(https://i.postimg.cc/Ssy1nNfz/Nafu-Pyramids.png)
Khemnen Palace and the Pyramids of Nafu dominated the skyline
Prince Naser had arrived Khemnen less than a week before and was beginning to become accustomed to the place or sort of. Sure the city was much smaller than Djerb but that was to be expected since Djerb was larger in population than countries like Vanora or Safraen. And Khemnen had a lot to offer in terms of architecture and a certain ancient feel that the city had despite the horrendous scars the Soviet occupation left all over the city. If rumors were true the authorities were considering a restoration of the most important landmarks that had been literally mutilated by the Soviets starting with the Sphinx but knowing Clysperis’ financial condition he doubted that was more than wishful thinking. There were also some downsides of course like the fact that he couldn’t understand a word the people were saying and their writing was a mess. Worse still few of the locals could speak Parthian.
Like most Safavids he hadn’t traveled much aboard, for them aboard meant going in the federated kingdoms of Tamora, going outside the Empire was a rare thing. So it was no surprise that many in Djerb interpreted his detachment to Clysperis as exile rather than actually doing something. It made sense in a way to see things like that, he had recently lost the competition for being named Crown Prince so sending him away made sense so as to not create issues with Jamshid (https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=862.msg8945#msg8945), his brother. However, he did have a mandate from Abbas and that’s all he cared for now.
As he got to his room, he decided to spend time reading the news from TINS:
“Speculations over the amount Djerb will pay for Princess Thekla” was one headline.
“Overpaid” Naser said to himself “Why on Earth would Abbas pay 7.5 billion dinars/usd for the Seleucid Princess? Tamora doesn’t need those useless ships and Tamora is in a recession so tax revenues are dropping and with the Seleucid food crisis, Tamora also suspended sales tax on food which means a further cut in revenues.” Naser had nothing against the Seleucid or the Soter but did not share his father’s enthusiasm for them.
“Crown Prince Jamshid Safavid to go on vacation in Royal Seleucid at the Royal Lake Palace (https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=845.msg12871#msg12871) “ was another headline
Naser chuckled as he read that one. He knew how much Jamshid disliked going aboard and how passionate he was about his faith. He didn’t even like Muslims. To have him marry a polytheist and having to go aboard to spend time with her must be pain for him thought Naser. And unlike Abbas, Jamshid didn’t like the Seleucid at all so Princess Thekla would have a hard time to change his mind. “Which serves him right” he thought. After all if the Church hadn’t gotten involved he was sure Abbas would have named him Crown Prince. He knew that Jamshid wanted to join the Brotherhood of Tamora and become celibate until Abbas knocked some sense into him. His brother never wanted to be Emperor so that made him the best possible candidate for both their mother and the Church as they would be ones running the Empire in all but name.
Since TINS made several references to Pharaoh Bektaten social media account and he decided to check it out:
“OMG, what is that woman doing? She is purposely antagonizing foreign powers and foreign leaders. And she’s making accusations against the Morelander MoD without any evidence to back them up. She acts like our press.” Naser was genuinely shocked since the Tamoran government was always extremely reserved when making statements. Even when foreign nations hammered the country with sanctions they never retorted with more than generic statements that said nothing. Even with the Slavans, Abbas was always careful in public to preserve the dignity of the throne and not “appease the masses” as he often said. “No wonder that TINS and no doubt the Tamoran people liked her, she is speaking more like the press and the Church rather than a sovereign.” “The woman must be reined in or she will get the entire region in trouble. These foreign leaders all have ego the size of skyscrapers, personally insulting them makes them enemies for life and Mundus is full of monarchies so they stay in power for decades. What has she been learning in Rokkenjima?”
