Totoka River faience

ramesses both wished to give up his life and not; the cold cut into his bones, seeming to climb into his throat and the shell-maze of his ears.
he breathed in — once, twice — and when he returned to himself, ramesses could hear a feminine voice summoning through the white gloom.
he did not answer; innately wary given the circumstances of his birth, pharaoh instead lifted himself to lurch icily in that direction, perhaps materialising before the caller some moments later.
even with the snow clouding them both, he could see that she was beautiful, but it only darkened ramesses' proud heart further, and so he said nothing, unable to cease the pathetic trembling of his taller frame.