Lion Head Mesa sixth

night had almost come. the party flared on, guests coming to and from the top of the mesa.

as priest, he was to stay close as the royal pair made their rounds, whispering prayers for their successful union. and for what was to come.

but as soon as he was able, senmut pushed through the throng, searching for the princess @Makono. he wore the emblem of his status as we'eb priest: a headress of stripped reeds, and it made him sweat uncomfortably as he searched for a glimpse of her.

she did her best, sorting aside diplomatic things with things of emotion.

her gift would be grand and fitting to the pharaoh and his bride. she felt no need to crowd them, to give them words like so many others wished to.

so she mingled among visitors, she made connects, she tended to things as if they were all her own.

senmut was a welcomed face in the sea of strangers-turning-companions. done in a fashion she had not ever seen before, but found fitting all the same.

hem, she addressed him with a newfound warmth for the man. he ushered him to come sit with her beyond the wave of moving bodies.

"amiraad," he answered in kind, putting his back to the redstone wall.

senmut pulled the priest's-lock from his head and looked at her. "when will you move to sacrifice?" they had secured a horse, of this he was sure. 

the young man looked toward the stars, counting among their growing number for one of auspice.

when everybody is settled.

she offered him a humored look.

i don't like the idea of any distractions when the second biggest moment of the night comes, hm? her brow arched delicately above lapis eyes. she wondered if he saw her reasoning, if he might have further words of wisdom to displace upon her growing thoughts.

when senmut brought his gaze back to the princess, it was to catch the cool look in her lapis eyes.

how like pharaoh she was! at times the priest could not discern them from one another.

he dropped his eyes. "it is a good plan, divine one. i will be close at hand when i am needed."

i know, she responded with certainty. he was dutiful. he was devout. her doubts in him were fleeting and little.

how are you fairing?

she wondered if it was his first wedding. if he had ever helped in something this grand.

she found she wondered too much about him.

was that @Nazli, glancing toward them?

senmut found himself suddenly overwhelmed; he ordered a nearby servant toward them, taking a generous offering of the fermented berries.

if it had been the fellahin girl, she was gone now, and he was left alone with the implacable marble presence of his divine princess. senmut laughed nervously. "i have never overseen a sacrifice before," he mumbled, voice near a whisper. "i dread bringing the offense of the gods."

her eyes remained heavy upon him.

the way he brought forth fermented berries from a servant, his nervous laughter. i have faith in you. have faith in yourself, in the gods.

she moved two berries into her mouth without a second thought.

anybody caught your eye in the crowd tonight, hem? or is that unholy to ask?

some small trickle of humor.

makono's coolwater voice pried senmut open like a clam. "n-no, great one. ah —" and the tips of his ears burned, "only you."

and then he blanched, for it was the wrong thing to say, wrong indeed, and sat tensely beside her as he waited for her voice to change into glass.

only her.

her gaze cooled from her humor before. she did not shoo off the words, though. she had invited this sort of talk, hadn't she?

emboldened by the night already?

how cruel she could be when given the mind and heart of another.

had he offended her?

senmut slid his arms out before him; he lowered his head.

"you hold the light of the gods, royal one. all eyes are helpless in your presence."

it was diplomatic enough! but would it suffice?

he pushed himself low.

she watched with some mild sense of delight, mingled with distaste.

something about the sight of him stooping so lowly did very little for her, after their last time together. that was frustrating in and of itself.

is that what i should search for? helpless bodies, hem?

senmut was confused, helpless.

"who can —" a prayer, raised and then lowered. she did not want sugared words. her eyes held him like that of the queen, of this queen, of the dead one.

"ask anything of me, amiirad," he breathed, and meant each word.

somehow his words struck her in a girlish way, strumming the heart of a teenager rather than a princess.

beauty was wasted upon the hem, she thought. did he know it?

i could ask nothing more of you.

and she meant it, despite the sudden bitterness that nipped at her.

"i mean it."

did she want to test him?

senmut took a breath; he looked at her openly, quailing only a little from the potential of her cold fury. "i want you to know that i am trustworthy, divine one."

he pushed back against her, and her nostrils flared.

and if i asked you for everything? if i asked you to come to me each night with every word you have heard in a day? every movement that has crossed your path? to be as near to me as fellahin nazli?

her voice was hushed, but the tone was clear.

a misstep would not be welcomed.

to be her spy.

"then i would do it," aware he spoke treason, "so long as you understand i will not go against the will of a god."

his voice held a living fire. his eyes however dropped away in respect.

he soothed the uglier parts of her, much like nazli did.

i would not ask you to go against gods.

she was tired and the height of the night had not yet even come upon them.

you should see me. after the sacrifice, when others trickle to sleep.

she did not know why she asked, why she offered.

senmut had felt the axis of akashingo shift tonight.

"yes, great one." he spoke with the same swiftness, then moved to touch his forehead to her paw.

he took her dismissal after that, heavy with knowledge and more to carry.

if she could bless him herself, perhaps she would have.

but such a thing would wait.

and she had time, more of it than she cared for. enough to stew through the crowd, departing from him heavier than she had arrived.