In the weeks which followed my visit to Tamora I began an exchange of words with Prince Naser, both of us sharing our different worlds and what they meant to us respectively. He, a Conservative Manist and I, a living god, there were many differences yet they didn't seem to hinder our ability to communicate openly. If there was one thing we Clysperi believed more strongly than our faith, it was that said faith shouldn't be imposed on those who don't adhere to it; to expect someone from Tamora, Royal Seleucid, or further afield even, to believe as we do or to bow down in worship to me, would place us in the very same camp as those I speak out against, so forcefully.
Clysperi people aren't known for being hypocrites, and that tradition won't start under my reign.
Earlier today I spoke with the Congregation about honouring Ra, amending my very name to speak to this fact. Beketaten-Hesy-Re, Handmaiden of Aten, Blessed of Ra; my name speaks to my father's adherence to the god Aten, whilst I proclaim my faith and adherence to Ra by making my name my own. I have no surname; that is just how it is, and I am happy that our traditions stand despite the changes of the world around us. Although, if I were to marry a foreigner, would they accept that I would never accept their name? In some ways I am accommodating, but I could never take on a name that is foreign to my People, or one that does not honour my faith and heritage.
"The foreign Prince you speak of, he brings the Congregation great concern," one of my Priests said to me as I departed the Temple. "Never in our history, either as Abydos proper or Clysperis, has a Pharaoh entertained the notion of marrying a foreigner. Are you not worried about tainting the bloodline?" he asked of me. I sighed, his points weren't without merit, but again he is but a mortal man and I, a living god.
"Worry not Priest," I said reassuringly, "I am the living Horus, in concert with the gods with each moment that passes. If it were to displease them, do you not think I would be the first to know?" That question gave him pause for pondering, although I knew that with those words I had solidified my grip on his logic. A Priest of my Temple, to whom was subservient to me not only as my station as High Priest of every Temple, but as a god myself; how could he question my logic? It was quite simply impossible for him to raise any valid protest to my logic on the matter.
"Quite right you are," he said with a nod. "Forgive my insolence."
"You've nothing to be forgiven for," I said as I placed my hand on his shoulder, "my faithful Priest; you look only with concern to our faith and my People. That you have been corrected is not a punishment, but a blessing of knowledge which shall better serve you in the future."
At the end of the day I return home, pick up my phone, and repeat the motions that have become almost second nature to me. 'My Naser,' I tap at my screen with joy, 'when will you share the view of the pyramids with me?' I paused before sending, wondering if I was perhaps being too direct, but I had pressed the 'send' button before I could even think to take it back. To be honest, I didn't wish to.
Clysperi men, generally, fall into two categories when it comes to me: those who wish to bed me for power or to enrich their name, and those so destitute that a matching with me would change their entire world. Both bored me to death, perhaps those seeking glory to their names moreso, but boredom all the same. This Prince, however, is a challenge, exciting in ways no Clysperi could be, and that in itself was enough upon our first meeting. I only hoped that my recovery from calling him enrapturing, was good enough, though I think it's safe to say it was. His continued replies to my messages point to that, at least.