"Is that enough to make you trust my words?" Nathan asked into the stunned quiet.
"Are you serious..." Fulvius asked, his voice emerging as barely more than a whisper, hoarse and strained as if the words themselves struggled to form.
For a long moment, he found himself wrestling with the possibility that Nathan might be lying, that this could be some elaborate bluff, some audacious gambit designed to elevate his own position through a fabricated connection to one of the most powerful women in the world. But even as the thought formed, it crumbled under the weight of logic and reason. Why would anyone tell such extraordinary, such potentially verifiable absurdities about the Pharaoh of Amun Ra unless they were absolutely, incontrovertibly true? The risk of such a lie being exposed would be catastrophic, would destroy any credibility Nathan possessed. No sane man would stake his reputation on such a claim unless it could withstand scrutiny.
