Priestess of the tombs, p.1
Priestess of the Tombs, page 1
Priestess Of The Tombs
The Apprentice Of Anubis #5
Laura Greenwood
Contents
A Brief Note
What Happened Before
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Author Note
Also by Laura Greenwood
About the Author
© 2022 Laura Greenwood
* * *
All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission of the published, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address; lauragreenwood@authorlauragreenwood.co.uk.
Visit Laura Greenwood’s website at:
www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk
Cover by Ryn Katerin Art
Priestess Of The Tombs is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
If you find an error, you can report it via my website. Please note that my books are written in British English: https://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/report-error.html
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Blurb
Ani thought being assigned to tomb duty was the worst thing that was going to happen now she and Nik are back at the London Temple of Anubis, until Ma'at's priestesses show up.
* * *
With every inch of the temple under inspection, Ani knows it's only a matter of time before they find something that brings the world as they know it crashing down around them.
* * *
Can Ani and Nik survive the investigation with their jobs, and their relationship, intact?
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Priestess of The Tombs is book give in the Apprentice Of Anubis series. It is a modern low fantasy series with a romantic (m/f) sub-plot and follows a new priestess in the Temple of Anubis, Ani, and her jackal familiar. It is set in an alternative world where the Ancient Egyptian Empire never fell, and set in alternate London.
A Brief Note
The Apprentice Of Anubis series is set in an alternative universe where the Egyptian Empire never fell and replaced the Roman Empire. The split in the timeline happened after the Ptolemaic dynasty and the final Cleopatra's infamous reign. Instead of Egypt falling into the hands of the Romans, they fought back and gained control of the budding Roman Empire. All religions still exist in the world, but many have been absorbed into the Egyptian religion (this was common practice during their ancient history, so is something I adopted into the series).
For the purposes of this series, the Egyptian Empire spans much of Africa and Europe, as well as some of the Middle East.
I made the decision to keep a lot of the words and systems we use today (including place names like London and the River Thames) to make the reading experience as smooth as possible. If this was the real progression of events, those things would likely have been named differently.
Things I have kept are the Ancient Egyptian concept of a week (10 days, including a 2 day "weekend"), month (3 weeks), season (4 months) and year (3 seasons plus 5 feast days). The currency they're using is debens (derived from the Ancient Egyptian word for bread - something workers were often paid in). Names have also been influenced by Ancient Egyptian history.
What Happened Before
Secrets Of The Chosen
* * *
While Ani and Nik are waiting to hear from the Temple of Ma'at to find out what happens next in their investigation of their temple, Nik's father sends them to York following the death of a distant relative.
In true Ani and Nik fashion, they're unable to keep out of trouble and soon find themselves questioning whether the York temple's new Blessed is the real deal, with Ani worrying that some of her suspicions are coming from jealousy.
When it becomes clear that Matia is also suspicious, Ani reaches out to her Blessed mentor, Khafre, who arrives at the temple and helps them to discern that they were right, and the Blessed is a fraud.
They call on the Temple of Ma'at to help them, and give a testimony again. Before they leave the temple, one of Ma'at's priestesses gives them the regards from the London temple. They return home to find a summons waiting for them.
If you want to read the What Happened Before for books 1-3, you can on my website: https://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/what-happened-before-apprentice.html
One
I push open the door to my new accommodation with Matia jumping up and down beside me. Next time I move anywhere, I'm going to see if I can leave her with Neffie for the day. As much as I love my jackal companion, she's not the easiest to deal with while I'm carrying stuff.
"Let me grab that," Nik says, hurrying over and taking the box from me.
"Thanks, I'll go get the other one." I gesture outside the door.
"Eurgh, why can't I find someone that'll do that for me?" Hannu asks as he comes to the door with me.
"You want a Nik?" I ask as the two of us head down the stairs back to where our previous rooms are to get more boxes.
"I'll pass on Nik specifically," he responds. "But someone who'll take my boxes for me? Wouldn't mind that."
I let out a small chuckle and come to a stop as I come into line with my final box of belongings. I'm surprised by how much stuff I've accumulated over the past year and a bit. I thought it would be as simple as filling a single bag and taking things upstairs to our priest quarters, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
"Is that your last one?" I ask Hannu as I pick up mine.
"I have three more."
"I can come back with you for the last two, if you want?" I offer.
"That'd be great, thanks, Ani. I knew I'd be glad I got assigned to the same flat as you."
