Lion Head Mesa sekhem

"@Gucci. you are my advisor. and so you must advise."
his tone was teasing. senmut's holy young voice filled the halls as Ra rose. an early repast of light food had been laid out: honey, dried rosehips, and rabbit. it lay upon the eating mats within the throne room.
ramesses was filled with restless energy. "you do not know the ways of akashingo. i must explain them all to you, for if i should fall, you must see that my hawk-in-the-nest becomes pharaoh. you must know how to legitimize her and quell any challenge."
including from her royal siblings.

it made his tail stiffen straight, and his jaws not close around his piece of chosen meat. the a-word hadn't really been used until then, but once it settled itself into gucci's mind as a positive one, he could continue to attend to his pharaoh with a swaying tail, chewing jovially on a good cut of rabbit.

"your glority," gucci swallowed. "you'se a man o' undisputed vitality n virility. fer ya t' fall a'fore th' heir's ready t' rule, would herald snows in summer n rivers flowing backwise." 

the advisor rolled a small, meaty bone towards himself.

"but ah concur, ahm nawt th' most educated in th' intricacies."

ramesses laughed, and he was truly amused. "have i also a poet in you, gucci? shall i appoint you to know the hymns of akashingo?" but he had come back; he reclined across from the neb and propped chin to paw. "we should begin first with the controversial. not in akashingo but for others: the crown prince makono must marry sethnkaht or another of her brothers to come when they are of age. if she is to carry the next pharaoh, then divinity must be had from each side. it was how i was conceived. how my father came to be, and his father, and his father. so on and so forth."
the lapis eyes closed. "so do not fret over this truth. she was prepared to make siptah her consort. she will not demand more compromise from Ma'at. but she is still a girl and will be a woman, stubborn as she is now. do not let thoughts of love ever preclude her duty."
ramesses rolled to his belly. "it does not need to repeated with the princesses ashikaga and toula. that is where you come, gucci, for my advisor will help me to choose auspicious matches for each of them."
"and thirdly, i must warn you that when the prince makono returns, she may be changed. many a king has been slain by his heir," ramesses said airily, not truly thinking it of his own daughter despite her clear ambition.

what gucci was quickly learning, was that the world of pharaohs was not much different from that of show dogs. the former champion nodded at the familiar talk of line breeding. 

he chewed thoughtfully as the pharaoh continued, and swallowed as a reaction when he was picked as the matchmaker.

the chihuahua sighed, and parted his forelegs, grounding himself.

"first, ah comprehend ya. there, unfortunately, ain't no other, reliable way t' ensure quality in offspring. mah own grandfather's mah father s'well, n ahve git 'im t' thank fer mah faultless muzzle." the chihuhua raised his face slightly, proudly.

"but, ya majesty, ah must ask, would th' heiress be permitted 'nother man? if he is o' quality, his daughter could be wi' th' true heir, much like how th' younger prince's an option fer th' crown princess." it would freshen the blood, and it seemed a logical thing to gucci, seeing how the two royal litters were equally divine.

"as fer th' remainin' two... what're are ya sighs pointed at? flatlands, mountains, sea?" 

ramesses was delighted to receive no pushback from gucci. in fact, the little vizier went so far as to praise the practice. pharaoh nodded, thinking the same of his own beautiful perfection. "faultlessness is a mark of holiness," he reflected, though if he meant to speak about himself or gucci was unsaid.
the nobleman went on to ask about other choices. ramesses did not care for it, but the logic was sound. "it is all in how quality is measured. for instance," he chuckled. "it is more than good breeding. it is being blessed by the gods. and they do not turn their face toward every man of quality."
still his tone invited further conversation on that note, for he enjoyed gucci's input.
"the sea," ramesses said promptly. "i think toula would enjoy the waters, and she is very pious. i want a match decided for her before another year. i do not want to worry, gucci," he sighed languidly. "i want such things decided. we may face civil war if any of my younger sons opts to challenge the crown prince."
he still hated how she had broken with Ma'at, how she had been allowed to do so.
"for ashikaga," he mused, becoming more stately. "i want to send her to the place called the taiga. i have never been. do you know it?"

"if th' young princess is pious, then won't she spread th' influence o' the gods? a man o' th' coastal packs might earn a deity's favor."  from senmut, he'd learned how closely religion and royalty were tied. akashingo would prosper best if the judgment of its gods was respected wherever it spread. "n princess toula's own offspring could be consorts t' proper royalty, bring th' sea's blessings inta the line o' pharaohs?"

"naw, legs a bit too short fer that kinna trip. has there been scouts sent there, t' see what's it we're dealin' wi'?" he thought he'd heard of a bear cult, somewhere vaguely there, but that information seemed stale. "don't want no loner bands nor packs wi' shoddy foundations."

he pondered.

"...'nless we could, sorta, overtake one. nawt wi' teeth, jest... have our own rise so high up, th' packs become extensions o' th' mesa's wants." 

gucci countered each of these with a well-prepared light. ramesses saw now they spoke of toula and not makono, by whom would be bound different standards. "toula could charm any prince, and yes. akashingo should have her children inducted properly to their line."
he felt more settled now, and fell upon the light breakfast until he was satisfied.
"we should form an excursion in that direction. let makono take sethnakht with her. or perhaps even little toula." his crown prince enjoyed travel. and she should know every part of what could be beneath akashingo's hand one day.
"princess lilitu has gone home to brecheliant. i expect her back in the spring, so that she and charles might attempt again to properly fruit this alliance."
but his eyes glowed with mischief. "she is beautiful and he is reluctant to touch her. perhaps i was wrong to appoint him as her match. the marriage can be annulled as she did not conceive."
"or," pieces upon a senet board, "perhaps princess lilitu returns to her homeland bearing royal seeds to be sewn in the caldera's soil."