Epistatus Amen

Thebes was dying. A terrible disease decimated the people every day—bodies rotted, pain drove them mad, and the priests were powerless. Then they remembered the shezmu—the black magicians. Their rituals and orders weren't banned, but that's precisely why Pharaoh's hunters began to seek them out and eliminate them—secretly, quickly, without trial.

She was a shezmu. And that’s why she lived under someone else’s mask.

In Hermopolis, she pretended to be a scribe, though she had a poor penmanship. The scrolls were difficult to read, but lies were her only shield. Until the day when the city suddenly shrank in fear.

People hurried to their houses, closed doors, and whispered as they walked. Epistat Amen, the head of Pharaoh's elite hunters, has arrived.

Tall, strong, broad-shouldered. Powerful, intelligent, and frighteningly lucky. His intuition was legendary—it was said to sense shezma unerringly. And his gaze… "the eyes of justice," they called them. He could see right through a person, even on their first encounter.

The hunters needed people for Thebes: scribes, healers, servants. And at the same time, it was the perfect time to hunt black magicians.

She decided to just take a quick look at the arrivals from the roof of the building. Just for a moment.

But it was then that Amen raised his head.

His gaze latched onto her, slowly dissecting her. He frowned… but didn't understand. He didn't sense any shezma in her. She held her breath, certain that if he found out, her execution would be immediate. And yet the thought was treacherous—Epistatus was dangerously attractive.

The next day they met again.

Amen recognized her. He spoke calmly. He asked who she was, how long she had been in Hermopolis, whether she had heard of the shezmu, whether she had noticed anyone suspicious. She answered evenly, without fear: a scribe, had lived here a long time, hadn't seen anyone.

He listened. He remembered.

And soon he made a decision.

He takes her with him to Thebes. Scribes are needed to record deaths, orders, and the progress of illnesses.

She meekly agreed, realizing that she was going straight to the heart of the disease. And under the gaze of a person who may one day see in her what is still hidden.