Lion Head Mesa the heart

@Inji

 

letters—from Thutmose and Rashepses! she waited for another name, a third… but he must be busy! of the princes, it was he who led them. but that she thought of them… it might be these three, who she considered most seriously to be husband. 
she would respond, of course, but for now she thrilled in the feeling as she poured over the plans of her own pyramid. that I will have founded a new domain must be noted, she murmured, nodding, a place of rest and repose for myself, and for those that need it. the fellahin would work still, but wherever it was it would be a retreat for them as well! her gift to her people. a jewel to be added to her crown. 
and then to her next duty of finding tribute for Sekhment, keeping to Her altar while Zaahira was away, and building one for the Goddess Bes. @Inji moved with her, as did another two fellahin—one that ensured the hot Summer sun did not perturb her with a long frond that shaded her, and another that carried with them the gifts. they would pause and offer devotions to the Gods and Goddesses whose altars had been built, never to be ignored—never by her! but she did not want her fellahin to overheat or tire, either, and so it was done as much for them as it was the Gods. 
have you heard? she asked as they begun to move again, peering toward Inji with a twinkle in her eye. two princes have written, and try though she might to say it in a dignified manner, divine as she was, she could not entirely withhold her girlish excitement that caused the pitch of her voice to rise a little at the end. she swallowed, clearing her voice, seeking control over herself! she was able to rein it in, all but for her lingering smile. a smile that seemed present ever since the letters had been heard—!
Inji might not have heard, but it had been her who was coming to replace her bedfurs that evening, and to put the hot stones beneath them… her receiving room and her bedroom were not so far apart to think that Inji was not already aware of this.

Inji reveled in idle chatter and gossip while working, even in the gruel of summer's end and the bustle of moving bodies. An upcoming coronation, courtship, and expansion into the vacationside home meant many words fluttered about and whispers among the fellahin themselves were abound!
Today, while tending to the Queen and fluttering from altar to altar, she found herself distracted by the thought of the red mazoi. She could not love him, and she knew this; but even so, she did not usher away the thoughts of him, even if it may have felt utterly blasphemous to do so while praying. The rumble of his chest, the attentive seafoam eyes that looked upon her so diligently when—
No! Nope, not that, not right now!
The mention of the princes caught her attention once more as her dreamland was swept to the back of her mind. She had not heard, but she was excited for the Queen all the same! Oh, really? her eyebrows lift and her smile twinkles. How nice of them!
The idea that one of those men was to potentially be pharaoh did not fully register for a moment, until she thought back to what had been said by Khusobek; what she had thought of. The fear, how real it was.
But the Queen would not allow someone with ulterior motives to rule Akashingo, right?
Just between us, she lowers her head close to the Queen's muzzle with a stream of teenaged giggles. has one in particular caught your eye yet?

it is most… romantic, I think, Toula muses. and was that Senmut’s way? just as she wondered it, and knew that answer, another fellahin came their way to share with her whilst they walked that the Erpa-Ha had indeed written! she could scarcely believe her ears, that pricked forward with her interest, but maintained a look of calm… even if her smile broadened, only just.
three letters. and it did not matter that Senmut was not a full-blooded prince, not to her. this effort did. it was a start. 
the giggling of Inji turned her gaze to her as she moved gracefully toward the altar of Sekhmet. may She lend her strength to come for the war of her heart! each the same, she admits uncertainly, Senmut… he has always been with me. but… we have never looked at one another, not in that way. and the two Sphinx are both new to me. the Sphinx Thutmose is so very thoughtful! he has prepared the most romantic of picnics for me, though we are very different. it is not a bad thing, she hummed, and he seems good, and honorable. the Sphinx Rashepses I have sent to find the land in which we will call our summer palace before I could meet him—but I have heard he is lovely to look upon, and he has a way with words. more than that, he offers our people even more wealth with the gifts that he brings! as a born prince, he, like me, was born divine, and Their Godhood, Their perhaps similar upbringing, …she was all the more intrigued! 
strangely, she then recognized her mind lingered upon the one she knew the least. but perhaps that was why! she looked to Inji and said, I would like to know him, like the rest, then she might find clarity! she asked of Inji, have you been treated fairly, by each of them? she did not yet know if Inji had come across the newest Sphinx but this was one way to discover such.

Inji eagerly lends a listening ear. All the details, the ways in which the princes have charmed her, even if some had met with her only briefly, and she nods assuredly.
So Thutmose had begun to court her properly — grand gestures and the like, and briefly, Inji wondered what that would feel like. To be dated, to be cherished; but that was not the life of a fellahin. And Senmut, the erpa-ha; he, too, had written. Whispers had come about that he was also to be considered by the Queen, but never before had she heard it so blatantly.
Well, her chin juts out as her teeth run across her lower lip; the altar of Goddess Sekhmet now at their feet, and Inji silently heeds the unfinished state as well as the strange pile of dirt just adjacent to it. I met Thutmose. He was nice, I think, did Naberius count? She supposed, perhaps, he did not, and so he went unmentioned — the Queen would surely not want to hear what happened between them, anyways. but what matters the most is how you feel around them, Divine One. How well they treat you.