Lion Head Mesa deities

she went to the halls of worshipers.

she thought of spring as she moved through the halls. cold in the evening light, but it hardly mattered when she was warmed by the morning she had spent with tavina.

her gaze fluttered around for @Senmut — knowing that the last time they had met properly, she had been sanpin. she supposed she could see akhtar instead, but truthfully the man unsettled her deeply. perhaps even more than pharaoh!

this thought she kept to herself.

quickly she stepped aside, as a fellahin moved by with reeds.

senmut was dazzled by his having accompanied pharaoh and queen upon their honeymoon.

he recovered from where he had been staring off, recollecting. "sesh!" he greeted with a small bow. he smiled at the passing servant and beckoned nala closer. "for what do you seek the priests?"

to be bowed to was still so foreign, for all the months she had spent bowing to others.

but he was warm. it felt far less awkward now that she did not stand here as sanpin. instead as sesh. gently she moved closer, small near the priest.

i, um, suddenly she felt embarrassed and awkward. fluttering at the thought of memories from earlier. i had questions about hem and hemet. deities. if you are not busy.

her toes flexed at the stone earth below.

she had questions? senmut smiled in a friendly way. "i am not. come and sit with me."

he lowered his haunches to the small courtyard of space that separated his private quarters from that of akhtar.

"i believe i have any answer for you, sesh."

she settled easily with him. somehow his company seemed fairer without the clinging role of sanpin.

i was wondering if you could tell me about deities...specifically if there are any for the, um, feminine.

it felt right. that if she were to be expected to worship, it be under the house of one she truly would wish to worship!

"of course. there are many goddesses. the first is Iset, the Mother of Beauty. She has more strength than many of the male gods combined."

he paused. "perhaps you should tell me how you mean to worship, and for what purpose. what do you want out of your prayers?"

she was already delighted by the tidbit of Iset.

but then came very valid questions. of course, she felt side swept by them all the same. what did she want out of prayers? well, she couldn't simply speak that!

i do not know how i will worship. perhaps with songs and stories. her paws rolled a stray stone. a pebble, really. i'd like prayers of love and — she grew thoughtful for a moment. womanly things.

surely he had seen the way she lived and loved tavina!

it would be no grand secret that nala was not here to worship the strength of the men and their grand feats. but she could not whisper to even senmut how she thought of spring so steadfast now.

womanly things. senmut could not very well say he was a man and therefore could not understand. it was his role to discover this for nala.

"Hathor. She Who Walks in Love and Myrrh." senmut grinned, his eyes filled with elation. "She is the goddess of hearth and of home and of love, all love. She is beautiful and favours the voice raised to Her ears."

it felt like an answer from above itself. clear as day, here was a deity placed before her. her. Hathor. she decided with a swift nod.

i...i want to be a hemet. worshiping Hathor and learning of her.

she waited now, wondering if he'd pass judgement before she'd move along to pharaoh.

senmut was pleased. "She is a powerful patronness. your sacred name in Her service will be badak-purohit, or Consort of the Gods."

he grew embarrassed now, but went ahead at once. these words were sacred. "it is the Consort of the Gods who is often call upon to initiate the first princes of akashingo. they are sacred beings and once you have received your mark, you will be touched by Her divinity and even pharaoh must seek an audience."

badak-purohit.

it may have been beautiful and charmed her deeply. if she did not smack into a wall of a sudden, emotionally.

oh. um, receive my...mark?

initiate. princes. pharaoh.

she did not speak on the soft quivering of her feathered tail.

senmut nodded reverently. "oh, yes. you lie down upon an altar laid with Her colors. the mark is meant for your belly. the fur is stripped away and the mark is an etching formed over your w-womb."

he was dizzy! senmut flared with shame and horror and piety. he shut his eyes and then opened them to watch for nala's reaction. "She is a life-giver. so you are marked in the same way."

an etching. over her...womb.

she blinked. suddenly owlish in features. oh. a bit breathless. awkward laughter that she quickly silenced out of fear of being disrespectful.

who gives the mark? does...i mean, it must hurt, doesn't it?

senmut felt as though he might truly die.

"the — priest makes the mark. and it is meant to hurt. it is meant to be visible.' he looked back at the aspiring hemet with as scandalized a look.

"are you certain this is what you want?"

she thought of tavina. which was no grand surprise by any mean, but still. she thought of them together. the beauty they held of one another.

what would tavina think to see nala marked?

when it was just them late at night, when they spent their mornings lounging upon one another. would her lover look at her with regret? remorse? would the sesh touch the skin and weep?

hemet is...so honorable, isn't it? her voice cracked softly.

this type of mark is the only way?

senmut exhaled. "to be hemet is one thing. to be a priestess of Hathor is another."

gingerly, and only if it seemed the woman would allow, the we'eb moved to touch her paw.

"to be hemet is to act in the service of your chosen deity." but he shook his head. "the thigh. or — the breastbone. it is still meant to be intimate."

"to be hemet is one thing. to be a priestess of Hathor is another."

she did not understand. she welcomed his touch as she reflected on things and listened to his voice. she did want this. truly.

but apparently to align herself underneath Hathor solely seemed to welcome some type of...modification.

do you have a mark for any? her voice a hush whisper. before she realized that she had perhaps accidentally asked to see something intimate! quickly her face fluttered with embarrassment.

senmut hesitated, then lifted his chin to show nala a round black mark just under his chin, where it could not be easily seen. 

"this was mine for Amun." he looked warmly at her. "not every god or goddess will require a mark. only those who share a pantheonic power between them. Horus. Hathor. Iset. Osiris. Set."

she had never seen it before! although she wondered if that was the point. to carry something from them somewhere hidden, private. none would see her belly when she walked. none would see it at all! save, of course, for her love.

i'm sorry for so many questions. she laughed, near breathless and sheepish. is the mark given just...among priests? i admittedly don't know if i could handle a whole celebration for, um, a mark.

senmut laughed. "do not be! i am happy to answer." and he shook his head.

"one priest. one priestess. it is a small rite. if you had a high priestess it would be she who made the mark." and after this, nala would be on such a path.

"it will be myself or akhtar in akashingo," he added shyly.

it seemed less terrifying the more they shrunk it down.

still she thought of the mark. still she thought of tavina's thoughts.

but maybe it would not be so scary if it was just her and senmut. although akhtar had been mentioned but — if i can pick, i think it should be you. she confessed softly, voice dropped into a whisper.

he had walked her through this and she felt the less unfamiliar faces involved the better.

he was honored, and dipped his head. "i know the prayer."

senmut was devoted in all ways to all the powers that dwelled in the world. "now it is only a matter of receiving permission. once you have that, i will consult the stars and choose an auspicious night for it."

was she prepared?

permission. stars.

nala was the kind to go all in. such had been evident in the way she had been swept up by tavina. then accepting sanpin.

now diving into a world beyond her — but it might benefit her and her one day wife. she nodded.

yes. yes. i, um, i will let you know. immediately.

she was warm, even as her nerves frazzled like star dust.

"all right." 

senmut looked with piety on her. "walk with Hathor, nala."

he dipped his head to her rank, soon to be shared with him! the thought was exciting.

when she moved to stand, it was bouncy. hardly prepared to face the pharaoh and queen but figuring it may as well be done now.

"walk with Hathor, nala."

her face grew warm but she quickly offered him something in return. walk with Amun, senmut. that was what she should say to him, right? marked by such.

she was open to correction before she made her way out further into akashingo.