the courtyard. "We have work to do," he said, his eyes hard. "The message from Thoth was clear. There is only one task which matters now." He jerked his head toward the Etemen'anki. "To get in there and stop what is to come."

"This is your battle," Sethi bellowed, staggering after him, resenting Horus for his focus, his cold purpose, his ability to carry on. "Not mine."

"It was," Horus said, the muscles of his jaw tight, "but now it is yours too. I will wait for you at the palace gate."

Horus left, his hands on the hilts of his daggers, his eyes on the Etemen'anki, dark, determined.

Imhotep bent to set the table and stools to rights. "If Istara is alive," he said as he crouched down to collect the strewn cups. "She will be in the palace. The King of Hatti would not be staying at an inn."

"I know," Sethi said, tight. He bit back a curse, caught at a crossroads, riven between wanting to know the truth and fearing it. "But in my dream--the one I carried with me for thirteen years--Istara is still alive when I fall. I have been clinging to that ever since Horus told us he couldn't sense Baalat anymore." He looked down at his hands, clenching once more into fists, the muscles in his arms taut. "If I have truly lost Istara," he said, low, "I don't know who I will become. "