Bhallar had not understood his father's words while the latter was explaining the significance of the last platform. He still didn't.

He understood the part about opening his arms and asking to be judged by the sun god. It was the next part that had him confused. 

'Why is the offering needed?' Bhallar thought now, just as he had done as a child.

According to Mayeen, the offering was there because almighty Ra, just like his creation: humans, could feel hunger too.

'Dada, why do you fail to understand such a simple thing? He is busy showering blessings and lighting the world. He needs to stay fit to take care of his subjects and eliminate darkness from the New Kingdom. He needs strength. How else is he going to feed himself?'

Darkness descended upon Bhallar as soon as he entered the womb of the temple. He didn't miss the immediate shift in the temperature as it went from spring-like pleasant to cold.
This was the opposite of what he had expected.

This chamber was supposed to house the healing rays of the sun God along with his seven feet high statue.

'This is not just a statue built in almighty Ra's image, children. It holds part of his soul.'

'How can a soul have parts?'

'That, my dear, I can't tell you yet.'

'I know that I am still too young to hear such things. But Dada is big. He is almost as tall as mama. You can tell him.'

Atmoo hadn't been able to tell his son about souls before passing away. Bhallar wondered if he would have told him if he was as persistent as Mayeen.

'Did someone follow her here as well? Or did Mayeen flee from here already?' Bhallar contemplated when the silence in the womb turned deafening. His heart sank to his knees as doubt of whether he would ever see his sister gripped his heart and made it hard for him to breathe.

Bhallar closed his eyes, held his hands over his head, and prayed, hoping that the sun God could hear those who prayed in this dark, unwelcoming space. "Almighty Ra, please don't let me return empty-handed. I don't know where else to look." he pleaded into the dark, unwelcoming space.

"Dada?"

The single word, spoken so reverently, burned away the darkness seeping into Bhallar's heart.

"Mayeen?" He called in the dark, taking unsure steps towards what he hoped was the source of the voice. "Keep speaking, sister. I will find you." Bhallar instructed, but he might not have as well, for not a moment later, a relieved breath fanned the side of his face and spoke in his ear, "Dada, I knew you would find me," before wrapping him in a tight embrace.

"Mayeen..." Bhallar whispered, elated, holding his sister close and thanking almighty Ra for the kindness he had shown him.

"Dada, I am sorry." The girl apologized in a steady, cold tone, "Please forgive me."

"Why?" The perplexed brother asked, trying to step back, but failed.

"Because there is something I need to do, and it will hurt."

"Mayeen, what is wrong?" Bhallar demanded, trying to keep his voice from wavering, even as he felt the chamber grow colder. "Let me get the light. Let me look at you." Bhallar struggled to break free, but Mayeen's inhuman strength kept him glued to her.

Shortly after, he felt something cold and sharp brush against the nape of his neck before digging into his flesh, ripping a shocked, blood-curdling scream from his lips.

Bhallar's knees gave way, and he slumped over his sister, unconscious.

***

Bhallar opened his eyes and found Mayeen sitting in a dimly lit chamber with a sly grin on her face. It was quite like the one she used to offer him before getting him into serious trouble with his parents.

"Nice to have you back, Dada. There is so much I need to tell you. I hope you are up for an adventure." Mayeen's smile grew wider.

Bhallar ignored the girl's words; his eyes lingered on the cuts and bruises that littered her bare hands and feet while his hand came to rest on the side of his neck below his left ear. He winced.

"Sorry about that. I didn't think you would pass out like that. I just needed a few drops of blood without your consent, is all." The girl explained, then standing up, she walked over to her brother and held out her hand.

"We need to hurry. The sun will set in a few minutes, and then we will have to wait the whole night till we can get this chance again. I haven't had anything to eat in two days and am famished. We have to get out of here as fast as possible."

"The chance to do what?" Bhallar asked rhetorically before pressing on. "I am here to bring you back to mama. And that's what we are going to do."

Mayeen sighed and shook her head, "Dada, why do you even try? You remember how stubborn I can be, don't you? Now hurry up. I need you. I have sacrificed much to carry the blood of the cursed this far. I don't think I can do it again. So, make up your mind, now. You made a promise to Baba on his deathbed; does it mean nothing to you anymore? What about the new kingdom and its citizens? Don't you want to make their lives better? And what about me? Do you remember what Baba said about finding the healing spring where mother-river Aari originates? We are supposed to do it together!"

Bhallar nodded, "I know, but-"

"Dada, there is no place or time for 'buts and ifs' in my life. I have come too far to turn back now. I will try...I will give it my all even if you don't help me." The determination in his sister's bright eyes seemed to make her golden orbs glow.

Bhallar recalled what he had confessed with his arms raised over his head on the second platform merely minutes ago. His light orbs met his sister's golden ones. In that precise moment, he realized that he couldn't make her bend to his will.

If he wanted to be part of her life, he needed to stand by her side. The only way to do that was to give in to his sister's demands. There was also the fact that she was right. Their father had told them to look for the healing spring together. Bhallar's gut told him that without him by her side, Mayeen would fail, and then, in the true sense of the word, he would lose her.

He couldn't have that. Thus making up his mind to do his best to keep his sister safe, Bhallar vowed to never let the golden-eyed girl walk the path she had chosen, alone…all by herself. The only way to do that was to stand by her side, shielding her from any harm that dared to befall her; maybe then, he could forgive himself for losing her the first time around.

Once again, unaware, just like the time he had decided to become a bounty hunter at the start of his journey, he didn't know that being tricked into 'giving his blood unwillingly' would just be the start of his sister's plans for him.

Philitis's words about getting in his good books and not having a choice came to him.

'I need to get in Mayeen's good books too, and at least for now, I have no choice.' Bhallar sighed on the inside even as his lips turned up in a comforting smile. "Alright. You win. Tell me what you want."

Bhallar's submission brought a Cheshire cat-like grin to the girl's lips, "For starters, do you have any more Violet Genoises? The two you placed in the bowl of offerings was not nearly enough."

Bhallar shook his head, looked at the temple's ceiling, and asked fearfully, "Almighty Ra, what have I gotten myself into this time!?"

Just as expected, the sun God remained silent. Yet, Bhallar could hear him giggling, mocking the physician's fate.

In all honesty, though, going from an exceptional doctor to a bounty hunter before hanging up his armor and picking up the scalpel again to fulfill his sister's demands-disguised-as-requests was not something he ever wanted or intended to do. It was his bad luck that his younger sister just had to go and fall in love with a cursed soul.

And now, it was up to Bhallar and his motley gang: the Siyari, the royal physician, his architect best friend, and one shameless bounty hunter, Philitis, who may or may not be harboring a crush on him, to save his would-be brother in law and get rid of an evil bloodsucker that lurked within the walls of the pharaoh's palace because everyone else wanted the lover boy dead.

End of Book 1
❤
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[Chapter word count: 1500;
Final word count: 27724]