Four Weddings and Something an Awful Lot like a Fifth One
by Cryptographic DeLurk
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AN: Was written as part of the Yu-Gi-Oh Femslash 2017 Spring Gift Exchange. Although I only finished it now in December. Oops.
Using the name Teana for Ancient Egyptian Anzu, as per how her name was localised for Forbidden Memories. Slightly more magic and slightly more everyone-is-alive than the Ancient Egypt in canon proper, but I wouldn't say it's a large departure from the canon setting.
And I tried to look up information about weddings in Ancient Egypt but, apparently they fell out of style during the Pharaonic Period(?) There aren't really records to suggest that people had big parties as much as marriage was marked by wives just… moving into their husbands' households. So that's why the 'weddings' in this fic are fairly subdued, basically dinner parties that Mana can enjoy mooching off of.
That's all. Read & Relax~
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What had started as fortuity had, in time, become a responsibility and commitment – not entirely unlike the young loves that blossomed into the marriages Mana blessed.
And, yet, there was something to be said for fortuitous beginnings.
Mana had been only a small scrub of an apprentice at the time – more enthusiasm than skill. And, after weeks of badgering, she had finally convinced her Master to instruct her in the magic of flight.
A competent magician could take to the sky and call down rain and light and illusion, as they were needed. Master Mahaad could walk on air as calm and collected as he could on land. He hid the unevenness of his steps as he made his way through the sky over the tarped rooves of the city. The hooded pinnacle of his staff glowed, as he channelled his ba through it. But he held the staff down so that the bottom of it was level with his feet, as if he were resting it on a ground that was simply invisible to all but him.
Mana was not nearly so graceful. Ever since they had left the parapets surrounding the Pharaoh's court, she had stumbled more than walked. She gripped her staff like an iron vice. It was the only thing that seemed wholly committed to staying afloat, even as she increased the amount of ba she poured through it. The rest of her seemed prone to sudden missteps that left her lurching downward, clutching her staff as if it were the ledge of a cliff. Master Mahaad had on several occasions turned back to her, fearful for her wellbeing. He hurried to help her up, but Mana always managed to right herself – pull herself back up onto the air – before Master Mahaad could reach her. He had suggested they float back down to the ground, and turn back to the palace, but each time Mana had pleaded with him until he relented. Master had settled for giving her further instruction. He willed Mana to be precise and careful with her steps and her ba.
"You have to keep the flow of your ba steady," Master Mahaad said firmly. "It's because you're applying your ba erratically to the staff, that you're lunging up and down, like a frog."
"Mmm," Mana hummed. She could see her Master's point. But taking him too seriously would only encourage him to be more of a stick in the mud. "I like frogs though," she chirped. "They're always hopping~ hopping~ hopping~ by the water." She bounced up and down in the air, as if to illustrate her point. The curled head of her staff seemed to spin inward on itself.
On the third bounce, though, she felt herself fall further down. Her legs flailed momentarily and she gripped her staff 'til her knuckles were white, before she caught herself. She stepped back up to her Master's side, hoping he hadn't noticed, but the fear in Mahaad's eyes betrayed that she had failed this.
Master Mahaad sighed, exasperated. He clutched his forehead with his left hand. But when he spoke, his voice was collected and precise.
"Mana, if you do not have the ba to maintain a steady flow into the staff, and keep calmly afloat, we should not be doing this."
Mana puffed her cheeks. "Nonsense," she huffed. "I have plenty enough ba."
Mahaad seemed frustrated. He crossed his arms and utterly failed to seem intimidating.
"Even at this moment, you are not expending ba at a high enough frequency to be sure to stay up. On the other hand, if you expend too much of you ba – your life energy – you risk-"
Mana had stopped listening a while back though. She was determined to prove both the strength of her ba, and her merit as a Magician, and so she poured a tremendous amount of energy into her staff.
For a moment, she felt as light and airy as a wisp of wind.
The next she felt incredibly heavy. Her staff was glowing and afloat, and her torso dangled below it. Mana struggled. She reached up to grab the staff with her right hand as well as her left.
"Mana!" Mahaad warned. He seemed frantic, as he reached out to grab her by the back of her robe and lift her up.
It was too late though. Mana's staff seemed to burst with colour, and then it went flying off like a shot, dragging Mana along in its wake.
"Aiiiiiieeeek!" Mana shrieked.
