Chapter One- Before

"Yes! I am invincible!" cried Avia as her brother beamed down upon her. The temple children had been playing with a ball left in the road by a careless child, and Avia had just scored the wining shot for her team. She proudly accepted the prize, a slice of coconut someone had stolen from the kitchen, and split it up amongst her teammates. Smiling their thanks, the other children slowly dispersed, the winners eating their coconut, the losers trying to look as though they didn't care.

Avia found a shady tree in the temple courtyard where they had been playing and sat down to eat her coconut with her brother. Avia and Arimsa, the famous eighteen –year- old twins of the temple, were never seen without the company of each other for very long. Both looked remarkably similar, with black hair and almond- shaped eyes, tanned skin and bright smiles. They even had matching dimples in their left cheeks. There were a few differences, however. For one thing, Arimsa was tall and strongly built, with broad shoulders and strong arms and legs. Avia, however, was much shorter, with a much fuller figure; but of course, she was female, that was only to be expected. The major difference was their eyes. Arimsa, like most Egyptians, had beetle black eyes that glittered like dark gems in the hot sun. Avia, however, had deep, dark blue eyes, so full of depth that they seemed to swallow all light that struck them, most unusual in the valley of the Nile. Both children had been orphaned at a very young age, and had been taken in by the local temple of Isis, the goddess of women and magic, and were raised as servants in the temple community

Coconut finished, Avia sat back with a contented sigh. "You know Arimsa, I sometimes think that life around here isn't exactly what I want it to be. But at times like this, I feel like everything is right with the world."

"Yes" replied her brother with a grin, "Your stomach is full and your ego is stated, what more could you possibly want?"

With a yell of indignation, Avia leapt on her brother and began wrestling with him playfully, finally managing to sit on his legs and pull his head up by the hair.

"Avi! Avi! Stop it, that hurts!" he cried as his sister pulled harder.

"Take it back then" she told him calmly, as though there wasn't a writhing body underneath her.

"Alright alright, I take it back. Now let go already!" he yelled, as Avia let go of his hair and climbed off of his back. Laughing at his now tangled hair, she ran out of reach before he could retaliate. Just as Arimsa caught up with her and grabbed her arm, a bell rang from within the inner sanctuary of the temple.

"Ha! Saved by the bell!" cried Avia triumphantly as she began walking towards the sanctuary.

"You may have escaped this time, sister, but revenge will be mine!" Arimsa said in a jokingly threatening tone as he followed her into the inner recesses of their home.

Once inside the heart of the temple itself, the twins joined the other servants in their small place towards the back of the room, waiting for the priests to come and begin the ceremonies. Avia was bored already, and began to wonder when they would arrive so she could get some rest. Finally, the priests entered, and Avia slowly slipped into slumber.

About an hour later, a tap to her shoulder quickly brought Avia back to reality. Grinning hugely, her brother woke her just before the procession of priests passed her niche on their way out of the room. Shaking with laughter at her near miss, the twins waited until everyone else had filed out of the inner sanctum before putting their plan into action.

Of course, both of them knew better than to try and pull of a prank inside the Chapel of Isis; after all, who wanted to pick a fight with a goddess? But some of the "necessary equipment" for their latest escapade could be found only within the chamber's walls. Arimsa carefully stood watch while Avia stole some of the incense cones that were strewn strategically around the room. Laid with the fruits of their labors, they moved cautiously out of the inner sanctum and through the hallways of the temple itself. Continuing along the main corridor, Avia waited outside the kitchen while Arimsa sneaked inside to "liberate" some of the chickens. After the fowl were carefully stored in a sack under Arimsa's arm, Avia lead the way down the hall and into the main reception hallway.

An important guest of one of the priests was due to arrival sometime in the afternoon, and the twins just had to show their respect…in a unique and perhaps unusual way. Lighting the incense, Avia shoved the cones underneath the chairs of the priests in the banquet hall, and underneath the slightly raised chair at the center of the table that the guest was going to occupy. Arimsa opened the sack and released a chicken under the chair of their first victim, where it cowered in fear of being caught again. Slowly, its eyes drooped lower and lower…until at last the hen was sound asleep. Pulling down the decorative hanging around the bottom of the chair to mask its sleeping intruder, Arimsa moved to the next chair, and then the next. It was the work of a few moments, but their prank was sure to be a success.

