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War Among Gods

By Aelora Sinclair



EPILOGUE



Cairo, Egypt


Katy stood on the dock, staring into the crowd, the toe of her shoe occasionally kicking against her luggage. Wait for me, he had said, and then ridden off into the desert. Wait for me. It had been a demand and then he had turned away from her, leaving her behind without so much as a by-your-leave. And the moment he had disappeared over the horizon, Katy said her goodbyes.
She understood where he was going and why. Ardeth had finally made the decision that he did not want to lose her and was on his way back to the Elders, telling them that he planned to make her his wife. She understood that much, saw it in his eyes before he rode away. The problem was he had taken so long in making that decision. The problem was that he had to be faced with the prospect of losing her before he decided he did not want to lose her. The problem was he had not even asked her opinion in the matter. He could have taken her with him, if he had really wanted her that badly. Instead of leaving her there, in the desert, as if he had the right to tell her where to go and what to do. Like a pet.
Fool that she was, she had given him a month. A full month while she waited in Cairo for him to come for her, to prove that he really wanted her with him. And then she gave up. She had said her goodbyes in the desert. She was young and had a full of life ahead of her. She was not going to waste it standing around, waiting for him to come for her. She kicked the luggage again, harder this time.
“Whoa, Red!” Jonathon exclaimed, moving up beside her. He was freshly showered and looking dapper in white, prepared for the journey home to England. “That’s Italian leather, I’ll have you know. A little care, please.”
“Sorry.” She leaned over, grabbing the bag beside her and handing it to him. “Mind taking this onboard for me?”
“Not ‘t’all.” He hefted the bag, frowning. “I say, Red. This seems ridiculously heavy. What happened to that little knapsack of yours? Light. Barely much of anything.”
Katy shrugged in reply. Evy had insisted during their month in Cairo, waiting for the departure home, that Katy be outfitted like a proper young lady and not an adventurer. At first, she had resisted her sister-in-law’s intentions, however well-meaning they had been, until she had seen how much it rankled her brother to spend money on her. Then she had given into it freely. Besides, she had not entirely conformed. She still had one holster hidden beneath her jacket and her dagger strapped to her thigh over the silly lace stockings.
“Be good to get home,” Jonathon sighed, glancing around the port, frowning against the sun. “Lately, every trip to this country turns out badly. See you on the sun deck.”
Katy smiled as Jonathon walked off, thinking he was an incredibly sweet man, as Evy and Rick walked up.
“Ready to go to England?” Evy asked, reaching out to smooth an errant strand of red hair from the bun that Katy wore.
Katy hated being fussed over but withstood the torture, knowing that Rick would give her a proper set down for upsetting his wife. They loved one another so very much, just seeing them together made Katy smile. “I guess. It seems a little dreary compared to what I am used to. But, for my brother’s sake, I will give it a shot.” She forced a smile.
Evy nodded and headed up the gangplank. Hefting a load of bags under his arms, Rick moved to stand beside his sister, looking down at her with concern. “You sure about this, Katy? We can stay longer –”
“No,” she interrupted, a little more forcefully then she had meant to. She softened her tone with a smile. “I mean, I want to go. I… I’ve had enough of Egypt.”
“Katy, if you – ”
“Please, Rick. Don’t worry about me.”
Rick O’Connell frowned, thinking it was hard not to. All he could do was stand by and watch his sister throw away a perfect chance at happiness. Because she was stubborn. Sure, Ardeth should have been back for her by now. Hell, the warrior should have taken her with him in the first place. Even Rick agreed with that. But he did not agree with Katy’s decision to leave, no matter how logical she attempted to make herself sound. She was simply lashing out at the Medjai Chieftain, much like an over-indulged child. Which, in many ways, she was. Rick found himself hoping that once they returned to England he could finally knock some sense into her.
“Very well. You coming?” he asked, starting up the ramp.
“In a moment.”
He nodded, moving off.
It was silly, really. Standing here waiting until the last possible moment. Katy sighed, casting her gaze over Egypt one last time before turning to start up the ramp.
“Katebet!”
