The gazes of the false—yet true—couple met instantly. They both knew exactly who he was talking about. This meant that Seth had attempted to acquire all three pieces to ensure that the bandit wouldn’t be able to sell them. It didn’t necessarily mean he knew they would be trying to obtain them tonight, but it was further confirmation that he was making sure they wouldn’t be able to gather all the pieces of Osiris.

Emsaf had introduced them as members of his family. Even if the bandit had inadvertently informed Seth about this meeting, there was no way he could suspect their true identities. Yet, that wouldn’t stop him from reporting this information later... Should they just kill them all?

"OK," Anubis said after quickly assessing the situation. "Here’s what will happen if you and your men want to leave here alive and in one piece. You will take us to the artifacts and hand them over as planned in exchange for the three pouches of gold. You will use that money to flee as far away as possible and never look back. Understood? Do not inform the other buyer—just disappear. In any case, if he finds out you no longer have the pieces, he will kill you."

The bandit leader nodded repeatedly without the slightest hesitation. He feared for his life; it was no surprise that he would agree to any terms. The real question was whether he would actually honor them.

"Understood?" Anubis insisted, wanting to hear him accept out loud.

"You have my word," he promised.

Anaïs rolled her eyes, not bothering to hide her skepticism. As if faithless, lawless criminals like his group had any honor... He had literally planned to ambush and rob them. The only certainty they had was that the mix of greed and the sheer terror of what one of the two Gods would do to him if they ever crossed paths again would be enough to convince him to obey Anubis’ instructions.

"Get up," the jackal god ordered.

The bandits’ camp was only about a hundred meters deeper into the cliffside. It was an open space with a cave entrance not far from their campfire, which they could light at will since the surrounding rock formations shielded them from distant eyes. A perfect hiding place for a few days and an ideal spot to stash precious artifacts.

Two bandits were standing guard at the narrow path leading into the camp. The moment they saw their leader’s distress and the couple behind him, they immediately unsheathed their sabers, ready to defend their camp.

"Put your weapons away," he ordered, trying—and failing—to suppress the tremor in his voice. "Go get the artifacts and prepare to leave camp."

"But... where are the others?" one of the bandits asked, lowering his blade slightly.

"I’ll answer your questions later!" he snapped, silencing them.

The two guards exchanged a glance, then begrudgingly sheathed their weapons and stepped aside, allowing them to pass. They scrutinized the duo for a moment before ultimately following their leader’s orders and vanishing into the cave.

A minute later, two men and an unfamiliar woman emerged, greeting their leader with restrained nods as they hurried to pack their belongings and prepare to leave. They all moved slowly, their eyes never leaving the trio as if they expected Anubis or Anaïs to attack them at any moment.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The wait felt like an eternity, but eventually, the two guards returned to the firelight, carrying a chest between them. It didn’t look particularly heavy, but it was undoubtedly valuable—the way they handled it with such care made that clear.

They set it down at their leader’s feet, who hastily unlocked it with the key hanging around his neck before stepping aside to let Anubis inspect the contents.

The god stepped forward and crouched down, reaching for the first piece: a thigh that extended from Osiris’ hip to his knee. The second was his right leg, its sheer length justifying the size of the chest. It belonged to an adult, after all, and judging by the flesh, Osiris had not been a small man. The last piece was an arm, though Anaïs couldn’t tell whether it was the right or the left—just like the thigh.

The thought of Isis accidentally misplacing a limb while reassembling his body crossed her mind, and she had to fight the urge to let out a small laugh. Now was not the time, and it wasn’t exactly respectful either. But the parallel to Frankenstein was hard to ignore.

"Perfect," Anubis confirmed as he straightened up, his piercing gaze settling on the bandit leader and the two guards nervously standing beside the chest. "Not a word—don’t forget. Vanish completely. Don’t contact anyone, not even your family if you have one. Egypt and all its inhabitants must believe you are dead and buried."

Anaïs hurried to Anubis’ side, bending slightly to grab one side of the chest and help him carry it. Its large size made it cumbersome, and while the weight was surely no issue for him, the chest was simply too big for him to carry comfortably between his arms without assistance. Turning her back on the bandits made her uneasy, but it was necessary to get back to the cart. Besides, they wouldn’t dare attack now that their leader knew they were dealing with a god.

After a final nod from the bandit chief, they left the camp, moving slowly due to the cumbersome cargo. Anubis still held the torch in his free hand, lighting their way so Anaïs could see where she stepped. They only had about two hundred meters to cover to reach the cart, but the chest’s bulk slowed their progress. Not that it really mattered, considering the pieces were completely unbreakable, but still.

"I’m sorry for leading you straight into an ambush," Emsaf immediately said as soon as he saw them approaching. "I truly didn’t think he would go that far..."

"It’s fine," Anubis reassured him, lifting the chest into the cart. "What matters is that we retrieved the pieces."

"Where should I take you now?" the collector asked, grabbing the horse’s reins and snapping them to urge the animal forward. "You don’t need to go all the way to Ouaset, do you?"

Anubis reached into his satchel and pulled out a parchment—a small map of the area. He studied it for a moment before pointing to one of the temples near the city of Iounyt.

"The Temple of Khnum will do," he announced to their driver. "It’s the closest one, and the sooner the pieces are safely in the Duat, the better."

"We’ll be there in less than twenty minutes if we pick up the pace."

Emsaf urged the horse into a trot—not fast enough to tire it out, since he planned to return to Ouaset after dropping them off, but quick enough to reach the temple as soon as possible. He let them off in one of the many necropolises near their destination. Temples were always surrounded by crypts, as the people believed spiritual buildings should be close to burial sites so that priests and priestesses could properly guide the dead to the afterlife. These religious places served as gateways between the two worlds, which worked in their favor—except when they were guarded. Fortunately, the necropolises of the Temple of Khnum were unguarded, allowing the couple to slip inside a tomb unnoticed. Within minutes, they had reached the Kheret-Nedjer.

"I’m exhausted," Anaïs groaned, sighing in relief as her feet sank into the gray desert sand.

"I can ask a servant to help me carry the chest to my mother’s villa," Anubis offered warmly. "That way, you can go rest immediately."

"Hard to refuse an offer like that," she accepted without hesitation.

I’m too tired to face Isis right now... she kept that thought to herself, not wanting to disrespect the goddess in front of her son.