But the staff took no heed. It shot through the air. It spun this way and that way, changing direction quickly. It was losing altitude, but not as quickly as Mana might suspect. She rushed over palms and colourful tarped rooves. The people she passed over in the marketplace were a blur, but the pyramids in the distance remained clear in her vision, like the sun and the moon etched lightly into the afternoon sky. She didn't dare to close her eyes, not until she dropped below between trees and dwellings, and her staff swerved and changed course rapidly, only just barely avoiding ploughing her into the clay walls that popped up and flung at her like an infinitely increasing barrage of darts.
Bam!
When Mana opened her eyes, surveyed her surroundings, she found herself much less hurt than she thought she might. Her magic had apparently shielded her, even as she crashed headfirst through a wall, and into a vase that had been filled with fava beans – now broken and spilling onto the floor.
Mana felt groggy, as she surveyed the damage, and the two dozen people in the room that had turned to her in apprehension.
"Just a minute," she assured, as she pulled the broken shards of the vase out of her thigh. Her headdress had somehow managed to stay on, and she adjusted its golden grate up onto her forehead. Her staff was sitting in her hand, as it always was. It seemed calmed and whole, as responsive to her ba as it always was. There was no sign that it had been glowing like crazy, and rocketing off in every direction, with a will of its own, only a moment ago.
Mana looked back again at the gash in the wall, and then to the inhabitants in the room.
"I'll fix it." Mana smiled.
The feat of magic that she performed to repair the hole in the wall and reconstruct the vase, not to mention the silk of her garment and gold at her brow, was enough to convince the master of the household of her position as the Pharaoh's Magician Apprentice.
She had been offered a seat at the table, and a generous plate of food and glass of wine, by the time she'd thought to ask any other questions.
"I am not of high enough birth, to warrant you knowing who I am," the elder said. "But we are not the most undistinguished members of the Pharaoh's royal village… I am Maza, and these are my five daughters: Tanoute, Isetnofret, Bintanath, Amisi, and Teana." He pointed to each of them in turn, although Mana was too dazed and distracted by the flatbread in her hands to put a face to each name.
"Although…" Maza continued. "Tanoute will be leaving my household today. We just finalised the marriage contract this morning. We are holding this feast with her husband and his family," he gestured to them, "to celebrate her moving out."
Mana's eyes widened. "EH?!" she mouthed around the bread she had. She hurried to swallow, and chase the bread with some olives and wine. "You were just married today?" she asked. It took her a minute to recall where the elder Maza had pointed to distinguish Tanoute's place at the table, and for Mana to turn her head accusingly in that direction.
Tanoute blushed. "Well, yes," she said.
"Then your wedding day," Mana decided, with a fervour in her eyes, "will definitely be blessed!"
It was the day she had convinced Master Mahaad to take her out flying, after all. A very lucky day!
Mana preformed spells for the bride's good luck, good health, and happiness. She was not sure how successful these spells would be – they felt to Mana like little more than parlour tricks preformed with pixie dust – but they seemed to make Tanoute happy. Which was all that truly mattered, Mana decided.
In addition, Mana preformed tricks to refill cups of wine at the table. She lit the candles at the table with only a flick of her staff. And, for the sake of performance alone, she called forth an illusion of exotic birds flying through the skies, one that her audience sat and looked up at, enraptured.
Everyone seemed very taken with her magic, which Mana certainly expected. But, more to the point, they seemed also very taken with her. They kept prodding her for stories about her apprenticeship, and life at the Pharaoh's palace. They laughed at her jokes and thanked her profusely for her encouragement. The elder Maza even poured her a drink himself – a show of great respect coming from the master of the household.
And they kept offering her food, everything from appetisers to meat to cake. In comparison, the palace cooks had become stingy, fed up with Mana's exorbitant appetite and propensity for sneaking into the kitchens to steal the tastiest morsels for herself.
This wedding party was the most fun Mana had had in a while. And so it was a tiny bit disappointing when a servant rented out for the occasion interrupted, and introduced a familiar visitor to the room.
Master Mahaad, it seemed, had endured his own trials in the meantime. He was no longer wearing his headdress, and his brown locks were mussed and frazzled. He seemed to be missing one shoe. And, under one arm, he held a disgruntled alley cat that hissed weakly as the elder Maza approached and turned to look down at it.
"Yes? Can I... help you?" The elder Maza seemed unsure of what to make of the man in front of him – in fine white robes and gold, but ones soiled terribly from some kind of struggle.
Mana realised abruptly that, without his headdress, Master's status and identity were unclear.
She sprang up from her seat at the table. She took a moment to flatten her skirt, before skipping forward. "Master Mahaad," she called lightly. "Here I am!"
Mahaad turned to her with a look of exhaustion in his eyes.
