There it is! The face he so adores.

The Pharaoh beamed before her like a child and touched her cheek ever so fondly. Darkness it was that surrounded her, but he could not help but be blind of the light that stretches from the mere sight of her lips. With both hands now reaching for her face, Ramesses leaned to give her a kiss. It would be a sin not to! Right when it was there like a question, waiting to be responded by him with his own mouth. Such joy it was to be answered. “And who dare bothers my dear Shoshan aside from me? Now you leave me worried.”

☾     “Your energy would be wasted in worrying over me, my King, though I am flattered your care is directed towards me. I speak merely of spirits,”  answered Shoshan, her hands on his chest for a moment as she rose up on her toes to kiss his lips again. Every time his lips touched hers, or even any part of her body, it felt like a blessing from the old gods gracing her skin. If she didn’t know any better, it almost felt like romance. The thoughts of spirits becoming familiar with her and latching onto her as she reentered the world of the living, while fearful, disappeared from her thoughts as easily as her mask from her face.

“How do you do it, my King...,” she questioned, leaning back into the table she had been working on before pulling herself on top of it to sit, crossing her legs at the ankles. “How do you make me feel so special every time you visit me, even if only to check on me? When I am with you, I feel like I am your only wife, though I know full well I am not.”

“ Yes. It was an arduous journey to arrive here, as there are many mountains and deserts separating this land and that. ”

Maye did not mind the obvious question, keeping a rather relaxed posture as she finished her meal. Her brow twisted at the further questioning, two parts surprised and one part perturbed. Had she been cursed with naivete ? A troubled hum rings from the woman’s throat.

“ …They do love beauty. Beautiful people, beautiful places, beautiful things… Some people want to own that beauty. Pharaoh, himself, can bed any beautiful woman he’d wish to have. Only a powerful man can have any woman. ”

It was none against the Pharaoh, however… She recounts her tale, keeping her eyes shut. It was so many years ago, now. How long ? Eleven – no, thirteen years.

“ Even if that woman had turned down a line of men asking for her hand, even if she refused him. What does a man do, who has all the power in the land, beautiful women to bed – and yet a beautiful young woman who wasn’t swooning at the very invitation ? It was a grave insult to him, but she’d be his. He hired men to abduct this girl, not to harm her, and bring her to his arms. The night she arrived at a grand palace of red, he bedded her. She became his concubine; and his very favorite one, at that. That is why I say unfortunate. ”

☼     Nenet listened to Maye with her pretty pink lips parted in wonder --- she supposed she had never thought of the Pharaoh that way... She had figured that having many wives was just... well, actually, Nenet had never really thought about it. He was so kind, though, Nenet was sure he wasn’t so licentious as to have relations with all this wives. No, that’d be silly --- he’d have so many children!

Well... before Maye continued her story, Nenet figured that any man who asked for a woman’s hand and was turned down would go on his way... but that was not how the story ended. She continued brushing Maye’s hair quietly while she listened, but Nenet got the feeling there was more to the story than Maye was letting on.

“Fuhahaha! A humble jest you speak! Surely I am allowed to come see my wife at any given time of the day?” The Pharaoh’s mood was rather pleasant. Too pleasant, in fact. So much that he had wandered about in the temple halls without a crown. Why would he be in need of one? He had only sought to check upon Shoshan and nothing more. The bright smile of the Pharaoh easily put the sun in its place. But ah, how unsightly! Ramesses lowered the disrespectful cover on her face. “I have told you not to hide your beauty from me, ever.”

☾     Shoshan’s lips parted as she smiled, her hands leaving the stone bowl to rest on his abdomen just above his hips. As his fingers lowered her mask, it dissipated into shadow like dust in the wind to unveil her face. It was made of shadow, after all. She was hesitant to demonstrate her magic in front of others when she first got here, but the shaman was growing more comfortable here with every day, and was most comfortable with the Pharaoh. 

☼     Nenet sat cross-legged on the stone floor leaning over a small saucer of water, using it as a mirror to look back at herself. Her fingers were covered in a black substance; she was going to have to carefully wash her fingers when she was done or else she would get it all over the white linen of her dress. 

Carefully and slowly with deliberate but hesitant strokes, Nenet tried to line her eyes with kohl, the way the Egyptians did it. She didn’t have kohl of her own; one of the women she had delivered laundry to that morning had kindly lent it to her when she had complimented her make up.

Nenet was nearly done... nearly.... Oh!   Nenet dropped the kohl onto the floor and sat up straight, her eyes shut tight. She had poked herself in the eye with it, and now her eye was starting to water. Would that ruin all the work she had done!? She shifted how she was sitting and patted her bare feet against the floor, giving a small pained hum. 

Arising from her slumber, hair having splayed itself across the bed and nearly entrapping it’s owner, Maye blinks blearily at the cheerful attendant. A hazy smile eventually forms, and a semblance of a thank you slips from her lips in her drowsy stupor as she helps herself to her morning meal.

