I endeavor always to be generous. Hotep answered with brazen amicability, with tail held level and bow withheld.

From his peripheral, that horrible mark upon the wall rose like her banner. It would be torn down, he knew Pharaoh had ordered it, and so refused to follow the track of her eyes to that which did not please him to behold. Her great works would go unacknowledged. The deliberate choice to disregard them, as though they had already been defaced, would be answer in itself.

There were no condemnations she would consider from him, he was certain. And nothing short of subservience she would accept, not now. He could not pretend he had any intentions of offering her such a thing. Hotep made his loyalties plain from the beginning.

To pursue her tracks would only give her control of their conversation.

Instead, he proclaimed, Your arrival here was tumultuous, daughter of Pharaohs. You woke far from the palace, and traveled without the comforts you are accustomed to. I am also a Physician. I would attend to your health.

A fellahin behind him brought forth a shell, and in it were arranged various herbs, tinctures, and poultice. Balms to mend cracks in the paws. Oil to refresh the skin. Incense to cleanse the breath.

Head tilted, glancing her up and down once, Unless your current state is more pleasing to you. Perhaps you seek to set yourself apart from your sister by proclaiming a more rugged mien.

In the eyes of most, Satakhetem was bathed and groomed and fit enough for display at court. (Except for the peculiar quirk that whenever she opened her mouth to speak, a thousand serpents of Nun slithered out.)

But a goddess aspirant must not be fit enough, she must be perfect, was it not so? Hotep probed at vanity.