Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

I check the number on the door in front of me to make sure I'm at the right one. The last thing I want to do is turn up at my brother's room instead of Mesu's, that'll lead to some potentially awkward questions neither of us currently have answers to.

I knock and the door swings open almost immediately to reveal Mesu on the other side.

Kema flaps her wings and flies off my shoulder and into the room.

"Wait! I haven't put your perch up yet," I remind the kite.

"She's fine," Mesu assures me. "I made her some space."

"You did what?" I look past him, my eyes widening as I take in the section of windowsill he's clearly dedicated to my kite. "Mesu..."

He reaches out and pulls me to him, letting the door swing shut behind us. "I'm serious about this," he says softly, his blue eyes filled with emotions. "About us."

A smile springs to my face unbidden. "Thank you, a perch for her is very sweet."

"I know I need to keep her happy if I want to have a relationship with her priestess."

I let out a light laugh. "I'm still over half a year away from being a priestess."

"Still counts."

"Though I suppose I am a little closer to it than I was."

"Oh?"

"You know I've been working with Tressie on the Temple of Anubis stuff for the past month?"

"Mmhmm," he doesn't respond more than that and keeps standing in the middle of the room with his arms around me. I can't say I'm in a rush to change that.

"I've been thinking about it since the first time I went, and how much I like that side of things. So I went to talk to Satbu today."

"She's the Head Nephthys Blessed, right?" he checks.

I nod. "I asked her if I could specialise and become a Kite of Nephthys."

He raises an eyebrow. "How did she take it?"

"She was excited actually. One of the previous Blessed Kites just transferred to another temple. She met someone while she was in Egypt for the Pharaoh's funeral and they've gotten married. So she said she might have encouraged me to go down that path anyway."

"So in order to keep your boss happy, if you marry you should stay in London?"

"Get those thoughts out of your head, Mesu. It's barely been a month and this is the first time I've been in your room. We're far from marriage," I remind him.

"I can't help it," he responds.

"Well you're going to have to." Though the idea doesn't scare me as much as it did. Perhaps because before it was something I could see my parents pushing, whereas now I suppose it's something I've put myself on track for. "We're just taking this one day at a time. And Ben doesn't even know yet. Unless you've said anything to him."

Mesu shakes his head. "He's your brother."

"And your best friend. I know you two share almost everything."

"You're my friend too," he reminds me.

"Hopefully more than that." I reach up and loop my arms around his neck, bringing the two of us closer together.

He leans in and captures my lips with his, the hand on my lower back pulling me closer.

I deepen the kiss, weaving my fingers through Mesu's dark blond hair. I'm so swept up in the moment that I barely register the door swinging open.

"Mesu...oh I can come back later."

I pull away in time to meet my brother's gaze.

Kema squawks and flaps her wings from the makeshift perch and I close my eyes for a second, wishing for the ground to open me up and swallow me whole.

"Shan?" His surprise is evident in his voice even if he wasn't looking between us as if we've each gained the headdresses of our patron gods.

My cheeks flush red. "Hi, Ben." It comes out as more of a squeak, only making me more embarrassed not less.

"Exactly how long has this been going on?" he asks, not seeming to know which of us he's talking to. "And what is going on?"

"It's new," I murmur, looking anywhere but the other two apprentices. This isn't how I intended my brother to find out. "Ish."

"About four or five weeks," Mesu adds.

Ben stands frozen in the doorway, while Mesu looks as embarrassed as I am.

"And neither of you thought to mention it to me?" Ben's hurt is plain on his face.

"We were going to," Mesu says.

"Pfft. Then why haven't you?"

"Because we're still trying to work this out for ourselves, Ben," I say. "You know what people are going to be like when they find out about this." The stress starts to rise within me even thinking about it, but I know I have to relax and let it go.

Mesu reaches out and touches my back, which is surprisingly reassuring.

"But this is me, not most people," he points out. "I thought we were close."

I'm not sure if his statement is aimed at me or Mesu. I don't suppose it matters.

I step closer. "We are, Ben," I say softly. "And we were going to tell you first. This wasn't how either of us wanted you to find out."

He looks between us again, though this time I think it's because he's trying to work out if that's true. Ben sighs. "All right, fine. I suppose you're forgiven. But a bit of warning next time so I don't walk in on something I really don't want to see."

"We'll lock the door," I promise, avoiding Mesu's gaze.

"That's appreciated," Ben responds. "Do Mum and Dad know?"

"Of course not. No one knows. Please don't tell them?" Horror rises within me at the thought of them finding out before I'm ready.

Though if I'm honest, I don't exactly know when that'll be.

"I won't, but you'll owe me."

"I already keep your secrets," I point out.

"Well now you'll have even more of an incentive, won't you?"

"Sure." It's not like I intend to spill any of my siblings' secrets anyway. I keep a score for Rash, and I've done the same for Ben in the past.

"You should go back to your temple so I can have a word with your boyfriend," Ben says, crossing his arms and giving Mesu what I think is supposed to be a menacing look.

"That's really not necessary," I assure my brother.

"How else is he going to know that if he hurts you, he's dead to me. And more than that, if he hurts you, I'll erase every mention of his name I can find so he's deader than dead in the afterlife."

"Whoa, calm down." My eyes widen at the implication of his threat. "That's really not necessary."

"I think it is." Ben looks past me to his best friend.

"If I hurt Shan, I'll erase my own name," Mesu promises.

I sigh. "Is any of this really necessary? I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."

"I'm your older brother..."

"By ten minutes," I grumble.

"... it's my job to protect you."

"In that case, it's my job to kick you out of the room. Mesu will message you when I'm gone and it's safe for you to come back."

"That better be before nightfall," Ben says.

"I make no promises. Now go." I point out into the corridor.

Ben looks as if he's going to argue, but decides better of it and finally leaves us to it.

I sigh and flop down on the bed just as the door closes.

Mesu hesitates, as if torn between joining me and staying in place.

"Lock it?" I ask.

He nods and twists the key in the lock. He sits down beside me on the bed and takes my hand in his. "Are you okay?"

I sigh. "That's not how I wanted Ben to find out."

"No," he agrees. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault, and I guess it was going to happen at some point. He knows now, that's the main thing."

"Do you think he'll keep it quiet from your parents?"

"I don't see why he wouldn't. He keeps Rash's exploits from them."

Mesu chuckles. "Ah, the girlfriend."

"It's sad she doesn't feel like she can tell Mum and Dad about her. She's just worried they won't be impressed with her dating someone who isn't Blessed."

"At least I'm that."

I laugh. "If we're not careful, you'll end up being the standard my parents expect all of our partners to reach."

"I don't care about any of that," Mesu says softly. "Just you."

"I know." I lean in and rest my head against his shoulder.

He puts an arm around me and I feel as if I have something more than I ever expected, certainly from Mesu. Even if it's something I've thought about on more than one occasion.

And now someone else knows. Even if we didn't intend for Ben to find out yet, that's what's happened, and I realise that all it does is make my feelings more real. And that can only be a good thing.