Lion Head Mesa books

tags for reference <3 all welcome!

today, she was not trailed by children.

she had left them with a younger fellahin pair, seeing fit that they might know how to entertain the little bundles of royalty.

she favored the thought of a day alongside @Ramesses, but she did not seek him out yet. she tiptoed around holy halls with the thought of their newest hem, senmut. the words of Wepwawet lived in her ears and heart now. she had an interest in these religions that had not been there as deeply before.

yet!

she knew things needed her attention as well. a wedding ceremony approached closer and closer with each day! perhaps the holy halls were not the worst place to be when considering the affairs of a wedding.

ramesses had visited with little toula and sethnakht earlier in the day. a spar against siptah after, the frequency of which had trimmed off any royal excess gathering in pharaoh's midsection. it was high time the boy was brought into politics; it amused him that makono had beat the crown prince in this.
but ramesses knew siptah would come into his formidable own. 
when the man saw treva, he waved away his retinue and went to join her himself. "the morning call to Ra was missed the other day. i will have that lofty priest akhtar beaten," he said airily, though she would decide if it was a joke or not.

she laughed, just as airy as his words.

did he not know it was their newest who had failed? that treva had witnessed it all, the fumbling and the worship to a new one. of course not.

yet she had no plans to hide these things from him either.

do you think the pupil senmut will learn from the beating of lofty akhtar?

she casted him a mischievous gaze.

ramesses blinked.
"oh, yes. a new priest did come to akashingo, did he not." it was not a matter that concerned him; the holy men often came and went. but treva spoke his name and pharaoh sharpened to attention. 
"if that is what happened, then the noble priest should beat his own pupil." his teeth flashed in a grin.

she was fond of the new hem, in a half-way way.

but she was fonder of pharaoh.

i've already told him that akhtar should be teaching him at every waking hour. that whatever he needs for worships can be easily supplied by fellahin. there is no reason for missteps, is there?

she looked to ramesses warmly, but wondered what he would make of her oversight.

"none." his voice was a snort, and for a moment ramesses resembled his father: seti the bull, son of thothmes. "not if he ever wishes to be high priest. you might instruct the fellahin not to seduce this senmut. only akhtar has attained the privilege of having a concubine."
and that had been belen, wherever she was now. 
ramesses enjoyed that treva had taken this task from him. "what is this little prattler like? is he a windbag for the gods?"

consider it done. had she a hand, she might wave it. as if she was wiping off a task from a board.

she doubted the newest hem had ever even...well, she'd stop herself. he was a holy man still even if he was learning. off to a rugged start.

would you believe me if i told you he tripped when i came to him? once over an offering, again over himself. he laid against the earth, i had to tell him to rise. a sway of her head and soft snort of her own.

he spoke of Wepwawet, though. have you heard?

"you are beautiful and you are also queen. i find myself quailing in your presence at times," ramesses said with a teasing tap to her eartip. "he only did what a mortal man should always be compelled to do when he has the privilege of your attention."
"i know Wepwawet. he is a peasant god," ramesses explained, though his tone was without judgement or scorn. "if this is the god of your little priest, then i can tell you many things about him."

a warm sound in her throat, nearing a blissful laugh. she never shied away from the flattery that the pharaoh could offer her. but still her mind wandered further, into the religion she had dipped her toes into.

i wish you will. he seemed reluctant to lead me in anything beyond basics. he told me Wepwawet was a god of war.

a brow raised, she focused fully on pharaoh now.

"Wepwawet is worshipped in upper aswan, the furthest part of my father's kingdom. so far off, it is a place of war. many skirmishes were won in aswan. but many gave their lives. men and women there lead a harsh existence, and children are no exception. a family with too many mouths to feed will give their very young sons into the priesthood. if a boy can learn a trade, he will survive."
"senmut is an alteration of the name senenmut, chief royal architect to a pharaoh whose name has been stripped from memory. it meant his parents intended him for more. that is why he is here."
"now you know, my queen. and now you see why he does not speak of these things, least of all with one who will be divine."
ramesses was silent.

her gaze became drawn and thoughtful. she could raise this senmut into a great thing, as his parents intended.

but he had snubbed her in favor of his teacher — and perhaps that was not a bad thing. however she felt cheated. as if the priest intended to hide things from her.

divine eyes.

he will not get far, if he hides in his own shadow. she mused, leaning into pharaoh briefly. i told him i would keep an eye on him and his progress. i intend to make sure he does not miss another call to Ra.

should i surprise him with this wealth of knowledge? see if he falls again?

perhaps it was cruel, perhaps it was necessary.

"that depends on your goal. do you think him disloyal? do you believe he must be routed? then crush him with this knowledge. show senmut that you are queen, and your edict is also over his life."
ramesses shone with interest in this power. but there was yet another way.
"but if you intend to mentor him, then keep this wisdom to your own breast, my dove. allow him to teach you these things already known. understand the ways in which they inform his actions. make him your pet."
his teeth glittered; he reached to kiss her cheek.

she swam in the knowledge and gold of her pharaoh. she learned from him in cunning ways, stacking it upon her own prowess.

he kissed her, she turned to preen for a moment at his neck.

i want to watch him for now. another hem is beneficial, if he maintains his schedule. a low croon of laughter in the back of her throat. we'll see how i feel if he slips up again, hm?

she had never imagined herself as a watcher of the religious.

"a peasant priest making an enemy of a divine queen. such a fool would not be suffered to live."
and for now it was a jest, but ramesses wished treva to know the power of their line. of their hand.
"we will need a priestess as well. it gives balance to the holy world."

there was a chance to do good here, on behalf of tavina and the fondness for the new sanpin the sesh had.

perhaps the sanpin should be tasked to priests, learn and labor in her three months here under the name of holy ones. come out the other side as a priestess, if favored by Gods or Goddesses. it is rumored she knows songs.

a quirk of her brow as she looked near lovingly at the pharaoh alongside her.

perhaps they would be halfway out the door by then already, if not, it might prove beneficial for the small family budding underneath the lower ranks.

ramesses both enjoyed and disliked the idea. "suppose she uses her newfound power to avenge herself. what if she turns out to be that sort of person?" pharaoh asked, though his eyes danced with the humour of it. he saw none of this in nala, though such an innocent demeanour would be important to a spy.
"i leave her to you, my sweet. she is lucky to have such a patronness on her side." he kissed her cheek, one and then the other, then her forehead.
then her mouth, catching treva against him for a long and firm moment.

fade? <3

treva tried not to roll her eyes at the thought. she could not picture it. she could not imagine that tavina had brought home that sort of girl.

that i won't argue. she hummed before she was being kissed!

breathless against it all.

she was content to set politics aside for a while, if he was.