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pray she will know what to do.
    “Bastet, do you know this man?”
    “Yes.” She looks perplexed until the vizier speaks again.
    “Is this the man who violated you?”
    She meets my eyes, comprehending, and then looks back at the vizier, her eyes full of tears.
    She cries out, “Yes! That is the man who forced himself on me in the temple of Serapis!”
    I exhale with pride at her drive for life.
    “Why did you not tell a priest or your mother, Nebu, that this violation occurred?"
    She thinks fast and cries to great effect, “I knew the violation would bring shame upon my family and my position at the temple would be disgraced. He threatened the lives of my family if I did not obey his demands!”
    Everyone in the court is quiet in disgust, leering at Nun while he juts his chin out in simmering anger.
    “Is this true?” he shouts at Nun.
    Nun doesn’t even reply with eye contact, simply stares at the floor.
    The vizier picks his teeth, then speaks. “I have no choice but to sentence you, Nun, slave of the house of Sokaris, to death by spear. You will be executed tomorrow in the public courtyard at dawn, before our morning rituals, to amend the betrayal you committed upon the gods.
    “Bastet, you are free to return to your family and have your child. Your shame, even though it was not willed by you, makes you unfit for temple duties.”
    She bows her head in acceptance.
    The vizier finishes, “It would serve you and the soul of your child well to make an offering of forgiveness to Serapis tomorrow, after the execution of your violator.”
    She agrees again and bows in thanks. The guards take Nun away and set Bastet free.

Chapter 5
    I wish to run to her but know I can’t. I give her a quick wink across the room when no one is looking and leave. I pass Khons’s crippled form assisted by Aapep.
    “Justice always prevails,” I say to Khons.
    Khons looks up oddly and says, “Has it really, Sokaris?” as he limps past.
    I hesitate mid-bow, unsure of what he means, but nothing can get in the way of what has happened. The gods have smiled down on us! As the sun fades, I walk home through the cluttered city, past all the peasant houses, stacked upon each other wherever they find space to build, to my temporary dwelling, all the while trying to figure out a way to see Bastet again. In Nun’s absence, the fires and lamps are not lit that night, but in the darkness what unnerves me most is not having Sehket’s presence. Tomorrow, I’ll send another slave from my residence to bring her.
    Hoping to see Bastet before she returns to her father’s house, I need to stay in the city. I calculate how long I’ll have to wait before I can take her as my second wife. I smile, thinking of the large dowry her father will give in light of her great disgrace. How auspicious this all came to be! I pull my sheets back ritualistically and accept that I will have to go to sleep with dirty feet that night.
    Khons’s hunched and twisted form walks in front of the courthouse. As he watches me coming, he lifts up a deep goblet of dark red wine and spills it down his throat. Then the heavens rain down upon only me, soaking me through to the skin, while leaving Khons perfectly dry. In anger, I lunge at Khons with a spear but upon inspecting his body, see a dead ox. I refill Khons’s spilt goblet with its blood and drink.
    Even though the sun hasn’t risen enough to shed light, I reach for my satchel and dart out of bed in the direction of the Temple Library. I slink into the scribes’ study, and the deaf old man doesn’t even stir at my entrance. I creep up behind him while he affixes his seal to the letter he’s just completed.
    I say right behind his head, “What has you working so early, Khons?”
    He jumps and drops the wax he’s holding above the candle and gasps.
    “Oh, so sorry to frighten you. You must have been deep in thought.”
    I walk around to the side of the desk so I can see his face, but he continues to look down.