Anubis loved SG as he had never loved before. He decided that she should attend the weighing of the hearts, at which he presided when Osiris was absent. Today, Osiris was traveling. In a great, dimly lit hall, thousands of the dead, from many lands and many centuries, waited for judgment. Several of the gods stood with Anubis around the scale that would determine the ultimate fate of the deceased. Anubis had told SG to sit with a small group of dignitaries a few feet away, and to say nothing. It was a violation of tradition for a mortal to attend this ritual, but he was confident that no one would discover her identity. One after another, the dead came forward and handed their hearts to a servant of Anubis. The heart was placed on one of the scales and the feather of Ma'at was placed on the other. If the feather weighed more than the heart, the dead soul was directed through a golden doorway, to eternal life. But if the heart was heavy with sin, the soul was sent hurtling down a black hole in the floor, into the den of Ammut.

The cries of the damned upset SG, but she kept her composure. The others who sat with her chatted quietly and seemed unmoved by the proceedings. One man with a face that resembled a falcon said to her, "We have not met before. I am Kebechsenef, son of Horus." "I am Kara-El," she said. "I am a friend of Anubis." "More than a friend, I've heard," said Kebechsenef. "Welcome to our little circle." The weighing and judging went on for what seemed like hours. Anubis's job was to make sure the scales were properly balanced between weighings. SG was growing bored, but she felt it would be rude to get up and leave. It would be an insult to her lover. Then the process suddenly became interesting. Looming tall above the rest of the dead was a face she recognized. It was Louie Ungtjur, who had tormented her when she was at Marston College. So someone finally killed the son-of-a-bitch, she thought. After several minutes, it was Louie's turn. She had hoped his face would be twisted with fear, but he seemed resigned. His heart was placed on the scale, and it plummeted downward. As he was led away, he spotted SG and lost his reserve. "Save me," he called out. "Save me, Sallie Gale." Then he was pushed into the hole and his screams could be heard as he tumbled down into Ammut's hellish domain. "Sallie Gale," said a woman sitting in front of SG. "Is that what he said? What does it mean? He seemed to be looking straight at me." "Or someone in back of us," said a woman sitting next to her. They turned and looked at SG. SG, blushing, turned and pretended to look behind her, but she was seated in the last row. The only persons behind her were servants.

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News of the outburst at the weighing, and of SG's reaction, quickly reached Her Ladyship. This was the opportunity she was waiting for. Communicating through messages carried by servants, and in some cases by cats, she urged her confederates below to spread the rumor that the fair-haired one had once been the whore of one of the damned. This, if proved - or if widely enough believed - would disqualify her from the role of concubine to even a lesser god, much less Anubis. Worse yet, lovers of the damned were themselves destined for damnation.

SG was in great danger, but because she was unaware, she took no steps to protect herself.

The crisis came quickly. Anubis returned from the weighing one day in a foul mood. He pushed his servants aside and stormed into SG's chambers. She was looking into a crystal globe that showed the world she had left, the world of sunlight and songbirds and rivers and trees. "Searching for your lovers, whore?" Anubis demanded. She turned to face him, tears streaming down her cheeks. She had been crying because she missed the world she had grown up in, the world she belonged in.

Anubis interpreted her tears as tears of grief for her mortal lover or lovers, including the one just cast down into the jaws of Ammut. "Why do you call me whore, my master?" she cried. "What have I done to offend you?" With his mighty arm, he swept her off her feet and into the far wall. The servants quickly fled the room. She tried to rise, but he was on her in an instant, stepping on the small of her back and pulling back her head by the hair. "You were a whore of the damned," he yelled. "You knew the tall one who was thrown into Ammut's lair. He called out to you." "He did," SG said. "He did. But he was not my lover. He raped me. He and his friends raped me. "I don't believe you," Anubis roared. He lifted her up and looked deep into her eyes. "I see you approaching him, kneeling before him, sucking his cock. I see no rape. I see only a WHORE!" He flipped her over his shoulder and strode out of the room. "Call an assembly of the gods," he told his chief steward. "We will have a special weighing." He carried her through a low, dark corridor to a cell carved into the rock wall. He dumped her into it and slammed shut an iron grill. "Contemplate your sins," he told her. "Contemplate your doom." SG wept. Never had she felt so hopeless. Her love had turned to ashes. Her victimization by Louie continued, even in the underworld. Could she never escape him? # # #

In the scale room, the dead usually far outnumbered the gods, but on this occasion there were many gods and no dead, at least not yet. SG was tied to a stone pillar. Her head was bowed, and her long blonde hair covered her face. "You know why I have called you here," said Anubis. "I have taken as concubine a woman unworthy of me and of this company. I apologize for my poor judgment. I am deeply sorrowful and ashamed." His voice, which had been low, suddenly rose. "And I will be avenged." There was a chorus of approval. "We cannot judge the living, so I have arranged for the death of Kara-El. Her Ladyship has generously offered to dispatch her." Her Ladyship rose from a chair in the front row and walked up to SG. She put a hand under SG's chin and raised her head so she faced the crowd. SG's eyes were red and swollen, but she remained one of the loveliest mortals the gods had ever seen. Her Ladyship drew a knife and plunged it into SG's chest. Three quick twists, and her chest was torn open. Her Ladyship grasped the still beating heart and ripped it out. SG's body hung lifelessly to the column. Her Ladyship approached the scales with blood dripping from her hands and a cruel smile on her face. "Do we really need to weigh it, my lord?" she asked. "We already know her perfidy." "She deserves the same chance as anyone else," said Anubis. Her Ladyship placed the heart on the right scale, and Anubis dropped the feather of Ma'at on the other. The scales teetered back and forth, then reached perfect equilibrium. SG's heart weighed not a fraction of an ounce more or less than the feather. There was murmuring in the crowd. Never before had this happened. Her Ladyship's face was flushed with anger. "There must be some mistake," she said. "The scale is not in balance." "Are you questioning my competence?" asked Anubis coldly. "Of course not, my lord," muttered Her Ladyship. The gods had crowded around the scales, and no one noticed that SG's body was no longer tied to the pillar. Then her voice rang out. "You came not to judge me but to condemn me," she cried. "You were convinced of my guilt. Your minds were poisoned by rumors and false witness." They turned to see SG standing at the edge of the hole that led down to Ammut's den. "You would have fed me to the beast below without a fair hearing. This is the consequence of Her Ladyship's jealousy, and of my beloved Anubis's foolish gullibility."

"Seize her," cried Her Ladyship. "Shut up," roared Anubis. "Let her speak." "I am finished, my lord. Nothing I can say will ever be as persuasive as your scales. They show that I am neither blameless nor damnable. I once thought I was a superhuman being. It turns out I am just a flawed but striving creature of my adopted planet, no better or worse than most." "Kara-El, be careful," Anubis shouted. She had stepped dangerously close to the hole. One misstep could send hurtling down into Ammut's crocodile jaws. Her Ladyship, who had quietly stolen close to SG, gave her a push. SG fell sideways, reached for the far edge of the hole but couldn't grip it. They heard her screams as she hurtled downward, then the growls of Ammut. Then silence.

All eyes were on Her Ladyship. "She didn't belong here," she said, defiantly. "The scales did not damn her, but neither did they proclaim her innocence." "The judgment was not yours to make," said Kebechsenef. Anubis grabbed her as she tried to rush past him. "You would have condemned Kara-El without the scales," he said. "Now it is you who will be condemned without benefit of weighing." He lifted her up and sent her hurtling head-first down to Ammut.

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