Naser wondered if Bektaten was truly committed to reforming her country, a term he personally disliked as it gave connotations that implied that political reforms were also on the table. “Grow the economy sounds better” he said to himself. His doubts were not related to her twitter account but to the fact that bureaucracies and interest groups tended to have a strong grip on governments gutting any attempts at reforms. “There is no way to know unless you put it to the test” he said to himself. Next week he will leave aside the boring part about harmonization of financial regulations between the two countries’ financial systems and go bold: suggest an immediate 25% cut in tariffs between the two nations. Tamora had little to worry about since its economy was large but Clysperis was small and their local businesses would feel threatened by such a move. “Let’s see how the Clisperi side reacts to that”. He figured he would get stonewalled by his counterparts and thus force their hand by asking a meeting with Bektaten herself. After all she agreed to lower the tariffs while in Djerb so it wasn’t like he was proposing something that was not discussed. Then he will know exactly where she stands. And to be fair he did look forward to see her again, he enjoyed her presence in the short time they saw each other in Djerb and was curious to see how she would change her demeanor now that the discussions would take place in her kingdom surrounded by an army of officials calling her “a living god”. Also, he would propose to the Clisperi delegation that Tamora invest a billion dinars/usd in their infrastructure assuming they could actually come up with some proposals of projects to be financed. He hoped that would make them more cooperative and if not then it was clear that there was no interest on their side for actually improving their economy.
After preparing his notes for the next meeting he decided to go out to the closest Manist temple in the city. His reason for going there were was not solely religious though that played a major part but also because he wanted to know more about Bektaten and how people saw her and the Imams at the temple were the perfect advisers in that regard.
In the following weeks since arriving Naser had managed to make good progress in his work as the head of the economic mission. What he didn’t plan however was for Beketaten and him to become close or closer than they should. He enjoyed spending time with her, there was something special about her, not only in the way she spoke but also in the way she could move people with her words. He couldn’t really figure out if that was a natural talent or something she had learnt in Rokkenjima. He suspected the latter. As a Safavid he had been privately tutored from a young age on how to rule over multi ethnic and multi confessional empire of 250 million and how to always keep his distance from the masses. Beketaten on the other hand was educated aboard, among foreigners and common people and that made her not only feel at ease with regular people but she also seemed to be able say exactly what they wanted to hear. As he talked more with her, he began to understand why she was so outspoken on her social media account. In Tamora people respected two major institutions, the Church and the Imperial throne. The former because of the reverence they had for the Supreme Ayatollah and clergy in general, the latter mostly out of fear. However, in the case of Clysperis those two powers were merged into one. Beketaten was not just a sovereign for her people but also a spiritual leader and they looked to her for inspiration and guidance. No, that wasn’t quite right, there was more than just reverence in most Clisperi that surrounded her, it was almost veneration and he found that a bit unsettling.
But as the days passed and they saw each other more often, his excuses that the meetings he asked for with her were work related became so obvious that he didn’t even pretend to hide it. But the more they talked and she shared her knowledge she had gained in Rokkenjima, the more she shared her vision of Clysperis, the more her self-assured personality grew on him he also realized they were going towards a path that would not end well. Beketaten was not exactly the traditional Tamoran woman. He knew he could never share with her the beauty of praying together, of seeing the world through the same lenses, of having the same history; they didn’t even share a common language. She belonged in a different world, one that unlike many others was very friendly to Tamora but nevertheless a different world. And every time one would mention the “living Horus” while in his presence it was brutal reminder that the two had no business being together. He also knew that the more he allowed this to continue the more problematic it would become for them, for he was no regular Tamoran and she was a Clisperi like no other. Should the two switch from what they had now to the opposite it wouldn’t just be a quarrel between two regular people but probably affect the relations between the two countries.
Those worries were immediately cast aside when he got another message from Bektaten 'My Naser when will you share the view of the pyramids with me?'
“Oh my Bektaten, you don’t even realize that those aren’t just “the pryramids” they are your pyramids “ he said to himself. He immediately replied to the message confirming they will soon meet. But first he had a surprise for her, one that took a little planning and of course bribing some locals so they keep their discretion. But he had managed to buy a light aircraft and since he was an amateur pilot he would take Bektaten for a view of her pyramids from the sky. He was sure that would not be easy since as the ruling sovereign her security would be vehemently opposed and that was the best case scenario but he could be both persuasive and resourceful. He also had another reason for taking her for a short flight; he would be the one in charge for a change. He was starting to get annoyed that whenever the two were together no matter the context even as Tamoran prince he presented little interest compared to a living god.
(https://i.ibb.co/WDn6sn5/plane.png)
If all went according to plans, the two would see the pyramids from a Diamond DA 40 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_DA40)