By the Power of Sekhmet - Part 1

Flinging the sheets off the bed, he wakes with a start and a yell, covered in sweat and gasping for breath. Almost immediately she is by his side, a large paw clasped tight around his shaking hand, the other coming to his face, wiping away the young mans tears.

“Hush, it was only a dream, you’re safe here.” the Anubis whispers into his ear, wrapping an arm around his back and bringing him into a tight hug. Burying his face into her shoulder, he sobs as the memories come rushing back into his mind. He clings tightly to her, almost as if the jackal woman would disappear if he were to let go.

Eventually, thanks to the comfort of her tight embrace and the whispers of her reassuring words, the man manages to calm down, breaking the hug, closing his eyes, and taking in a large breath to steady himself. A quick “Thanks” is muttered out as she takes hold of his hand once more, kneading it between the squishy pads of her paws.

“You’re welcome, Inaros.” she responds just as quietly. Looking up to meet her gaze, Inaros can see a small smile adorning the Anubis’ lips, her cheeks slightly tear stained, although not as much as his.

“Same dream as always?”

“Yeah.”

She tightens the grip on his hand, sighing, “We’ll get through this together, you have my word.”

Nodding, he looks around the room. Shades of orange and red filter in through the vaulted window, basking the two of them in the warm light as Ra begins to make his appearance for the day. The room is spartan in decoration, especially when compared to many of the other rooms within the palace. Only a decent sized bed, a low table, and some cushions provide any evidence of occupation.

“How about I go get us breakfast? We can eat out on the balcony and watch the sunrise.” she asks him, but the both of them know that’s more of a heads-up than a question.

“That would be wonderful, Nanu, thanks again.”

Nanu simply smiles, getting up from the bed and walking out the door, her large, black tail swishing behind her as she goes.

Inaros sighs once more, turning to sit on the side of his bed, resting his head on his hands and looking down towards his legs. At least, what’s left of them.

The left leg is missing from just below the knee, the rounded stump at the end still sore and prone to bleeding. The right leg, while complete, is horribly mangled. Angry, red scars criss-cross along the entire length of it, and the bones below the ruined skin, while set properly, had not healed right, causing great pain whenever weight was put upon it.

He attempts this anyway, still not believing that such a thing had happened to him. Grasping the linen sheets tightly, Inaros does his best to rise to a standing position, but falls back to the bed and lets out a groan after a painful fire blossoms in his leg. Catching his breath and steeling his resolve, the crippled man pushes himself off the bed and onto his one good foot, as if by doing the act quickly, he will suddenly be alright.

The solid sound of flesh smacking against stone echoes through the room, followed by muffled sobbing.

Inaros buries his face in his arm in an attempt to hide his shameful crying. He knows better than to try a stunt such as that, and yet he does it anyways, as if all the previous failures were a fluke, and the next time he tried he would be alright.

He remains on the cold floor for the next half hour, unable to find the strength or desire to pull himself to a sitting position, much less back onto the bed.

Soon enough, the muted footfalls of pawed feet signal Nanu’s return, and as she walks into the room with their breakfast, the excited look in her bright green eyes instantly turns to that of horror as she sees Inaros prone on the floor.

Nearly dropping the tray of food, she sets it on the bed and falls to her knees beside him, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him into another hug. He clings to her as he did before, but this time without the tears or the shakes wracking his body.

“Are you okay?” she asks “You didn’t hurt yourself, right? Oh, I shouldn’t have left you alone for so long, Inaros, I’m so sorry! Please forgi-” Inaros silences her with a finger to the lips and a shake of the head.

“I’m fine, really. Just tried to see if I was better today, and I wasn’t, that’s all. Don’t worry about me.” He looks up to see the visage of an Anubis on the verge of tears, her lower lip shaking and ears flat.

