Golden Glade kinpaku

satsu was in no such mood to dance; nor did she think to visit with any of the giants of the strath, seeking rather to distance herself from it all. she crossed the northern wall and ran the sweep beyond.
she ran until she could no longer. to the south rose a mountain, with the smell of sunbaked peat gathering to the north. the forest around her was alive with transitional reds and golds, and a caramel sweetness to the air.
for all the beauty to be witnessed, satsu was not privy to it. the tired hang of yellow in the glade brought only one thought to her mind: he who turns the sky to gold.
a gasp of frustration erupts from her lips as she rounds between the trees.

ramesses, as usual, pursued his pleasure beyond the borders. he tangled with a pair of coyote women, promised them trinkets of bone, and rolled breathless and fragrant from their encounter into molten light. here he felt the scent of the forming archangels lingered, and he traipsed away from the cedar-kissed border.
pharaoh, believing himself alone, began to sing a remembered song. it was a sly and ribald little thing.
what is the name of a serpent with two minds?
be careful; she has coils for feet.
she will ensnare you, young runner.
she will swallow you in the most pleasant way —
his soaring tones wavered, then fell, for the lapis stare had fallen upon satsu, stalking through sunmotes. ramesses smirked, approaching with only watchfulness, and no words.

vermin scent; it rivaled the melting sugar beneath the maple bark.
satsu turned her nose up at it and wheeled along a different path only for the scent to deepen, as if it were following her. if she were more a warrior like she'd always wished, perhaps her first thought would be to cull the thing, whatever it was. if she were more a huntress, as she now claimed for herself in her peasantry, she would know of what variety the creature was.
a voice followed her too; but with its brief rise came a subsequent lull, and she was then unsure if she had heard anything at all.
more likely her mind playing tricks.

she will swallow you in the most pleasant way
but then you will not be able to escape.
ramesses melted through the light. she had not noticed him, and he did not wish to be seen as following her. he cleared his throat with a polite, sharp sound, stepping to a halt where he could more easily be seen.
"Ra touches this place with His holiness," pharaoh observed, pausing for a worshipful moment before his darkwater gaze fixed itself to satsu.
he would ask not of the dancer or the jackal. ramesses settled only, leaning toward the embrace of sunlight as if he yearned to be part of the beam.

her steps ceased with one limb extended out as if mid-stride, hearing him. as satsu drew her eyes across where he poised himself she huffed softly to herself and adjusted to sit.
had he followed her out here on purpose? the way he lingered in the light, pharaoh looked to have been there before her; except there was dishevelment to his coat. tufts out of place. green stains and shades of faint mud.
your ra touches many places, she countered, thinking herself silvertongued in the moment and missing the innuendo. and yet, to find yourself precisely here.
where she hoped to be alone. how presumptuous of him, seeking her out. equally so of satsu, thinking she had some sort of pull on one so vain.

pharaoh's ears thrust forward in surprise and delight at satsu's rejoinder! more substance to the craftswoman than he had expected, perhaps. "indeed. Ra dallies in the warmer countries."
he feathered a laugh, focusing once more upon her words. "who can know the mind of pharaoh," he purled with a great haughtiness, watching her sink down upon careful haunches. 
here the sun gilded satsu; she seemed near transparent with it, the dovegrey of her coat lifted from shadow into darkened coinage.
appreciative now, his countenance.

his jesting tone was so much like a brother. this was something she could indeed contend with; but she did not need more brothers, the two she'd loved and lost had been enough. besides, he was not likely here out of friendship.
certainly not i, she answered.
an appraising look across his pale coat came next, looking at the mess of him.
for one so purportedly god-blessed, you do not look the part.
but she blushed and soon averted her gaze, not knowing why exactly, except that it did not feel proper. he had groomed himself by the water before, and was himself so carefully composed; so why did he carry his stains so proudly?
it did not mix with what she knew of him.

"the eyes of a weasel," pharaoh commented glibly. yet he hesitated, spurring her with a condescending look. "i went outside the strath to pamper the loins of royalty," he said with a full and eager interest to see satsu blush, turn away as she had before.
brothers. a mother who did not mean for her to be their equal. she had understood his teases about kynareth well enough, but had no measuring-stick for his sated faced and bed-tossed pelt.
"their blessings come in more than one form, shabti-woman," he intoned, with what would have been seriousness had not the amusement curved up the corners of his mouth.

a divot forms between her brows. pamper the -- !
oh.

he really was no different from any man, then. how terrestrial of him; if there were a masculine equivalent to hoydenish that would be the pharaoh of such high esteem.

still, he was after a reaction and would find it readily enough in the piqued warmth of her face. though she tried not to avert her eyes, she grew flustered and further frustrated, irate with herself for letting such a man get under her skin so easily, and so often.

you are no different from the daimyo! the girl drawls.
he takes what he wants and leaves you free to dabble in the rest. better than having two men leering after her, she considers.

