Lion Head Mesa after while, crocodile

whispered words of who had been taken to bed by who reached her ear. she wished no longer to have any type of veil over her eyes, as once—for her protection, it was said—had been done. 
only the word of one had been heard thus far, since then. it had awoken some semblance of curiosity in her. for what reason did the queen want to hear of these things? 
one was obvious, though not to all. not yet. only by Eset—
much occupied her mind. Khusobek. Inji. was that passion? or was it the thought of Senmut and his flower, with that song; the vision of Thutmose laying luxuriously upon the rugs they two picnicked upon together; the idea of meeting the most handsome Sphinx, the latest newcomer, at long last and laying their eyes upon one another for the first time? 
it was late, but not too late, that Toula roamed the halls with @Tuna at her side. she knew all that occupied her mind, too, and all would be shared but later, when we see Eset—or after, if you are more comfortable with that, for in her there was a new and strange sense of urgency to know and to understand. 
her naivety would do her no favors, she now understood. and it was at the door of @Eset that she now stood, another fellahin calling her name gently.

Senmut means to test her. Surely there is no other explanation for such… excessive orders!

Wildly she has taken to the papyrus, a half-burned stick in her mouth, drawing in charcoal rugged outlines. Should she begin with the mechanics, the functionality of the palanquin? It had to have some manner of back support, and adequate shade for Toula. Of course, storage for her to fit her things while they traveled would also be important.  Or are the looks most important? Afterall, it had to be elegant, but powerful! It had to say so much, but be little, in tandem!

A voice calls.

In her surprised raise of head the stick draws one long slash across the design. She panics and kicks the papers away, stowing them under the sweep of a ratty fur.

She breathes, composing herself, appearing under her doorframe with a smile.

“My Queen!” She greets in a bow then raises herself to look breathlessly between Toula and Tuna.

Toula sees only the ratty furs, but not the gesture, and thinks, that will not do!. this could not be the state her fellahin lived! Toula conjured up her own ideas, and would see to them at once when she left. her people, regardless of station, would not live in squalor! 
but she still lingered in only the doorway, observing this over her shoulder. I must speak with you, but… she did not realize it might not be a time that worked well for Eset! there was guilt on her features. I thought only of myself. is it a bad time? I can return in the morning, after I pay tribute to the Gods, and Eset has rested!

“Now is perfect, My Queen. I would love nothing more,” she needed a break from the erratic thoughts and seeing her mistress was a welcomed reprieve. A clear head, or perhaps a new perspective, would help her solve the design problems later. For now she fell in stride just behind Toula, and to the left, where she was most content to be.

“How may I serve, your Holiness?”

Toula walked the halls with Eset, but led them to the place that Haizel was building where other ears were less likely to be listening. the route was nearby, to give the fellahin better access. 
Inji and Khusobek have… gone to bed together, I have heard. is this… a part of passion? she wondered, looking now to Eset. Toula had grown accustomed to sleeping alone, on the most luxurious of bedding and guarded by her people. her mind was innocent, and she thought only of two people laying alongside one another.

There’s a rapid, indrawn breath, a heat in her veins. His gift around her neck enlists this of her body, to pulse with an echo of something before. A look moves down to her paws as she digests what she’s been told.

“Yes,” she answers stiffly, for Toula, mouth pleasant but in a way that had to be for the sake of politeness. She’d have tried to put an end to it, some attempt to protect her in the way she did with Naberius, if it hadn’t been what Inji wanted.

The look in her eyes flush in envy, and also disgust with herself for it.

Because there was desire there- in that part of her that was not her mother’s.

Toula heard the word, the way that it was said in a way that was distinctly different to the Queen. and as Toula turned to look at her, she saw then upon Eset the gift that she had given to the man. 
her gift to him was for him to do as he pleased with, but it had been for him. to see another with it… to see that he had given it away… she was insulted! 
the only thing that gave her peace was that Eset wore it. she should have given it to the woman in the first place, she then felt. and what would a man like Khusobek do with a gift like that in any event? perhaps she should have known. and so Toula took some of her own responsibility in this, and swallowed her pride.
some of it, anyway. for she could also see that Eset was… hurt. it did not take a genius to guess that this was one passion that afflicted Eset. but Toula thought of history, of lessons. of the enemy of Osiris. did Khusobek fancy himself like Set, here to tear her love, her people, apart? 
Toula grew angry at the thought. angry that some man might think to do this, sow seeds of chaos in her palace—
can beings be ruled by passion? she asked then, not missing how both Eset and Inji were fellahin, beings that always had their eye upon her.

So much passes in the young ruler’s face, but finally a hot intentness like she’d never seen before and could not clearly define. Whatever this is her wish would be to reel it back, but just as compelled she is to give her honesty, as she has resolved to do.

“Yes. I believe they can. But then it is called lust. It lacks compassion. It is different,” her brows furrow openly. She does not want Toula to fear her future, to dread her marriage before it's even happened. “Why do you ask such things my Queen?”

lust! it sounds like the name for some wicked spell. less kind and sweet than passion. do you think that… one such as Khusobek could inspire lust, in the fellahin? she asked not for herself now. she worried what sort of game might be played here, if any.
but she realizes too her mind has run away with her. the stories she has been told by travelers, and their plots, interwoven with elements of her life. but it need not be so. but it was only that… she did not want her fellahin ruled by it. answering to this lust he evoked, over their own wisdom. 
and over her! but it was a silly, fantastical thought. still, it felt important to ask, to say—to think aloud to feel how the theory resonated in the heart of Eset, of Tuna, the two she trusted most. 
while she had only a suspicion Eset might have lay with him from the jewel, there was no judgment there… and anyway, perhaps it only was a gift for her diligent work. Toula sighed. I am overthinking. all this thought of passion has me… confused, she admits now with a laugh. I have thought much on our conversation. and now I find myself thinking of each of my suitors, perhaps even when I should not be,

“My Queen-” And then, she knows-

-what Toula does not know.

