Distantly Falling Stars (GRAND WINNER * ONC 2019)

4. Ink and Apprehension

"There, between the  fourth and fifth sun disk." Seti pointed at the ceiling with his index finger. 

Six assistants angled their copper mirrors towards the area he indicated, illuminating the belly of the Sky Goddess with light caught and reflected from the many burning braziers that lit up the temple chamber.    

"Which direction were the stars moving in?" asked the small priestess in a tone that was somewhere between a command and an interested question. She was standing so close to Seti he could smell not only her perfume, but the faint scent of onions, barley and river mud. She'd most likely been inspecting a farm. He wondered what his office smelled like to her. Ink and apprehension, mostly likely. 

"Towards the register showing the double-headed gods." Seti moved his arm towards the long register of scenes showing various creatures and text to the left of the Goddess. The pool of light moved with it. 

"At which angle? Which part of the register were they aimed at?" 

Many of the gods and symbols carved into the ceiling were unknown to Seti and he had to describe them as best he could. It didn't help that they were all painted in the same rich colours, but the High Priest grunted slightly when she understood which group of figures he meant. 

"And how many were there?" 

"I'm not sure. Between five and seven."

"You aren't sure?" The High Priestess' voice was suddenly suspicious and he felt her eyes on him. "That's a very important question."

"Certainly, but they all fell at once and very quickly. More than four, but less than eight. That's all I can say."  

There was a longer silence, but Seti didn't remove his eyes from the ceiling. All of the symbols and pictures there meant something very specific, that he knew, but he couldn't read them. Not so the text. "Here the crocodile bites the serpent" was written in one place. "Mut ascends the ladder to the Mother of the Night" in another. 

It was like trying to read a book in a related, but still foreign language. No wonder normal people never saw these things. If he didn't understand half of it, they would understand none. He felt the urge to look to the Star of Bekumen but resisted, forcing himself to concentrate on the chart of the heavens above. 

Was the answer as to how the copper ball moved about written up there somewhere? His eyes darted about searching for images of levitating spheres. 

"What else did you see?" the High Priestess asked suddenly, pulling him out of his thoughts. 

"What do you mean?" Seti tensed. 

"Did the Sky do or show you anything more? Did she move or indicate a particular picture?"

"N. . .no. Not that I saw."

After another longer pause, the High Priestess said, "You've been most helpful. That will not go unrewarded." 

The rustling of cloth made Seti look away from the ceiling. The High Priestess had turned and was walking away from him towards the far door.

"If I may..."

The High Priestess paused, turning slightly back towards him. She raised an eyebrow questioningly. 

"Last time you said the Star was too large and too holy to be moved for experiments."

The priestess nodded. "That's correct. The Star is one of our nation's most holy relics."

"As every child knows, High One. That's why it seemed very odd that you stressed the words too holy to be moved. That seems more than obvious. I've been wondering why you stressed that to us? What were we to understand?"