nazli slept. he had blurted the name of
@Makono to ahktar.
pharaoh and his bride had retired to the chambers in which senmut himself had never been. he waited for hours, dozing here and there, until at last the din of voices had settled to only a few.
drawn, exhausted, smelling of the party, he slunk to the royal chambers of the
amiirad, and announced himself, entering only when addressed.
senmut prostrated himself.
she had washed herself of the evening's affairs. dismissing any help offered in favor of silence.
then she slipped away.
the world did not exist beyond her room. she laid atop furs, a lazy sight. refreshed from festivities that had taken more out of her than she had expected.
the voice of senmut only stirred her slightly.
a head looked over a long shoulder, still she laid prone on her furs.
i should not be so surprised you arrived.
"you told me to come," senmut reminded her with a wry grin.
he settled lightly upon the floor: a perfect scribe.
"what will we speak of tonight, royal one?" and despite his tiredness, senmut knew he was in the presence of a very powerful being.
tell me of your night.
this instructed tiredly, as she sat upright. a brief stretch before she faced him fully.
she had asked him to bring her every word and movement.
he needed to prove such now.
"i spoke with you."
his eyes were averted; he was in her personal rooms, seated next to her bed. it was an honor. it was a responsibility.
"i gave the queen my congratulations. i told her that the high priest has given me permission to lead prayers for Wepwawet."
a pause. "i spoke with nazli; i told her to sleep in akhtar's rooms. when i left her, i went to find him. i told him you mean to change Ma'at, divine one." his voice did not shake. "i asked that he tell me if it can be done."
hardly any of it captured her attention, until the name nazli fell from his lips. although her figured remained tired, her gaze shifted into something more alert.
he had spoken to the high priest.
of the change of Ma'at.
some part of her tinged with fear, internal and clawing. if word reached her father? she soothed some of her own fears. he knew these things already. it was not a secret between them what she wished for.
the only secret was how she went about it in the aftermath of the rift between them.
still she could not find herself in the right mind to speak directly of that matter.
you have quieted my rooms, in having nazli elsewhere.
she did not speak with fondness or gratefulness. some part of her deeply missed the lilac girl's face.
but senmut's was not a hard one to look upon in her absence.
a gravid silence followed, in which senmut did not dare to look at the princess. she was pensive; she seemed a thousand miles away, heavy with thoughts which belonged to her only by way of her status.
and her chambers were indeed silent.
"i — did not think you would begrudge her the sleep, great one. she was almost dead upon her feet." he wondered, not idly, but in a rush, what akhtar would do when he discovered the servant there.
i would do no such thing.
she smiled, but it did not meet her eyes. not even near.
she is my treasure, hem.
such words had not even been uttered to nazli herself, but makono knew that such things had been seen through the palace. she cherished that fellahin in particular. the strength of nazli was the strength of the princess.
but these had been words spoken for the first time to her scribe.
what did he make of them, she wondered.
her eyes were cold. aloof. senmut saw a future in them of which he was not sure.
"she is — special," he agreed hurriedly, warm along his collarbone to think of the lilac girl. and to think of how she had not understood what he meant to say: that one day, he might lift her from servitude.
but none of this was suitable for the amiirad, who was quite fond of nazli. "i believe your fondness is returned in her many times over."
nazli spoke to her of many things.
now the time had come for senmut to do the same.
this was but the first trial in an ongoing series. loyalty could not be proven in just one night, even she knew this. fancy words meant little without action.
what has she told you for you to think so?
"because she is pleased to be a servant. she looks at you with reverence. she is happy to serve endlessly, with no ambition. nazli is content."
and to be a content slave was to be ignorant of future years. his heart ached. and still he did not speak it.
