“She’s something else, is she not?” He crowed of his fianceé as she basked a fair distance away in the late rays of Ra.
He had joined with his man on patrol for a thorough sweep of the palace perimeter, but he found himself, as most long days, preoccupied with thoughts of Toula.
“You are a Sphinx now,” the prince congratulated, an esteemed glint shaping his regal face. Muat-Riya had elevated his princeguard, and with his new rank would come all the gains of accession.
“No longer an infantry man, Ka. I wish to see you similarly fulfilled,” he spoke of marriage. He had once promised wives to Siatum. Now the same was offered to his
Sphinx.
For each day he has with him, he's thankful. A warmth in his heart, a blessing that it has not ended. In his presence, he bows with a smile painted on his mouth, held there by the art of serenity. Peace. In hushed silk, he says, "she is perfect for you." He hopes it will stay that way. Rashepses, will he bore of her? He seems happy. Then, he will be happy for him. He is.
When his head lifts, his eyes softly fall on sandy grounds. "May a wife be foolish enough to love me! You have too much faith," he jests with kind, boisterous eyes and a swerving head! "I assure you, my lord, do not worry for me. I am happy." He needs Rashepses to focus on himself. "Are you pleased? With King before Pharaoh?"
“A concubine, then,” he turned to his guard, flank rippling like that of a black stallion, at present ignoring the mazoi’s inquest. The man was his great treasure, so in many ways was treated as more of a brother than a subordinate. But the divine line that divided them was never to be questioned. His role of service was clear. He would do as bid.
“Akashingo needs children, Mesen-Ka. Loyal children, reared in our traditions, to be brought up alongside my own.” In the same way Siatum and Mesen-ka had been raised with the princes of Ta-Senet. A lifetime of service. But Mesen-ka was a sphinx. He could breed nobility.
"The obelisk is attractive. She would make a fine choice," he thought then on the delicate rose hue of her gaze and how in turn many eyes were drawn to her.
There's a pause of his wait, and his thinking is loud for two seconds that felt as though they were many. They are coupled with the shake of his head and his dry thoughts.
The breeze of his pelt, and the way Rashepsss turns his flank to him-- it is cold. He feels a length between their feet that was not there before. He takes time to injest it with a mouth running dry. The laugh that comes from him next is questionable.
Somber. A concubine, he says. He thinks it over in the depths of his mind, and the front is coming to terms with a new reality.
"Yes, I've seen her in passing. There are many beautiful faces amongst us." He can not imagine a life of parting from his duty of watching Rashepses' quarters. Foreign. "Let us see."
“Do you not desire, Ka? Wives. Fatherhood.” What man would not? He blazed against the Sphinx’s hesitancy. “Come spring it will be arranged,” a look pinned him, silencing this doubt. Mesen-ka’s duty was to his Prince, and to him it would always be. He would keep his post, if he wished, and have the mother raise the pups.
“Take your pick of women. But give me nephews, brother.” He raised a taut arm to his shoulder, smile sun-hardened.
Quickly, he bows his head down and closes his eyes. Respect. Instantly.
"Of course I do. You will have them, brother."
He must consider where he will form the time. How he will fair. But it does not matter now. He will do it.