Chuckling silently at their daring, the brother and sister headed for their quarters. The temple community was set up in a rectangular fashion. At the rear and center, the inner sanctum, the temple itself, was situated, with a space near it containing a sacred pool for the priests' ritual purification. The inner sanctum held a shrine to Isis, and all members of the community gathered there for ceremonies once a day to honor Isis. Outside the inner sanctum, a pillared hall ran past, off of which the priests' quarters could be found. The hall continued al around the temple complex, with the guests quarters next to the priests, and the servants next to the priests on the other side. Across from the priests chambers were the practical rooms: kitchens, greeting hallways, entertainment rooms, and a main eating hall where all the members of the community gathered to eat together. Within the corridor, (A/N: I know this is confusing, but I don't have any artistic ability to speak of, unlike some other authors like Raine Malfoy [if you haven't read her story, what is wrong with you? Read it for crying out loud!!], so I cant illustrate it for you. You can try to draw it out if you want, or just ignore it completely since it doesn't really matter in the long run in any case…so I guess I shouldn't bother to write it at all…never mind, I wrote it and its staying!) The courtyard of the temple filled up the remaining space, with a earth floor and several trees, as well as a pool that the older servants used to clean clothing, and the younger children used to swim in.

"Avia, not only was that twisted, it was a stroke of genius. How did you know the incense would have such a strong effect on those chickens?"

Avia smiled at her brother. "Well, look at what they do to me; and I'm a lot bigger than a chicken! If the incense around here can lull me into slumber, I could only imagine what it would do to such a small creature. But of course, the effect won't last long. As soon as those cones run out, in a few hours, the chickens will begin to wake up- in a crowded and busy banquet hall!"

Laughing uproariously, the two of them hurried to their rooms to prepare for the evening's activities.

(Later that evening…)

Avia and Arimsa stood in the back of the hall, waiting for someone to indicate that they needed their hands cleaned. Both twins bore bowls of water, used for cleansing the hand of food between courses, and Avia also carried flowers for the women present to crush between their fingers. Usually such entourage was unnecessary, but on nights with visitors, a simple meal became a lengthy event, with all the trappings of a meal at court. Not only was the "special guest", who still remained unnamed, present, but several distinguished visitors from the nearby estates had decided to grace the temple with their presence.

A gentleman to their left beckoned with a finger, and Arimsa moved toward him, bowl outstretched. Avia shifted position, balancing her weight from one foot to the other, and tried not to look too guilty. They had just finished the preliminary rounds of food, and any minute now the incense would burn itself out. Roughly five minutes after that, the poultry under the seats of many distinguished guests would find themselves in a noisy, crowded room, and most likely panic.

Up at the head of the table, Ai, the head priest of the temple, raised his glass to call for quiet. Clearing his throat, he began to make a speech about welcoming the visitors to their humble home, while Avia struggled to keep from lobbing the cleansing bowl in his direction and the running away. She half listened to the address, noting that Ai's guest was named Siete and would be staying in the community for some time, but kept a close eye on the chairs of the priests. Any minute now…

Just as the guest (Siete, Avia reminded herself, he had a name now) rose from his chair, presumably to make a speech of some sort, a frenzy of feathers burst out from under the chair of the head priest. Screeching in fright, the terrified chicken bounded straight for the open door, knocking over a serving attendant, who spilled a tray of wine goblets over the wealthiest family in town. As the other chickens awoke, they headed in all directions, overturning stools, frightening guests, and spilling food in their desperation to escape the noise and confusion of the banquet hall. Complete pandemonium ensued.

