11.10.1876

Set

A white tablecloth with blue waves on its edges. Two glasses of red wine. A single red rose in front of her chair. A single red candle in the middle of the table. A single god on the balcony.

See, I am what many would call 'extra'. I call it creative. After all, the Devil's in the details. Something is missing, though. Cake? Yes, she loves cake. But nothing too sweet or chocolaty. A fruit cake would be perfect, with vanilla icing and a beautiful decoration of strawberries.

I'll have to hide her present under the table. That is, if she comes.

I managed to send Nephthys a letter a month or so ago. We haven't talked since the Renaissance. I'm not even sure if she loves me anymore. But I send her a letter. I hope she decides to come.

Xennu chooses this moment to run outside. He jumps over the table, kicking a glass of wine in the process, and lends in front of me. I look at him, then at the wine that's slowly dripping on the floor, then back at him. He whines, his ears tucking guiltily behind his head.

I shake my head, kneel and scratch him behind the ear.

"Who is a little troublemaker? Huh? Who is my malicious little sha?"

Xennu swings his tail side to side like a happy dog. His head turns towards the door, eyes fixed on my room.

"What? Is someone trying to contact me?"

He growls quietly.

"Okay. After you, Xennu."

I stand up, dusting off my suit. Xennu waits for me to click my tongue, then takes off.

Anat's annoyed face is looking at me from the scrying bowl.

"You are setting yourself up for disappointment." She says.

"This time is different."

"From when? When has it ever been different, Setekh?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Since when are we on a full name basis, Annie?"

Anat rolls her eyes. "There are gods out there just waiting for your signal, Set. There's a whole bunch of us. Don't look at me like that, you know it's true. And your so called 'Chaos Squad' is getting tired of waiting. Yet here you are, wasting your time for some ungrateful kat-takhat!"

Anat has a habit of taunting me, sure. But talking about my wife is where I cross the line. I glare at her. The liquid in the scrying bawl begins to bubble. Anat backs away, raising her hands apologetically. When she speak again, her voice is low.

"I just don't want to see you hurt again. Why don't you just come over?"

The liquid quiets down.

I snort. "So the lioness has a heart. Who knew?"

Anat sighs. "No, honestly. If she doesn't come, I have enough beer for the two of us. We can pull out that one memory compilation of Horus tripping down the stairs."

"Oh, now you're tempting me."

"Just a little."

After she hangs up, I clean the mess Xennu made and refill the spilled glass. Again. And again. Hours pass. The night sky is getting brighter, the sun daring to rise any moment now. Xennu has long fallen asleep at the door.

I look down at Duat's reflection of the Nile. They say you can't cross the same river twice. The usual meaning of this is metaphorical, but it's also true literally. Water is in constant movement, it flows on and more comes. Not a single water molecule was here yesterday, not a single one would be here tomorrow. And yet, the river always looks the same. The water shines in the moonlight, as beautiful as it is dangerous. And underneath it is an entire world no one will ever fully understand. I smirk. Of course, none of this would matter to a drowning man.

I sigh, leave my glass on the table and carefully walk around Xennu. Most of the world is waking up right about now, and I am going to bed. Back during Ra's time I could blame this on work. Now I'm just nocturnal. It's hard to sleep when you're used to being alert through the night.

I haven't even closed my eyes yet when Xennu snuggles up next to me, filling the empty space in the bed. Maybe one day my wife will be here again, instead.


A woman, all dressed in blue, is watching him quietly from the shadows. Maybe one day.