The elder Maza seemed to come to life though. "Oh! H-High Priest Mahaad!" Maza bowed deeply. "I'm so sorry I didn't realise- Please come in! Your Miss Mana has joined us for a happy occasion-" He attempted to usher Mahaad through the door. The cat yowled angrily, but even that did not deter him.
Master Mahaad held his ground though. "Oh, thank you for your hospitality, but I really am here simply to pick up my wayward apprentice." He nodded in Mana's direction.
"Master," Mana beamed, "but you should really come inside! We're having a moving party for the elder Maza's oldest daughter, Tanoute. You should come-"
Mana gestured wildly behind her in a way that she hoped conveyed that there were olives and roast waterfowl and freshly baked bread, as well as good company, at the table.
"-give Tanoute and her new husband and household your blessings!" Mana finished.
Maza nodded appreciatively, but Mahaad did not seem very impressed with Mana's argument.
"I think not," Mahaad said firmly to Mana, before turning with a softer expression to the elder Maza. "Not that we don't wish your daughter the best. But it's been a trying day, and Mana and I have to report back to the palace proper for the time being." He beckoned Mana forward. "Let's be going~"
Mana pouted, but she skipped up to meet Master Mahaad.
"Can we fly back to the palace?" she whispered to him under her breath.
Master Mahaad's face twitched.
"We're walking for now. Perhaps some other time," he allowed.
Mana pouted again, but she didn't let it hamper her for long. She turned back to the rest of the room, before following Mahaad and the yowling cat out of the house.
"Thank you all for having me!" she shouted. "A happy marriage and good tidings to you always!" She lifted up her staff in one arm, and then took a low bow down from the waist.
The members of the Maza house, and that of the visiting husband's, all clapped for her. And Mana grinned to herself.
There was one person not clapping though. A girl, close to Mana's age, sat at the edge of the feasting table. She had stiff brown hair that fell down just past her chin, and eyes that were bright like the sky. They looked at Mana, with an expression of awe and poignant distaste.
Mana was surprised she hadn't noticed the girl before, and smiled at her.
The smile was not returned.
Mana would have liked to contemplate this longer, but Master Mahaad was waiting on her. And so she bowed again and took her leave.
She decided, on the way down to meet her Master, that she rather liked these wedding parties – the food and the adoration paid to her – and she just might have to attend more of them.
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In his own words, Mahaad was not adopting the cat. He insisted that the feline was an ill-tempered menace and a danger to society left out on the streets and, as a servant of the Pharaoh and of Ta-Mehu, it was his responsibility to take it in and ensure it caused no more trouble.
In all practical measures, Mahaad had adopted it though – something Mana was quick to confirm to anybody that asked, so long as her Master was not around to overhear. And the cat ended up fitting in well at the palace, for all it was an ugly, moody little beast, and ill-bred compared to the other pets of the menagerie. Kalim seemed to take a liking to it, and often fed it scraps of food. Isis would smile at it, and adjust her gait to walk easily out of its way. And even Set seemed to tolerate it. Rumour had it that he had been found one day with the cat curled up sleepily in his lap, but Mana had yet to confirm this.
The Prince or, rather, Pharaoh Atem, seemed rather taken with it too. He would shower it with attention when it desired, and was never offended when it rebuffed him instead.
Now was one such time.
The Prince, the cat, and Mana were all lounging on the palace balcony – the one closest to the throne room. It was the middle of the day and, in the stifling heat, neither Atem nor Mana had the energy to attend to their lessons or duties or any such responsibilities. Instead they played knucklebones with a sack of pasterns and dice, and took turns sipping beer from a jar snuck away from the kitchens. During the Prince's turn, Mana would use her magic to create strange flashes of light, small bursts of wind, and other tiny illusions to trick the Prince into dropping the bones. But, each time, he managed to succeed and tally another win for himself, smiling smugly as he evaded Mana's tricks.
"Ah! I give up!" Mana pouted. She flopped dramatically down on the balcony. "I can't win. As usual. Perhaps if the Prince played knucklebones against himself, he'd have a bit of a challenge~"
The cat's tail flicked, as if right on cue.
Atem laughed. He didn't chide her for being a bad sport.
"I feel like playing Set would be quite the challenge," the Prince said.
"Can you imagine him playing something as meaningless as knucklebones though?" Mana chuckled. She struggled for a minute, before pulling herself to her feet. She walked towards the edge of the balcony. "He'd probably be all, 'If it's a challenge you want, you'd best summon your ka!'"
She had tried to imitate the deep and cutting tone of Set's voice, but failed. She and the Prince both laughed, and the cat yowled, as she pulled her leg up and launched herself off the railing of the balcony.
