Princess, Crown Not Included

"Astarte..." I didn't remember telling my mouth to open, but the word slipped out of its own accord. She kept her eyes fixed on the ground, not daring to look at me. I gathered myself and adressed her again, less viciously, but anger still bit at the edges of my words. "What are you doing here? Surely you know that the Valley of the Kings is not public!" She muttered something, and, unwillingly, I snapped again. "Speak properly to your Pharaoh!"

"I'm sorry, Ra-son, I meant no disprespect, least to your esteemed father..." She swallowed audibly and began to pull her hair away from her neck. "Please, tell Femii I'm sorry..." A puzzled expression stole its way over my face, and by now all anger had evaporated from my body.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't care if you execute me, I deserve it for my sin against the Gods, but only tell Femii I'm sorry I couldn't be there for her anymore..." I was stunned. The girl genuinely believed I was going to kill her just for being at my father's tomb. Not only that, but her last request wouldn't be a plea for life, it was that her friend knew she was sorry for gtting herself killed and not being there for her any longer. She was a remarkable being.

"Astarte..." She looked up, shocked I knew her name. "Yes, I know you... I'm not going to kill you," I brushed her hair back from her beautiful face, dimly registering the shiver that passed through her at the touch. "But I do want to know why you are here in the first place."

"A foolish personal reason, Light of the Sky, nothing to trouble you..." She kept her eyes on the ground as she spoke, using another of the archaic names that I had to put up with. How I wished people would just call me somthing simple, like Pharaoh, or even... no, it wouldn't be proper for subjects to use my real name. Still, it would be nice. I pressed her on to tell her reason. "Well.. your honored father... he was a great man, My lord King, kind and just... he goverened this people wisely. I respect him for that, and I come to show that respect." She was still standing in that awkward position, half bowed and bent over. On instinct, and going against all protocols and social orders, I sat down in the sand against the granite, and invited her to sit next to me.

"I couldn't, Morning Star. It would not be seemly.."

"Oh come on, who's going to see? My father?" I'd won! Her silvery giggle almost shimmered in the air as it escaped her, and she conceded and sat down next to me. We must have made a nice sight: my full Pharaoh outfit, gold bits and crown included, next to her simple white linen shift dress.

A few seconds passed in silence, before we both turned to the other, our mouths opening to speak. We both laughed,and I gestured for her to go first.

"I was just going to say, you are so like your father, My Lord. You wish so badly to continue to rule as well as he, and you do... you feared you could not follow in his footsteps, but you have, and more... everyone in Egypt is completely enamoured of you." Her mouth began to form another sentence, but she bit it back, and blushed slightly. "Now, you were going to say something, My Lord?"

"I was only going to say, when you thought I was going to kill you, you asked I tell... Femii?" I looked for affirmation on the name, which she gave. "You asked I tell her sorry... why?"

"Because, not to sound pretentious or arrogant, but she needs me," She stated, keeping her eyes on the ground still. "The other girls... they tease her because of her hair, once they tried to attack her. The priests don't care, she says I'm the only one she can trust. Everyone else only sees her hair, they see the red and don't bother to look any deeper. If they did, they'd see she's the kindest, sweetest girl in all of Egypt..." She trailed off with a rueful grin, blushing at the length of her speech. We sat in silence a few moments more, lost in our own thoughts.

It was true that the girl with whom Astarte seemed to have a strong friendship had flamingly vibrant red hair, and easy to see why the jealous girls, whose own hair colours ranged from mud to black should be jealous of the girl's natural beauty and hide it behind contempt. And, speaking from painful experience, temple maidens could be jackals. Literally.