she felt more at ease, since the dream. words shared with her father, though not all recalled. at least she no longer felt spinning adrift, so that she would not do something reckless!
there were several princes, and they each traveled to find her summer home. she might surely be there beyond such a time, but that it was founded then… it seemed fitting!
there had been a prince that occupied her mind, and it was the one she had yet to meet. she drafted a verbal letter to Rashepses for a
fellahin to recite to him, when alone and accompanied by his own attendants:
dear prince,
how I regret to have missed seeing your face and hearing your voice before your parting. while I have heard tell of your gaze that rivals the golden rays of Ra, I can only imagine the way you might sound in your daily devotions to Him—and in sweet conversation.
I think of you, Sphinx, and I count the days until I might first see your face for myself!
when you think of me, look to Khonsu’s moon—know that I shall do the same, as I think of you, and perhaps in this way we can look to one another in our time apart. I pray He also keep you safe during these travels!
until we first meet—
and then the
fellahin would know to list her name and many titles. Toula smiled as the words were recited word for word, nodding. but she looked to
@Inji,
@Tuna, and
@Eset with a contemplative expression.
is it too much? not enough? …oh!
she felt silly, suddenly—but giddy, too.
this done to the only one she had not yet seen the face of. there was some guilt to have sent him off before seeing him, but she could not deny that somehow… she felt their meeting might be that much sweeter for it!
and what would Senmut do? his song rang in her ears—the flower perched in the corner of her room where she could always see it. Toula moved toward his other gift, that chirped quietly and hopped toward her—the falcon.
there was Thutmose too, and she thought of him with another smile. he was so different than she, but it captivated her. still, this was a time for Rashepses. he lingered on her mind this hour!
I hope he deserves you.
She stilled near the edge of the room, reflecting on both that faraway idea of romantic love and the yearning of Toula. Of one she did love.
“It is sweet as is, my Queen,” waltzing forward now, “thoughtful.” But- is he worthy of such affections? Her mind lingers over Senmut, who undoubtedly was.
She’d seen sensitivity in Prince Thutmose, and she knew being Prince alone did not make the man Rashepses disagreeable. Yet, in the fellahin was a deep duty to safeguard the heart of her mistress, and she bridles helplessly against the fact that her efforts might end in vain.
Rashepses! he had gone the moment he was bid to—he did not question her, nor had she heard whispers of his complaint. but she had not forgotten her other two suitors; it was only that she thought of him, lately, and the mystery of what was most unknown was… well, it was not terrible!
she looked to the
fellahin and nodded, bidding that they send it away to
@Rashepses at once.
it felt important that she do this; that he know that, despite his arriving after the rest, she would consider him in full. Toula would do what was best for her people—but she had some hope for herself, too.
she said to the women among her,
I want to… I want to inspire… their hearts devotion, when first they three see me again,
with a small smile. perhaps then she might stir this part of them to do more to gain her own! she looked and spoked to the artists present,
perhaps we can emphasize what you find most lovely upon me. but do you think such a thing could be done?
hopeful, her voice was—but she fought now to no longer be seen as a little girl! not yet a woman, not yet, but becoming—a conflicting time, as she pieced together her identity. who she was, and who she wanted to be…
Inji and Tuna welcome at any time! I’ll adjust post order if y’all hop in ♡
Inji found that moments with the Queen felt less like a servant with her mistress and more like girl-time between friends still finding their footing in adulthood. Which, perhaps, if this was not the life they lived, it would be.
But today, as the letter is read aloud, reality is ever apparent. Inji curls herself neatly beside her Queen with a woven bowl of water and palms for the use of cooling, should she need it in the grave heat.
I'm with Eset, I think it's very sweet,
for the Queen was a sweet woman! But Inji herself had not yet met Rashepses, and did not know what to make of him. She, too, found herself wondering which of these men deserved Toula's hand — if any.
Thutmose, she thought, was pleasant enough; humble. Naberius too seemed to have his eye on the Queen, and that thought made her shudder with the memory of their time together. And then there were others. So many she had begun to lose count.
And oh, Khusobek wished for her to charm them, but did she want to? Did she need to?
She had tuned back into the conversation by the time the Queen asked what the fellahin thought to be lovely about her; what to emphasize on an already beautiful golden face. Her ears swivel forward in thought! Maybe we could accentuate your cheeks? Oh! Or,
she raises a paw to point. make a design with kohl!
The most lovely of Toula was her heart, which needed no emphasis. Neither did any part of her physicality. If the Princes weren’t in love with her already they would all be fully by the time she made her striking debut in the South.
Eset settles herself beside Inji and looks into Toula’s natural beauty. “Yes,” she seconds the fellahin’s idea, “The Eye of Ra.” The symbol that would subdue enemies that covet her power.
“And a barest brush of malachite above the lid,” she muses, envisioning how all eyes would be bound to her.