She stopped, her heart lodging in her throat at the sound of her name. Turning, her eyes swept over the crowd until she saw Ardeth, sitting atop his black stallion, heading toward her at a gallop. Accompanied by four of his men, the crowd seemed to part before them like the Red Sea for Moses. He was jumping to his feet before the stallion had come to a halt, and hurried toward her, stopping at the bottom of the ramp. The woman who stood watching him was not the Katy O’Connell he had come to know. No longer dressed as a man in dirty trousers and boots, she instead wore a white linen traveling skirt and soft white blouse that ruffled in the light sea breeze, a short matching jacket over her shoulders. Her hair was swept up and away from her face, making her appear more childlike and delicate, her features less exotic and more proper.
For a long moment they simply stared at one another, then Katy said the only thing that came to mind:
“Hello.”
Ardeth blinked, not expecting such a strange welcome. “Katy, where were you going? I asked you to wait for me.”
“Told me was more like it,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest. “And let me guess, you rode back to the Elders, telling them you wished to take me as your wife.”
The warrior nodded, smiling. “Yes, Katebet. That is it. I have come to take you back with me.”
Katy was already shaking her head before he had finished. “Too little too late, I’m afraid.” She turned, heading back up the gangplank.
Ardeth stared in confusion for a moment before moving up the ramp after her, grabbing her hand and pulling her back around to face him. “Katebet, I do not understand. I thought this was what you wanted.”
“I wanted you to fight for me, Ardeth. I wanted to know I was important to you. I wanted to know that you loved me enough to want me beside you at all costs.”
“And I have done this!” he argued. “I have gone to my people, I have told them –”
“Only after you felt what it was like to lose me!” she snapped. “Only after Seth threatened your peace of mind.”
Ardeth’s eyes narrowed. No. She was wrong. He had made the decision long before he felt her lifeless body in his arms that he would take her as his wife. Only, he had not told her that. “Katy –”
“No, Ardeth. Just stop.” Katy shook her head, looking away from his gaze, unable to meet those penetrating orbs that were currently watching her as if she had sprouted another head. “This was really doomed from the beginning, you know. Us, I mean. We’re just… too different. You have this perceived notion of who I am supposed to be and refuse to see who I really am –”
“Now you are making excuses,” Ardeth told her angrily, his voice low.
“Am I?” She turned her gaze back to him. “Do you think I would really be happy stuck out there in the desert? Living out of a tent? Eternally an outsider among your people, while you do little more than bark orders at me, conform me to your vision, cover me in those depressing robes and hide me away?”
Ardeth swallowed against the rage within him. That he had gone to the Elders to speak on her behalf, begging them to change tradition and allow him to take her as his wife was one thing. That she stood before him, insulting his people, speaking of things which she knew nothing about, was entirely another. And he had wanted to spend eternity with this woman?
“Perhaps you are correct,” he replied softly. “Perhaps I do not know you as I thought I did.”
Katy took a deep breath. She knew what he had meant. And she knew she was the one making this decision, hurting the only man she believed she would ever love this completely. But she felt she was right as well. Were she to go with him now, allowing him to lead her around, to tell her how things were going to be, eventually she would despise him, hate him for the life he gave her. Still, the knowledge did not lessen the pain.
Ardeth took a step back from her, before he acted on his instincts and simply knocked her out, taking her with him and forcing her to submit. Such a choice would not be an appropriate beginning to life together. Besides, he could never forgive her for this. Never forgive her for turning him away after he had moved mountains to make her his own. Never forgive her for humiliating him in front of his men this way, for exposing his heart for all to see and then stepping upon it as if he were nothing. Turning, Ardeth walked away from her, back to his horse, resisting the impulse to go back and plead with her one more time. He should have learned his lesson from He Who Shall Not Be Named. A man who brought about the Apocalypse for his love only to have her, in the end, not return his devotion. Let that be a lesson, he thought. Never trust a woman.
Leaping lightly onto his stallion, Ardeth glanced back at the ramp, perhaps to say goodbye. He did not know. Not that it mattered.
Katy O’Connell was already gone.


she's got a pretty smile
it covers up the poison that she hides
she walks around in circles in my head
waiting for a chance to break me chance to take me down
now I see the burden you gave me
is too much to carry too much to bury inside

I guess you're the only one that nobody changes
I guess you're the only one left standing
when everything else goes down
you're still the only one
yeah you're still the only one

it's all shallow and all so appealing now
I'm up to my ankles and I'm drowning anyway
in a sea of sarcastic faces familiar places
everything looks quite the same here
it's all confusingly amusing
bitter and taint