It was the sight of Khaemwaset he found most difficult to bear, though jodai stood before the yawning white stone tomb and felt very little. He was not so emptied of humanity to acknowledge the enormity of what had been taken in mere days from the house of Horus. His heart had been made a poor instrument for mourning, the occupation had seen to that, but he grieved, if not for the lost gods and high priestess, for the wounded living.
For Pharaoh, bowing head over the sacred dead beside Setemhotep. Only in silence did Sapair wonder what remained of such divine convictions when the gods had finished taking their khet. These deaths they could not undo.
His wife’s lament rose as a keen within the pale stone walls, the visage of the Nephthys upon her, a ferocity in devotion he could not dismiss as he would with others. She lent something of her own life to that procession into gilt fields. Her husband’s eyes are watchful, granting space until such a time that he may take her into his arms.
Sapair could not give her the comfort of believing that all would be well. He could not promise her that their children would be spared the same end. He could not offer Khaemwaset assurances that his reign would be blessed with heirs, or that the kingdom would endure whatever wrath the gods had yet to devise. He could only stand near and ensure the living would make something of their own eternity.
For Pharaoh, bowing head over the sacred dead beside Setemhotep. Only in silence did Sapair wonder what remained of such divine convictions when the gods had finished taking their khet. These deaths they could not undo.
His wife’s lament rose as a keen within the pale stone walls, the visage of the Nephthys upon her, a ferocity in devotion he could not dismiss as he would with others. She lent something of her own life to that procession into gilt fields. Her husband’s eyes are watchful, granting space until such a time that he may take her into his arms.
Sapair could not give her the comfort of believing that all would be well. He could not promise her that their children would be spared the same end. He could not offer Khaemwaset assurances that his reign would be blessed with heirs, or that the kingdom would endure whatever wrath the gods had yet to devise. He could only stand near and ensure the living would make something of their own eternity.