I beam, pleased that my fellow priest doesn't think of me as an annoyance he has to put up with. According to my Blessed mentor, there's always a risk that the priests entering the temple at the same time as a new Blessed will grow to resent them.
We make quick work of the remaining boxes and I step back to take in the flat in front of us.
Boxes cover almost every available surface, which isn't too surprising given there are four of us moving in all at the same time. It's strange to think I'll be sharing with three guys now, and while I'm a little worried about Hannu and Ibi discovering what we're up to, I'm glad that I get to be in the same place as Nik now. Especially as it means he no longer lives in his family home.
And we have more space than before. The bedrooms are around the same size as the ones I had as an apprentice, but the shared living space and kitchenette are a nice addition.
I let out a loud sigh, drawing Nik's attention to me.
"Everything okay?"
I nod. "Just thinking about how nice it'll be to live with you," I admit, not seeing any point in keeping it from him.
"I know the feeling, but does this mean we're married now?" Nik asks.
I stare at him for a moment, not knowing what to make of the question. Is he serious? Sometimes it's hard to tell, especially with things like this.
"Don't you think getting married is something we'd talk about first?" I ask. Should I be more freaked out than I am?
"Well, we're moving in together..."
"Because Hori decided that he couldn't trust you to be roomed with anyone else," I point out. Though I'm not sure that's the real reason Hori decided to pair us together. With Hannu and Ibi being our fellow flatmates, I suspect the decision comes down to who often gets paired up for work in the temple. Saying that, Nik's logic isn't completely unreasonable, most couples who move in together declare that they're getting married. Then again, most couples haven't had their housing assigned by a supervisor.
"We're still moving in."
"I'm also moving in with Ibi and Hannu, does that mean I'm married to them too?"
Nik opens his mouth to argue, but finds himself unable to.
"Thought as much." I go up on my toes and kiss his cheek. "And for thinking you'd get me to agree to marry you that easily, you get to take the heaviest box to my room." I point to it, only half-serious.
"As you wish, most darling of wives," he jokes.
I let out a small snort of amusement. "Maybe don't call me that in front of anyone else."
"Interesting, so I can call you wife in private?" He flashes me a lopsided grin.
I roll my eyes. "Not while we live with other people."
"You're full of surprises, Ankhesenamun. I'd have thought you'd have jumped at the chance of wedding the High Priest's son." He picks up my box and makes his way over to my room, leaving me standing there and shaking my head.
Why does he make me feel this way? The first time we met, I thought he was an arrogant idio
I glance in the direction of the bedroom. The real Nik is just so easy to like.
I pull my attention away from him and start unpacking the box with Matia's snacks in it. I can keep them in my kitchen cupboard now, instead of in a dresser next to my bed, though knowing my jackal, some will probably end up there too.
As if she knows what I'm up to, she comes trotting over and sniffs the box.
"Do you want a treat?" I ask her.
She cocks her head to the side and sits down, her tail thumping on the ground.
"All right, but don't go telling Nik that I don't feed you later." I pull open the box and dig around for a strip of dried meat. I hold it out to her and she takes it eagerly, running off to the sofa to lie down and chew on it.
I continue my unpacking, ignoring the occasional swearing coming from Ibi's room. I'm not sure what he's doing in there, but it doesn't sound good.
"Nik, swap rooms with me," Hannu calls as he steps out of the room next to mine.
Nik's face appears around the door frame. "Sure, but why?"
Hannu shoots him an incredulous look and then glances at where I'm standing in the kitchen. "Because the walls are thin and if you're next door to your girlfriend, you're not going to be bothered when you stay over with your girlfriend."
"Oh, erm, we're not, erm..." He rubs the back of his neck, seeming visibly uncomfortable.
I hurry over and place a comforting hand on Nik's arm. "He's fine with it."
Hannu nods, while Nik's attention snaps to me. Which shouldn't be surprising with what I've just implied in front of our friend.
"Great, I'll move stuff in." Hannu grabs one of the boxes and heads to the room Nik was assigned.
"What just happened?" Nik asks, looking between me and the room.
I shake my head in bemusement. "We became neighbours."
"Yes, but..."
For a moment, I consider skipping over the subtext of what just happened. But these things are always best if we actually talk about them.
I take his hand and pull him into my room. There isn't really anywhere comfortable to sit considering we haven't sorted the bed out yet, but at least it's private.
I shut the door behind us, only briefly worrying about Matia.
"There's no but," I say. "Hannu is more comfortable this way, and who are we to argue with that?"
