I was washing my feet today in the southern bathing pool --it's got the others beat by ten khets, the plants that hang along the borders of the pool .. just .. mmnh, I could relax there all day and my skin would keep the fragrance for a week.

So back to it. I was washing my feet and legs listening to the tittering distant soiree above on the south-west branch while I was in an almost stare off with this flamingo at the border of the pool with me. He started by getting closer and closer, apparently seeing me as less and less a threat until I gave him a bolting stare and he pulled his strutting leg back and stood rigid, and then turned his beak and head sidelong so he could bring his eye square with mine. I met the challenge and turned my head sidelong as well and gave him every bit of my fat green eye I could. It went like that for a while and then a giant beetle got his attention on one of the adjacent plants and he buggered off. So I tended back to my skincare before I stood up and walked over a few paces to the garden and grabbed a blue lotus and started emulsifying it with my hands to apply to my face. I got ready to daub it on and when I brought my hands to my face----the flamingo was back and looking dead at me again, only this time he had bug juice all over his lower beak and I let out an 'ewwwww' like anyone would and the pink binte blinked at me. I swear to you I was about to ring this mocking dodo's neck with my own hands, but then he was saved as Nadira and my friends approached up the stairwell at the other end of the pool.

As they came out of the stairwell, them talking to each other and the pool yard getting much louder quickly I started to squeeze some of the water out of my robe as the flamingo stand-off got me soaked. Within speaking distance, before sitting down, Nadira quipped-- 

"Daya, what were you doing with that bird?!"

I threw her my hand and told her with my eyes 'don't ask' and she laughed it right through with the kicker-- 

"I bet"

It was by now I heard the rumbling guffaw of the boy's posse following up the same stairwell. Some to-be guards, some to-be scribes, some to-be content with fetchers and runners, all of them teased by Tari. I said-- 

"Tari you really let them follow you"

Nadira came in quick-- 

"Of course she did, 'ye we're going up to find Daya, ya'll could come'"

Neretari then gave a look like 'annnd?' as she looked back over her shoulder to see each one of them looking in her direction. Nadira and I had small laughs with each other while Nefetari's pride only grew with our acknowledging laughs at what she was capable of. I stood up now to wring my robe out better, while Patra was already peering into the oily water, asking about the herbs I used in my skincare routine--

"Is that blue lotus? I've heard it does wonders for moisturizing but that half the people who try are allergic"--

"Ye it's lotus, if you want some there's still some petals right there"

I pointed beyond the light sandstone border. Nefertari unhappy with the slant of the conversation and much more given to gossip brought up the upcoming festival. I started to lose focus on the conversation as the subject didn't interest me when I saw Menes across the pool looking my way with that diffidence he usually has and I felt a little flattery but mostly pity. He's cute enough and a pleasant guy but every time I've talked to him he seems utterly content, talking of his plans for the life he'll make in this place, how he's optimistic and looking forward to it; uhn-uhn-- 

"Ye come awwn it could be fun"

Tari's inflection brought me back--

"You have to be invited to the festival and there's not enough good men that I like my odds",

Nadira quipped back before Nefertari seeing through Nadira shot in-- "Well at least Daya's got no problem for a date, she's got Menes waiting in the wings"

They snickered --- I glared at all three of them with a sardonia only described as thinking them incapable of making a salad while each one of their faces was like a kid who opened the present he found in the closet... ... ...They each burst out giggling and I let my faux anger dissolve into the same.

We settled onto the cool stone steps by the pool, chatting about everything from the latest dance steps at court we had heard of to the new fabrics the Queen had sent for from distant lands. Nadira started braiding Patra's hair, adding small flowers she had picked along the way, while Nefetari recounted a particularly amusing story about a young priest from a colony, who had gotten lost in the labyrinth of corridors. The flamingo, apparently satisfied with its bug hunt, wandered off, leaving us in peace. For a moment, surrounded by my friends and the sweet fragrance of the garden, I could almost forget the endless chores and duties that awaited us in the palace and at the same time the dreams I had of getting away from them.

It's the flooding season in the Kha'labal now, Akhet we call it. It arrives every year, always dependable, roughly between August and October 15th. Each oasis in the desert becomes engorged as rains pound the Kha'zeel and water spills out from it's high cliffs down into the Kha'labal. Work for Nadira and I swells at this time because it's the best part of the year to bottle certain sediments that wash up and therefore require less work to collect, as well as flowers that only bloom in this season which are valuable for various uses in Ankrahmun's ranging from fragrances to religion.

Nakh and I all but meet in secret now. When we were last together I described to him what the Delta looks like during Akhet, how beautiful it is, as if it were possessed my magic. I told him we should meet there in the small hours near the end of the week and he promised he would, so after my shift ends and I took evening libations and meal I went to sleep early. I dreamed.....

