Lion Head Mesa i'm a ghost and you know this

the day had grown long. the land was settled into dusk now and somehow in the darker hours it felt easier to breathe. perched upon a refreshed bed, head swimming with a million things. yet it felt that even now her day was not truly over.

she summoned @Senmut to her through word of mouth.

now she laid, back to the door, waiting for the sound of his arrival.

have decided this is his face claim:

it seemed that sleep evaded senmut even when his eyes were closed.

he got up and came lightfooted to the halls of pharaoh; he performed his usual obeisance and then looked at the divine young ruler, gilded beneath the weight of her father's rule and all the grandfathers who had come before.

he waited in warmth and worshipfulness.

(♥ω♥ )

come, her voice was soft, beckoning him to the furs of her bed. then she rolled so that she might face him. a tenderness in her gaze that was often hidden during her workings hours now.

she did not wish to plunge immediately into more work and yet perhaps he'd see the thoughts swimming around her.

senmut had come to treasure the easy and familiar intimacy that she shared with him. he easily rose to the bed, exhaling at the richness of the plush pelts.

his eyes settled on her studious, strained face.

"you have a great task to bear, pharaoh."

i have many.

but she still reached for him as she often did here. a kiss to his crown born from her place of love for him.

but i have a gift for you too. a pupil learning of Osiris.

senmut enfolded her close. a pupil! he thought of how his days had become filled with her and her throne room, her tasks.

"tell me of him," the hem encouraged, a light look to his tired eyes.

a man once of basilica, her voice is husky, drawn with her tiredness. yet it had become ritual for them to speak before they slept. he said he was the dreadfather, but now he is acolyte of Osiris. ingram.

a soft yawn, she sought to tuck herself along the curve of his chest and limbs.

i believe toula brought him home. which was perhaps weight enough to his presence.

"then i will seek him out."

thoughtful. pensive.

"we must meet soon with your brother and sister, divine one. we must discuss your ascension as well as the queen's throne."

he did not want to weary her. he wanted the pharaoh only to know that he too would work tirelessly at her side.

toula. a loving sister who lived in her mind and heart at all hours. pious, right. all things a queen to pharaoh should be. unlike the horrible woman who had birthed her — how had she winded her way up top?

give everything we can to toula. she is right for anything.

her voice a tired exhale. she wished it would be easy to simply kill the men come from the loins of their own father. leave no obvious contenders for the throne she sat upon now — but it would only birth more complications later on.

i want eyes and ears upon my brother.

was the request so terrible?

"it will be so."

he would assign sayf to that and drop a word into the ear of @Bayek, that prince sethnakht should be monitored especially when near to the rooms of pharaoh.

"what do you fear, divine one?" senmut knew it was not her brother. makono did not seem to fear mortality.

word vomits

fear? was that what it was that bloomed and curled sickly in her chest?

losing more of my blood. i have a sister who has not come out of grieving since the first queen passed. i had a brother who surely could not stomach the thought of divine consort and left at the first flick of challenge. i have a father who lies in holy waiting upon the mesa after a stint of madness.

but her voice was raising with a tone of scorched earth! hot and harsh.

toula is the only one who has not failed me in my blood.

senmut listened. death was the birthright of royals. and in this dynasty such madness had become the entitlement of men.

"and she will serve at your side in such a way." the hem was pensive. "khaba wishes to return to you as well. let me gather court for you, divine one, in the days to come."

his collection and composure soothed the ugliest of her. this she had come to learn well in the last few days.

then do so. her voice softening as she allowed herself to sink against him. prepared to lay in silence until slumber gripped her or the sun rose.

whichever came first.