And for a time she is quiet.

Eset is many things, but a victim was not one of them. Neither were any of the fellahin. They were proud to do their tasks in service of their Queen, for the keep of the kingdom.

“Please, understand, Queen Toula. It is Inji’s role to do so. It is Tuna’s. It is mine.”

Hard words, and she wouldn’t know how to say them so as not to bring upset to the Queen who had only compassion. She averts her eyes.

“Permit yourself to overthink. Daydream of your suitors. Be both goddess and girl, my Queen. It is ok to, I believe.” But she is no courtier. Her lips curl, though it is into a shallow smile.

Toula listens, listens but wonders at her own interpretation. she does not think to insult Eset with her own perception, but she must let the woman know this:
it is true that fellahin are intended to serve. but there are limits that I trust only you yourselves to know, in the areas that I know nothing of. Akashingo is not a place for the happiness and passion of men alone, Toula understood, now, though, that Eset was aware. she said the words for herself, but she said them like a prayer; this place was meant to mean safety for her people, all of them. her fellahin were wise. 
she smiled then. I do not doubt you. it is only that I wish for you, and Tuna, and Inji—all of my fellahin, truly!—to be happy. still, this had been good to know, to even suppose, if only to know the feelings she had for those she looked over were true. not passion here, no, but love.
have you… heard talk? of any of their own… thoughts? silly, to ask, but she does not want to pry where she should not—in reference to only me, I mean. oh! perhaps it is better to not know, to wonder… Toula giggles then, the noise faint—she felt like a lost little girl, but was comforted by the words of Eset. yes, she could be goddess and girl. this was not something to run from, but understand.

Toula gives free reign for the fellahin to police themselves- Eset feared it would not be enough. It was not enough to speak it in confidence. It needed to be made a clear mandate to every ear and every mind that passed through Akashingo’s temple. And even then…

Could the servants ever acquire true respect? To be viewed as people, and not articulated objects? Eset had seen enough cruelty to feed her doubt, even in the face of the most divine goddess, who sought to protect her.

She caught her hand, and to her lips pressed it.

Slowly she lifts her eyes, so that the Queen could see the honesty there. “I am happy. All the fellahin are. Look at the life you provide for us. We would not have so much privilege anywhere else.”

She is relieved when Toula chatters away in her ebullient fashion and the fellahin observes her in wonder. In any mood she is stunning. Most of all when she smiles.

“I’ve heard rumors,” she teases, “even some from the lips of the Princes themselves.”

Toula looked to Eset. there was not one lie she detected in her speech, though she searched—and after several minutes, she sighed. they were outside, now—where Toula meant to take her, and Tuna. toward the gardens they drifted, and once there, Toula paused and gestured to the flowers for the woman to observe. 
whoever it is that I marry—I will be sure that they care for you the same. that this will not change for my people, she drew in a steady breath, and nodded. 
but her attention came to the next words of Eset. her eyes sparkled with curiosity. good things…? she asked, daring to be hopeful!

Prince Senmut would, and the words spun on her tongue, weighing there. At once she felt a great deceit for the agreement made with Khusobek, before she’d even really come to know her Queen. What right had she to try to influence this young mind, one who trusted her so? And who, despite all her wariness, the fellahin had come to put trust in, too? She felt sick, and for the first time her own self-preservation was abandoned in favor of her Queen.

Isn’t that love?

She says nothing as they emerge from the dark and into light.

“Sweet ones,” she inhales the perfume of jasmine. “I shall tell you what they’ve said, and you may guess whose lips spoke them,” she poses evasively. With Toula, she felt her age. She could permit herself to be an imaginative girl, and not anything else.

And truly, this was happiness.

Toula was reeled into the game, smiling fully now! she found a flower in full bloom and nosed it, not taking long before saying, alright, she accepted aloud, grinning,
and she drew closer to Eset with a wave of her tail. she could not imagine the things that might have been said! but she found she held her breath, in waiting to hear them.

When it hurts, she wants to feel nothing. When it doesn’t, she wants to feel everything. Unfettered.

Toula drifts among the blooms while Eset moves towards her, “My Queen, will you please help me unclasp this? My throat is scratching suddenly,” she turns to give Toula access to Khusobek’s golden chain.

Toula does not mind the request—not from Eset. she bid @Tuna to her side, knowing she alone might ruin it. but together they removed the jewel knotted neatly enough into the beautiful furs of her fellahin. 
she placed it alongside Eset and smiled. I am most grateful to have you by my side, Eset, and she looked back to Tuna, saying, and you, Tuna, she did not know how she had lived for so long without them, but now did not think that she could!

"And I am grateful to be by your side, Queen Toula."

With an accidental brush of shoulder the necklace would unseat itself from Eset’s possession and fall, splitting to pieces at the feet of the mesa.

“Oops,” and her freed neck ripples with satisfaction.

And she devises to turn back into the company of the two women and the currents of power that course there.

A paw slicks up her throat, enjoying again the smoothness of her natural form.

“One Prince has named you Lady of Flowers,” the fellahin grins as the light catches in Toula’s face.