When the last of the rampant poultry had been caught, Ai stalked towards Avia, who was looking as though she had swallowed a lemon in her effort to keep from laughing. Her mirth did not laugh long, however, as Ai bellowed at the top of his lungs for her and her brother to leave immediately. They would be given punishment duties when he was able to think of a fitting reward for her behavior. Avia and Arimsa left the hall without even trying to make excuses; they had been caught in the act too man times for there to be doubts in anyone's mind that the prank had been the work of the infamous twins. Looking enormously pleased with themselves, the two miscreants rounded the high table and set off for the kitchens. As Avia left the hallway, she accidentally caught the glance of Siete, the guest that Ai had wanted to impress so badly. To her great surprise, he seemed to be thoroughly amused by the escapade and gave her a small smile as she left the hallway, to which she responded with a mischievous grin. However, when she looked at him more closely, her grin quickly faded, to be replaced by a frown. There was something about him, some lingering trait that she couldn't quite put her finger on, that bothered her. Perhaps it was his eyes, she thought to herself as she walked towards the kitchens; for they had been a shade of green that glittered unusually in the torch light, almost seeming to reflect the light as it hit them. The man looked to me in his early twenties, at the very most, and yet his eyes had seemed so…ancient. And, Avia thought with a shudder, so devoid of life. They looked dead.

As they entered the kitchens, the twins came face- to – face with Amah, the head of servants in the temple. The round little woman bore down on them with a look that could have frozen water, and instantly began berating them for their actions. Avia wondered vaguely how she had found out what had happened so quickly.

"This is unacceptable! I really am surprised at you two! I had thought that you could at least show some respect to the distinguished guests we have visiting today, but apparently you are unable to control yourselves for just one meal! You are both nearly eighteen, adults in all but your behavior! I cannot believe that you still cling to such childish actions. You can just sit against the wall until Ai is ready to speak with you! I have never been more humiliated by two of my charges in all my life!"

Grumbling threats under her breath, Amah got back to work as Avia and Arimsa sat on the floor closest to the ovens, hoping to steal a piece of food when the attendants weren't looking. They had not been sitting long when Arimsa's friend Anook found them.

"Arimsa! That was inspired!" he cried, grasping Arimsa's hand in a friendly greeting.

"Don't look at me, I was just following orders" Arimsa told his friend with a laugh "My sister here is the brains of the operation.

"The beauty too" Avia joked, "it is tiring to hold both positions, but just look at Arimsa, someone had to do it!"

All three burst out laughing, since it was well known that nearly every female who met him sought after Arimsa. When the laughter died down, Anook turned serious.

"It was really excellent timing for getting Ai mad, but I think you're really in for it this time. What on earth possessed you to try something while Siete is staying here?"

Avia looked at him oddly, an intrigued look she attained whenever some piece of information floated by her.

"What is about this Siete that makes us throw out our backs preparing for him? I don't even know where he's form, let alone why he's so important.

"You don't know?" replied Anook with an incredulous glance at Arimsa, who shook his head. "Where in the world have you two been? Its all anyone has been talking about for the past week! This Siete is some sort of noble, I believe, from the lands north of here. Greece or something like that, I'm not really sure. But he's very wealthy and very important, wherever he's from. But that's not why everyone has been so anxious about him. They say" at this point, Anook's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, " that he has great power, you know, like a mage. He can control fire, and the weather, and look into your thoughts and control you through your mind!"

Avia and Arimsa looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"That is without any doubt the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life!" Avia cried through her laughter. A mage? Who controlled the thoughts of others? It was too ridiculous, even for Anook. " I think someone has been into Amah's date wine again, Anook."

Anook's face was clouded as he answered, and Avia could see that he really did believe that this Siete was someone to fear. "Believe what you will, Avia, but one look into his eyes sure convinced me! They look like the eyes of a cow after its died; so blank and empty."

Avia wasn't laughing now. She understood completely what Anook was saying; Siete's eyes were truly disturbing. Still, unusual eyes were no indication of evil, or power; she was living proof of that, with her own unusually deep blue eyes. Still, it was something to think about.

Seeing Ai approach the twins, Anook ran off before he was caught with them. Avia resigned herself to several weeks of chores and prepared for Ai's wrath, but couldn't keep her mind from wandering back to Siete and his mysterious emerald eyes.