“How can I not worry about you, though? You’ve suffered so much and if you get hurt because of my negligence again then I won-”

“Nanu! Stop!” he nearly shouts at her, and instantly she does, brining one of her paws up to cover her mouth and ears flattening just a little bit more. “I’m fine. Really. I just… I’m still having a hard time dealing with all of this. You know how it is.” He sighs and breaks eye contact with her, suddenly finding the intricately laid stone flooring much more captivating.

Nanu quickly gathers herself, wiping away her tears, and returning to her feet, picking the tray of food back up. “Come on then, the food is getting cold.” she says as she walks out towards the balcony. Inaros can’t help but grin at this, the woman has always been rather forgetful of his injuries due to her naturally bossy disposition.

About ten seconds later Nanu quickly runs back over to the man still seated on the floor, letting out a torrent of “I’m sorry’s” in the process.

He can’t help but laugh as she picks him up and sets him on the bed. “You’re going to keep doing things like that, aren’t you?” he asks.

Her response comes in an angry stare as she fetches the wheelchair provided by the Pharaoh, but it soon morphs into a bashful grin. “I’m a bit forgetful sometimes, aren’t I?”

“Forgetful, sure. Lets call it that.”

Another flat stare and Inaros finds himself being wheeled over to the balcony, his breakfast awaiting him. Nanu had made her favourite meal for this morning, a large bowl of fatteh complete with lamb and flatbread, a small collection of slow boiled eggs, some fresh fruits, and some extra cured meat. Although they seemed to have this meal more often than any other, Inaros was never one to complain, as Nanu’s cooking skills were unmatched in the palace.

Biting into the surprisingly still warm fatteh and flatbread, Inaros gazes out across the expansive gardens that cover the entire back end of the palace. From his perch he can easily make out the kinds of plants and flowers that grow amongst the fountains and sculptures that dot the flowerbeds, the bright rays of the sun illuminating them having shifted from orange-red to a more typical hue of yellow.

“How are you feeling now?” Nanu asks as they begin to eat.

“Not great. Not bad, either.”

“That’s good.”

“Mhmm.”

He glances up from the food, and sees Nanu gazing off in the other direction, her tall, lupine ears twitching ever so slightly as she fiddles with the fabric of her linen dress.

“Is something the matter?” he asks, shoving another piece of fatteh covered bread into his mouth.

“Hm? Oh, yes. Well, no, nothing’s wrong, it’s just that I had an idea for something that we could do today.” she responds, picking up some meat for herself.

“And what would that be? More reading lessons?” Inaros admittedly never really enjoyed reading to himself, preferring for Nanu to read instead, as her over dramatic and animated storytelling’s were far more entertaining.

Nanu turns to him, confusion evident on her face. “What? No! I just thought that we could do something a bit different today. You know the bathhouse, right? We could go there and go swimming to help your legs heal.” she says with a beaming smile now on her face, obviously pleased with her decision.

Inaros, now the one confused, asks “How exactly would swimming help with my legs? You know my left leg is useless, and I can barely use my right leg without any pain, right?”

“Well, yes, but, uh…” she trails off, ears flattening against her skull, before perking back up again, “I just thought it was worth a shot! We can at least see if it helps strengthen your legs, and if it doesn’t, we don’t have to do it again. What do you think?”

He returns to his food, pondering her proposition for a moment. “Fine, sure. Let’s try it. I doubt it’ll work, but I don’t see why not.”

“You shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss things like that, Inaros. What if it really does help? You do want to get better, don’t you?”

Inaros looks back out from the balcony and across the well cared for gardens, the shrubs and flowers gently swaying in the light breeze. Although he would never admit this, he longed for the day when he was able to walk through them without having to rely on someone else. “I do.”

“Then you need to be willing to try new things that might help you, okay? I just want the best for you. Now here, open up!” she exclaims suddenly, shoving a piece of fruit in front of Inaros’ face, a smug grin plastered on her own.

With a smile like that, Inaros knows he won’t ever be able to say no to her.