Page 158 of Conspirators' Kingdom

“Meri?”

The taste of wine flooded his mouth. Sinister magic reached into his soul and cracked it in two.

Chapter 60

“Meri?What—”

Mereruka turned to her, hands clenching his chest, eyes panicked.

“Run,” he hissed.

Magic, ugly and foul, made her skin crawl, a sensation she’d never before experienced. Taisiya stood and backed away, reluctant to leave him. Pink peach blossoms and pale yellow skin caught her eye. Hiding behind the king’s throne, crouched and muttering, was Hemetre. Taisiya rounded on her, a blade of lightning at the ready.

“Ah, ah, ah, little witch,” Hemetre taunted, her green eyes sparkling with zeal. “Interrupt this, and he’ll die.”

The clank of armour and weapons approached the throne.

“Stay back!” Taisiya screamed, fearing the concubine spoke the truth.

Hemetre’s hands spun the grains of a dark cloud into a familiar form. When at last the terrible spell was complete, and the feel of repellent magic abated, Hemetre stood. Cradled in her hands was a small, stylized jar with the head of a man. Citrine eyes, teal skin and violet hair—Meri.

“Careful where you point your blade, Your Most Just. If any harm comes to this, then His Eternal Serenity will follow Khety.”

“Hemetre!”

The woman smiled and followed Mereruka’s voice, turning her back on Taisiya.

“Yes, Your Eternal Serenity?”

Taisiya followed her around the thrones and stuttered to a stop. A stranger sat in her husband’s seat, yet used his voice.

“Do I have you to thank for this happy turn of events?” Not-Mereruka asked.

He had her husband’s eyes, and yet they weren’t his. He used her husband’s voice, but none of his affectations. He wore her husband’s physique, but all in the wrong colours. Oppressive power radiated from him, along with a terrible beauty.

Radjedef swore and ordered his soldiers back. Despite her protests, Bas pulled Vasilisa behind cover.

“No thanks are necessary. I believe you will give me what Khety could not,” Hemetre replied, still cradling the jar.

“And what is that, soul weaver?” he asked, turning predator as he stalked towards her.

Hemetre only smiled while Taisiya flinched, truth dawning on her. Hemetre had torn her husband’s soul apart. Was that his feeling heart in her hands? She had to get it back. Had to put it back into her Meri.

“Chaos. You will destroy Maat. Without limitations…” Hemetre wiggled the jar in her hand. “Your greed and ambition will devour Maat. Finally, the Hapi will flow, free of Maat’s control. Oblivion’s fae will never die of iron poisoning again.”

Mereruka laughed, the joyless sound sending a shiver down her spine.

“Utopia,” Mereruka’s mouth stretched into a cruel grin, “is a tale for children and fools. Was it you who poisoned Khety’s mind all this time?”

She nodded her head, smile serene.

“He was ever so fond of his wine. And so easily turned against his scheming siblings.”

“And Nefertnesu?”

Hemetre shrugged.

“Would have opened her pretty mouth about her lost soul weaver. She more than earned her death when she refused to give my mother even a drop of the Hapi.”

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