...

...

.....I awoke and stirred my jar of wine with my elbow a bit, the ceramic against the stone flooring made a dreadful echo all throughout the sleeping quarters, but no one else woke up. Above me the caverns had a faint spattered glow across their ceiling----during Akhet the luminescent Siofra Fungi that grow in these caves glows brighter, and it's like our very own night sky of bluegreen moonlight. I yawn as I make my way towards the delta but not before I pull out the Mask from a crevice in a cave wall and conceal it in my robes; priestess in training robes don't fall lower than under the knee and cover none of my arms but where they are absent they make up for it around our torso. No one ever notices the Mask among all these rumples and as Nakh first told me, based on how finely it has been made, the trinket is incredibly light and therefore it bothers me as no burden.

Down and up, twisting and around, through the labyrinth of stairwells and corridors I went. This place is a many-colored maze, it takes years to remember every bend and more to learn all its shortcuts. The servants passageways make things much quicker than the nobility largely know, well at least the visiting ones. At these times there are only two people you can meet in Khepresh. The first is the guard and he you must avoid or you'll have some serious explaining to do, the second is someone else like you who shouldn't be up, hahaa, and for the most part it doesn't matter much if they see you. They won't approach you -- at distance they can't tell who you are in the dark -- and above all they're fearing the same things about you catching them. Sometimes when I think there's more risk, for example if it's earlier in the evening, I will wear the Mask on my way to meeting Nakh; it may seem silly but I always feel more hidden when I have it whether wearing or not.

The rest of the night we spent exploring the delta, finding hidden alcoves and secret paths among the lush vegetation. We laughed and mocked in whisper, shared stories and dreams, and reveled in the ecstasy of being ourselves without fear of being discovered. We wandered hand in hand, the delta's luminescence lighting our way and casting a effervescent, idyllic light over everything.

As the night wore on, we found a secluded spot where we could lay down and gaze up at the glow above us. Nakh held me close, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on my arm, with my voice barely a whisper, "I wish this night would never end ... I wish it for all of them". Nakh without measure "...them continuing on is what possesses my dreams," but then he sighed "...if there was a way to make them more than dreams, something so my waking hours contained you beyond only my thoughts" ... he looked at me searching...

I nodded, feeling a pang of longing mixed with the sweetness of being with him now, "what if there is a way though? ..." He kissed my head and pulled me closer, "Well the philosophers do teach with time and will there is always one available to us."

We lay there in silence for a while more. The night slowly gave way and we could not linger for the longer we stay the more dangerous it will become for us being found out----all nights end like this, clinging to stay but the coming day forcing us to part, always ending too soon and catching up with us. Uninvitedly that time came again. As I gave him the Mask we shared the last kiss of the night and quickly agreed where our next night would be.

Nakh departed first as usual to make sure the way was safe, he could deal with being caught and if he was he ensured I would stay hidden. I gathered myself and made my way back through the vault of passageways and stairwells, the glow of the night guiding my way. As I reached the entrance to the sleeping quarters, I paused at the top of the well... "there must be"

Before long I was at the Royal Atrium taking the final stair down towards the drop off, and as I turned north the sound of water grew louder with the above being nothing but vaulted cave hundred meters of away. Treading into this watery paradise was better than any man-made garden----air thick with the sweet scent of blooming flowers and the faint hum of nocturnal insects. The water shimmered in hues of blue and green, reflecting the vivacious, almost otherworldly vegetation that surrounded it. Fireflies danced above the water's surface, their tiny lights flickering like stars in a wispy firmament.

I couldn't help but let out a soft sigh of contentment as I stepped closer to the water's edge. The ground was soft beneath my feet, covered in a thin layer of fine sand and moss. I reached down to touch the water, its coolness refreshing in the warm air. The bioluminescent organisms illuminated my hands and face, orating an ethereal glow that made me feel as though I was part of the magical scene.

I had just settled onto a smooth rock, my feet dangling in the water, when I heard a soft rustle behind me. I turned to see Nakh emerging from the shadows, his form silhouetted against the glowing backdrop. He moved with the grace of a predator, silent and sure, until he was standing beside me, his eyes reflecting like pools the same blue-green light that surrounded us.

"Addaya," he whispered, his voice in matching tone to the hum of the night. "This place is even more beautiful than you described. I've never been here during Akhet at night."

I smiled and reached out to take his wrist, pulling him down beside me so his arms wrapped around me. "I knew you'd love it. It's ours now, our own world away."

We sat there for a while, just enjoying the peace and each other's presence. Nakh's arm wrapped around my shoulders, drawing me closer to him. I leaned my head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. It was moments like these that made all the secrecy and risk worthwhile.

