Infinite 01 - Infinite Sacrifice

simply made a mistake and Nun would help us rectify it: a sacrifice for our repentance.
    In the commotion, the crowds step aside as the armed court guards march behind me. I see Nun sitting cross-legged by the side of the building. He stirs and rises to bow as if we’ll pass him. When we stop before him, he looks up, shocked.
    “There is the accused.” I stare down into his green eyes.
    They seize his thin, frail frame and drag him into the court screaming.
    “Silence the prisoner!” the vizier demands.
    One of the guards grabs a wool rag and stuffs it into the slave’s mouth.
    “Are you Nun, slave of the house of Sokaris?”
    Nun tries to spit the cloth out to answer.
    The vizier shouts, “Nod or shake!”
    Nun quickly nods with his eyes wide in fear.
    “Have you entered the Temple of Serapis, even though it is forbidden by the Pharaoh?”
    He again tries to spit the cloth out.
    The vizier screams, “Nod or shake, slave!”
    The vizier’s slaves fan him furiously to cool his reddened face.
    Nun pauses here, hangs his shoulders, and looks around at me, eyes narrowed.
    “Do you understand the question?” the vizier shouts.
    Nun turns back and nods.
    “Answer, then! Have you entered the Temple of Serapis, even though it is forbidden by the Pharaoh?” he shouts louder as though Nun is deaf.
    Nun looks again at me, this time defeated, and nods his head. The court is buzzing.
    The vizier then asks, after the noise dies down a bit, “Have you wronged Serapis, committing a crime against him, violating his Royal Daughter?”
    Nun seems torn by this statement, and I smile inside, knowing that the wording is auspicious. He shrinks further in defeat and nods. The room explodes with noise.
    “Silence, or I will have the court closed!” The vizier turns to his guards. “Bring out the girl!”
    As soon as Bastet looks around, she takes in Nun standing there in front of the courts. I hope she understands, but she appears confused. I hold my breath and 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