thrilling privately to himself, khaemwaset had not been able to sleep much the day before, at last setting himself to swim until that at last exhausted his muscles. now beneath the moon he stood in glinting godhead, his eyes upon neith alone with a small bow to his mouth. they would be separated during travel, for he must stay abreast with sapair and his escort, and she with her own.
but before all their company he kissed her, gazed into the garnet eyes that had for so long been the only ones to know those ineffable places within the secret heart of pharaoh.
there was no order for his sister, Queen of Satriya; he said unspoken that he must not have her in the vanguard -- not yet.
bathed in the knowing light of Thoth, their company was splendid, he saw, a column of strong bodies well-fed by mutual aim. the makings of an army, two courts springing up amid the power of the gathering around both himself and the queen.
khaemwaset enjoyed the spectacle of it, of the company stretching out to settle around their royals. sapair's strong voice echoed hard in the veiled morning, and he felt a great anticipation to meet these moor-dwellers, though already he longed for the splendor of the sands in which the obelisk reared.
the jodai stood to his left, and khaemwaset motioned vaguely that bodies should shift to clear merneith's path. it was not lost on him that his captain had not announced his sister, though he was too filled with the journey to be angered.
it would not do for him to correct the man, not when a pair of strangers had come on strong rejoin to the summons. instead he remained unreadable, letting his eyes take quickly the measure of the powerful pale woman and the equally intimidating man at her side. co-einvald, he noted. so they shared the leadership. jaxxon and nyra, einvalds of jakten, began the young Horus in smooth tones, tail gleaming ironwood in a long arc. the gods of satriya have decreed that a sojourn to give word of our kingdom should be undertaken. i and my august sister, the Queen Merneith, aspire to peace and to trade with our allies, and there was a pause of invitation for the alabaster woman and the dark-hued warrior, should agreements be made. but as a show of goodwill, we have brought a sampling of beauty from the far-flung sands and would like to share a taste of it with jakten.
khaemwaset would promise no large measure of gifts until welcome was given by nyra. he saw the hardness in her which was minutely reflected in jaxxon. would she be more than teeth, however? he had to assume that a fighting mind lay behind the cold greeting, and that she had reason to give potential insult to so many at her border.
patiently, he waited, expecting that y’var’la had been close to hear all things and to record them in her mind.
to accept meant that negotiations could be had, but not before a mutual meal of affability. there were the manners of court to observe. all began with a single acceptance or denial of the nuanced power which pharaoh cupped in proverbial palm.