After returning Nebuaui’s necklace to its original location, Addaya went to the royal temple to fulfill his duties as the high sorcerer and guardian of Osiris for the day.

Hori came in to check on the students as part of his daily monitoring and evaluation while he was busy sorting out the duties for the younger students. With a dominant frown on his face, Addaya caught sight of him and looked away, attempting to avoid him. Hori called after him. ”Addaya.”

“Yes, Master,” Addaya replied, looking at him.

“Are you all right, son?”

“Yes, Master,” Addaya responded, forcing a smile. Hori returned his smile and asked about the students.

After sunset.

Addaya was walking back to his house, which was only a few minutes away from the temple. He took slow steps because he knew Meritamun would be there and didn’t know how he would face her after what he had seen earlier.

He was certain that he would eventually tell her the truth about her mother but knowing how heartbroken Meritamun would have left him speechless.

Addaya entered his house to find it completely silent. He walked to the end of the courtyard to his room, which was enormous in size, with one large bed in the middle of the room and a table on the right side with a bowl of fruits and Meritamun’s dress next to it, and two chaise longue chairs on the left side.

Addaya looked over at the bed, where Meritamun was sleeping peacefully with a silky sheet draped over her body. He moved to the left and sat in one of the chairs, staring at her sleeping face. “I don’t know what to do now, my love,” he murmured to himself.

Meritamun shifted in her bed, then slowly opened her eyes, and looked at him with half-closed eyes. “I miss you,” Meritamun said, her voice low and sleepy.

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“I miss you even more.”

“Come here,” Meritamun said, tapping the empty space next to her. Addaya stood up, bent, kissing her on the cheek.

“I’ll be back,” he said as he exited the room. Addaya entered another room, nervously running his fingers through his hair; he had never lied to her before.

He took a deep breath and looked to the right, where a large bowl of water was on a table. He went to it and washed his face, attempting to relax. Addaya closed his eyes and breathed heavily; he was nervous and felt his heart ache from keeping such painful news from her.

He returned to Meritamun to find her standing in the center of the room in front of the bed, the sheet loosely wrapped around her body, revealing that she was completely naked. “I miss you,” Meritamun said, and Addaya smiled and approached her, intending to kiss her. She let go of the sheet just as Addaya placed his lips on her and began to kiss her passionately.

Hours later.

Meritamun was on her right side, facing the other wall of the room, while Addaya slept on his stomach. A sudden form of golden light appeared from thin air and stood right above Meritamun’s closed eyes, she moved a little and rested on her back.

The golden bright light transformed into a bright golden Bennu bird. It got closer to her face and made a humming sound. Meritamun shifted back to her right side. The bird took a step back and hummed the same melody once more.

Meritamun slowly opened her eyes, but she couldn’t fully open them due to the mighty light of the Bennu bird. After a few seconds, she managed to open them enough to see clearly what was in front of her. Meritamun blinked several times, and the bird approached her, resting its head on hers.

It closed its eyes, as did Meritamun; the humming sound began again, sending shivers down Meritamun’s spine; the bird stepped back and looked at her eyes deeply before walking out of the room.

Meritamun sat up and drew the bed sheet closer to her body as she watched the bird leave. “Wait,” Meritamun said quietly as she reached for her dress on the table beside her bed.

The bird was standing in the courtyard, next to an apple tree, sniffing one of the apples and humming the same melody. Meritamun approached it, the bird looked at her without pausing the hum, and then walked. Meritamun followed it.

The bird came to a halt in the middle of the great hypostyle hall. Meritamun looked at it, puzzled. The bird walked to the right wall and touched it with its head; the wall began to fade, revealing a bright white light from the other side.

The bird stood beside the faded part of the wall and looked at Meritamun, who looked at it then at the faded wall and stepped inside without hesitation. She looked around and saw nothing but whiteness; the bird stood next to her, bowed its head, and touched the ground.