The Ivory Cat

Normally the gods don't meddle in human affairs, asking only that Cosmic Order be preserved. But now and then-

In a moment that was all moments, a simultaneity that in human terms would one day be known as circa 1333 BC, Bastet the cat-headed goddess (if she existed) looked with interest upon Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti and their children, upon a fishing boat bearing a numinous ivory cat, a fearful slave in Bubastis, an arrogant and unhappy princess in Mitanni, some venomous and ambitious plotters, a naive idealist or three, and a scatter of other human and feline players. She smiled a bland cosmic smile-

-and meddled.