"This just got interesting" George mutters to Ruby. "I wonder how much they will beg or bargain for their lives, and their continued extension, if the Queen so permits it."
Neferka says, "And Mr. Duruy, if I were to have this artifact destroyed, would it then strip you and your companions of all benefits that you derived from it during these past centuries?" He replies, "Queen Neferka, I implore you not to do such a thing. Destroying it would only result in it no longer being able to be used any anyone. There would be no effect on us, we would just continue to age normally from the point that we are at now. That is what would occur if we no longer have access to the item, whether it exists or not."
Bast/Sabah steps forward and says, "My Pharoah, if removal of the magic that these individuals have received from this item is your wish, that is something within my power."
Neferka says, "It is, however only for the ten conspirators of my father's death."
Bast commands "Silence, or you shall share their fate." She then raises her hands and the room darkens. The amulet held by the Queen begins to glow a ruby-red color. Ten separate tendrils of light shoot forth from the object and attach to the ten men. Over the next several minutes light surges through the tendrils from the men and back towards the object, the light being most faint in the youngest men and darkest in the oldest.
Rene Bellocq is the youngest of the group and a recent member of the French wizards society, having only worn the amulet once, so there is no discernible effect. The alchemists Moissan and Richet are both chronologically in their early thirties, and the impact on them appears negligible, although they both show some visible pain.
The impact on the other seven is far more intense, with them aging decades before everyone's eyes in a process that has them all writhing in agony. The first to perish is the oldest, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, whose life had been extended nearly a half century. His body continues to decompose, although only visually as from the first hint of decaying flesh Bast makes a gesture that purifies the air in the room, with no further smells from that and the other corpses.
Dying immediately after Jacquard is the man Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac, followed almost simultaneously by Gaspard Gouraud and Louis Daguerre. Several minutes later Prosper Merimee dies and then Francois Guizot. The energy continues to flow from the remaining elderly wizard Michael Chevreul and then ceases, the tendrils all withdrawing from the six dead husks and four remaining men.
As the normal light returns to the room Bast turns towards Neferka and says, "It is done. This old man now wears his full ninety-six years on this planet. If allowed to continue he will live until the age of one-hundred-and-three. Also know that, while the leader of the conspiracy was Daguerre, the chemist Chevreul was the architect of the overall plan." She then gestures towards Moissan and Richet stating "And his two apprentices were charged with delivering the poison meant to kill your family."
Neferka states, "Seven more years....." She turns to Barrister Sefu and says, "Please make arrangements for Mr. Chevruel and his two students to remain in our care. Each and every day I want you to ensure that they undergo experiences which are quite memorable and also proportionate to the crimes that they have committed. However, be certain that none of these prove fatal, I would not want Mr. Chevruel to miss a single day of his remaining time with us. When he does finally leave our care see to it that his students experience the same fate at that time." Sefu says, "As you wish my Pharoah." He orders the three men removed.