She had become much better at flying since that first time. She had found Master Mahaad's methodology difficult and, after having mastered it, experimented and found a skipping gait – fuelled by intermittent bursts of ba – an easier way to go about the exercise. She cartwheeled out into the sky, and watched the landscape.
But it was practice that made perfect, and the real thing that had allowed Mana to become a master of flight, was that she had practised using this power on the countless times she had since sneaked out of the palace. Vizier Siamun and Priest Akhenaten might scold her for her transgressions, but Mana was not about to pay too much heed to their complaints. Ever since the wedding of Maza's daughter, Tanoute, a bright idea had been introduced into Mana's mind. She had since made it her business to know the marriage contracts that occurred around the river basin. She had found that most people, from the highest nobles to the lowliest peasants, were delighted to accept her into their wedding gatherings, even at the last minute. For the payment of a little of Mana's magic and blessings (and a small offer of bread and fresh vegetables and beer for the less opulent households) Mana could reliably count on a place to party and feast, and to escape her studies, or otherwise the worst of Set and Kalim's moods, any night of the week.
The cat was yowling on the balcony, swiping a sharp and angry paw out to where Mana was standing on the sky. It hissed angrily when the Prince tried to drag it back to safety from the ledge.
The Prince's smile faded, but he let the cat go. It dangled slightly over the edge, glaring at Mana.
Mana laughed and walked back to the balcony. She skipped around the spot where the cat swiped his claws at her ankle. She leaned against the railing, propping her head against her arms, and crossed her feet under her.
The Prince stood across from her, his feet safely resting on the clay and plaster. He leaned down, and pressed his forehead against Mana's. His golden earrings swayed in the wind.
"That reminds me!" he said, with no indication of what at all had reminded him. He stood up straight, dug through his robes, and pulled out a bit of papyrus. "We had a messenger come relay something to you. Siamun had it written down."
Mana flipped the leaflet open in her hand. The invitation had started out formal, but it grew more personal in flavour as it continued.
I felt very blessed to have you present for the wedding day of my first daughter. I did not realise at the time, what an honour it would be considered to have hosted you. I know I should feel humbled, and I hope it's not too much to ask such that you would continue the tradition for the marriage of my second daughter.
Mana giggled happily.
"They're asking to come to their party," Mana sung at Atem. "Aww, but if Siamun knows about it, Master Mahaad and the others will probably know, and want to intervene." She pouted. "Do you think they intend to stop me? …Are you going to stop me?" she turned on Atem.
"Of course I would not stop you." Atem laughed. "Have you not heard what they say about you?"
Mana had not been paying much attention to what anyone was saying at all. Not outside of her lessons with Mahaad.
"They talk as if you are a mystic with high powers," The Prince explained. "Or perhaps even a lesser god. Flying on the wind, and handing out blessings. They say that no marriage you bless can be an unhappy one."
"Hmm," Mana felt unconvinced. "A high mystic, huh?"
In vivid remembrance of how she had been not long before – before she had come into her magic – incapable of grasping even the most basic concepts. Oh! How she had struggled with such futility to not burden Master Mahaad! And, again, she felt upset at her own powerlessness.
"I attended a terrible wedding party the other day," Mana reminded. "I stole the bride away. Her husband was badmouthing her, laughing at her, made her cry in front of everyone. If this is what he'd do in a room full of people…"
She turned to Atem.
"Is that the work of a high mystic?"
The Prince regarded this solemnly. Perhaps he remembered how much trouble had been caused, when he'd had to defend Mana's decision to relocate the girl outside the jurisdiction of her parents and her husband-to-be, and into the guardianship of one of the woman's close friends.
"It seems so to me," Atem said. "You prevented an unhappy marriage."
He turned his back to her, leaned against the balcony railing, and threw her a smile over his shoulder.
"It seems important to me that you attend these parties. It is how you may care after our people, as the kingdom's Magician Apprentice."
"Sounds pretty serious~" Mana pouted.
The Prince blinked. "Is it not?" As if it had not occurred to him Mana might see it otherwise.
.
.
The elder Maza's second daughter, Isetnofret, had plump cheeks, full lips, and sharp eyes, all of which were accentuated by the cosmetics she applied and reapplied to her visage. She had stayed holed up in her chambers far after the terms of her marriage contract were finalised, and the feasting had begun. She was fussing over her appearance, insisting she wanted to look her best for the feast and subsequent trip to her husband's household. She laughed and blushed and waved everybody off who came to check on her, insisting she would only be a couple moments longer.