It’s enough to wake her and the woman doesn’t seem all that surprised by the question posed onto her as she chews on one of the dates. If she missed something - it was tea. So many mixtures could be used to flavor to the fresh water; it was none quite like it. She swallows, humming.

“ At least you are tactful of your question, young Nenet. Many have not been as polite. I am from a land in the Far East… The… hmm… How do I translate it… The Middle Kingdom ? Yes, the Middle Kingdom. Many have an appearance as I, though I was unfortunate to be born with beauty. ”

☼     Nenet took a hair comb from a nearby table and sat behind Maye while she ate, respectfully brushing her hair --- starting at the bottom and working her way up. As a curly haired girl, Nenet sure knew how to handle morning tangles. She worked diligently and gently so that Maye could eat in peace while Nenet fixed her hair for her.

“The far east... So really far east of here?” she asked, thinking as the words left her lips that that was a stupid question to ask. The uneducated Nenet had never heard of the Middle Kingdom, and she had trouble imagining many people looking like Maye.

How does your muse want to be seen by others? By the Pharaoh?

☾     Shoshan would like to be viewed as hostile by others. If every other member of the harem and local area was wary of her, that would be great. She is just as misanthropic here as she is at home on her rocky island she would like to be left alone to do her work in peace. As Shoshan sees it, she did not come here for them --- she came here for Ramesses. 

As for how she wants to be viewed by the Pharaoh, she wants him to think of her as indispensable. Given her temperament, this kind of environment does not lend itself to her, and she is sure that her personality is not typically welcomed in his harem. If she can impress him with her magic enough through her work as a shaman, she figures he won’t kick her out or send her away --- and staying here would fulfill the fate she saw for herself. She won’t change herself to fit in, but if she can make it so that the Pharaoh needs her here, she feels she’ll be welcome. Between guarding the line between the living and the dead, seduction, and the offer of wisdom, Shoshan thinks the Pharaoh may be inclined to keeping her.

How does your muse see themselves?

Shoshan considers herself to be at a short stage in her eventual long life that she’ll remember forever. She already Knows that she and the Pharaoh will cross paths again in an unknown future possibility, when they are both dead. Her being here in Egypt is changing the course of her fate. She knows that this stay here is changing the magic she will use in the future, which will in turn change the training that she gives her students, which in turn will change the talents that the heroes she teaches demonstrate, altering history that has not yet happened. It is very important that she is successful while in Egypt, and she’ll let nothing come in the way of that. She will study and take the magic of the Egyptians for herself, and she will live a mark on the Pharaoh. Nothing will stop her.

What is your muse’s strongest character trait? Weakest character trait?

Shoshan’s strongest trait is that she is a genuine strong independent woman. Shoshan is mature, pragmatic, and wise. She is knowledgeable, worldly (even Otherworldly), and does not tolerate disrespect. She knows her value and worth and has no issues demonstrating it. Shoshan is an unfriendly sort of charismatic. When she walks in a room, the atmosphere changes. Her very presence is foreboding and enough to send a chill down a weaker person’s spine.

As for her weakest trait, Shoshan has little regard for other people, especially people she deems as ordinary. Shoshan is rude, cold, and for lack of a better word, a bitch. This will not win her many friends in Egypt. Independence is a strong trait until it shifts into misanthropy, after all; she needs to learn to open up and stop disdaining weakness (though, she never will). It could be a hard 70 years in Egypt if everyone in Egypt but the Pharaoh hates her.

How competitive is your muse in all aspects?

Shoshan does not compete with people because she’s certain she’s already the best. I told you she was arrogant. Show her a warrior; she’s sure she can kill them without breaking a sweat. Bring her another shaman; she knows no one can handle the dead like her. Shoshan exists in absolutes; she is the greatest warrior she’s ever known and she is the guardian of the Otherworld. Life is not a competition when there is no competition. She’ll brag if prompted, but she hates other people so much that she keeps her arrogance to herself most of the time.

Is your muse impulsive or premeditative?

How does your muse want to be seen by others? By the Pharaoh?

☼     Nenet wants to be viewed as helpful! There are few things Nenet loves more then being of assistance to others and putting smiles on their faces. If she could make every member of the Pharaoh’s harem and home happy at least once a day, then she thinks she’s done her job. With regards to Ramesses in particular, she’d like it if he understood that she’s genuinely trying her best, even though she is very clearly in the process of adapting to this kind of lifestyle. The simple work that she has been given as an attendant is sometimes very hard on her because of her health, but she is prepared to do her best every day no matter what. She would never want to let him down after the chance he’s given her.

How does your muse see themselves?