Toula smiled, nodding to the words spoken—she enjoyed their ideas! she paused at Eset’s words, thinking for a moment, before saying, I shall wear the totem my father had given me—of protection, which bears the eye of Ra. upon me, though, the symbols of my namesake,
gently does she move toward the sands to crudely show them the ankh of Iset. she herself symbolized the throne… and she looked to the fellahin then and said, ask the traders you come across that visit for a scarab, and feathers the color of my eye. the scarab, to represent this transformation. this rebirth. and the feathers, like wings—that these princes and my people inspire me to fly to their side, to love and to protect them,
in the ways that she could.
their ideas, combined with her own—her smile grew wider! how brilliant you each are!
tipping her head upward and laughing with joy to be among such creative minds! she loved them, these fellahin—her friends!
tuna had not quite experienced a situation like this.
how could you possibly speak of someone so sweetly when you've never met them? perhaps this is the lack of romantic tendencies tuna has witnessed in her life, or perhaps that she still remains an outsider to all of this gushy courting behavior. either way, she listens to the others and simply comes to offer her agreement at the suggestions.
"yew know, ah think yew need'a sig'nture scent ta'h go'with it. somethin' tha' reminds 'im of yew, and keeps yew in his thoughts laaaaate at night when he's watchin' that moon an' thinking awf only yew." a lovesoaked letter spritzed with her own perfume, that sounded romantic, right? (that or H2O has really no grasp of what romance is, anyways).
Even in so grave a mood Eset marveled at Tuna’s ingenuity. She almost pitied the princes for how desperately they must be contesting for the Queen's hand in the South. The coy girl gave a mirthful grin.
“And something sweet to the taste should go with it- to pervade all his senses,” she chimes with a laugh.
Such fabulous ideas among these girls! That's a great idea, yeah,
she points exaggeratedly with the tip of a curved nail to Tuna; an excited nod to Eset given just as well, a flowery giggle chirped from high in her throat. we could-- I could, um, pick some flowers to crush up, see which ones you like the scent of. Get their hormones going!
She made herself look rightfully stupid with the way her tail flailed behind her with the utmost energy. But this — this beautiful Queen, her beautiful Queen, deserved to feel ethereal when she made her debut! She could see it now; the sun on her shoulders, jewelry and rhinestones and petalblooms abound; those princes should bow at her feet, ultimately blessed by the godwife built in the image of Ra—
And her head rushed, her heart sung and pounded at her ribs. Why was she lightheaded? One paw raises to cup her forehead, and she found it to be warm.
Something twisted at her stomach. Nerves, perhaps, a sudden onslaught; and so she swallows them and decides to return to her thoughts.
oh, I love that idea!
she thrills at their ideas, and her voice is elation given sound. Toula’s own tail fanned steadily behind her, her smile bright and full. my very own scent,
yes, a brilliant idea. how I love you each, and your minds!
Toula could not help but share—she felt fit to burst with all of the love for them in her heart! her dearest friends stood before her, not merely fellahin to her. they served her brilliantly, and she only hope she served them well in turn.
I hope for both love and passion, now—perhaps more than a Queen should. but I also want what is best for Akashingo. I invite your guidance, when such a time for the choice is to be made,
she breathes, looking to them each—
she observes Inji in particular as she moves, and then Toula steps toward her. are you alright?
she asks, able to heal perfectly well. the power of Iset, she believed, brought to life in her by Tavina. Toula moves to touch her, but pauses to ask, may I?
before doing so—wanting to feel her head the same way Inji had.
there was beauty in the adoration they held for toula, and perhaps through the fellahin's own desire to serve, they grow close to each other in waves of support. it seemed tuna's idea created a new buzz of excitement, and the coy girl comes to smile brightly knowing she suggested something worthy of being talked about.
most times, tuna had been shot down with certain creative ideas, as her family thought of them as rather unorthodox and untrue to the ways of the perez family. even with her own talents, it was her brain that set her apart from the rest of the coyotes in the texan desert.
"we'll ahl be'ere when yew're needin' any guidance, yer majesty." an assurance that tuna felt each of them could make, though she comes to look towards the pale inji in a point of concern. and it seems even toula's kindness knows no bounds as she comes forward to examine her fellahin. it felt nice to be wanted, appreciated, and cared for certainly by royal and blessed blood.
"should we go'an get yew som' water, inji?" we in meaning of eset and tuna, hoping that the shadowy girl didn't mind the surprise inclusion. she hadn't had any type of clue what was wrong, but tuna certainly was not one to support suffering in silence when there were means to help.
She slides away then onto her paws to allow Toula to tend to Inji, who wore worry upon her brow where there hadn’t been before. She stands back to make room, inherently poised to rush for Tavina before remembering a little helplessly that the physician had gone south with the princes’ parties.
“I’ll fetch it,” she quietly tells Tuna and slips from the room.