For several minutes there was silence, which Simon used to contemplate this strange turn of events. Could Set have been genuine when he had told him about becoming a great sorcerer? And if so, what did that mean for him? He guessed that he was stuck in Zawte unless Set decided otherwise, and wouldn't it be prudent to learn something worthwhile until he could leave? Wouldn't it be prudent to get into Set's good books, then try and persuade him to travel to Giza, from where he could make his own way? And wasn't there even a possibility that Set would be able to teach him how to time travel properly (as he had implied the first time they had met), which he could, in turn, use to his advantage when he returned to the twenty-first century? He sure could name a lot of opportunities for bargaining, what with the only ever time travelling device in his hands...

  But then again, he didn't have the impression the god would do anything unless it brought him personal gain as well, which meant that there had to be a masterplan behind it all... And what price was he, Simon, willing to pay for his return home?

  At that moment, his thought were interrupted when Set leaned forward and reached out with a hand to touch something in front of Simon's shirt. Looking down, he realized that the Infinity Key had freed itself from the garments, and was now resting loosely and openly on top of the fabric and glowing in an electric blue light. He desisted the urge to dodge the inquisitive extremity and protect his one, treasured belonging, knowing full well that such an endeavour would not be wise in the company of an insane murderer.

  Set must have noticed the impulse, the slight twitch backward, nonetheless, because his eyes narrowed even though he didn't comment on it.

  “What an interesting piece of jewellery,” said Set, his eyes boring into Simon's, who didn't like the temporary, greedy flicker that had flit over the god's features at the sight of the accessory.

  Something strange happened when Set touched the Infinity Key: The hourglass pulsed in an angry red where it came into contact with skin, and the god withdrew his fingers as though he had been scalded by the lukewarm metal.

  Set stared at it absentmindedly and with a close expression, his lips pressed together and his nose wrinkling slightly with disdain, as though the pendant had insulted his person and he was contemplating means of retaliation.

  “A relic of my late grandfather,” said Simon, hurriedly tucking the hourglass out of sight again. “So – er – what did you want to talk about?”

  When he looked up, the odd expression had vanished from Set's face, who was smiling darkly, unsettlingly again. A minute ticked by in awkward silence, in which Simon tried hard not to consider his chances should the god attack, neither of them made a move, and the deity's scarlet eyes remained firmly upon his.

  “Your grandfather must have been a very great man,” said Set then, ignoring his question once more, “for you to treasure his heritage enough to wear it day to day.”

  “He was,” agreed Simon uncomfortably, twirling the fabric of his shirt in his fingers.

  Why was it that the emergence of the Infinity Key always ruined everything? He had been getting so comfortable just a minute ago, and now everything seemed to run past in slow motion as memories and impressions he had been attempting to subdue came foraging back to the front of his mind: There was Horus, sitting cross-legged in the warm sand in front of Nephthys's sanctuary, scowling at a bowl of stew, Nefertari's musical, tinkling laugh, Morgan, who was smiling at him and listening intently to the story of a shard of pottery Simon had dug out behind their old house. He could see it clearly, the way his cousin' eyes lit up as he watched him, the same way they always did. It made him ache for the family he had left behind when he rejected his grandfather because of his cousin, and even, though only the tiniest amount possible, the friends he could have made some days ago had he not been so selfish. At least with them, he had never felt as though he were in imminent danger, as he undeniably did with Set.

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  “He came from the future, from your world?” Set's voice startled him back into the present, but the dull, heavy feeling in his mind had only just begun to settle.

  “Of course,” said Simon irritably. Next moment, the meaning of the god's query dawned on him, and he couldn't help his jaw dropping. How could Set possibly know that he, Simon, had travelled in time?

  “How do you know I –“ he began, flabbergasted.

  “Lord Apep tells me many things,” said Set impatiently, obviously irritated by the interruption. “And your grandfather gave you that pendant?”

  Simon could make neither heads nor tails of this question, or the way it had been said, as though the god thought he was lying.

  “I inherited it when he died, yes,” he said cautiously.

  “And you're sure he didn't leave you anything else? Instructions on time travel, perhaps?” Set suggested softly.

  After a moment of confusion, a tiny fragment of sense became distinguishable from nonsense, but the implication was so ridiculous that Simon almost laughed out. Was Set really suggesting that his, Simon's, grandfather had travelled in time as well? And that the old man had left him instructions on how to use those fantastic time portals to get to ancient Egypt? It was absurd, completely impossible... How could Avrak Walker possibly be a time traveller? At the same time, conversations and questions he had nearly forgotten came back to him, echoing loudly in head.

  If grandpa had this all along, why didn't he go look for the treasure himself? Morgan had asked him once.

  But what if Avrak Walker had gone to look after all? What if he had used the same portal Simon had stumbled across before making the map? But surely the idea was insane … Had the old man known what lay hidden in the Great Pyramid, surely he would have made use of it, told someone about it at the very least? There was no sense in keeping something as big as this secret, waiting for his grandson to find out about it instead …

  “That's completely ridiculous,” Simon said, a little too late to sound convincing.

  “Is it? Then tell me... Tell me how exactly a boy from the future comes to be here with us,” prompted Set, but it wasn't as much a suggestion as it was a demand.

  “It is a long story,” said Simon evasively. “One that might seem rather – er – difficult to believe...”

  “Then I suggest you get started,” Set snapped at him.

  And so he did, beginning at the very day he had left Cairo in his own time.

  It felt good to talk about everything, especially with the god's full attention focused on him, as if there was nothing more riveting than the story of his life. He had been waiting for an occasion like this for a long time after his grandfather had died, a moment where there was nothing more important than what he had to say. It was almost like getting a piece of his past back, what with Set showing almost equally as much fascination in him as Morgan had years ago.

  He skirted over some parts, for instance the thought, the certainty, really, that the Infinity Key had something to do with his transition from the twenty-first century into ancient Egypt, without being able to explain why. It just didn't seem like a good idea, revealing all his secrets in front of a god who had proven himself most adept at acquiring things – or people – that weren't his to take. What if Set took a liking to the hourglass pendant and wanted to keep it, bearing in mind its considerable powers?

  When he had finished, there was a moment's silence.