Lion Head Mesa eleventh

by now it was no secret: siptah had gone and makono had gotten what she desired. he was proud of her, frightened of her. frightened for her. and eager to see what she would make of the monumental and course-altering path she had been allowed to take.

he crept along toward her rooms, then wilted and trotted stiffly the other way, almost colliding with several individuals in his blind flight until he might have tangled with @Nazli. his eyes were wide and apologetic, but what the boyish we'eb blurted was: "when she leaves, will you be going with her?" of course he knew the answer.

She had been so busy she had not heard the news, nor tended to the princess in any capacity to hear it straight from the divine's lips; so when Senmut all but trips in to her, Nazli is at once scrambling to collect the bundle she had been carrying and almost misses what is said.

Frenzied, putting things back in to their place and hoping nothing is dirty or broken, she absent-mindedly says, —whose going where? Stacking prepared meats upon carefully folded leaves, and such.

senmut rushed to help her as much as he would be allowed. "the princess is now the crown prince," he murmured after drawing nazli aside into a little alcove off the hallway.

his gaze was once more zealous. "they had a meeting about it, with akhtar and i and pharaoh, and prince siptah. and her."

he was awestruck by makono and yet it was more easily to nazli that senmut could speak, perhaps by way of her being a fellahin and he having been borne of them; the same dirt was under their nails, as his father might have said. and so the words tumbled out of him. 

"i do not know if she is leaving. all i know is that prince siptah left in the night, disappeared. and now she is crown prince. so now she has those duties. and i — you went with her before, did you not?"

There was a river of knowledge flowing from Senmut now, forming eddies of confusion within the lilac girl which became understanding gradually, and with some fear.

The meat aside now, forgotten; the boy's hushed but insistent voice in her ears. Nazli had questions but she could not ask them so blatantly.

Yes, we went to Mereo. It was a diplomatic mission. Go where next? I attend to Makono however she wishes, and if she is sent somewhere else - maybe, yes, maybe I would go.

Her breath was almost gone by the time she unfurled her own words, and she gasped, and shook her head a little bit. Why would the prince step away? Are you sure he was not sent on his own mission?

senmut's heart sank. "i do not know. only that when princes of my kingdom are made heir, they take many trips. they travel. they are meant to see their subjects before they rule."

he shook his head. "he was gone from his rooms the next morning. pharaoh did not expect it. he told no one and took no one."

his eyes were filled with worry.

A harried sigh. She doesn't know how things work, only that she does as she is told, and for once Nazli feels a certain resentment for her station. Nobody had told her! Why keep this a secret? It looked badly upon the royals, in a way, but it made Makono look all the more strengthened; her ritual, her defiance towards her father, and now this - !

And the mazoi - none have been sent to find him? She needs not to ask this, as she has seen them in their courtyard doing their drills and throughout the palace, minding the visitors. And to go during the festivities!

Her sharp voice falters.

senmut shrugged. "i might have sent them, but —" he was not pharaoh. and he would never be.

a long moment he stood looking at nazli; then he recovered himself and squared his shoulders. "i have something for you. will you come with me?"

By now, as Nazli was known for being busy often with tasks and needing help from the other fellahin, if she were to give a glance to one passing they would know it was to complete something of her's; so she passed a look to someone, and they came for the bundled meats, to which she quietly instructed were for the guests in such and such room.

Then again alone with Senmut, she nods quickly. I have a moment now. And when he moved, she moved with him. In her mind this was not a gift for her, but something to perhaps explain the situation, or gift to Makono, or -- anything beyond a gift for herself, despite what was said.

senmut led her toward the rooms of the high priest, and then beyond. his own quarters were cramped and small; he had only a narrow pallet there with a handful of bones and a lovely, dried flower he had once found beyond the palace.

the young we'eb was a little flustered at its state, but he began to rummage, and before long he presented nazli with a small item: an almost perfectly round piece of white bone which had in red a marking upon it.

"it is an amulet," he told her. "and that is the name of Khonsu, see." he came closer to show her, then was suddenly overwhelmed by their nearness; he fought it. "He is the god of travellers; He is The Moon. and He will keep you safe, i pray."

They went their way to the priest's quarters, which to Nazli had a muddling effect; she was at once warm from the memory of the bed, and awkward, for she had not woken to be alone, and was skeptical of who might be waiting there; but they pressed beyond the larger room to where Senmut kept his things.

He brought to her an amulet. It was beautiful, in its sparse way, and she was surprised to hear it was for her. The god of.. travellers, but where am I going? But she could not refuse it either; nobody had gifted her anything before! She felt warm in her face, and her chest felt as if there was a rush of wind churning inside.

Perhaps he meant this as a gift for her so that Makono would be safe, should the fellahin be chosen? She could not think. Instead she bowed her head and said softly, thank you, and waited for him to thread the amulet to reeds, so that she may carry it upon herself.

Nazli had never had a treasure of her own before.

"i do not know!" he exclaimed with a little laugh. "perhaps nowhere." he fumbled with a reed, dropping it several times.

his limbs shook, to be so close, to be of the gods. her eyes were luminous in the sparse light. "even if you never leave akashingo, the amulet will protect you on walks. on short journeys. wherever you go, nazli."

he helped her to place it hanging over her collarbone.

She would treasure it, and keep it safe for as long as she could.

Thank you, Senmut. She looked up to him after the amulet was fastened in place, and felt the weight of it upon her neck, but not in an obtrusive way. He was watching her and there was laughter in his eyes.

How does it --? she started to ask, but someone flit by the doorway - the same fellahin who had taken the bundles away for her, now looked owlishly in to the hem quarters, and made a noise to draw her attention.

Something about being needed, promptly, somewhere.

Shh, yes, yes, I am coming, she said quickly, and was already moving away from Senmut's closeness; but she stopped by the door to look back at him and smile, before being urged away.

senmut smiled; he was ready with a prepared answer, wanting to keep her close with her eyes upon him. and then a gaze was shifting toward them, and she was leaving.

he caught a last glimpse of the amulet as she turned and then was gone.

the priest let out his breath. bless her steps, Amun, he begged, turning back to his cot for an hour of exhausted sleep.