"you have peace in your court already, divine one."
peace in her court already!
nostrils flared, but not with any hint of disgruntled feel towards him.
she had built an inner court and maintained peace of it. she had gifted sacrifice before her father. she had done emissary work with splendid results and knowledge gained.
did Ma'at smile upon her?
did Ma'at laugh for all the effort Makono did to change things that could not be changed?
she did not know when her eyes had closed, but they opened now. a renewed vision. sight granted to her that had not been there before. it was the same strumming that had been there during the sacrifice to Apis Bull.
perhaps it was not Ma'at that looked upon the amiirad in these hours.
do you know the value of what you bring to me time and time again, senmut?
it was his name now, shedding his title to be granted the barest vision of him.
senmut was surprised; he looked up quickly, right into makono's eyes. for a moment the royal hue of her gaze played over the acid pools of his own.
"you command the truth from my tongue." like a god. and like such, he had seen the awesome power wielded in her. it had come through him as well. "i too am content to serve you, great one."
he pulled his eyes away, but he was touched, delighted to see her glancing finally into his heart.
content to serve her.
him, nazli. khaba pending.
she thought of other faces she could pull closer to her rather than her father. what of tavina and her punished lover? although the queen seemed to play best to them.
what of the other priest? the high one?
but a coup was not what she was after. not truly. merely support, a network of trust weaved between akashingo.
and you do so well. tell me your desires.
she could not wield everything like pharaoh and shabti, but she would make those of her favor comfortable. she would do so for nazli. she had been willing to do so for khaba.
senmut would not be spared the offer.
"priests do not have desires," but senmut was teasing despite his turned away eyes.
"i would like to be an architect, one day. of tombs." he paused. "pharaoh's family chose their tombland early in life and had it hewn for years before they died. in this way, the catacombs are as detailed as they could ever wish, and detail their successes while living."
senmut was suddenly energized, brightening despite his tiredness.
an architect.
his energy was infectious. she pictured him now, detailing her own. a day she hoped was far far off. she wondered what it would have been like if such a thing had been prepared for her mother.
a sting.
i picture you detailing mine.
she did not hide this from him, it was not a private thought.
i could give you this.
not yet, was the unspoken part. she did not think she could go to pharaoh with this after the distance she had maintained — and without speaking on the show she had displayed tonight.
makono had not been blind to the horror sprinkled through some of the crowd of visitors, but her father's ire had not reached her if he held any.
senmut's heart raced. she held a pearl of great want upon her proverbial outstretched palm.
"thank you, divine one," he said with deep gratitude, making another obeisance. "i believe i will do justice to whatever vision you might have."
sickened now, to think he still might fail makono!
she found his company lightened the darkness of her room.
she welcomed it more than she cared.
i have a question. informal, not of any business.
her form slid back down. something closer to a sphinx than that of a poised amiirad.
nekubi makono would often take the face of a god, but perhaps he was seeing it a third time tonight.
senmut kept his voice poised. "ask me anything, great one. i am your eternal servant."
you can decline —
she started with this first, and she meant it. truthfully.
a long thoughtful look. she trusted the hem to take this for the face value it would be.
but my rooms are too silent in the wake of everything. be a second breath in here tonight, if you are not wanted elsewhere.
senmut swallowed; he blinked. shock and chagrin spread across his face.
and warmth.
"you want me to stay here tonight?" he asked rather dumbly, daring a look toward her collarbone.
she smiled as he repeated her request in a question.
how could she fault him though?
you can decline, hem.
but her voice was a tease, light and tiring.
"i do not wish to decline," senmut said swiftly, and curled up on the floor.
he lay his cheek against the smooth stone and sand, listening for makono to ease back into her own pallet.
but she could not immediately ease just yet.
she moved a fur off of her own bed, setting it upon the ground for him.
but the time for words was over. exhausted by everything that had occurred, and yet not ready to face the sun for some time. she would lay in the dark now.
listening to the hem on her floor.
wondering how she had got here.
quietly she moved a fur to the floor. he put it under his head. the pelt was silken, perfectly cured, and far better than anything in his own cramped room.
she was magnificent. the gods moved in her. senmut sent silent prayers heavenward as his eyes began to droop.