Two Eyes Cenote Reason of State

I hope it is ok to assume these two are getting hitched but I will make fixes if not!

“My darling,” he addressed fondly following a delivery of his name from the mouth of a fellahin who stood against the walls of @Toula’s chambers.

She was severely beautiful. The man was eager to be married.

He was eager to have an isolated moment with his bride. But for her honor he moved only to brush his lips to the hollow of her cheek, mouth burning at the reluctant brevity of his kiss. He inhaled against her chin before pulling back to look into her soft features.

“How are you this morning?”

and so they were betrothed—and Toula wondered, except for in the company of her dearest friends, if she had ever been so happy. these days were ones of bliss, and as he came to her then Toula moved to him, spinning around his side until she was alongside him. her eyes were not heavy with sleep—she had been up for a while, and prepared for sunrise. 
this one would be shared with her husband to be! today, he would sing with her to Ra. the God would look upon them both and see their love. warmth spread through her at his chaste touch, and she smiled a smile meant only for him—one that revealed the full extent of her happiness, and her feelings for him. 
there was time yet to move to the peak of the Cenote. better with you here, now, she answers in truth. he made her days brighter! and now to know that he loved her, that she was enough—it felt as though she and he could container anything together. 
and today they would this one small thing! she led him to options of florals that @Eset had expertly brought together for their wedding. she loved them, all of them—and could not decide which she preferred. in each, though, her new favorite color could be seen—the brilliance of his own gaze! which do you like best, my love? she smiled at the words, looking shyly toward him. yes—from the first letter, my love.

Her radiance shed about the room and he succumbed to her spell, quite at leisure to be hypnotized by his betrothed. When she glided to the floral arrangements he drew up behind her to adorn her pale neck with an unhurried caress.

“The second,” he tickled with his whisper behind her ear, “my love.”

And finished with a longer kiss to the back of her head. The flowers were beautifully presented, grand displays, but paled in comparison to the temptation of his bride and the thrumming energy her nearness invoked.

omg just now noticing my container typo. conquer not container hahaha

it was not just the two of them, but it felt as though it could be! he saw her, only her—it mattered not who else was in the room, that was how he made her feel. that she was one, that she was only. 
her smile spread from ear to ear as he echoed her. I do not think I could ever tire of you calling me such things—my darling, my love, she murmured, turning to him. her romantic heart filled up every bit of her, and she wondered at the love of her own mother and father—
and felt that even that might pale in comparison of this great love. hold on, let me practice, so you can be sure, she moved to grab the bouquet, a smaller rendition of what it would truly come to be. her charcoal lined eyes blinking slowly with their then catlike display of I adore you! she moved away before moving one slow step at a time toward him, smiling still around the stems—a blushing bride-to-be! 
she placed them gently to the earth and placed a chaste kiss to his cheek. what do you think? do you still like it?

She advanced slowly down an imaginary aisle, and all the while in the center of his mind was the certainty of her.

“Toula, you’d make a pile of sticks look charming,” is his response, body straining against the need to pull her closer. When she reached for his cheek he caught her lips with his, skimming them gently.

“But I cannot be certain,” he whispered against her mouth as a feathered tail beat excitedly along his ankles, “better do it again.”

her heart skipped a happy beat and she laughed when nearly against his lips, eyes bright and full of all the pleasant things she felt. the simple intimacy of him saying her name warmed her from within, and Toula wondered for the first time how she could have gone on this long without him. 
the tail of Toula moved as his own did, and smiling, she murmured oh, if you insist! and though it pained her to move away, she did—picking up his favored bouquet, and practicing her wedding walk once more,
slowly! and then once she arrived before him, she tilted her head as though to ask, and now? her heart still beat happily in her chest, thinking on his kind words, and moving to pick an errant flower to weave into the furs of his chest. he was so handsome, beautiful too—his heart, she felt, made him all the more so. 
Toula leaned into him some, smiling as she said, should we practice our dance before we go to pray to Ra, my heart?

“We’d better,” his lips curved coyly, “or I shall fail to keep up with my bride.” It was a test in patience, more than anything. He and Toula had synced in dance on more than a single occasion, and each time his his affianced proved to be the pearling envy of onlookers in her natural grace.

But now she was drawn close, his leisured steps guiding her into a slowdance.

