Lion Head Mesa thirty-eighth

senmut had allowed himself one night of drunkenness.

he had kept to his chambers, he had called for meat and for the fermentation of berries.

and then, perhaps for he was still a man, still weak, he summoned jawahir. beneath pharaoh's rule and that of her sister, there was no expectation of fellahin any longer.

but senmut would not know if jawahir came of accord or remembering their old ways.

his flesh, plied to gasping; and then the prince slept.

in the weeks that followed, he had been chaste, partaking in sparing amounts of the summer-wine. he kept company with the queen, and spoke to those who sought him.

senmut passed by the throne room of pharaoh, slowing as his green eyes swung toward the silent shadows.