Asima frowned and opened her mouth to do just that, then looked away. "You'll be back, right?" The princess questioned, wanting verification.

"I'll be around" he nodded, "but I can't be here. Despite how much you think you can trust me, I can't trust myself and that makes me a liability. I can't be the high priest here any longer."
"there's nothing to worry about" he promised, offering a smile, "if anyone can show Set that being mortal is worth it, it'll be you guys. I won't go far."

"S-Set!" Asima stammered, and shook her head. "The post isn't one you can just give up! Take a break, cool yourself off, figure out how to please Set and yourself, and come back! Please don'tsay that..." The princess did agure with Set on this. No one else was trained to be the High Priest, if Set left, her brother, not to mention herself, would be left without their protector, on top of it feeling like they lost a friend.

"Bosia will do fine. He's been a priest for years and he's very loyal" Set replied, "I've already thought about this. And like I said I won't be far, if you do need me I'll be here and I will teach Nescher everything he needs to know before I go. I just need to talk to Nemiah. This isn't your choice, sorry Asima."

Asima sniffled and lowered her head. "Don't be a stranger, then. Come and see us sometime, so we will know you are alright..." She tossed her arms around Set and held him tightly, before reluctantly letting go. "Would you like help with anything? You can take anything you wish, you know..."

"I'm sure I can manage, thank you" Set hugged her back tightly, also reluctant to let her go, "It's just going to be a bit of a challenge not having any of my magic for next week or two." he frowned, his eyes naturally glancing back towards the book but he shook his head of the thoughts. He wasn't willing to go back to that solution. "Quite honestly, I'm still exhausted but I can hardly sleep away the next two weeks of my life." he rubbed his eyes, "at least it's out of my system."

Asima nodded, still refusing to look at him. "Yes. That's a plus. I had no idea how we would fix it without putting you in danger."

"I suppose by nearly killing me with overexertion, Set saved me as well" Hemset frowned, "Anyway. I'd better go talk to Nemiah. I'll see you around Asima" he patted her shoulder on his way out of the room.

Asima watched him go sadly, then sat on his bed with a sigh. She didn't want Set to go, but it was his choice. Eventually, the princess forced herself up. She needed to locate that sorceress and Set's brother, make sure everything was fine, though she didn't doubt Malum's abilities, a double check never hurt.

Malum was just coming up from the dungeons as Asima approached, "Hey. Everything's fine. You wanna grab something to eat with me?"

Asima peeked behind him, the nodded, allowing a smile. "Alright..." She chose not to mention her friend's departure for the time being. Focus on the good...Set was alive and getting well, and Malum was with her. "Will Solum be coming anytime soon?" She questioned after a moment of walking.

"He's here" Malum shrugged with a nod, "Someone has to keep up appearances though. He's in the underground city."

Hemset went to go visit Nemiah and with some convincing got the pharaoh to approve his departure. Afterwards however, he didn't go back to his room to pack, but rather into the dungeons to see Souban and his brother. The soon to be ex-high priest stepped up to Souban's cell, peering through the bars.

"You..." Souban hissed as soon as his face was visible. "Thank the Gods...at least you got free. Hurry up and let us out..."

Asima nodded. "Understandable. Does his temperament seem to be better?"

Set stared at her a moment, his face was unreadable, "What is it you hope to gain from me?"


Malum shrugged, "same old Solum."

Asima eyed him for a moment, before blurting. "What will you do now? Will you and him leave for Frodan, or do you plan on staying?"

"What does it matter?" Souban exclaimed. "If you must know, I want to rule. You could rule too...And in exchange, you will have your brother...back to normal, for a long, long time. I've had a lot of time to think, you see. I think I've figured out how to get him back...Fully."

Malum stopped and looked at her, "Asima" he smiled, "You've followed me everywhere I've gone, through dangers and perils and you've never let me down. I think it's time I followed you for a little while."


Set hesitated, while the thought of ruling Egypt didn't really appeal to him, it was still hard to say no to having his brother back, "... would he still have to kill Malum?"

Souban shrugged. "Not necessarily. It would be the easiest way...but I think I've thought of a way. Someone will have to die...but it could be anyone at all...Perhaps a convict?"

Asima felt color rise in her cheeks, and she threw her arms around Malum, hugging him tightly for a moment. "Thank you..." She found herself muttering.

Hemset was silent a moment, if it was just a convict-someone who was likely going to die anyway, someone who didn't matter... For a second his eyes began to darken, he wanted his brother back, he really, really did.
"No!" Hemset recoiled, closing his eyes and falling back against the far wall, "He's gone. I don't need him anymore. Take your temptation elsewhere witch." he shook it off and glared at her, "I am Hemset, son of Mira, student of Lakar and loyal mage of Egypt and it's pharaoh. I learn from my mistakes and I will never let myself be tempted by the likes of you ever again."

Set walked over to Melhet's cell and pulled out the jar that held his brother's heart. He stared at the soulless man before him and sighed, "goodbye brother" set spoke softly as he stabbed a blade into the heart of the jar.

"No!" Souban squealed, reaching through the bars of her cell in an effort to reach the mage. The heart simply crumbled around the knife, losing it's luster and sheen. A just a few minutes, it was nothing but a tiny pile of ashes.

The empty shell of Melhet's body followed suit, crumbling into dust as Set dropped the jar on the ground and let it smash to pieces. He sheathed the knife and turned to Souban, "Now. Remember this souban. If I'm willing to do that to my own brother, whom I love dearly and has done me no wrong-imagine what I will do to you if you actually harm anyone I care about." he turned abruptly to leave.

"Then you'll have to die too." The necromancer mumbled as she moved away. She needed to find a way out. She pressed her hand to the ground, her magic flowing from her fingers, checking for any magical things Malum may have put in place to keep her contained.

"Oh, and did I mention? I have a god living inside me. Bye." Set called back and waved without looking as he headed for the staircase back up. That should be enough to scare her, or so he hoped. He was fairly confident his chances of taking her on were good but it wasn't something he really want to test out-particularly before he got his magic back.

Souban snorted softly, and shook her head. Did the high priest really think he could scare her away with outrageous lies? After another moment she shifted, placing her hands on the prison wall, and pushed with her magic. Hopefully, it would create a big enough hole to step into.

As Set stepped up into the open air he passed by the pair of guards that had been sent to bring souban in front of Pharaoh Nemiah.

Souban grinned and poked her head out of the door. She'd gotten a huge shock from Malum's precautionary measures, but she was through. She cast quickly, and glanced down at herself. Yup, as close to invisible as she could get. The stupid princess should have used some of the magic blocking potion on her. Without a glance backwards, Souban slipped past the guards outside, and headed out of the desert. Time to lay low for a while. And she knew a place with plenty of bodies where she could do just that.