Lion Head Mesa necropolis

ramesses pushed himself away from the platters of meat and small piles of berries. he had seen the wrath kindled in @Siptah, and now he motioned for the boy to follow.
the throng parted for pharaoh and heir.
when they were alone again, at the top of the mesa, ramesses looked grandly over his kingdom. "your face must not give so much away. do not show your enemies what you feel."
the heavy lapis gaze now came to rest expectantly on the boy.

Siptah followed in angry silence, grinding his teeth. When they were alone, his father had yet more advice for him, and the Prince could not stop the small bubble of laughter as he cried, outraged, "You're not supposed to be my enemy! How could you name her?" He began to pace, for he knew not what else to do to soothe the rage beginning to boil in him. "You couldn't even wait a day?! We just buried my mother!" He could not understand it. He halted his pacing and stood boldly before Pharaoh, looking him in the eyes, so that he might see the hurt in his son's eyes. Surely, surely, this disgraced Satsu.

got carried away, no need to march lol <3

ramesses said nothing for a long time.
the sunglow and refraction of red glint from the mesa poured over him, until at length pharaoh resembled no more than an exquisitely carved statue.
"there is not a place i walk where fellahin and mazoi and physicians and allies may not find me. my name is on a thousand tongues. what i say, what i do; each of these things matter."
he looked at siptah again, and it was with the full unrelenting heaviness of grief. "but there is something they cannot know: my thoughts. each thing that i speak is said with utmost thought. i do not blurt. i do not shout. i understand that there is no one to whom i might go. only pharaoh can be the ultimate advisor to pharaoh."
"today our kingdom saw your wrath. today they have heard your voice lifted in anger. by tomorrow the servants will repeat your words, and all of akashingo will see that as divinity and royalty we are not unified."
a pause. "you have done harm today. you are my successor. i chose you before our kingdom for that honor and responsibility. understand, siptah, that as heir you will see death again and again. before you are pharaoh you may even order death upon another."
"forty days to embalm the queen, my son. seventy of mourning. the sorrow you feel did not end today, but she is beyond us now. queen satsu walks in the Land of Reeds. you simply do not understand yet that the birthright she left you was also a great investing in akashingo. she meant for her children to have this palace and this land."
ramesses was grave. "one day or a fortnight more of waiting; it would have mattered not at all. it would have done nothing to dull the point of pain in your chest, my son, not until you are ready to be finished with it."
pharaoh was silent.

It took everything within the young Prince to stand up to his father, to admit that he thought Ramesses' deeds were wrong. Even as the Pharaoh said nothing, Prince Siptah stared, unwavering. When his father did speak, Siptah listened — for despite his current feelings, he still loved Ramesses, trusted him, and relied on his advice.

When he spoke of how Akashingo had seen and heard Siptah's anger, the boy faltered, dropping his gaze, his shoulders sagging in shame. In the brief pause before Pharaoh spoke again, the Prince uttered sorrowfully, "I — I'm sorry, father." He had not meant for this, but then again, he had not thought. He was still just a boy, after all, and he did not always have a handle on his emotions.

At the end of Ramesses' speech, Siptah was quiet for a few moments. When he looked up again at his father, it was with no anger in his face. Only grief and uncertainty.

He had only one question. "If mother wanted us to have this, then what of Treva's children?" He recalled one particular conversation with his father. Each of his brothers would also be his enemy. And now, he had one, even if he was not from Satsu. Siptah was not ready to accept the other Prince and Princesses as his siblings, but he already felt threatened by them, though he was loathe to admit it.

ramesses inhaled. "the children of queen treva are your own siblings, but they are only half divine. by contrast, i gave your mother my divinity, which was bestowed upon me through the gods. and only after she became a goddess were you and your sisters conceived."
it was Ma'at who had made siptah what he was and who he must become.
the divine chosen acted out the will of the gods upon earth.
"you are fully blessed. in you runs the most ancient of blood upon this land. prince of akashingo, and already you have built a monument to your mother."
greatness was siptah's birthright.
"i made satsu divine. in this way, you will make your wife the same. or you will marry one who already is divine."

The Prince's anger was quelled and his uncertainty was ebbing. Ramesses' words gave him comfort. It would take a full divine to be Pharaoh over Akashingo, he was convinced. His half-brother could never do it. It was he, Siptah's, birthright. He took a deep breath.

"How do you make someone divine?"

"you speak sacred words above them. you commit them into the hands of the gods. but they must give you a great sum indeed, even their life if it is necessary."
the gift belonged to them, those of ancient blood traced to the beginning. it should not be given lightly.

We can fade any time <3

The Prince nodded, silent for several moments. Then, he wondered aloud, What did mother give you, for her to earn her divinity? It did not pain him to speak of her now, for he sought to know more of her. If they could not be physically close, he would ensure they were spiritually.

<3

"only her love."
his throat clenched.
"we will offer many prayers to her name."
he straightened, preparing to lead siptah down to the river for their worship and ablutions.

Love. Siptah dipped his head, lowering his gaze for a moment. He hoped he would have the kind of love Satsu and Ramesses had — or, what he imagined, for obviously he had not been there to witness it. For now, he would ensure that his people loved him.

Siptah would follow after his father dutifully, as he had so many times before. After they had cleansed themselves and prayed, the Prince excused himself to his chambers, where he would dwell until it was time for Makono to leave to Mereo.