The Pharaoh Seeks Out The Flames Of The North

[Beatrice]

"I love Prince Naser, and I know he loves me," Akasha continued, ruminating on her thoughts further. "Why would Naser deceive me and, for that measure, why would Abbas deceive me, welcoming me as a daughter?" Her horse sensed the tension in her, bucking her off and onto the ground below. "Are you tempting chaos between our nations, Princess? Is this what you wish, to ferment chaos between the nations of Midaranye because I assure you..." she paused, seeing the horse calmed before her chewing on a bit of clover.

"Why do you seek this chaos in my heart?" she said calmly, dusting herself off and petting the nose of the horse before her. "Naser has proven himself as my King, several times over, Abbas has proven himself, he could have easily taken advantage of the situation to expand his borders. Why would he wish any ill designs upon my Kingdom or her People? Why would he send the souls of his young men to die in my desert if he were anything but my friend?"

[Achkaerin]

Serenity got down off her horse and sighed a split second after hitting the ground "I've always spoken the truth to you, my father has always spoken the truth to you. I don't need to tempt chaos between the nations of Midaranye because honestly you and Heydar do such a good job of that yourselves without any comment or encouragement from the outside." she took something out of her pocket a photograph and handed it to Akasha "Kinda weird right? Taken in 2013 just a matter of weeks before he was assassinated." the photograph was of Akasha's father Pharaoh Rameses with Serenity's father Emperor Peter to date still the only official state visit of the Clysperi monarch to Achkaerin. "I've got the minutes of the meeting as well back at the castle it describes a positive meeting and several ideas, a shame they never saw the light of day, you ask why Abbas would act as he has? My question is why would he need to take advantage by occupation or more overt means when he can play the long game with Nasser?"

Taking a deep breath Serenity reached around her neck and undid the necklace she was wearing it was a little unusual for her in that it was closer to a cartouche in style than a normal pendant, on one side written in Achkaerinese was her name and then flipped over was her name in old Clysperi she showed it to Akasha "Your father gave me this on that visit, "let the old world meet the new" he said I guess he was trying to remind me to honour the traditions of Achkaerin while understanding the relationship to the world around me. That's how I view Achkaerin, that's how I view Mundus, I see one world not two, it's not us or them it's them and us. It's you and me right now the old world and the new as it were. We can stand here and debate all day or we can go and get something to eat and talk some more about the future, both our nations are on the journey here, you took the first step when you came here and asked for our help in your civil war something I doubt even Djerb saw coming I can only imagine Abbas's reaction to it, we took our first step in agreeing to help you. Step by step we've come to this point so..." she extended her hand towards Akasha "Will you take my hand and join the two or are we going to stand here with the metaphorical chasm between us?"

[Beatrice]

"I can see the hope shine in his eyes, do you see how brightly they shine? I admit, I am intrigued as to what words were exchanged, what ideas they discussed, it's clear that they left on good terms." She thought on Heydar for a moment, "Heydar sadly suffers the ego of a young boy and is incapable of doing one simple thing, something which need not be made public even, yet he refuses to relent. Sadly his choices preclude any progress until he's capable of swallowing his pride and it will not be I who relents first. Men who lead in Midaranye seem to believe they are the blessing of the Gods upon each nation they rule, that they know what is best. I cannot perpetuate that false notion, he must learn a lesson."

Upon Serenity showing her the necklace Akasha would reach for her cartouche, known to her to be worn only by pharaohs; to see that her father had gifted something such as this to the Princess gave her pause for consideration. "Certainly he would not speak lightly, nor make such a gift lightly...and just as our fathers stood together here we find ourselves standing together today." Akasha then took Serenity's hand while producing her phone in the other, capturing a selfie in the process. She showed the screen to Serenity, "looks good for an impromptu picture, and now we've one of our own. Where we go from here I must trust that it is ordained," she said smiling to the sky, "my father, amongst the gods, seeing the seeds he planted sprouting after a long winter."

