Chapel Orahamm

Ptolemy took Amami for the day to introduce him to the halls and keep him out of the way of the guards and staff while Nebra disappeared into the corridors of the palace.  This left Seth and me to walk the grounds to quietly plot our next movement. The teahouse and the massive pond in the midst of my family houses sat, calmly waiting on us to decide to take up residence for the afternoon.

“You would have him use his fire in the temple?” Seth eased into my grasp, settling into a pool of their black robes while I propped myself against the gilded wall for us to watch the edge of the pond and the hunting park beyond it.

“What do you think of him?” I hedged their question.

“I thought him a mouse at first.” They traced cool fingers up my cheek, his dark eyes amused.

“Got a bit of a bite, doesn’t he?” I rolled into their hand to nuzzle at their palm.

“Sure doesn’t appreciate your forward approach. He’s not Ptolemy,” he chuckled.

“None of you are like Ptolemy.” I caught the edge of their thumb in my teeth as the tips of his fingers skimmed my jaw.

“Ptol’s good for you. Amami might be that nice counterpoint. Will have to see, huh?” They leaned closer, kissing my cheek. I let up on their finger to capture their mouth. They pushed for me to move from the wall. I slid down to the side, their hands splayed against my chest.

“What do you think of him? Of his dynamic in our house?” I twisted so they would find a more comfortable perch. They settled into the cradle of my hips. Heat snapped up my sides at their soft pressure.

“I’m not sure yet. Hard to assess in just two hours of talking to him. I don’t get bad feelings off his personality. If anything, he lacks a bit of faith in himself is all.” They nipped at my chest, their eyes playing like that of a cat who had found their mouse.

“What is the temple brainwashing the people with?” I found the crease of their thighs, slipping along ample curves to settle them a bit more fully, if only to ask for some other things to be resolved than just our conversation on the wab.

“Patience, pharaoh.” They wiggled to hear me groan.

“Are we doing something here in the teahouse or are you just teasing?” I flicked a glance to the open doors. They weren’t usually partial to the possibility of being seen.

“Teasing. It’ll make things more interesting this evening.” They shrugged, the collar of their robes coming loose to give me a view I could die in.

“You’re being mean.” I fixated with a new curve, one that would yield to my touch in mesmerizing ways.

“And you had to bring the wab in.” The lace of their binding was a pure white and tickled against my chest.

“You don’t like him?” I ran the pad of my thumb along the line of lace to admire the texture.

“Not what I said.” Their black manicured nails traced circles across my sternum.

“You found someone you want to play with?” I guessed. They slid against me and dammit, if I moved they’d be exposed to the whole courtyard.

“I have my doubts he’d be in favour of my methods.” Their eyelashes drifted, gaze sliding away from me. Pink dappled their cheeks.

“Why doubts? It’s not that we’ve exactly given him much of a chance to show us his, how were we referring to it?” I thought back to our conversation from the morning.

“Needs and desires?” Seth sat back to run swirling patterns down my ribs.

Heaven had to be real. Black silk robes and white lace made for a great combination. I cleared my throat, nodding.

“Nebra makes him nervous. If she makes him nervous, I can only imagine his reaction to me handling him.” They pushed at their black waterfall of hair. Drawing my gaze up from everything I dearly wanted to touch, I caught that wistful look they got in their eye when they wanted to try something and were too scared to say.

“Nebra is a foot and a half taller than him. She’s the same height as me. Most men can be a touch intimidated with someone who can probably headlock them into the afterlife.” I inched my way up from their thighs to petite waist. Their eyebrow raised at my motion. “What?” I tried to hide the smile trying to escape from the left corner of my lips.

“I know where you’re going.” Their eyes were back to amused cat. They leaned into me once again, and I found warm weight in my palms. Yes. Yes, a god exists. There’s this texture thing between that smoothness and silk dripping down my arms and that slight scratch of lace. Amused cat. They was practically purring. “One touch, pharaoh.”

“You’re daydreaming, aren’t you, my little obsidian blade?” I slipped my hands around their binding, under their robes, to their back and tugged them down to look me in the eyes.

“He’s cute.” They didn’t flinch from my staring. A deep tourmaline, boarding on onyx shade returned my gaze, clear and honest.

“Agreed.” I left off my love affair with gemstones to nibble up the column of their throat.

“And I want to fuck him.” They flopped forward, spreading themself across me in dejection.

“Fuck him or be fucked by him?” I went hunting for the hooks of his binding.

“Close to what I’m about to do to you if you get my binding off,” they threatened. I found the eye closure and slipped the first hook. They rose up to give me that you-can’t-be-serious look they liked to throw around. “What? Nebra and Ptolemy had their moment this morning and we’re both in agreement Amami is cute. Now I’m horny. Where’s your equipment when we both need it?” I got the next hook undone.

