Two Eyes Cenote ninety-first

whenever! <3

"hebsut. why is machiavelli being held?"

he approached carefully, dropped with gratitude onto a nearby couch. the circles beneath his eyes begged her understanding; this was something surely he should have already known, and yet he did not.

for the time being, senmut was neither prince nor priest, but father, and it was a space of existence greatly treasured by the quiet man. he took his meals in nazli's room, holding aiesha as often as he was able, and it was splendidly hard to be away from them now.

bedraggled, exhausted, in need of a bathing, senmut now regarded @Eset with some worry.

Only from the periphery had the hebsut witnessed her friend’s evolution into fatherhood. She provided relief and aid to mother whenever needed, but otherwise had given the pair as much privacy as possible in these early days of parenthood. So when the prince sought her alone it was with a surprised dip of her own crown that he was greeted, and a lingering thought that time spent apart had changed them both in vast ways.

A dark repentance breaks over her face with the mention of the fellahin’s name.

“It is complicated, Erpa-ha. I do not wish to worry you, particularly during this time. I also wish not to lie to you, Senmut.” She fixes her eyes steadily over the father’s wearied face.

something dire had taken place in his absence, or perhaps, in his distraction. the scribe within senmut presented itself now; he sat up, straight-backed and wholly focused upon eset, weariness clearing from his leafweald eyes and the long limbs.

"tell me, eset, please," he encouraged, lifting a paw to encourage the harried woman into a sit of her own. "i would be more worried not to know what is happening."

Eset found she could not sit, she remained standing, though the stillness of it felt dangerous.

“Machiavelli is being hunted by slavers,” a hinted fear quivers on the words, “they are looking to recover him, which will lead them here, to Muat-riya.”  It was a story executed by the fellahin’s own tongue, but Eset believed it to be true.

“I felt it would be safest for him in the cells, under guard, with prepared suppers,” How she had been wrong- and the wanted man had paid the price for her folly. Her eyes lament upon Senmut.

“Blood has already been spilled at our door, I want to-” a breath heaves in her chest, “outsmart them. If they believe we are holding him and willing to trade, it will provide common ground for trust- enough that we might… dispatch them without violence; without anyone else getting hurt.” Her ears fold flatter against her skull.

“Khusobek has gone to guard the sands. If he finds them, we might negate the need for such extreme caution.” But her body tightens and the edge of her chin wrenches low in shame. Still, she will force her eyes over his, accepting the full weight of what resulted.

“Senmut- you should know he was harmed.”

A man suffered under her leadership; one who may rightly never again trust her. Eset felt in her heart she was undeserving of hesbut.

"by who, eset?" he asked, more rife with worry for the hebsut herself in this moment. her hand had not been the one to do it, and he did not see that she would have ordered such a thing. 

slavemen, hunting machiavelli. the elegant man placed beneath guard. eset had wished to barter. 

his brow furrowed, but his nod bid her go on, his eyes willing it also. what had transpired here to make her appear so stricken?

“There is no other to hold accountable. If I had been honest with the mazoi it would not have happened.”

Her jaw tenses, though the edge of her eyes soften upon the emerald stare. No words could justify the act of Khusobek’s torture- but this she believed was true, for she had seen shame in his face if not remorse.

It was an accident- though a disgraceful one, and the standing hesbut would not contend if her Erpa-ha sought atonement for the act.

she stood between punishment of another. senmut straightened, nodded his head. "i will go to see machiavelli. it may be that he must be released, eset, released entire. what has happened to him surely is a betrayal."

"i still support the use of muat-riya's resources to ransom him from this herod. to send him off well and wealthy is the least recompense," senmut stated, though there was no insistence in his voice. if eset wished to assume this responsibility, then she should have it entire.

She listens, head lowered once in a concurring nod, a controlled keep of her mien beneath a stone veneer. But her ears begin to drop over her shoulders and at once a great shame is too overwhelming to stay his gaze.

“I fear, in his current state-” well, Senmut would see soon enough when he visited the fellahin, that his mind was at times elsewhere, and his injuries put him at risk. No manner of wealth would heal the wounds she’d caused.

“Gods, I’ve made a mess,” she shakes her head, “but you have my word, Erpa-ha. I will make it right with him.”

"in this i have no doubt, eset," the red prince said with great solemnity. "messes can be cleaned. what matters is that i know now."

by hierarchy, this was more greatly his to bear now, and he hoped she knew this also.

"soon, i must depart. and i hope to bring tribute to the royal court. is there any message i can carry?" 

this need only be a matter for muat-riya, the priest's eloquent eyes blinked in somber green.

Another silence, while they exchange their glances. She closes her eyes, a lingering blink awash in profound humility. She’d given him little reason to trust, she felt, had acted foolishly. Yet the red prince treated her with the grace another of his station would have rightfully withheld. Eset was moved by this.

Moreover, she found necessary answers in it.

“Thank you,” she whispers softly, bowing to obscure a build of emotions. Let none steal away Toula’s maternity bliss. This was the hebsut’s error to amend and she would not allow it to fall on Senmut’s shoulders.

Her head rises and lips dimple in a meaningful look. “Please relay to Pharaoh that she is loved by her people in Muat-riya; that we bless her children and pray for their health. And if you would please, Erpa-ha, let her know I miss her majesty, greatly.”

"i will convey these things," he promised, unaware that detriment to the very one who stood before him would waylay these plans. "pharaoh will be pleased to hear from you especially, eset."

he knew this to be true, witnessing their long bond despite never having been touched by its quiet nature. "do not castigate yourself too much, hebsut. all will be made right in the sight of the gods." these things he meant, despite his clear exhaustion.
 
rubbing a paw over his face, senmut inclined his head politely and stepped from the room, reluctant step leading him to the catacombs.