Lion Head Mesa desert rose

anyone allowed near the den!

toula rose with the sun, stretching out her little paws and yawning daintily. she then stood, turning to dart toward the open mouth of their abode and sang her hello to Ra (unbeknownst to her), greeting the day with her joy. the halls echoed her song, and toula smiled.
she knew the sound of happiness, now. she did not know that it was her echo that sang back in rejoinder though, and so toula tipped her head backward and provided another song in answer. she quieted, leaning forward to listen... and there it was again (her echo). toula bounded forward, tail wagging frantically as she unleashed another howling melody imbued with her glee.

ramesses recognized her song for what it was. 
each morning the priest and priestess arose with dawn to sing the first prayers. surely toula was accustomed to them now.
he was with his single guard and several servants when he rounded a corner of the corridors and came upon her there. "princess toula, where is your nurse?" 
but treva was close at hand, and though ramesses was annoyed not to see a glimpse of his punished gemstone jawahir, he looked back at the child.
for a very long moment he did not move nor speak.
and then,

"bring her," ramesses said at last. "we are going to bless the river."
from then on, as the procession made its way up the main path and out into the open-air throne room, little toula would be fussed over and carried, fed bits of sweetmeat and tiny pieces of honeycomb, and carried if her legs tired. when ramesses strode out into the strong light of Ra, his princess was shaded by a branch carried by one servant or another.
ramesses stopped his entire entourage, commanding that they bow in the direction of satsu's tomb.
and then they had come to the river. its shallows were sun-warmed. ramesses motioned for toula to come near and stand beside him, ankle-deep, and here he lifted his voice, to praise Ra, to praise the serpent river which gave akashingo its water.

life-giver,
we give you this offering,
let it be a sign of our worship
let your waters always bring richness to this land
we are your servants

toula was handed a precious stone dug from somewhere in the sunspire, a bit of trade courtesy of the hemet qiao.
ramesses smiled. "throw it into the deep water, as far as you can."

she saw he and his come around the corner into their hallways. oh! giftbringer! she knew his face, now, and his scent. this day, there was more to it; cardamom, southernwood, and fragrant earthy things! her nose worked to distinguish one scent from the other, a tiresome activity.
she heard: princess. toula. princess toula. two words that toula had now come to learn meant her. and so when her name was called, her eyes alighted upon the man whom she loved fiercely already. his gaze was not upon her, which was a curious thing, as usually when called it was rather clear that the fixed point of attention was herself. but then his gaze was back to her. she saw something different there in his gaze, something that made her stand a little taller.
it seemed he had come to a decision then. and toula rejoiced, coming to join him, her joy evident. this day, her world again grew bigger.
away from her families quarters did they go. she was well-looked after, and cared for by her own attendants for the hours spent with her father the pharaoh. she voiced no complaints, but those with them in his procession could read well when she did tire. when they came to pass the temple of satsu, toula thought their gestures very pretty; she mimicked them daintily. she could sense the solemnity of the moment, and that this part of the day was not so joyous as the rest.
but as they drew away, toula came to find happiness again when introduced to sweetmeat and honeycomb. the latter she seemed to favor, so new and so sweet it was! she could scarcely get enough of it! and to pair the sweetmeat and the honeycomb together... she had not the words to describe it, and so she hummed her delight whenever she saw it before her.
toula always wanted to be near her father. the shade followed her where she went. her soft blue eyes surveilled all that he did, and she did so in the fashion she observed him to. their journey continued, up until they reached the riverbed. toula looked to her father, who guided her into the waters. they were warm, and welcoming. soothing in the way that they rolled against her belly.
and then her father began to sing. toula looked up, holding her breath until she could no longer and joining him only in humming the melody. she could not yet speak any words, but she loved the music he sang. her love for him increased tenfold, to know that this was something they shared! his singing paused, and he passed to her an object she, on any other day, would never want to let go of. she could not yet understand his words, his instruction. she only felt the compulsion to sing, too, as his song reverberated throughout her. it rattled against her ribcage, until it flew into her throat.
rather theatrically, toula flung the rock out into the waters, singing, Raaa! as she did in a triumphant,  elated note. she did not know that coincidentally, she had done just as he had asked... nor that her voice had brought the name of the one they worshiped to pass her lips. but she beamed up at her father, even as a ray of light from the warm morning sun then held them both. in it she was warmed, and basked in the presence of her father. did he love her song, that she had sang for him? as she had loved his own?