“In my room. Reason I said wait until this evening.” They rested his chin in his palm and waited for me to figure it out.

Stopping, I waited for our conversation to replay. I caught the drift, kissed their forehead, and fought to get the hooks closed again. “I swear, your sleeves are deep enough you carry around books, how do you not bring along everything else?” I returned the last hook back to its rightful place.

“You’ve seen me drop my books out of my sleeves.” They leaned back once more, this time pulling their robes back across paradise.

“Alright, yes, I see how that could be awkward.” I crossed my hands behind my head to rest against.

“Ptolemy took an instant liking to him. Probably reminds him of a lost puppy. Nebra has gone completely big sister on him.” Seth slid off of me, their robes gracing me with somewhere to hide while I tried desperately to pull myself back together. That was not going to be achieved any time soon with the soft tops of their thighs giving me a glimpse of more white lace.

“Will there be jealousy, do you think? What if he’s a one-person type of person and doesn’t want to share? For all we know, he may have zero interest in any of us.” I offered up that thought.

“You didn’t see what Nebra and I saw with that honey kiss. But what then, Henu? If he had no interest?” Seth rose, putting his wardrobe back in order.

“He has the freedom to keep to himself. I won’t take that from him. As I won’t take it from any of you.” I rolled to lean on my hand, regarding his delicate gracefulness.

“Post proceedure, he may lose all interest entirely if the nobles get a say.”

I swallowed at that reminder. My arousal diminished quickly with that thought. “The pain from being knicked such that I’ll never be able to provide children was something I never want to experience again. I don’t want to think of what it must be like to be completely…Anyways.”

“If there is jealousy, we work it through and see what the next best choice is for all of us.” Seth shrugged. Pulling a red lacquer comb from their sleeves, they settled on a low cushion to work their floor-length locks back into obedience. “These moments, off on our own, are nice sometimes. A little less coordination. But watching the dogpile that is you, Nebra, and Ptol is also fun. I have to wonder how long it would take, if he’s disposed to that kind of thing, before he gets in the midst of it all.” They watched the koi fish form patterns in the pond below the teahouse, but his gaze was half focused. He was off in his own world.

“For now, it will behoove us to just have him as my Heirophant. I’ve needed someone to take over the regency for too many years. Adom has needed to be replaced since his prejudices started leaking out. I just didn’t know any of the staff well enough to take over the spot, and it felt weird.” I leaned against the wall once more.

“You’ve seen him for two-three hours, and you trust him more than the same staff you’ve seen for the last fifteen years?” Their words held the lilt of skeptic amusement, but no ill intent.

“You should have seen him in there, Seth. He’s this gentle wave. He gathers, and there’s nothing ostentatious about his methods. Genuine concern and quiet. At first, I thought him timid, but then I found fire in his eyes. There’s a rod of silver in his spine.” I admired the flurry of clouds passing by the dome panels, sending sparks of scattering fuschia and lavender across the sky.

“You think he might be the one that can unite the classes?” Their voice sank to a whisper, a note of concern warning me to keep the conversation constructed carefully.

“My people are dying keeping this sinking ship afloat.” A rain of sparks sent slithering ripples of orange bands across the panels.

“The Mariners?” Seth studied my interest. I nodded mutely. The Mariners. A scattering of outsiders, they were the detested of the villages.

Ramses had picked me up from the street, buying me from my dying mother when I was no more than a year. He brought me into the palace and put his faith in my abilities. Mariners were in my blood, though. The palace had no memory of where I had come from. Ramses, upon his deathbed, had left it with me, though, that I had come from the Mariners, and that my mother had died. He knew nothing of my father. I was left to wonder what, if any family relations I had.

“You think he could traverse the hierarchies?” They turned to the low red table next to him, poured water into a pair of glasses, and handed me one.

I contemplated the cut glass, shards of orange and purple sparkling against it from the dome panel reflection. “Screw the attracted bit for the moment, Seth. I think he can. I really do. His fire is gentle. This is something that I can’t control. I’m bound to my role, and so much of it is hinged on the role of religion that I just can’t wrap my head around. I have to work in these roles that make no sense. I still don’t understand what Ramses’s purpose was of me. But if I need a priest, I need one that can do what the other priests can’t. I need one that can work magic. So many of the Ustor have been thrown out, that not very many in the temples, the common people, have seen them up close. They wouldn’t know what he’s doing. It would be real to them. It was real to us.” I sipped at the water.

“Then we will let the sticks fall and count our fortunes on the stars,” Seth reassured.

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