Lion Head Mesa Tiger lily

“But… why?” The question lingers in her throat. Momma was always generous with her love. She did not favor one sibling over another, as daddy seemed to. It hurt the girl’s feelings in a way she did not quite know how to convey, except that she wondered what she could do to earn more of his time. A sulky sigh drafts the white sail back towards Khaem as the amiirad submerges deeper, glassy surface cresting the narrow shoulders.

“Den protects me. He always has,” garnet eyes drift north towards her shadow-brother. Deep, abiding Love was so prevalent in their home, she could find no fault in her brother's affections. Should he not look upon her in that way? Curiosity sought the bright lambent stare that seemed already so much more learned than she. “It is not so different from the way you look at Satakh.”

Glumness cloaks her delicate face. Khaem, her own dear brother, whose regard and attention was wholly focused elsewhere. She wanted to ask for more of him, and in the same breath knew that such meekness would look absurd on any royal child.

“You know I love you Khaem, don’t you?” She pads toward her dark counterpart, to push her damp golden crown beneath the arch of his jaw. It must have been the first time she had ever said it to him. Did he know?

And does she make him feel similarly forgotten? She never wanted her siblings to hurt on her behalf. She closes her eyes and envelopes Khaem in a hug. If her brother was amused by it all, the princess Neith was too young, or otherwise too naive to know it.