little toula. his second princess.
there was a fondness in ramesses for this one. it was quite unlikely that the pressures of queenhood would come to her, not with makono and ashikaga before her.
but he saw already her fire, how her small voice lifted to the God of Light even before she hardly knew Him. pharaoh saw treva's determination, and he beheld his own, both ensconced in the small body of the little royal child.
the river had been blessed, and the Sun God honored. ramesses saw the perfect auspice of the day. 
"well," he said, pulling from the water and gesturing that she do the same, "what else shall we do?" her words were still nonsensical; he did not expect a true answer. as he waited, ramesses gestured imperiously for the sun-shade to be held over her small head. it was not only pampering, it was protection.

toula smiled up at her father. he had seemed to enjoy her song. it made her want to sing a dozen more for him. he spoke, his voice the melody of a hymn in of itself. toula looked around them, as though considering his question. though the light did not bother her yet, before it ever could there was shade overhead. toula moved closer to him, and the shade followed still. toula was delighted once more, and looked at her father in awe.
he commanded so many things! even the shadows!
toula looked around them. her warm gaze caught the eye of one figure, and she smilingly practiced the same imperatorial gesture, but toward her father. perhaps her warmth might have reduced the air of command her father the pharaoh presented, but her heart willed for him, too, to be comfortable. toula had that much and more in it; she desired to give him and her mother the wonderful world they brought upon her.
her gratitude was endless.
and she quietly, patiently watched the servant—to see what they might do!

toula looked at him with great reverence. ramesses preened in the rightness of it. she did not speak, his baby princess; she looked to and fro and all around, already with a regal bearing despite her clear childish curiosity.
"the eye of Ra is harsh. it is good that a child be shaded from His eye, at least until such a time that they are able to bear it."
he walked slowly beside the waters, keeping an even gait for toula. the servant followed. "the water is important. its surface is sacred. sacred," ramesses repeated. he had not seen how she mimicked him, and now lifted a paw to gesture the fellahin back, seeing if she would follow suit once more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnSqTunC2BA Bambi copying his fathers confident walk in the stream LOL. TOULA

when her father spoke, all else was easy to forget. her gaze turned away from fellahin back to him, and if one moved to do as she had bid she would not have recognized it even for what it was, then and there. when her father had finished his speaking, toula looked reverently up at him. when he fell silent, toula tilted her head and sampled the word she liked best in his first series of them: RRRaaaaa,
and when he moved, she kept in step. nothing to her here held her interest quite so much as he did, this man of song. toula was rapt, and watched all that he did. gently, she repeated his gesture with her own paw, looking to see then what this would do.

I LOVE HER WTF

little toula would never have to carry the weight of a crown. perhaps that was what made her so glowing with delight and innocence; her ka was meant for easier things than the destiny where siptah would walk. where makono would trod. where ashikaga would stride. even young sethnakht would lead a heavier charge.
but toula would be spared all of this.
he heard her little feet moving; he smiled and lifted one, then the other, pointing imperiously across the red land. "i am the Morning and the Evening Star," he said to his daughter.

last for me in this one <3

toula looked to where he pointed. it was vibrant, rich with red both bright and deep in hue. but her attention did not remain there for very long. it drew back to her father, who was all that he said and more. her Northern star. where her gaze would always turn to when lost.
she settled alongside him, head gently leaning against his foreleg while she stared doe-eyed and adoring up at him. but she was tired, now, and her blinks became slower.