Nenet sees herself as in a very precarious situation. She is an Israelite in Egypt in the lion’s den and she’s about halfway sure that the Pharaoh doesn’t know she’s from Canaan, but she isn’t certain on that. She knows she has to keep her heritage and religion quiet, even though she doesn’t personally see it as a very big deal. She would like to be naive and say that it doesn’t matter, but even Nenet knows that it matters. Nenet believes that she was brought here for a reason, that reason being to serve as a ‘concubine’ and do laundry and clean and work and live here and make others comfortable; and what’s wrong with that? God wouldn’t put her somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be. As for how she feels about the treatment of her people at the hands of the Egyptians while she is in relative safety, she just doesn’t think in terms like that. She is a very young girl who doesn’t see the big picture and is just trying to do her best in her own little life. A bolder or more worldly woman might try to use this kind of position to help her people, but Nenet is more concerned about folding the laundry the right way and making sure she doesn’t trip when the Pharaoh walks by.

What is your muse’s strongest character trait? Weakest character trait?

Nenet’s strongest trait is her boundless optimism, hope, and faith in people. Nenet firmly believes that all people are good. All people are deserving of forgiveness. And if one believes enough, one’s faith will be rewarded in the end. There are good things to come, if one just holds on long enough. If one were to ask her the meaning of life, she would say that it is to help and love each other. For her, there’s no other way to live than to love one’s fellow man.

Her weakest trait is her absolute inability to handle serious conflict. Nenet shies away from arguments and fighting, removing herself from the situation rather than face it head on --- often to hide herself away to cry. Nenet falls to absolute pieces when under pressure. When leaving a fight or argument, she’ll return to the other person like nothing every happened, preferring to just ignore whatever happened in favor of being ignorantly blissful.

How competitive is your muse in all aspects?

Nenet is not competitive in the slightest. Rather than competitive with other people, she is genuinely excited for other people to be doing so well in whatever that is. She shares in the enthusiasm, rather than being jealous or competitive. If someone can knit a blanket faster than her, she’s excited that they’re so good at it. If someone gets complimented on their hair and she gets ignored, she’s thrilled that her friend was flattered. Nenet is not competitive at all.

Is your muse impulsive or premeditative?

“As I said, it suits you much more than me. It’s served its purpose, but now it has a new one,” Olefumi replied to her, straightening the brooch so that it shone nicely on Nenet’s dress. She smiled at her, pride and joy welling up within the shaman seemingly out of nowhere. And it did suit the young woman well in Olefumi’s eyes.

“I’m certain even our pharaoh would appreciate this new look for you, Nenet~” Olefumi beamed. “Come now, I have some more accessories for you if you wish.”

☼     “You think the Pharaoh would like it... My goodness...,”  giggled Nenet, brushing aside her fluffy blonde bangs and blushing. The Pharaoh... He was so kind and handsome and strong and just... She sighed. It would seem that Nenet had a bit of a very suitable crush on the man who decided to keep her. 

“Ah yes, these will do. Thank you, Nenet,” she said to the young woman as she took the piece of bread. With both hands, she halved the loaf easily and then offered it to Nenet. “This is quite a lot of food for me to eat all by myself, child. You should have some of this food for yourself.”

Still, Olefumi began chowing down on her half of the loaf and one of the fish in the basket. Though a rather simple meal, this would surely satisfy her hunger for the next few hours. The shaman was most grateful for having such a bright and eager young woman be her company here in the royal palace of the pharaoh.

“Go on, you should have your fill as well,” she once again offered to Nenet.

☼     Nenet blinked at the half of bread that Olefumi was holding out, but instinctively reached for it anyway even though she knew it wasn’t for her. She had the dirty piece of bread on her lap, anyway. Was she giving this to her to eat? She looked at the bread in her hand for a moment before breaking off a piece with her fingers, a small piece, and carefully ate it. She chewed an excessively long time... and she waited a while before eating her next bite, careful of upsetting her delicate stomach. 

“Oh... Oh, I’ll just eat this bread, thank you. Too much food at once and it’ll upset my stomach...,”  said Nenet, excusing herself from partaking in the dates and the fish. If she ate bread, fish, and fruit, her stomach would hate her. Just a few bites of bread was fine by her.

@ankhanub || Starter - Dead Bite

“… What would you do if your life’s on the line?”

She doesn’t wait for a reply, and silences the intruder with a brusque swing of her short sword. It was on a whim, perhaps, that she had posed that question towards them, but a moot one at that. After all, those who dare to set foot into the palace without leave from the guards or from the pharaoh himself with weapons in hand have only themselves to blame. Perhaps Anubis would be kinder to them in the Hall of Judgment.

Sheathing her partner after wiping the blade clean, Sefu spares a glance behind her.

“I apologize for the unsightly display. Are you alright?”

☼     Nenet was entirely unprepared to see such terrible violence played out in front of her. She had only just processed the strange question that departed the... warrior’s? ... mouth when the ugly sound of flesh cut by metal resounded, halting the fragile blonde in her tracks behind the other woman. Her eyes were wide and fearful, her pink lips parted. Suddenly, her long trembling legs gave out and her knees hit the floor and the basket of fruit she was carrying was dropped, dates spilling out onto the stone floor.

Alright? Nenet was not alright.