[Achkaerin]

"Then I say we make sure they grow in the springtime and flower." Serenity said with a smile "Come on let's take this back to the Castle."

The ride back to the castle carried a different tone to the ride out, the weight had gone, what they'd needed to solve had been solved and now this was about something more than that, something different. Midvale Castle was one of the smaller castles on the list of properties the Achkaerinese crown owned but to Serenity it had its homey appeal, cosey, warm, it was at times her escape from stress, a place where she could be who she was without having to think about all manner of other things. They stabled their horses and headed inside, once there Serenity showed Akasha into what was essentially the living area of the castle before opening a drawer in a hand carved cherrywood desk and taking out a black leather bound notebook, tied with a red ribbon around it.

"Go on." Serenity said holding it out for Akasha to take "See for yourself what they talked about."

[Beatrice]

Akasha thumbed through the pages, taking notes on comments made as well as proposals which seemed to receive warm reception from both sides. "Here I thought I was making ground," she chuckled, "my Setri is impressive, but if it were backed by the trade arrangements which our fathers discussed it could be so much more, indeed, the entire economy would see a dramatic transformation especially if the Shat had been preserved and pegged to the Iso. We could have easily subdued Nekhtou with the military modernization and cooperation proposals here, and," she pointed, "repairing the damages to our cultural treasures, like the Sphinx, were even highlighted by your father. Seeing the North more closely tied, they were indeed on to many things. Though in some ways it makes what I've accomplished look as child's play in comparison."

"I do note that my father indicated his willingness for what I would call concessions but here, he calls them evolutions? "The Kingdom would agree to evolve beyond indentured servitude in entering a covenant with the Holy Empire, after which the Clysperi Shat shall be pegged to the Achkaerinese Iso. Furthermore, by evolving on the enslavement of prisoners of war the Kingdom shall see benefit in coordination to modernize the Royal Clysperi Armed Forces, ensuring that no foreign power holds sway over Khemnen by taking up the tools for defense, and in the service of Ma'at."

"Why would he have not have spoken of these moves with me? He did say that I could place my faith in Tamora, without reservation. What was transpiring behind the curtains that he could not share with me the larger picture? I can see nothing before me which would have served at the detriment of Clysperis, we could be in a much better position as a nation and people had these initiatives moved forward..."

[Achkaerin]

Serenity smiled slightly "My father has moments when he's doing his duties, when he's making decisions where he says the father in him wins out over the Emperor." she said "It strikes me that your father cared greatly for you, you got an education in Rokkenjima at a fine university, you were prepared step by step to sit on the Clysperi throne. I don't know why he wouldn't tell you but I can make a guess." she took a few steps and sat down opposite Akasha "Consider how this would have been viewed in Djerb, maybe not by the Emperor but certainly by certain factions, would Tamora have stood for it? What would they have done? What did your father suspect they might do? Suppose he suspected they might kill him, making sure you have a relationship with Tamora without knowledge of this meeting sounds a good strategy for a loving parent to protect their child.

Now regardless of our speculations as to motives, the proposals are there. And now I'll make one of my own." Serenity took a deep breath "There's a lot in there for you to process and a lot of things you might want to consider. I can say with certainty that these things are still on the table, the relationship our fathers wanted is still there and it's still going to be there until it's taken up or ruled out. So when you go home after this meeting, think about what's in there, think about what you want for your nation and then if you want to we can take the next step together, we can fulfill the promise of that meeting."

[Beatrice]

"Thank you," Akasha said warmly, "There is much to be considered and much to be done in the days and weeks ahead. Having seen what my father was working on before his death I know I want to see his vision become a reality. Even as our neighbours in Midaranye wished to see your Empire in one light, and even when they criticized me for making efforts outside of Midaranye, I knew in the response of your father when I first came here that my instincts were correct. Let us see now where this road takes us."