Lion Head Mesa hollyhock

"no."
ramesses' gaze was unflinching. "you have done more than them all, makono."
he would not deny her accomplishments nor the pride she had brought to akashingo already. "siptah must grow into himself. your sister grieves your mother. little toula slowly comes into her own, and now we will see if sethnakht becomes rival for the crown prince."
"and a new queen comes to the throne."
pharaoh searched the fierce young horus. "i know that you feel denied. you think a queen below a pharaoh when a dynasty must have both to succeed. consider this: the assassin did not strike for pharaoh, my lotus."
and at last his voice audibly shifted, to where makono might see though the great wealth of control accrued over the years to the pain that slowly oozed from the wound of losing satsu.
"it was not me who represented whatever threat made this enemy move. it was her and the lineage she left you. she was her whole self entire, tied not to me or to pharaoh but out of choice."
"she was more than a queen. she was a goddess."