"Look," I said softly, pointing to a cluster of glowing flowers just a few feet away. "The Siofra Orchids are in full bloom." "I read about them the day we met in the library. They're actually fungi that during Akhet began to enter metamorphosis where in anticipation of spawning they resemble flowers so that bees and insects will be attracted to them but they trap them in turn becoming a food source."

Nakh leaned in closer, his breath warm against my ear. "How can you begin.. I forgot everything I read that day I saw of you."

I blushed and turned my face up to his, our lips meeting in a gentle, lingering kiss. The world seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of us in our secret cove. When we finally pulled apart, Nakh's eyes were filled with a desire that made my heart swell and know the same...

The rest of the night we spent exploring the delta, finding hidden alcoves and secret paths among the lush vegetation. We laughed and mocked in whisper, shared stories and dreams, and reveled in the ecstasy of being ourselves without fear of being discovered. We wandered hand in hand, the delta's luminescence lighting our way and casting a effervescent, idyllic light over everything.

As the night wore on, we found a secluded spot where we could lay down and gaze up at the glow above us. Nakh held me close, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on my arm, with my voice barely a whisper, "I wish this night would never end ... I wish it for all of them". Nakh without measure "...them continuing on is what possesses my dreams," but then he sighed "...if there was a way to make them more than dreams, something so my waking hours contained you beyond only my thoughts" ... he looked at me searching...

I nodded, feeling a pang of longing mixed with the sweetness of being with him now, "what if there is a way though? ..." He kissed my head and pulled me closer, "Well the philosophers do teach with time and will there is always one available to us."

We lay there in silence for a while more. The night slowly gave way and we could not linger for the longer we stay the more dangerous it will become for us being found out----all nights end like this, clinging to stay but the coming day forcing us to part, always ending too soon and catching up with us. Uninvitedly that time came again. As I gave him the Mask we shared the last kiss of the night and quickly agreed where our next night would be.

Nakh departed first as usual to make sure the way was safe, he could deal with being caught and if he was he ensured I would stay hidden. I gathered myself and made my way back through the vault of passageways and stairwells, the glow of the night guiding my way. As I reached the entrance to the sleeping quarters, I paused at the top of the well... "there must be"

We knew an old man who spent his time in the Celestial Symposium before he died. He loved the stars and what they could tell, he was a lifelong astrologist, augur, divinator, and so forth. For him the nebulous future was a constant treat, how it's constellations could hold any meaning for the viewer, some of which he said depended on them and some on fate.

He was blind, and he apparently had known my Prince since he was a boy. I met him a few years earlier when the high priestess was teaching us in these celestial quarters, how astronomy affected and influenced our vocation. Nakh and I, one early night, met here as if we were strangers. There were a couple stragglers from the evening's lectures, and with stragglers in earshot I asked the Old Man for a reading of the stars, which gave Nakh warrant to come closer. We listened to him and then asked him many questions, it went on like that for a few hours with everyone else departing the quarters as it did. When we were talking about the unknown being a force for motivation he told us with no fear or worry that he knew his end was becoming more and more bright, 'the stars bear me no mistelling on this' he said with a twinkle in his eye. Nahk and I shared eyes for a moment with shared understanding of what we were thinking----the old man caught this, and spoke 'no worry for that my children, the stars told me that quite a time ago, before even you knew most likely'. My heart started to thunder while Nakh stood rigid like a pillar, phrases like 'how much did he know' 'who did he tell' and so on clamored in my mind, but then the gentle look of the Old Man brought me back and his easiness in demeanor quickly had all concern abate and I felt safe, and Nakh followed this feeling. He was keeping his face on us, completely unintimidatingly but instead affable, and so we asked him to foretell our future. He looked then so gentle and kind, and so wise, that I was glad he was the one person of authority we chose to confide in up until that point----which itself felt so relieving.

He looked at his celestial charts and mused and calculated, he even studied the seasonal tides and sea currents. He took his time and betrayed no rush, and then in a moment snapped up tall and came back to us. He gave us a kind of knowing and pursed look with that characteristic twinkle, as if to say it's all ok. He told us that if we were to leave together, not Khepresh, not Ankrahmun, but the entirety of the Kha'labal, if we head away from these desert lands in any direction then we would find happiness and live long lives together for the rest of our days. 'But' he posed ... 'if you continue as you are now then eventually your love will doom you ... one night your passion will be your undoing, and you will be found out and what will follow will be nothing but bitterness.'

Nakh and I were glued to him, hanging on his every word. I don't know for sure what Nakh felt at that moment but I was rather just a bit blank. I didn't know what to do with the information just then, I was more bemused and thoughtless than anything.

Anyways we thanked the Old Man, and he wished us with a sheen in his eyes luck and goodness, and said he hopes the stars guide us to where we're going.