calling

“Of course not, lady Racharra. I am honored to serve Akashingo, but our Divine One needs help to establish the new palace here.” The air between them is cool. Eset is presented with a front she wishes had never been put there. The girl’s face is firm, her words precise,and yet everything is revealed in what she does not say. And Eset is surprised- shaken- for she had come to feel a deep affection for the child she’d had a hand in looking after, but never did she imagine it would be returned-

In the little drawn hallway Eset closes the space between them, no longer caring to heed proprietary between Nebet and Fellahin. She wants to take the girl’s face in her hands, but latches onto what she can, drawing her by the forearm beneath the curve of a steady palm.

“I wish I could tell you things are not going to change. The truth is they will. But not how I care for you. Never that.” She looks up into Racharra’s hurt, gathering her close, willing her to see what sincerity she held in her heart for her.

“I love you. No distance, nor anyone else, is going to take that away.”