People cheered all around us as a team of soldiers led our horses into the inner gate.
The palace was bigger than I imagined. It was ten times the size of the Prince of Egypt’s residence.
Ten. Times.
I shivered as a chill wracked my body.
There he was, in all his godlike beauty, standing in the center of it all. My betrothed.
The man I would marry.
Two countries would align.
The only price?
My virginity.
King Set gave me a peculiar look then leered over his shoulder. I followed his gaze and nearly fell off my horse.
He stood at least nine feet tall.
Clouds appeared out of nowhere, covering the sunshine, filling the air with ash as the creature slowly made its way toward us. With the head of a jackal and the body of a man, he moved painfully slow until he was near my horse, towering over it actually.
“Are you afraid?” His red eyes flashed.
I gulped. “If I say no you’ll know I’m lying, if I say yes I’ll insult the gods, what would you have me do, dark prince?”
“You know me by name why not use it?” he hissed.
“I’m not worthy to utter it to his Highness’s face.”
He inclined his head, and then he was lifting me, his massive hands were hot against my hips as he lowered me to the ground. “You know what happens next.”
“If I survive, yes.”
His beastly face didn’t as much as blink, the gold armor covering part of his head shone even though the sun had run away from his mighty presence.
And then he very slowly pressed a hand to my chest. It felt like I might be split in half as he pulled something airy and blue from my skin, twisting it this way and that and then pressing it back into my chest again. “King Apollo doesn’t lie. His daughter is pure of soul and of body.”
King Set grinned at me menacingly, I didn’t realize what I was doing, but I’d actually hidden behind the god, the god we were not allowed to touch, not allowed to even be near.
It was a slight brush of my fingertips along the line of his warm skin.
He stilled.
And very slowly said under his breath. “Worthless.”
“Sorry.”
“I wasn’t talking about you.” His eyes were on King Set, rumored to be a god himself though he never revealed his beast. I wondered what it would be, what form he would take, then again, they were nothing but rumors
The gods had long ago abandoned us.
All save three.
Choosing to reveal themselves only when necessary—while the rest were imprisoned for altering the human race.
It was a price punishable by death.