Cursed Times - Only Yesterday! Sequel to Wattys 2015 winner!

Chapter 52 : Seisi - Spice up your Life

From previous chapter:

Coldness exploded from her core and Trueth heard words tumbling through her brain. It took a moment until they reached her tongue. 'Aren't you forgetting a minor detail. Like a demon army parked down there, waiting to invade Kemet?'

As if on cue, a flock of waiters arrived, bearing pizza.

***

Seisi's friends were stunned into silence while one steaming dish after another landed on the table as if a carter was laying out a spread of savoury wheels. Maybe the others were merely impressed by the selection. More likely they were still in shock over Metjen's last comment.

With a grand gesture, the person Metjen had called Maitre d' wished them a good appetite. He appeared to have cheered up considerably. His behaviour was no surprise. If the man had been calculating the total bill, he would have arrived at the conclusion that giving away his most coveted table had been worth some remote-controlled humiliation. Seisi snapped his fingers and took a mental note. Metjen would have to practice more mind-swipes. That person should never have noticed what had been happening to him.

'The underlings are gone,' Pharaoh commented the obvious and grabbed two slices of triple-cheese which had been placed next to him. 'Your Wisdom may continue outlining our approach.'

'Oy, that's mine,' Ranofer declared. The serving plate bearing his favourite lifted from the table and landed next to him with an audible clunk. Unlike his sister, Ranofer had apparently not been able to develop his magical talents much further.

Seisi mind-shot a warning across the table. Pray, use your hands, not your sun-flow. People might notice otherwise!

Ranofer nodded once and bit into a slice of pizza.

'We thought, we would all be sharing?' Pharaoh had difficulties staking his claim while chewing.

'Don't speak with your mouth full, ' the Lady Nefertiti waggled a finger at his Majesty, then turned to address her eldest son. Too late. Her husband got there first.

'Did I hear that correctly,' the professor had placed one hand on the table, another one clenched the stem of his glass of wine. 'You want to go back to that disaster area under the step pyramid, waltz through a hall full of demons and open the very portal these bastards have been fighting like hell to open? The same portal Imhotep has secured with that bloody walking stick we had so much trouble finding? The portal that doesn't even seem to work properly?'

'Exactly that one,' Metjen said and licked his fingers. He had placed a collection of slices on his plate and was calmly savouring a piece featuring those green vegetables which looked like innocent beans but burned your mouth. Those were his favourites as well, so Seisi helped himself and deposited another slice on Trueth's plate.

His woman stared first at him, then at the steaming food in front of her.

'I believe our lives are about to get very complicated again very soon,' Seisi said. 'You better enjoy this while it lasts. It's my favourite.'

Trueth's glare softened, she stroked his hand and took up her cutlery to tackle his gift. She chewed, her eyes bulged; she nearly pushed over her glass of water in her haste to drink.

'That's peperoncino,' she said when she could speak again.

Seisi regarded his dinner. 'Is that what it's called? I wish we could have this in Kemet.'

The Lady Nefertiti made another attempt at speaking but Metjen raised his hand. 'I like my pizza hot, so let me finish this. Yes, I want to go back down there, and yes, it might sound like madness. And no, it isn't, at least, it isn't as bad as you might think.'