“True and true,” Faraj admitted.
“And she is the most lustily relentless being who is not me,” Neferkamin continued, “so she will not let you summon a physician while she can still watch the evening’s spectacles, and cause them as well.”
“Entirely true,” Anuket said contentedly, choosing a date to nibble.
After another moment’s consideration, Neferkamin offered a rueful smile that was simply human, and which tugged at Faraj’s heart more effectively than his performances of merrily outrageous lewdness ever had.
“You’re going to need reinforcements this evening, aren’t you, your Highness. Because we cannot distract her with passion-play, and that frees her clever wit for as much mischief as her heart desires.”
“I would be mostdesperatelygrateful for reinforcements,” Faraj said from the bottom of his heart.
“Hey,”Anuket protested, but she was laughing despite her mock-indignation.
“If we cannot indulge ourselves in fanning the flames of your desire without quickening your pains,” Neferkamin told her, “then surely the next most amusing thing would be to terrify the order-priests with how suspiciously well we are behaving ourselves. Tendinarsays I can break the twitchy one without even laying a hand on his crotch.”
“Or your own?” Anuket said, arms crossed.
Neferkamin sighed deeply. “Know that I love you, O radiant jewel who shines upon Hathor’s breast, for I shall submit myself to an entire evening of chastity for your sake.”
“Which of them do you mean by the twitchy one?” Faraj asked, a bit concerned. “Because I can’t advise breaking the priest of Ta-retiu who Eats Entrails. Or the priest of Set-qesu who Breaks Bones. Or any of them really. When a priest ofChaos loses his temper, you can’t really tell much difference, but when a priest of Order loses his restraint…”
Neferkamin sighed again, fingertips dramatically poised at his temples. He knew his own allure, and would never cover his face unless he was truly overwrought. He was not entirely handsome in the way artists’ sculptures were; his face was sharp-boned and rather hawk-shaped, his nose a bit crooked from some youthful fistfight, but his charm and his confidence made him as supremely self-assured as any cat — not to mention as free with others’ personal space.
“Know that I love you as well, O honey-sweetest and most lickable of prophets,” Neferkamin said, “for I have promised you my support even in the face of such delectable temptation. I shall endeavor not tointentionallybreak any of the priests this evening. But if the twitchy one snaps of his own brittle rigidity, I disclaim responsibility.”
Faraj still wasn’t entirely sure which of them Neferkamin meant by the twitchy one, because the Cobra-Priestess of Meretseger had just arrived and there were presently several strong candidates in the running for the appellation ofthe twitchiest. But he’d scarcely dared hope for a gift such as Neferkamin’s offered support, especially without scandalous lewdity.
“I bless your mercy,” Faraj told him sincerely. “Will you stay with Anuket while I draw Beketmeret’s attention away? She is determined to startle me tonight, you see, and I’d much prefer she strike at me than at any other. I know when not to flinch.”
Anuket and Neferkamin looked at each other, and then at Kamil, whose tail was lashing as he watched the Cobra-Priestess loom menacingly over Irfan. Even without foresight of his own, Irfan didn’t flinch, and didn’t back down. Faraj had told him the Cobra-Priestess would not strike against the loyal servants ofthe Empire itself, and Irfan’s unshakable faith in his vision was humbling.
“Please don’t call them over,” Faraj murmured. “She would have her choice of dearly treasured targets, and she is swifter than us all. Let her entertain herself with pounding hearts and the scents of fear. She won’t harm me; she won’t defy my brother that boldly.”
With a tense sigh, Neferkamin said, “And you are certain.”
“I am not brave,” Faraj admitted. “It takes no bravery at all when I have already foreseen it. But I am not entirely kind, or I would have explained to her that the calculated intent to terrify those I love iswhyshe cannot startle me.”
“To the rest of us, you seem either very brave or very foolish,” Neferkamin said. “Some blessed morning when I am fortunate enough to wake beside you in your bed, you must tell me how you see.”
Faraj looked over at the Cobra-Priestess again, and then he scrambled to his feet to hurry across the courtyard. Because Elder Elias had a stern grip on his shepherd’s crook and was frowning at the Cobra-Priestess, and that was exactly what he’d been afraid of. There wereso many waysthat could goterriblywrong more swiftly than his fat, scholarly, middle-aged human body could intervene — unless he got there first.
Even with foresight’s warning, he barely got himself between Elias and the Cobra-Priestess in time.
“No,”he said firmly to Elias’ wide and startled eyes, with his back to the Cobra-Priestess despite Elias’ growing terror.
“Your Tallness?—”
“No,” he said again, more calmly. The Cobra-Priestess was not human; she did not have her own body-heat to emanate in the growing cool of the evening. But he didn’t need to feel her presence to know her fangs were poised a bare handspan from his throat. “Elias, I do appreciate your shepherd’s nurturingprotection. If we were among thieves and miscreants I would treasure your ready defense. But every one of us gathered here is guarded by a greater power than yours or mine. The God-Emperor’s peace is the foundation-stone of His Empire, and I am His prophet. If you lift your staff against a priest of another faith, you proclaim that the God-Emperor’s peace is flawed. That the Greater Convocation cannot hold its own priests accountable for upholding that peace, together.”
“Your Tallness,”Elias breathed, shaking. Faraj could see the reflection of the Cobra-Priestess rearing back in the shepherd’s wide black pupils.
“I have faith in my brother’s peace,” Faraj said. “I have faith in every one of those gathered here. I have faith that her Glory Beketmeret, the handmaiden of Meretseger, will not ignite a war among the gods without provocation. And, Elias, I am utterly determined thatnone of us will provide that provocation.”
Elias shrieked and dropped to his knees; Faraj felt the lash-swift flash of scales ruffling his hair and the faintest prickle of fangs against the side of his throat.
“Are you enjoying yourself, your Glory?” he asked mildly.
“Oh,immensssssely,”Beketmeret hissed against his throat. The flicker of her tongue was terribly ticklish, but he couldn’t twitch the slightest fraction of an inch. “For a human, you are mosssst amusssing. I will regret the day your foresssight failsss you.”
