Luneshale Pass good fortune

ally, she thought at once. she did not want to make an enemy of her sister—of any of her family! had they not lost enough? not my enemy, she breathes. but she also understood it was not entirely her choice! 
she looked away, not seeing his features as he next spoke. and though she heard him, his name did not occur to her in the list that came to mind. 
what if she disagrees to a match? Toula asked next, though part of her felt she knew the answer. it would show, certainly, a lack of commitment to her own task—even if it was then still to be named Pharaoh. 
it was as she looked up that she saw the flash of something unknowable pass in his gaze, that she registered the words. you… you would wish this for yourself? she asked, voice gentle—not in pain, but to then see the breadth of his own love for her. 
and how powerless she felt, to know she felt that love then too—to know that to be a Queen was to yield to responsibility, before anything else. but she warred with herself in silence. 
one thing she knew for certain was that she would never make a man or woman do anything against their will. and if Senmut said no… 
still she was silent, but her eyes were soft with many unspoken things.