first

 a fellahin was prevailed upon to bring senmut unto his lords.

 he carried with him the Seal of the Apis, exposing the yellowed ivory of its surface to the radiant eyes of pharaoh @Toula and her Divine Consort @Rashepses, though the erpa-ha studiously kept his own gaze downcast.

 the white catskin of his rank framed against one red shoulder, he bowed low. "pharaoh. Consort. there are two reasons i have come. the first is in request for mazoi, to mount a search for @Nazli." he tried not to allow his breath to tighten with pain. "she was with me. i must know she did not come through to the Land of Reeds; i must know she is not caught between this world and the next."

 now he drew up; he regarded them both with another nod. "it may be of respect to new alliance that we send an emissary out to seek exploration. those out there must comprehend our might; they will be prevailed upon to submit to us. there is much water in directions other than our own, and in case of a drought, it is a resource akashingo would do well to control."

 but it was nazli why he had come! and thoughts of her caused his heart to ache with pain.

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 A yawn cracked the jackal’s mouth. He had only just emerged from a massage with the fellahin to have yet another weepy story thrown at their feet. Semer-wati knew the hemet for her lavender beauty and knowing eyes. Her fate would be felt, more so than that of a servant, and it was only for this reason the divine man did not immediately repudiate their subject’s plea. His lily-wife would grant this mission to one of the mazoi; of which they now had many.

 The next order of business piqued fire from the king’s eyes. “I had intended to send the Amiir to Muat-riya for training. It is time he goes abroad. Akashingo must know our neighbors, and Khaemwaset must be known to all as Prince.”

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 “it shall be done,” she answers swiftly, thinking of the lavender girl and then, Makono! her sisters most prized and beloved fellahin, who Toula had elevated. both for the girl, and for her sister. it felt to Toula that all who were lost to them should be found, but she was mindful still that not all had been at this ritual, where all were saved and shown to be pure of heart. she thought then of @Eset and of @Legend and of Meseba, who she had sent away to search—
 Senmut’s next proposition piqued her own interest, too—she looked to her husband, nodding slowly. “in my girlhood, I was sent to stay with our then-neighbor, Basilica—I learned of their way and their culture, and they learned of mine,” a fond memory. she remembered giving the gift of a small, crude rockform of Tawaret to an old friend… she thinks aloud, “as we rebuild, it would be good for our son to run with them for a time. learn their ways, their customs—their language, if they have one! and educate too of our own,” her eyes were bright with the prospect of this. what would her husband think? she wondered, quietly, of his own first venture—she would ask him, later!

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 they were in agreement. senmut bowed his head beneath their words. but rashepses' dismissal had made rage thunder deep within his belly. 

 nazli was worth more than he. why did this pompous man not see her starlit treasure, the power which had delivered a child of rites to the Lotus Kingdom?

 "we do not have yet much to spare," said the red prince, speaking plainly. "but let him be sent with gifts and with offerings of food. he shall remain with them, to educate and to be educated, if this be pleasing."

 "but let akashingo place a timespan upon his stay. suppose these people are crude and seek to hold a prince for more?" again plainly, prevailing upon his wisdom here in this spiritual land, though his mien was kept always deferential.

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 If the priest’s displeasure was clear upon his face, it was yet another aspect easily dismissed by the riverking, who regretted only that his wife lacked an exquisite throne upon which to hear her denizen’s concerns.

 His gaze was drawn back to the red prince, considering the length of his son’s sojourn.

 “Two months, should all go as planned, but no longer,” his suggestion addressed Toula. “Perhaps then we will invite neighboring nations to celebrate the spring equinox in Akashingo.”

 Surely by the time of Shemu the mazoi would have found a suitable place to erect their eternal palace; and Khaemwaset would have been named his mother's heir.

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 Toula listened in silence then, nodding her head as they both spoke. the timing all sounded reasonable! but her heart then ached, to think of her children beginning to go abroad. how quickly time was going!
 “we should come to learn of all of our neighbors—establish trade, to acquire goods,” how she missed the luxuries of Akashingo! but she turned to her husband, gaze sparkling, before looking back to the priest. “we must explore this land, and discover too its riches. there is surely much this place offers. it is the place the Gods have led us first,” and so she had begun to believe that going deeper into it would give them what they needed.

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