Crucible of Fate

would have been sent back to their tribes and disciplined there. And sometimes, depending on the crime, death is an option. But you know as well as I do, imprisoning panthers leads quickly to madness, and they can never go to human jails because of the shift. So that’s where the Iusaaset comes in.”
    It was hard to wrap my brain around. “And who commands the Iusaaset?”
    “Omar Turog, a strong military man, a great sheseru, if you will, and his partner Hsin Suen, more a sylvan, if you think of it like that. The Iusaaset is always led by two, one that commands the military component and one the civilian side. There are also the seven laws, as they are called, or simply the seven, who advise them. Now, both Omar and Hsin will report to you as well as their teams.”
    I shook my head. “No, it’s too big a responsibility for one man. It—”
    “As I said, just like here, you have a sheseru and a sylvan who will offer you counsel, as well as the seven. You may also bring one man to be your private counsel.”
    “You lied to me.”
    “Yes.”
    “You didn’t come with Ebere.”
    “No.”
    “You’ve been in the villa since the time of Ammon’s father, waiting to see when a semel that deserved to be recognized by the Iusaaset would come.”
    He nodded. “Omar Turog has been waiting for my report on you.”
     “And I passed?”
    “Yes, my lord. Before we left Sobek, I left word that you were to be trusted and invited them to come. I sent word through Rahim, who has a completely different contact than me, that they needed to come now and make contact with you. They are on their way.”
    “Who, this Omar or Hsin?”
    “Oh no, my lord, their agents will come in their stead. If the top ones show up, then that will be Dov Yadin and Wickham Morris. I see them most, as they are both field operatives. Dov was with Israeli intelligence, and Wickham MI5 before they were both recruited to work for Iusaaset. As they are both werepanthers, they could not turn down the offer. So you know, all members of the Iusaaset are made members of the tribe of Rahotep, and so you are their semel.”
    I was reeling. “No one can expect me to rule over men who know more about everything than I do.”
    “You were born to be a semel, my lord; none of these men were. You must always remember that.”
    “Why me?”
    “Because you are changing everything, my lord,” he said bluntly. “Your plan is to remake Sobek; no one has gazed outward in over a hundred years. They become semel-aten and look inward at what they can have, and much like Hakkan Tarek, their greed and gluttony and depravity eats them from the inside out.”
    I searched his face for some sign that this was all a huge joke.
    “But you, you who appear to be floundering, every day you change something. Every moment you are semel-aten, and now akhen-aten, you alter a law or enforce another. You have dispatched the Shu, as I said before, four times already in only six months. You want to help everyone, make certain that everyone is safe, and now, with our resources, you can.”
    “I doubt that these men are going to listen to me.”
    “They want nothing more. Right now they simply react; you will allow them to be proactive as they put your new laws and plans into action,” Kabore explained. “All of them want to be directed by you, and the seven-man tribunal is there to convene or not. They would only offer advice, my lord, much like the old council of Ennead now advises your sylvan. It’s a new day, my lord, but everyone knows that it is your rule and that you will lead us to the future.”
    “I feel like I’m gonna pass out.”
    “Please, no, you’ve scared me enough for one day.”
    “Who else knows about the Iusaaset?”
    “No one except those that work for us and the tribunal.”
    “And how do you get a place on the tribunal?”
    “You’re invited.”
    “How many are on it now?”
    “Six. Since Hamid Shamon died, his seat has not been filled.”
    “The priest,” I said.
    “It was why he wanted Logan Church to be semel-aten; he felt that Logan would be the kind of man that the Iusaaset could follow.”
    “And he would.”
    Kabore shook his head. “I respect the semel-netjer, but Jin Church is far too unpredictable a mate for a semel-aten. Had Ammon been a different sort of man, with Ebere El Masry as his mate, he would have been an excellent candidate. And this is what happens, you understand? Good semel, questionable mate, or vice