anyone allowed near the den!
toula rose with the sun, stretching out her little paws and yawning daintily. she then stood, turning to dart toward the open mouth of their abode and sang her hello to Ra (unbeknownst to her), greeting the day with her joy. the halls echoed her song, and toula smiled.
she knew the sound of happiness, now. she did not know that it was her echo that sang back in rejoinder though, and so toula tipped her head backward and provided another song in answer. she quieted, leaning forward to listen... and there it was again (her echo). toula bounded forward, tail wagging frantically as she unleashed another howling melody imbued with her glee.
she saw he and his come around the corner into their hallways. oh! giftbringer! she knew his face, now, and his scent. this day, there was more to it; cardamom, southernwood, and fragrant earthy things! her nose worked to distinguish one scent from the other, a tiresome activity.
she heard: princess. toula. princess toula. two words that toula had now come to learn meant her. and so when her name was called, her eyes alighted upon the man whom she loved fiercely already. his gaze was not upon her, which was a curious thing, as usually when called it was rather clear that the fixed point of attention was herself. but then his gaze was back to her. she saw something different there in his gaze, something that made her stand a little taller.
it seemed he had come to a decision then. and toula rejoiced, coming to join him, her joy evident. this day, her world again grew bigger.
away from her families quarters did they go. she was well-looked after, and cared for by her own attendants for the hours spent with her father the pharaoh. she voiced no complaints, but those with them in his procession could read well when she did tire. when they came to pass the temple of satsu, toula thought their gestures very pretty; she mimicked them daintily. she could sense the solemnity of the moment, and that this part of the day was not so joyous as the rest.
but as they drew away, toula came to find happiness again when introduced to sweetmeat and honeycomb. the latter she seemed to favor, so new and so sweet it was! she could scarcely get enough of it! and to pair the sweetmeat and the honeycomb together... she had not the words to describe it, and so she hummed her delight whenever she saw it before her.
toula always wanted to be near her father. the shade followed her where she went. her soft blue eyes surveilled all that he did, and she did so in the fashion she observed him to. their journey continued, up until they reached the riverbed. toula looked to her father, who guided her into the waters. they were warm, and welcoming. soothing in the way that they rolled against her belly.
and then her father began to sing. toula looked up, holding her breath until she could no longer and joining him only in humming the melody. she could not yet speak any words, but she loved the music he sang. her love for him increased tenfold, to know that this was something they shared! his singing paused, and he passed to her an object she, on any other day, would never want to let go of. she could not yet understand his words, his instruction. she only felt the compulsion to sing, too, as his song reverberated throughout her. it rattled against her ribcage, until it flew into her throat.
rather theatrically, toula flung the rock out into the waters, singing, Raaa!
as she did in a triumphant, elated note. she did not know that coincidentally, she had done just as he had asked... nor that her voice had brought the name of the one they worshiped to pass her lips. but she beamed up at her father, even as a ray of light from the warm morning sun then held them both. in it she was warmed, and basked in the presence of her father. did he love her song, that she had sang for him? as she had loved his own?
toula smiled up at her father. he had seemed to enjoy her song. it made her want to sing a dozen more for him. he spoke, his voice the melody of a hymn in of itself. toula looked around them, as though considering his question. though the light did not bother her yet, before it ever could there was shade overhead. toula moved closer to him, and the shade followed still. toula was delighted once more, and looked at her father in awe.
he commanded so many things! even the shadows!
toula looked around them. her warm gaze caught the eye of one figure, and she smilingly practiced the same imperatorial gesture, but toward her father. perhaps her warmth might have reduced the air of command her father the pharaoh presented, but her heart willed for him, too, to be comfortable. toula had that much and more in it; she desired to give him and her mother the wonderful world they brought upon her.
her gratitude was endless.
and she quietly, patiently watched the servant—to see what they might do!
when her father spoke, all else was easy to forget. her gaze turned away from
fellahin back to him, and if one moved to do as she had bid she would not have recognized it even for what it was, then and there. when her father had finished his speaking, toula looked reverently up at him. when he fell silent, toula tilted her head and sampled the word she liked best in his first series of them:
RRRaaaaa,
and when he moved, she kept in step. nothing to her here held her interest quite so much as he did, this man of song. toula was rapt, and watched all that he did. gently, she repeated his gesture with her own paw, looking to see then what
this would do.
last for me in this one <3
toula looked to where he pointed. it was vibrant, rich with red both bright and deep in hue. but her attention did not remain there for very long. it drew back to her father, who was all that he said and more. her Northern star. where her gaze would always turn to when lost.
she settled alongside him, head gently leaning against his foreleg while she stared doe-eyed and adoring up at him. but she was tired, now, and her blinks became slower.