The Zodiacs

68. Royal Scheme

"We'll split up," Tau spoke, his attention focused on the paper placed on the table in the middle of all the attentive Zodiacs that loomed around, listening intently to the plan he'd developed. It must be good considering the oldest was awake for hours before them, staring out the window emotionlessly as the thoughts worked through his mind.

If one didn't work, he traced back to the fault and corrected it, attempting multiple different pathways and pairings to find the most efficient one to guarantee their safety. None of the others dared to interrupt the Taurus, growing awkwardly worried after he'd spent more than three hours in the same position with his eyes focused past the stretching desert in front of him.

Tau's pencil scribbled over the poorly drawn attempt at the Pharaoh's palace he'd developed based on Zahra, Layla, Aaron, and Chione's descriptions. "The ceremony will take place in the west wing where all the old Zodiacs will gather to watch, at least the ones who are still alive, anyway. All we have to do is separate them before they get there and we have a decent shot."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Seth asked, chewing on a piece of sugarcane the Prince had retrieved from them for the market. The sagittarius bore intense focus, regardless of how much it didn't seem like so.

"We catch them just as they're heading that way. Dauha, or- Omari," he corrected himself with the realization that the Knight standing before him was no longer the Knight he recognized him as. "You're familiar with the location's of each Advisor's chamber, yes?"

Omari nodded. It had been his duty to memorize each living area of the Advisor's in case of an emergency that demanded their safety.

"Great. We catch them that way, one at a time before they have the chance to join the others, and we're already halfway there. It shouldn't be hard with their weight and age --not to mention, we're naturally stronger," he shrugged passively.

Everyone nodded in agreement, but it was Omari who spoke up to interrupt Tau's plan, identifying it's fault. "Not bad, but I don't think you realize that the Pharaoh always had two Zodiacs at his side: the Royal Wife and the Basha."

Tau pulled his lips back, revealing his teeth as he grimaced in displeasure at the thought. "Hell... do you know which Zodiacs they are?" He asked the ex-Knight, hoping any form of identification for the two would make it easier to get to the Pharaoh.

But Omari simply shook his head.

"The Royal Wife is the Cancer sign, born on the first of the Seventh Month," Aaron answered. His eyes were set past the closed window when everyone turned to him at the unexpected piece of information, but he didn't offer much of a response. "She uses her abilities to detect lies through the change of heartbeat and manipulate people's memories, along with what Keket is able to do," he stated simply.

Keket turned to meet Odion's gaze with a hushed question, drawing her eyebrows together in baffled interest. "I can do that?"

The Gemini simply continued. "The Basha is the one who wears the dark green robe with a small crater-like scar just above his left eyebrow. He is like Seth... the sagittarius; the one who killed Keket."

"How do you know that?" Aharon drew his brother's attention back to the older twin with the question.

Aaron blinked to bring his gaze back into focus before he smiled. "I watched them during the battle," he answered simply, his expression still remaining unusually emotionless even with the slight smile pressing his lips together when he turned to the others.

Tau peered at the boy in silence, shocked at all the information he retained but failed to share with him after he'd been struggling for hours. "Okay... feel free to share anything else that you know with us whenever you're ready," he mumbled sarcastically.