Gilly was more than happy to fill the resulting silence. “I like your costume. And how clever of you to wear a different one every day! It makes the cruise so much more fun, don’t you think? I just hope you don’t get blood on it.”

I was still pondering the changes to Mrs. P when Gilly’s words sank in. I swiveled around to look at her. “Blood? What blood? I’m not due for that for a few months, when my shot wears off. Sorry, that was TMI, but if you’re worried about me messing up this pretty lace skirt—”

“No, no, of course I would never mention something so intimate!” She looked downright shocked at such a thought. “I meant, of course, the first challenge. That’s why you’re here, right?”

I blinked at her, as if that would make my brain work better. “What challenge? What blood?”

She pursed her lips. “Oh dear, weren’t you at the briefing last night?”

“No. I… uh…” My cheeks immediately turned bright pink when I thought of how Rowan and I had spent the night. After dallying in his cabin for a bit, we had moved to mine, since I still felt obligated to keep an eye on Mrs. P despite her clump of priestesses underfoot. Plus, I had a sneaking suspicion that they’d claim my room if I left it vacant for too long. I’d left Rowan sleeping when Mrs. P and I—with the models in tow—had gone off to find clean clothes. “I was busy last night.”

“Aset, darling, did you hear?” Gilly tattled. “Your champion did not go to the briefing last night.”

I shot her a glare before glancing at Mrs. P and immediately doing a double take. Mrs. P, who waved a languid hand at Gilly, appeared even younger than just a minute before. “Eh. She’s a dragon.”

“There is that.” Gilly made a sad face at me.

“I’m sorry if I missed something important, but no one told me there would be a meeting.”

“Her man has sublime buttocks,” Mrs. P murmured, and turned over onto her belly. Even her legs looked younger. The varicose veins and pale white-blue skin was gone, replaced with tanned, supple flesh.

“That’s understandable, but it’s still a shame she missed it.”

“Is there a set of notes covering the important points?” I asked, nervous now that I’d screwed up.

Gilly applied a little sunblock on her perfectly toned legs. “No, but I’ve been on this tour before, so I can tell you what’s what. The captain was sure to have gone over the challenges that will be visited upon you as we travel through the Duat. The first are the carnivorous beasts. The second is the lake of fire. And of course, the last is facing Maat and having her weigh your Ka against her measure. If they don’t balance, why then you don’t get to go to the divine plane, and must remain forever bound to Duat.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” I said, one part of my mind wondering what I would be doing at that exact moment if I hadn’t taken Jian’s cousin (what was his name?) up on the job offer. I certainly wouldn’t be floating down a river in the Underworld, facing monsters and lakes of fire and some woman who wanted to weigh my soul. “So… when do we get to the Underworld?”

“We’re there now. We entered it the minute the ship began its journey,” Gilly said.

“Huh. I had no idea. Wait a minute—this cruise is just for the people who are going on to heaven, right? Or rather, whatever their version of heaven is.”

“Of course. They can’t get to the divine realm without it.”

I relaxed back into my chair, wondering what sort of carnivorous animals were going to descend upon us.

“Mind you, no one can leave Duat until Maat weighs your Ka, but if you have a pure soul, that should not be a problem. You’ll be allowed to leave and return to the mortal world if you so desire. Which I assume you will, because after all, you are a wyvern’s mate, aren’t you?”

“How did you know that?” I asked, feeling like I had the words stamped on my forehead.

“Everyone knows that, silly,” she said, handing the sunblock to Ipy when the latter emerged from the pool and stood next to us to towel off.

“They do?”

“Were we going to have a margarita party before lunch, or after?” Ipy asked, eyeing Mrs. P’s recumbent form.

“Party? Is there a party? I didn’t see one on the ship’s news this morning. Did you see mention of a party?” Ken bounded over to where we were clustered, clad, as was Barbie, in a shop swimsuit. Each woman had a towel, and Ken carried a flowered straw bag filled with sunblock, paperback books, magazines, and battery-operated personal fans.

“Sorry,” Ipy said, glancing at the newcomers and instantly dismissing them. “Private party.”

“Hello! Are you Sophea’s employer? We’ve so wanted to meet you ever since we heard about the destruction to all your lovely things. I’m Ken, and this is Barbie, and isn’t this a glorious day for a swim? So decadent swimming on a ship, isn’t it?”

With a less than tolerant look at Ken and Barbie, Gilly slid off her chair and gathered her things. Mrs. P stretched, jammed a straw hat that she’d filched off another costume onto her head, and, wrapping her towel around herself, padded after Gilly.

Ipy gave the two older women a bright but wholly false smile. “Pleased to meet you. If you’ll excuse me, I have much to do. Margaritas don’t make themselves.” She hurried off before Ken could do more than coo about how she loved a good margarita.

Both women watched the pack of priestesses go before turning back to me. “The first challenge is about due, I understand,” Ken said to me. “Are you ready for it?”

“Uh… I guess.”

Barbie prodded her companion. “We should find a good place to watch.”

“You’re right, you’re very right,” Ken said nodding emphatically. She said in a confidential tone to me, “That’s our job, watching over people. And helping them, of course. I didn’t catch your employer’s name, but if she wants help with the margaritas, why, Barbie here is a dab hand at the blender.”

Barbie rolled her eyes and pulled her friend away. “You’re boring her with trivialities. Did you remember to pack our rain slickers?”

“Of course I did. We wouldn’t want to get gore all over our espadrilles, now would we? Bye bye, Sophea. Good luck with the challenge.”