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 he laid kills at every altar. he had scored himself in every high place. khaemwaset prepared to leave behind the oasis. it was clear that much time would pass before he returned, ordered not by any higher power but that which lived inside himself. he must not come back until he might return in glory, to claim what was his.
 all that was his.
 in the early dawn of the departing day, khaemwaset strode to find her, thrown round already with a fine oryx pelt. "sister," he said to wake her, raising a hand to dismiss her attendants; "sister. sister, come and kohl my eyes before dawn. let me welcome Ra with you before i go," the lion aspirant continued to murmur, tossing soft cushions gently at her until @Merneith ended her slumber to find her brother there beaming in the dark.

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 More intimate than it should have felt! More intimate because Merneith was learning just what business goes on between husband and wife.

 There is more to it than love, her mother had explained. An element that was essentially physical; and that had burst so ferociously into Merneith’s consciousness that even now she wondered with quite an audible noise if her brother could sense it! How every nerve stands aflame and eager!

 “Of course, brother,” she gasps and lifts from her furs, using the gap of space between them to gather her faculties and conceal the deepening blush under alabaster. No part of her felt truly uncontrollable before. Why would this be any different?

 The kohl; the kohl. She reaches for her glittering surma and stocks it into a sling before falling into step behind Khaem. Only then did it truly hit her. He was leaving.

 “When will you be back?” The princess inquires in a voice she hopes is strong. She supported this journey for him, and similarly agonized that the one she trusted most in this world would be lost to her.
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 an irony, for khaemwaset had not come to know such things, thoughts trained always to the changing of Ma'at and when he might be named Crown Prince. he scarcely thought beyond that, seeing no reason to fixate upon a future he truly believed was held in promise for him. he loved neith and in love he trusted her with every portion of his fractious heart. that was the reason a half-grown boy wanted his sister to remain beside him always.

 father's talk of feminine delicacy was enshrined in merneith, he felt, heart sinking at her ask. "at least two months," the amiir murmured. "but i will tell to you that i do not intend to return until i have gained a great thing for akashingo."

 outside the land was still blackened by night, punctuated only by a scattering of inky stars. he turned to her there with a blazing, confident grin. "i cannot come back until i have a fine gift for you, neith." laughter; brother took his place before sister and met her eyes, waiting for her touch upon his eyes.

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 “Your return will be the grandest gift,” the princess whispers, but this is not a morning for sisterly tears. Merneith strengthens herself. Delicate pawtips sweep patina over his lids, to simulate the low-water period of the serpent that was once home. Then, over top, a darker brush of kohl, faithfully emulating the color of silt-laden waters during high inundation.

 When he opens his eyes, her heart gallops with the same speed and intensity of the khamsin winds. The heavens tip his fur in stars. In this moment he shines more a Pharaoh, more a God than any in memory.

 “You are powerful, Khaemwaset.” A brief lean besoms his cheek with Merneith’s kiss. Then she is pulling back, letting go in all her reluctance.

 Her brother will do great things.
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 neith; khaemwaset gazed at her and thought Amun Himself could not have hoped for a more radiant spark of life. on impulse, a kiss for the freckling beneath her winelight eye. "when i return, i will have changed Ma'at," the prince said with all confidence, her paw cupped between his own as he spoke with a fervency which seemed to shine from beyond himself.
 "then i will be Crown Prince, true heir to the Horus Throne." khaemwaset did not say more, did not utter the statement which so long had dazzled him — he did not need to assure neith that the place beside his own belonged to her.
 "but you have your own strength. you belong in ascension, as queen satsu and queen treva."

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 Merneith was captivated. How could she not be? He was everything to her. Everything.

 And he was leaving.

 She understood he had to. These next months were crucial for them both. But she thought of Den, her golden mirror, how he had once moved hearth and home for his sister only to neglect her! And Satakh— had she not done the same to Khaem? Oh, she adored her parents truly, but they felt like temporary fixtures in a life where only a single name held true command in her mouth.

 “I do,” her paw takes delicate hold over Khaem’s own. Her lips curl beneath his fleeting kiss. How different a girl she had been before Den’s abandonment. Before her parents’ leave and Charmion’s disappearance and Akashingo’s blight. When her design was not only upon Queen—
But she must find it again. In this strange place, they must find themselves. She kisses his cheek again, then a sincere smile finds her lips.

 “I adore you, Khaemwaset. I love you.”
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 golden eyes of princely aim wetted then in true; khaemwaset wound merneith as closely as he was able, exhaling grief and joy against the satin touch of her pelt. he was afraid, filled with fear. and yet he was not. suffused by terror and delight, he would venture into this new world and establish himself in the ways he must.
 "i love you, neith."
 more than mother. more than father. more than sister and brother. and though amiir might never admit it, he adored the sound of her laughter more than he worshipped the light of Ra.
 he did not want to be parted! 
 and yet — slowly he stepped back. "i know you will pray for me, sister. but pray also for yourself. my wish for you is that all your wants are answered."

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