Lion Head Mesa waking dream

Inji found that moments with the Queen felt less like a servant with her mistress and more like girl-time between friends still finding their footing in adulthood. Which, perhaps, if this was not the life they lived, it would be.
But today, as the letter is read aloud, reality is ever apparent. Inji curls herself neatly beside her Queen with a woven bowl of water and palms for the use of cooling, should she need it in the grave heat.
I'm with Eset, I think it's very sweet, for the Queen was a sweet woman! But Inji herself had not yet met Rashepses, and did not know what to make of him. She, too, found herself wondering which of these men deserved Toula's hand — if any.
Thutmose, she thought, was pleasant enough; humble. Naberius too seemed to have his eye on the Queen, and that thought made her shudder with the memory of their time together. And then there were others. So many she had begun to lose count.
And oh, Khusobek wished for her to charm them, but did she want to? Did she need to?
She had tuned back into the conversation by the time the Queen asked what the fellahin thought to be lovely about her; what to emphasize on an already beautiful golden face. Her ears swivel forward in thought! Maybe we could accentuate your cheeks? Oh! Or, she raises a paw to point. make a design with kohl!