His frown deepens. "I guess. I just don't want to rush anything."
"Is this where I point out you were joking about us being married earlier?" I ask.
Discomfort crosses his face.
Ah. Classic Nik. He didn't really think through what he was saying.
"Don't worry about it," I promise him, though now I think about it, perhaps it's time for me to take a trip to Bastet's temple to talk about my options for when it is time to worry about it. "We're going to be in this flat for a few years at least, what's the harm in making sure Hannu is comfortable from the start?"
"I suppose."
"And it's a good thing," I continue. "This way we don't have to worry about him being able to hear when we talk about things like our meeting with Ma'at's temple tomorrow."
He lets out a small groan. "Don't remind me."
"I have to. It's important."
"I know it is, I've just been trying not to think about it. I don't know what they want, and I don't like it."
I put a hand on his chest and look up at him. "It'll be fine," I promise. "We'll just go, we'll tell the truth, and then we'll..."
"Come home and lie to everyone about where we've been," he finishes.
"It is a little ironic. But no one is going to ask," I point out. "And we can just tell them we went for a walk. It'll technically be true."
"Hmm."
"We can tell Ma'at's priestesses that we don't want to do this if you want."
"No."
"Okay."
"You aren't going to argue with me about it?" He seems confused.
"Why would I argue? You know your own mind," I point out. "Besides, I know how you feel about this. You want what's best for the temple and Anubis. That involves helping Ma'at's temple uncover the corruption here."
He lets out a loud sigh. "Why do I have to be attracted to someone who knows me so well?"
A low chuckle escapes from me as I wrap my arms around him and press my head against his chest. "You can probably answer that better than I can."
"Hmm. True." He kisses the top of my head and hugs me back.
I close my eyes and enjoy the moment, glad that there will likely be many more of them to come, especially now we're living in the same place.
Two
The imposing statues of Ma'at don't get any less intimidating no matter how many times I come to the goddess' temple. Considering I've never been here because I've broken the law, I'd have thought it wouldn't make me feel as bad as it does, but every time I step inside, I feel as if I've done something wrong.
Nik gives my hand a gentle squeeze, as if sensing my thoughts and knowing I need the support.
I'm just glad I don't have to do this alone.
Neither of us says anything as we step inside and make our way to the room at the very end of the entrance hall, with Matia following along beside us. I'm glad she can come into places like this with me. The advantage of having a Blessed bond with her.
"Do we knock?" I ask Nik as we reach the door.
"I guess?"
Before either of us can, it swings open to reveal a priestess about our age. "Ah, right one time," she says brightly. "You must be Ankhesenamun and Nikare from the Temple of Anubis."
"Yes. Ani and Nik, though, if that's easier?" It's not really a suggestion, and I'm sure she knows that. Using everyone's full names all the time quickly gets exhausting. "And this is Matia." I put my hand on top of my jackal's head.
"Of course, come in." She waves for us to enter the room. "I'm Taia, and this is my Blessed counterpart, Metjen."
"Just Metjen will do," the man in the corner of the room responds.
Nik gives him a funny look, but doesn't say anything that will help me decipher what he's thinking.
"Why don't you sit down and we'll explain everything," Taia says. "Well, everything that we can."
Because that helps with my nerves.
Even so, I take a seat at the table, keeping tight hold of Nik's hand as I do.
"Would you like something to drink?" Metjen asks.
"Just water, if you don't mind?" I respond.
"Same, please." Nik watches the other man intently as if trying to work something out.
Taia sits at the head of the table and pulls out a tablet, tapping on the screen a few times to get to what she needs.
Somehow, I've never considered that there are priests and priestesses in Ma'at's temple at the same stage as we are in Anubis', which is foolish when everyone goes through a similar process.
Metjen reappears and sets water for the four of us down on the table before joining us.
"Okay, so where were we? Ah, right, so hi. We're the Ma'at Blessed pair who have been assigned as a liaison between you and the temple."
"You're Blessed as a pair?" I ask, trying to keep the surprise out of my voice. Especially as I can't see their Blessed companion anywhere in the room. It must work differently for each temple.
I reach out with my spare hand and scratch Matia behind the ears. She has no idea I'm doing it because I'm grateful that I get to have her as my companion, but I suppose it doesn't matter, she'll enjoy the fuss regardless.
Taia nods. "It's how it works here. Every Blessed has a partner to work with, we each fulfil different roles for our goddess. I think it works differently for you."