"how much you have to learn, satsu," ramesses purred, eyeing her with a new sort of respect. her tongue was barbed where the rest of her was not; he found himself bidden by intrigue, allure even. but he would not give the woman the satisfaction of knowing his interest.
"kynareth does not prefer the coyote. i do," pharaoh said simply enough. "they are made for that which i want from them." stepping, side-stepping; her glorious rose marbling and the way her forehead had narrowed for a moment;
all worthwhile in his little pursuit.
"i am an excellent tutor," he ventured next, though nothing in his mien suggested he would fulfill his words in the moment.

ah; the vermin-scent comes from him, then.
she does not want to think about his dealings with such lowly creatures; yet, like with kynareth's imagined breath on her nape, satsu cannot stop the imagery that surfaces with the knowledge.
i am an excellent tutor— the audacity of this man --!
i dance alone. i need no such teaching. she quips before she can stop herself.
already the mingling of animal scent and the sweet maple has etched itself to her memory. in crossing any coyote now, she will be forced to think of him—of them—and their lewd acts together.
a game well played by pharaoh.

"alone? why?" was she one of those dancers who forewent the physical in adoration of their god? but it was not deities satsu danced for; it was any who commanded her. he slid his tongue along the ridges of his teeth, thinking. 
and if he were to order it?
but there was a tentative bond, daresay an alliance of sorts that had sprung up between them. he tested its delicate edges with a wanting paw, caught between many things in this moment. forefront of them all was his want to elicit another reaction from her.
"surely that does not shock you, not a woman who was once a girl with brothers."

he infuriated her.
it stung to think that somehow this man, so unlike those she had known before, was somehow also a brother to her; more familiar than the behemoths of the strath in that way, much as satsu wished to abhor him.

she would not, rather could not, delve in to why; he had not been raised in her father's household and was certainly not of her people, given that he was a man and somehow a godhead simultaneously, and would not understand.

or perhaps satsu did not understand herself. she only did as she was taught. one day she would dance for her husband—that had been her mother's wish.

little about men truly shocks or awes. she decides aloud, and looks at him again with the redness fading from her cheeks ever so slowly. thinking of her brothers was a sobering affair.

the maplewood sighs with her, raining golden laurels and turning satsu's attention to the glade, her gaze bright, as if she might witness something of deeper intrigue than the man. certainly a visit from a spirit would suffice; but the wind died down quickly, leaving her tousled and the air thick and sweet again.

a raucous, smug laugh. "it is true. we are filthy creatures, given to our carnal desire. not so with women," ramesses teased, though he too fell silent at the touch of the wind, the dance of it through candlewood canopy, upon his own withers, through the poured-cream closing of satsu.
pharaoh was reminded he knew very little of her, but what he had gleaned so far pleased him immensely. he set about watching her with a candid look, royal observation of a servant.
however, one who could choose such a life was not born to toil.
she was humble then, the humility of a chaste woman. what did this chastisement ever do for anyone?
pharaoh lay back upon the soft grasses underfoot, sighing in satisfaction as his eyes found the interlaced branches above.
"my father meant me for my sister, and she for me. it is the way we preserve our divinity," ramesses intoned with the lackadaisical air of one who saw nothing wrong with the image. "that is the difference between a god and a man," he taught, turning his cheek until satsu filled his vision once more.

he went to lay in a patch of sun.
although his presence visibly perterbed her, satsu did not move. she could have left him there; for all the frustrations meted out by pharaoh there was a sense of connection with the gilded man now, and so she lingered.

as he went on to speak, satsu almost choked on her previous sentiment.
a brother, with a sister?! she looked upon him with a new sharpness, expecting the tone of his voice to shift in the joking way as before. instead he looked to her, no doubt seeking the stunned look she likely carried.

if it was... for the honor of your family, then it would be just. she recites this emptily, as one might repeat aloud some lesson from childhood. so say the teachings of my tutors.
yet here he was, away from such bizarre betrothals.
but, some lessons are... archaic things. meant to live in the past.
perhaps he agreed.

ramesses watched the way that emotions played upon satsu's face. she struggled and kept the backbone of equality; as she answered in a slow and diplomatic fashion, his smile spread cheshire and he gave a low, throaty laugh.
"you were made to be an emissary," he praised, rolling upright with a renewed energy. red leaves fell silently from his gold-dust hackles.
archaic.
"i loathe my sister. we hate one another," pharaoh quipped with a lightness meant to veil anger at hatshepsuun. "it is not something meant to be enjoyable. it is only to keep the Horus Throne pure."
"only a son who is royal may be pharaoh. only he may commune with our gods. the line must remain unbroken."
a pause. "once i knew an empress. perhaps you will find this more palatable."

with his appetite for lowborn beasts such as the vermin coyote, it did not seem too far-fetched that pharaoh might lay with his sister too; perhaps enjoy it. satsu found herself amused by this crude thought and also, somewhat disgusted with herself for imagining it to begin with.
to marry within one's family did not bring honor. illness perhaps; the wagging of tongues.
he went on to speak of an empress, as if this might impress. satsu scoffed.
was she one of your conquests, too?
an odd thought - did vermin entertain the concept of heraldry or sun-gods, or were they composed of too much beast? satsu preens at the silver fur of her foreleg as she ponders.

