Lion Head Mesa cleopatra & her mantra,

hoping for @Germanicus ! this can be absolutely backdated, if they have left <3

having heard so much of the imperator,  toula felt she must meet him before he departed from these halls! 
escorted by her own party, toula would not inconvenience the man to come find her. later, she would be informed that to do so was to employ and execute her own power... but as of yet, toula was still blissfully unaware of the underlying meaning of things. for this meeting, she would be coming to him as a guileless princess full of intrigue.
her mother, tavina, and so many others had taught her how to behave, down to the way in which she walked. she moved with a preternatural grace, only some of it learned. she  had the good fortune of being born with the heart of one who loved movement, and could, when she had her bearings and faculties together, make it look like art.
and for the imperator she must! she moved in the direction in which she was informed he lingered this hour, steps light and sweeping.

he was to be here only briefly, yet his return now involved the newly made crown prince and her attendants. 

germanicus wondered oddly what makono's other siblings made of her ascension. how stark a departure her elevation was from what he knew of akashingo. and what he knew of ramesses.

the younger princess would find him in his small quarters, too perturbed to sleep. he stared at the wall and when he heard her tread, he turned his head and rose.

the imperator recognized her at once as one of pharaoh's children. he bowed lowly and stepped back, inviting she and whoever attended her into the small space. "to what do i do owe this honor, princess?"

yourself, she answered smilingly, eyes bright. i have heard so much about you, imperator! all good things, and this was the honest to goodness truth. her father was wise enough to understand a childs curiosity and earnest to know the answers to all things, and that she would ask who she could for those answers when not satisfied by the ones she received. rare though that was when coming from her father (read: impossible), he did not risk it.
it was an effort not to gush. he was renowned in her world for his own rule, and his brutish followers. toula stood a little taller, thinking of  her sister. ...i wondered if you might spar with me, she found the nerve to ask. it was not her strongest point, but toula had been told to work on her weaknesses. who better to work on it with than a strong leader of warriors?

"of course i shall, divine one." germanicus was amused. and he was also awash with a fatherly affection, for her piping tones reminded him of his own little daughters when they had been young.

he glanced about for an attendant. "why do we not go into the open-air throne room?" the eagle suggested.

it had been a place of great tragedy. perhaps they would make more of it now.

I will try to be quicker but may be slow up until the second! <3

toula, too, looked around them; and then, an overhearing attendant nodded to her, content to lead the way. toula thanked them with a look, though was unable to withhold the smile that came. sometimes it seemed they could read her mind, and for this she was grateful. it was comforting that they did, and though by now one would think she ought to merely expect it toula seemed never to.
have you sparred in there before? she wondered aloud, thinking of her sisters trainings. experience had its advantage, and he had plenty of it from life alone. toula had never sparred in there, but... well, perhaps when no one watched... she might have danced.

totally good! <3

germanicus chuckled. "i have not, my lady. but i have held conversations there."

the air was crisp with fall. the throne itself overlooked the three great hewn steps that descended from the mesa into the red sand outside.

he stepped away from the royal seat and took the scene for a moment before turning to the little princess.

toula smiled at the warm sound of his joy. she did not think it at the expense of herself that he made the lovely noise. they both came into the place, and toula's smile remained. her own memories here were all ones that brought her happiness.
although he did not ask, toula admitted, I have danced in here before, and she turned to look at the soldier. it is not the same, but sometimes, when I watch spars, it looks as though it might be a dance. more brutal than that of one of my tutors, she thought of @Sokha, and of others that have taught her, but... lovely still,
she felt her cheeks warm at the admittance of this. would he think her, these thoughts, silly?

ahh i am so sorry to have missed this! lets fade & hope they meet again <3

she spoke with such a radiant formality that germanicus was left feeling as if he himself were the pagan and she the wise.

"it is a sort of dance, princess." and then for the next half hour, for her delight, he would go over the various types of spars, their steps, their intentions, their training.