Ocean's Breath Plateau sun-worshipper

his lips curved in a smile. ra and amun, he repeated, as reverently as if they were his own deities. i am named after a sun god—or so my uncle told me. and my first wife was named dawn, and her brother was sunny. i have much connection to the sun; maybe your ra has guided my path so far.

aditya felt briefly unsure about the whole "reverent being rewarded" thing. after all, was he not a pious creature? not always, he corrected himself, frowning both inside and out. he had strayed many times from the righteous path, and each instance had brought him nothing but bad things.

maybe, if this place was holy, and maybe, if he stuck to hari's guidance. . .things would be all right again. maybe, as pharaoh said, he would be rewarded in his later life.

the smoke had ceased to bother him. he almost reveled in it now, the fragrant smell of it, the tingling at the corners of his eyes. if the sun god guides my path, and he is responsible for the flames, then maybe this is where i'm meant to be, adi concluded.

and pharaoh, too? but he had a home. . .yuelong, of which aditya was not familiar.