Nephthys departs, brimming with promises and good intentions. Ra pivots on the spot, directing his gaze towards where Set lies, still asleep. Both Maat and Thoth watch him as he strides towards the slumbering figure. They note resolve and satisfaction in his gait. They, these two divine pillars of wisdom, understand that Ra has at last come by a solution to the conundrum that has been vexing him, and they exchange a wink. The best progress is the progress one makes by oneself, unassisted. They knew he would get there in the end.
Bast stirs as Ra passes, opening one eye, then the other. She sniffs the air, catching wind of a change of mood. She is content. She tucks her head onto her forearms and dozes off again.
Ra has hitherto baulked at approaching Set as part of his peace mission. He has deemed the Lord of the Desert too intransigent, too hotheaded, to be worth dealing with. Now, however, he has a bargaining chip in his back pocket, something to offer Set in exchange for his co-operation. It could make all the difference.
''Set?'' he says.
Set awakes. He rises.
''Ra?''
''Walk with me.''
And they walk.
They walk, as gods may, across the universe. Side by side they stride through the gulfs between worlds, through the dark vastnesses that separate the stars. In a matter of moments they have journeyed to the outermost reaches of Creation, the point at which light and life run out and beyond which lies nothing but an abyss, pure, cold, perfect emptiness. From this vantage, looking back, the entire cosmos seems so small that it could be cupped in the palm of one hand, and crushed in the clenching of a fist.
Set gazes around him, shivering. ''Why are we here, Ra? Why have you brought me to this place?'' His voice has no echo. The surrounding void swallows it, deadeningly. ''I don't like it. We're too far from anything that means anything.''
Faced with oblivion, even a god may quail.
''Have you — have you brought me here as punishment? Do you mean to exile me?''
Ra does not calm Set's fears, not immediately. ''We are here to gain perspective,'' he says.
''Perspective?''
''To establish what is important and what is not. Set, I shall speak plainly. You have done bad things in your time. You have tricked; you have deceived. You have fought and harmed. You have made enemies and harboured grudges.''
''O Great Ra, I admit I am not perfect. I'd be the first to say I have not led a blameless life. But in my defence-''
''Let me finish, Set. You'll get your turn. Among your many crimes is the murder — I should say attempted murder — of Osiris.''
''He had it coming.''
Ra holds up a hand. ''Patience. I told you, you'll get your turn. Then there is the matter of your feud with Horus. Who knows what the origins of that are. Everyone seems to have a different opinion. I know that at one stage you raped him. I know also that he tore off your testicles in a fight. There's certainly a strange sort of antagonism going on between the two of you.''
Set's face reddens, almost matching the hue of his eyes and hair. ''I despise Horus,'' he says. ''I wish to see him humiliated.''
''And he you. And yet you and he are so alike in many ways.''
''No one can get under your skin quite like kin,'' says Set.
''Perhaps so. But we shan't dwell on that now. Your final crime is simply one of neglect. You neglect your wife, Set, while she still cleaves submissively to you. You are callous towards your son, not to mention your grandson.''
''I have my reasons.''
''Indeed. Perhaps they are even forgivable ones. But people need their parents whatever age they are. They need the reassurance of knowing their mothers and fathers are always there to be turned to and consulted, or rejected if necessary. They need their unconditional love.''
''I'm a busy man,'' Set says. ''If I neglect my family, it's hardly my fault. I have precious little time to spare even for myself. In case you haven't noticed, I am a permanent 'guest' aboard your barque and have a twice-daily penance to serve.''
''Justice must be done.''
''Injustice, more like.''
''You do not accept responsibility for the wrongs you have done, or the need to atone for them?''
''I claim that there were extenuating circumstances. I have been a victim of slights and offences myself. No one seems to remember that. It's always 'Set insulted me, Set assaulted me', conveniently overlooking the fact that I only did any of those things because someone did something to me first. I have a reputation, I'm the bad apple, so it's open-and-shut as far as the rest of you are concerned. Nobody cares that I've been provoked, that I've been cuckolded and denied high position and publicly embarrassed, that my actions are reactions. Nobody sees my side of the argument. Once you become the villain of the piece, you're the villain of the piece for all time. You don't get the chance to be seen in any other light.''
''Your temper plays a part.''
''True, I do get a little out of hand from time to time.''
''You call tearing Osiris to pieces 'a little out of hand'?''
''I see red. I get carried away. It just happens. It's how I'm made.''
''And here we get to the nub of it,'' says Ra. ''How you're made. Set, do you think it's at all possible that you could change?''
Set is taken aback by the question. It seems that the thought has never occurred to him before.
''Change?'' he says, eyebrows knotting. ''In what way? And, more to the point, why?''
''The way is simple,'' says Ra. ''Be a better person, that's all. Control yourself. Be kind to others. And as for the why, see that?'' He gestures towards the tiny twinkling ember that is the universe, all but lost amid the blackness of the abyss. ''See how small and remote and fragile it looks? As though a casual breath could snuff it out? We are gods, Set, and we are powerful and we live for eons, but still, in the grand scheme of things, we are insignificant. Ultimately, nothing we do is of consequence. We may be big but the eternal void is infinitely bigger.''
''So why bother changing? Why bother doing anything? Isn't that the appropriate response when faced with your own insignificance? If existence is meaningless, it doesn't matter how you behave.''
''That's one way of looking at it, I suppose. The other way is: if existence is meaningless, then why not change? Why not alter your attitude, if only to create meaning?''
''Of a very limited kind.''
''In a limited environment, that's the best you can hope for.''
Set acknowledges this, and Ra detects, or thinks he detects, a glimmer of interest in those scarlet eyes. Set is actually considering the proposal laid before him. Set is intrigued by the idea of changing.
''I wouldn't be me,'' he says, ''if I didn't ask what's in it for me.''
''For a start, if you did sincerely make an effort to improve and become a kinder, gentler, more thoughtful and forgiving Set, I would release you from your penance.''