The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)

supposedly indestructible hide covering her seat. Every time she rode in the carriage, she ripped apart the upholstery; Anubis decided that the next seat was going to be carved from stone.
    “If Isis and Osiris have found other claimants,” Bastet said quietly, “then why reveal them to us so early? That doesn’t make sense. They could have smuggled them into the Council Chamber and introduced them as a huge surprise later.”
    “They obviously want us to know,” Anubis said, resting his great head on his fist and staring out across the city. There was smoke in the skies, and he could smell its stink on the air. The humani were burning their hovels again.
    Eight huge anpu were waiting at the gates. They split into two groups of four and fell in alongside the carriage. Their role was more ceremonial than protective. All the principal houses and palaces of the rulers of Danu Talis were protected within the rings of canals, and the only access to the inner circle around the pyramid was across the closely guarded bridges. No humani had ever walked the golden stones around the great pyramid.
    Anubis realized his mother had stopped speaking and turned to look at her.
    “What did you say?” she asked.
    Anubis frowned, trying to remember. “I said that they obviously wanted us to see the twins—the couple in gold and silver armor. When you are fighting a battle”—he leaned forward—“you can conceal the size of your troops and surprise the enemy. Sometimes that strategy works, but often if the enemy does not know how many warriors they are up against, they will keep fighting. The other option is to reveal yourself to the enemy: show them that they are outnumbered, demoralize them. Often you can get a quick bloodless victory.”
    Bastet was nodding. “You know, we really need to spend more time together. You’re full of surprises.”
    Was this a second compliment in one day? Anubis wondered if the world really was coming to an end.
    “I’ve spent my entire life fighting. I know battles,” he said quickly.
    “Where are they now?” Bastet asked.
    Anubis gave his mother a blank look, then shrugged. “In the Pyramid of the Sun, I suppose. Maybe even in the Council Chamber.”
    “No, I doubt it. It’s too early. Isis and Osiris will want to make a grand entrance into the Council Chamber.” She was confident. “It’s what I would do. However, I have no doubts they are meeting the other Elders, planting seeds, dropping hints about the couple in gold and silver. They’ll have stashed the couple somewhere quiet and out of the way, saving them for the big reveal.”
    “But you said they can’t have the real twins. So they found a couple of children and dressed them up in fancy gold and silver armor. What’s that going to prove? The council will laugh at them.”
    “Isis and Osiris are cunning. I guarantee you that they have not arrived with just any children dressed in armor. This pair will have some skills. Maybe enough to fool the council.” She shook her head. “Isis and Osiris must have been plotting this for centuries. Maybe longer. When you are ruler,” she added, “I want you to have that pair killed.”
    “Which pair?” Anubis frowned. “The children?”
    Bastet shook her head and yowled. “No, not the children. Well, yes, you can have them killed too, if you wish. I want Isis and Osiris taken care of.”
    “The last people who tried to assassinate them ended up as jewelry,” he reminded his mother. “Isis wore that necklace of tiny people for months afterward. And most of them were still alive,” he added in a whisper.
    Bastet suddenly sat forward and put her hand on Anubis’s knee. A razor claw pierced his flesh, though he bit his lip and said nothing. “But you’re right, of course. . . .”
    “I am?” he asked, the surprise of his mother agreeing with something he’d said briefly wiping away the pain. “What am I right about?”
    “Kill the children.”
    “Kill them?” He regarded her evenly, then tipped his head to one side. “That’s easy enough. They can have a little accident in the next few days.”
    All of Bastet’s claws punctured his flesh and he gasped. “Sometimes you can be very stupid!”
    When he was ruler, he was definitely banishing her to a Shadowrealm. Someplace with lots of dogs.
    “Kill them now. Kill them before Isis and Osiris can present them to the council.” She squeezed his knee for extra emphasis. “Are you listening to me?”
    “Yes,