“Tell me of your wishes for that day. Your every desire will be met,” he set the promise in a purr against her ear.

she adored to dance with him. few could match her—and she felt when they two moved that the Gods had made them for one another. her heart swelled merely due to their nearness! 
an exchanged breath. the blue of her eyes searched the lanternlight of his own. she was warmed, thoroughly, and moved by his choice of dance. slow, easy moments like these—
she had prayed for them. for him. for this. and she smiled up at him, her beautiful God, and spoke softly, what else could I ask for? with your love, I am the richest woman in the world, the truth, as she knew it. as she felt it. but if you wish to give me something—oh! let me think, and it was hard to think, when her words had been true. she was filled with so much love, so much happiness—and a great piece of it danced with her then. made her happier, and happier…
there was one thing she wished that none could deliver. an impossible to ask—but now that he knew she had all that she wished, truly, she shared this secret with him. the fellahin might hear, though her voice was soft. I want to see my father again, here—not simply in dreams. I wish for him to walk with me, that day. her mother, too, but she could not finish the words—her voice had begun to quiver, and she felt very much like a little girl then to lay herself so bare. 
she knew he was there, always—but to see him once more… to remember it entirely!

"Darling one," the croon remorsed, "tell me of your father.” He enclosed her within his embrace, the tender hearted woman who at present had tamed the prince’s natural impulses. “What kind of man was Pharaoh Ramesses?”

A soul who lived his life elegantly would be guided to Osiris to be born again. The late Pharaoh could very well be among them. Or was he waiting again to be brought to life in the son Rashepses would give to Toula?

he was the Pharaoh that built this place, from nothing. I remember him as… golden. he could command respect and obedience with a mere look. once, he commanded an army—Mereo was an outpost of Akashingo. but when he died, Mereo also went with him, and she had been too young to know it, or help there. since then, however, she had seen the benefit of such an outpost—and intended to see it done again during her own reign.
she was quieter now. I had thought him perfect. and only well after he died did I learn of any flaw. but he was a great father. one that loved my mother and I very, very much, 
her voice again quivered as she recalled him, and recalled that love. she leaned into her husband to-be with tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

Her words surprised him; pleasantly so. In their courtship little of their ambitions had yet been revealed to one another. Affection was encouraged through the offering of jewels and amorous glances and words strung sweetly together in comparison of she to a summer’s day. But it was Ramesses’ ability as a leader and father she admired.

“A man who tempers with a single look. A military man who loved deeply. He sounds like a marvel, my love,” he pulled back to bring her into study.

“All men are capable of error. Perhaps immortals most of all,” for their time and iterations were endless. “We will raise Mereo in memory of your father’s vision.” In his eyes, the rousing fire.

This promise he could give the woman who would be his wife.

it was a wedding gift better than she could have imagined. something that she knew she had wanted, to protect Akashingo—but to hear him hear her, she looked at him anew. the fire in his voice mirrored the thing that stirred in her gaze as she looked up at him once again. 
for every wrong we might do, she breathes, promise me that we will then seek to do a dozen more things right. they were Gods. and even from him did she not expect perfection, though she thought she saw it! 
she leans lovingly toward him. I think that… you and I, together—that we are destined for great things. no, I know it—and I have known it, from the moment you first sent your message to me, I believe. she looked now at the cuff she scarcely took off. only in sleep did she do so, and bathing, so that it may maintain its integrity.

Rashepses would not fool himself. He knew he’d become a monster of sorts to the people of Akashingo. He was universally disliked. He traded flowery language for indelicate honesty and it had won him skeptics and no admirers. But where they saw the monster, Toula saw a man.

He had travelled here to win her, as he had won the women of his brothers’ court. Bed her; make her a mother; build his temples; play the good Pharaoh and roll around in all his kingdom’s riches.

He hadn’t anticipated this: he cared for her. He was endeared to her, and not only for her blood nor the loveliness of her face. For her thoughts and ambitions, the energy that held them in sync and the way she was now looking at him. He came for a wife, what he had found was a partner.

“I promise,” his word sealed. “You will make an honest man of me, Toula. I love you.” And he meant it.

in her own heart, she believed her people would come to see the Sphinx the way that she did. she had no doubt in her choice, once it had been made. and it was not merely for love, though love played perhaps a great part. 
he was her match. his elegance, his education, his pedigree—their alliance, what they two could stand to build… Rashepses was the right choice. the perfect choice.
how lucky for her, that there was true love here! she saw it in his eyes, and he would hear it in her voice. they two could feel it in their togetherness, and the world would watch it through their every gesture. 
her eyes were full of mirth. her spirits were high as her heart soared. I love you, she echoes easily in answer, and as the priests came to collect them, Toula spun away. now let us go and greet the day together, and let Ra witness us side by side,

Together they would ascend to the altar for Ra in sanctified unison, and in the weeks to come would partake in the oldest rite of their kind. The power of what they could accomplish kindled by their own blazes.

And anywhere they chose to roam would become their temple.