Lion Head Mesa Dandelion

“@Charmion!” The princess bursts into the fellahin’s room.

Her heartbeat rises now with the urgency of her summons. Merneith glances about to make sure no one is looking, then quickly steps inside.

Quietly, carefully, she moves into the modest chamber and stands before her servant. Then in her best queen’s voice says, “tell me everything you know about reincarnation.”

she should not be here, is his first thought.

it is good she was here, was his second.

her voice is royal, commanding. the need for knowledge that she had assumed Erpa-ha might have passed along to her. he knew she had come to him for a reason, though. so he gently set aside a bundle of herbs as he looked upon her now.

there is much to understand before that step. concern soft in his voice. such a question in tumultuous times! life is made up of many cycles, before we come to the beliefs of rebirth. the cycle of Ra, the cycle of their own life, the cycle of the seasons.

has a lesson brought this question, Amiirad?

does she fret over wayward royals and the chaos churning in southern lands?

“Suffice it to say I wish to know.”

She does not understand what compels such defense. Only that her panther brother’s secret would remain, even as twisted and dark and wrong as it felt.

Neith’s heart flutters with pain like embedded arrow tines. She turns the guilted eyes upon her favored, glossing with their fear. A princess should not speak so brusquely; not to her trusted footman. It would be one of the most difficult lessons to master– disagreeing with those she cares for most.

“Tell me of each cycle,” the amiirad prompts, forcing calm into her girlish voice. Knowing Charmion would not deny his mistress.

he felt like a boy again, being clipped at for improper questions. yet he does not fault her this. he did not think she asked for silly moments of fancy.

life itself is a cycle. you are born, you lay among your mother's side. then you are growing into your teachings of knowledge and life. soon enough you are a reigning Divine One creating life yourself. he does not like what follows, so much. it does not feel right to utter to her words. then just as quick, your legacy is beginning the cycle again. when your day comes, much will be done to prepare you for life in death. rituals, burials, all done for you to make your travels in Duat.

the bundle of herbs that he had set aside drew his focus now. he fussed over a stem of goldenrod. something to keep his body up to speed with his mind.

if you are judged and you are worthy, who is to say you are not granted another life? there are prayers and songs of such things. you are Divine Ones, Amiirad. afterlife and rebirth is your right from the moment stars were made.

“But… why, Charmion?” The girl’s toes are fisted on the stone, frustrated by her own ignorance. The servant finds a way to occupy his paws but Neith’s eyes never leave the cool green eyes.

She presses on. “For the entirety of our lives we toil to gain passage to Aaru. Why would a ka choose to leave paradise?” Unless there was something on earth for them to achieve…. Unless…unless…

They never made it out of the fires of the Duat.

there was a fear that he could not hide from even his own eyes.

he should usher her off to a holy one at once and let it be sorted there. yet he reminded himself that she had picked him, she had come to him with these things. if it meant he must show her that he still did not know all, that he was not filled so full of the knowledge as a holy or Divine one.

some things are beyond the knowledge of a mortal man, Amiirad. here he sought to remind her that he was just that. mortal. perhaps when her reign had come and gone, when he was raised as vizier, there might be some proof of his existence in the trails of her own grand history.

i will spend each waking hour in lessons beneath holy ones, if only to find the answers for you, Divine One.

yet still he did not know why she asked such things! why her young mind whirled with such heaviness!

Taken aback, the princess sniffles! It is the first time Charmion has admitted to not knowing, the first time a lapse reveals his lack of perfection! A mortal man he calls himself, and not servant to his Divine! Merneith is not prepared for such an honest answer, and her eyes blink in shocked disbelief– rather offput! Here is her advisor without means to advise!

And yet, it provoked a new concept in her charitable mind, one where she and Charmion might grow in education together, and this synergistic idea pleased her just as much.

“I do not doubt your capability to research, Charmion. Only, please keep your efforts from the sight and ear of the Erpa-ha.” She didn’t need any more fuel for Senmut’s budding suspicions– not when she meant to protect Khaem from ill rumors.

She smiled at her fellahin then, and warmly went to his side.

“I will see your room decorated. It is too plain, even for a mortal man!” Her words meant to bite, as much tease. Oh, but how much he meant to her! And she would see this affection reflected in his own private spaces.

sworn to secrecy. such was the life of a man being prepared eons before for a role not yet even rooted. yet this was the way of royals. to move the proverbial chess pieces of their future before commoners could even see the days.

you flatter me, Divine One, his gaze half apologetic and half shining warmth. i will clear my sleeping space to leave it to your imagination. i will busy myself in learning, in the meantime.

and he would pray for her and her continued growth. pray for her success and her future as queen.

he felt as if peace depended upon it.