pharaoh laughed. "we never touched one another." she had not remained empress for long thereafter, though he had seen no evidence of deposement. where she had gone still intrigued and harried ramesses, though he kept this tucked to his own self. 
"i suppose i lost respect when she ... put aside her crown. i do not entertain fellahin."
he thought of the priestess, knowing his words to be lofty and untrue.
"but those who choose to serve," and here he put the heft of his lapis stare upon satsu, "interest me. and if it cannot be overcome, i would rather it be in my service. i do not know what it is to be a servant, but i understand how to treat them."

much as she wished to loath the man, his laughter strummed a deep chord inside of her. something that had been lacking since her arrival to this land. something satsu, forcibly if required, would never admit to.
he did not speak of this empress as a boy might his first lay; rather, there was a dismissive air about pharaoh which was curious. to put aside a crown — what a luxury, satsu thought.
though she had never been destined for any great purpose, as a daughter rather than a son, and as a middle child rather than the first-born who was of utmost value, she would have never cast aside such responsibility.

but that was not the point.
pharaoh looked to her intently and the next words he uttered were crafty little things, introducing a treasonous idea.
serve you? there was the crease upon her forehead again.
he could not mean as daimyo; the very thought of opposing the tiger lord drove the mirth from satsu's every inch.
best that daimyo not hear you speak of such things.
but the seed had been planted — and for now, heavily resisted.

daimyo he said it inside his head, determined not to butcher the word in her presence.
"i would be killed, routed at very least." white teeth shone in a brazen grin. "one does not carry the uraeus of my father's kingdom without confidence, ushabti." affectionate in a manipulating way, as only ramesses could be. 
"i do not enjoy serving women." lips pensive now. "i was not crafted by Amun to serve any creature, but especially not those who can become compromised in their strength."
he spoke, of course, of pregnancy — bearing down upon the desert lands with an army as hatshepsuun laboured over a litter of illicit children would be the quickest route to his victory.
long-deserved triumph, indeed.
a swift blink. "there is a holy man now among us, aditya. he is a high priest. i respect him. i ran with aditya after the empress descended and i left the island. perhaps you will speak one day."
"he is wise."

making an assumption that her thread with aditya will lead to names at some point--

so he was not after the lord's han. it was foolish of satsu to think otherwise; they both knew the power of the giants here and how suicidal it would be to contend against them.
his own then?
a return to his homeland, to take back what is his?
i do not enjoy serving women.

the name of the elder came to pharaoh next, surprising her.
i know of him.
days ago, i saw him fight a -- oh, she could not think of the word now for boar, and whatever concern had laced satsu's features over previous talk now centered on this struggle.
--a fat, toothy beast among the rocks. not important.
he is a friend of yours? curious; if the gilded man found women so useless, what did he think of the elderly?

"we shared the names of one another's gods. a friend." as much a friend as ramesses could deign to have. "but first he is a priest." and first, it seemed, his loyalty was to the things that he knew.
"and a hunter!" he chuckled uproariously, staring at the slanting shafts of light that poured around them as if it were honey.
pharaoh caught himself watching satsu in silence. his earlier words of intrigue and rebellion were forgotten; he only breathed and existed in this sea of Ra's majesty, wondering at the machinations of the other's mind.

strange. to be a priest, so far as satsu knew of the wajo in her home, one remained dedicated to their chosen temple.
yet this elder roamed.
pharaoh sounded amused to think of the man hunting; whereas satsu, having grown up beneath the tutelage of one such person, though it odd that there were no caretakers to attend him.
it was wrong that he should hunt for himself rather than receive alms for his service.

not that it mattered any now; satsu was removed from this aditya, having met him only the one time.

the day was passing slowly yet it felt as if satsu had spent most of it in the company of this golden man. it appeared there was no escaping him.
will you walk back to the strathwood, with me? or are you tired of the place -- and more interested in the company of your toy beasts? she would not judge him openly for it; but there was a choice presented to him. satsu could very well return home without him, should pharaoh be so inclined to seek comfort with the vermin of the woods.

his toy beasts.
ramesses enjoyed the sound of it, and the glint of his teeth shone in answer. was she teasing him? he did not sense judgement in her words, only perhaps the faint air of resignation that had clung to satsu from the beginning.
pharaoh wanted to ask her if she yet had a response to give him;
but chose not to sour their mood.
"i am exhausted in that regard, and so, am yours," he mocked, though with a good deal warmer a tone than he might have had thus far.
the scribe-aspirant straightened, ready to set his easy loose gait to whatever path the woman chose for them.

so they would head towards the tiger lord's forest together.
the wreath of vermin-scent upon pharaoh distracted satsu from further conversation a while; but she found herself glad to have his company, even if they had parted earlier in the day after some upset.
as the man had discerned, satsu was a dutiful follower of others. she did not enjoy leading the way, except to think of pharaoh's eyes upon her, producing a lightened feeling upon her chest she had no name for.
it did not occur to satsu that she, being small of form and wiry in her way, might resemble some amalgam of wolf and coyote; when in fact, she was neither. still, images of the golden man enjoying the hospitality of vermin did enter her mind as they walked - drawing silence from her.