Avaris

 Their dynasty would continue.

 Rashepses lay sated, an arm slung across the honed marble shoulders of @Toula , panting into her nape. “You drain me, Iset,” he laughed.

 Once breath was caught he kissed her neck and rolled up to his elbows to see out over the sands. Kem in his thoughts, as often his son was.

 “Our dark prince is studious and commanding. He embodies Akashingo,” the father mused, prideful. “It is my wish to see Khaemwaset ascend.” Traditionally, the title of Crown Prince was held by the eldest Pharaoh’s son. But while his heart thrummed in equal love, Rashepses believed Khaem had surpassed the crocodilian brother in courtly ways.

 Semer-wati turned eyes to his wife. He did not sense she would disagree— though it was another deviation from the long-established tenements he desired chiefly to uphold.

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 she lays in bliss alongside him, laughing, catching her own breath. she did not know how it was possible for each time to get better and better, but they both defied all odds together—in everything, it seemed! his words were heard and regarded as she considered them.
 she could see it, truly. and it did not mean Den would not be Pharaoh, not if he went far and forged his own destiny as perhaps her own brother had. as Rashepses himself had first set to do!
 but first, “he must first change Ma’at,” her lessons came to her. perhaps all that she has learned so long ago was for this, those questions when she did not even wish to become Pharaoh. “it can be done. but it will not be an easy thing,” she looked to her husband, kissing his cheek. “he is worthy. if it is his wish, he shall do it. the Erpa-Ha shall guide him,” a smile upon her lips. she could see it!
 “he should also become a King—as his mother first was Queen, and his father like him also a King—all before we each became Pharaoh, in our time,” many names, many accomplishments—the trials that led them there would keep them solidly in place! “how brilliant our family is,” she hummed, thinking on how it would only grow to become more-so. she was not yet in season—the Gods had the good grace to let them settle, at least!

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 “He is already changing Ma’at,” the man crooned, “we should test him, next— send him abroad. Put him in charge of an expedition. Provide him an opportunity to prove his might as prince beneath the Gods’ eyes,” he felt his heart swell for his son.

 As Toula spoke, Rashepses dragged a soft claw over the flatness of her belly. In each of them he saw so much of her. “It is your brilliance, wife.” Wife. His. Ever his.

 “I want you in a proper throne by the time your season comes, ” he nuzzled down her sweet-smelling spine. Infinitesimal grains of sand tinted his kiss. “ I want you in a proper bed.”

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 she does not disagree with his thoughts, nor his idea—her smile broadens to hear it. she remembered her own first time abroad! Toula reaches out to him and kisses his cheek. “a grand idea, yes! how he will impress Them!” no, he would not fail—not their son. unflawed perfection, in her own eyes—each of them. “I see what you see, as do the Gods. but that alone cannot change Ma’at. it must be done with blood,” she remembers. and if their son felt it was right, he would be willing to make the sacrifice.
 she thought in quiet for a moment, considering. then she speaks softly, “my sister changed Ma’at. and when our father passed into the Land of Reeds, she…” had disappeared. Toula wondered if it was because perhaps, “…she was fierce, my love. strong. if I never thought to be Pharaoh in my youth, it was because I knew she could carry the weight of it. much of our son… reminds me of her. I see he is capable,” she leans against him, “but we must be certain he is ready. if I…” she did not wish to speak of it, the time in which she would someday move on into the Land of Reeds and be with their children no more! she did not fear death, but was not ready to be separated from those she loved most—
 his gesture, his affection, grounded her. brought her back to him, away from the place they two had drifted two before emerging here. she rises, spinning to kiss him upon the lips before darting backward, throwing her head back in a laugh. they lived! they lived, and they were brought here, where all that they wished would come true—“shall we find them?” she invites, her eyes filled with many things!

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 “We are deathless,” Rashepses’ voice lifted to cover her’s, releasing the tight clot that had formed there with his wife’s implication. “See how our gods have ordained it, with this New Kingdom. Soon They will see also how our Khaem is a god of eloquence and torment, who understands the power of Pharaoh.” Though in raising one son to his heart, the father wondered at his second. If to change Ma’at was drawn in blood, would Khaemwaset commission the death of his brother? Would his wife also carry such dangerous thoughts?

 He did not ask now, not with her warmth there beside him in the sinking light. He could see the edge of her face, the rounded jaw and gentle curve of eyelid. He wanted to look into them, a thousand times he had seen their teal and still he felt a rush when they turned his way. A paw ran against the curve of her thigh, desire growing swiftly again. But before he could feed her with his zenith, she was dancing away, gaze shaded with black pools and a call that opened to drink him, pull him back into her.

 Rashepses sprang to his paws and made a rough dash for his wife, grunts of amusement and possession dripping with want as they drove across the rippling sands.

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