Mana, too, had been sent in to check on her, in the hopes that her position and authority as a Magician of the Pharaoh's court would help convince Isetnofret to exit her room. Nobody seemed to predict that Mana would turn traitor to the cause. She and Maza's second daughter were getting on like a house on fire. Mana had helped Isetnofret adjust and readjust her outfit, had styled her hair a dozen different ways, and had aided in turning away all subsequent visitors intent on dragging her from her room prematurely. In addition, Isetnofret took pleasure in sharing gossip and humorous stories about the guests.
That one, she'd say, as soon as the latest visitor left her room. She acts high and mighty, but she still owes me. When she was little, Bintanath would always sneak out to the riverside and talk to the ferryman. One day, she comes home with her clothes covered in fish guts. When our mother chewed her out, she says a little bit of this and that, and convinces her I was the mastermind behind this travesty. But I- I bore the punishment without a word of complaint. Ever since then, Bintanath has owed me, and she knows it.
Mana laughed. She thought Isetnofret an amazing storyteller. The stories of her and his sisters were woven with such care. All the small dramas and rivalries, wrapped in the warmth of affection. It reminded Mana of growing up with the Prince, Master Mahaad's gentle guidance, Vizier Siamun's gentle histories, and Set's competitive nature.
Mana was wrapping up Isetnofret's hair in a pin of gold and lapis, when there was a knock on wall.
"Sister!" someone called from the entry hall. "Sister, please!"
There seemed to be a small struggle outside the hall. Mana had set up an illusion to disallow entry into the chamber, so that one could stumble through the doorway, yet not make it inside.
"We should let her in," Isetnofret allowed. "My youngest sister, Teana."
Mana nodded.
She attempted to hold the hairpin steady, but several strands of hair fell out of Isetnofret's bun, as she reached for her staff and undid the illusion on the entryway.
There was a small squeak, as Teana fell through into the room.
Mana recognised her from the last wedding party. The short brown hair, the bright eyes coloured like sky, and the frown that appeared on her face as she recognised Mana in return.
Mana grinned sheepishly, as she let Isetnofret's hair down, and struggled to bring it up into order once more.
"Sister, please!" Teana repeated with a huff. "Everyone is waiting on you!" she rested her arms commandingly on her hips.
"Oh?" Isetnofret said, as if this were new information. "I'll be out in only a second. I'm just finishing up my hair."
Teana glared. "You've been in here since midday," she said. "The sun is halfway down the sky at this point!"
Mana paused, as she twirled Isetnofret's hair up in her hands.
"You should show your elder sister a little more respect." The same way Mana was always respectful of Master Mahaad. "It's her wedding day after all~" Mana pouted.
Teana's eyes settled on Mana for a second, before turning back to her sister, scowling.
"I cannot believe-" Teana fumed. She stepped forward to stand behind her sister, crowding Mana out of the way, and taking hold of her sister's hair. "It is your last day in this household and, instead of spending it amongst your family, you are spending it locked away in this room with her!" She jerked her head in Mana's direction, as she pulled her sister's hair into a perfect bun, and drove the pin through it precisely.
"Aww, it's not like that, Teana~" Isetnofret protested softly.
Mana watched as Teana's features softened.
"Your hair is done," she said. "Are you ready to go?"
Isetnofret blushed. "Ah, you see, I still have to choose a pair of sandals," she said bashfully. "Ah, Mana, will you help me with that?" she beamed, turning to Mana.
Mana brightened. "Of course!" she saluted, jumping into the air with joy. She held herself afloat for a second, before allowing her feet down again to touch the ground.
Teana made a strangled sound. Then everything was quiet.
The sisters held their position awkwardly for a second, as Mana dug through Isetnofret's chest, taking care not to unpack her things as she dug around for a variety of sandals. Her belongings would be carried to her husband's house later tonight, after all.
Finally the silence broke.
"Will you come out of your room if I dance?" Teana pleaded. "If I agree to dance for your wedding, will you please come join the feast?"
Mana heard the hesitation, and then the utter joy in Isetnofret's voice.
"You would dance for my wedding after all?!" she gushed. "Oh, absolutely, Teana! I wouldn't pass up such an opportunity – to see you dance for my sake."
Mana turned around, holding several pairs of sandals in her arms, so she could see Teana nod curtly. Her sister was beaming, with one hand pressed neatly up to her cheek, trying and failing to hide her smile.
"I'm dancing in five minutes then," Teana announced, "and not a minute later! You better be out of your room by then, if you want to see!"
She turned on her heel, and left the room without another word.
Isetnofret giggled, as Mana approached her with the sandals. In contrast to her previous indecisiveness, she pointed resolutely to ones with the turquoise-dyed straps.
"She's a good dancer?" Mana asked.
"An amazing dancer!" Isetnofret said. "It seems she's self-taught, but she must have the Goddess Hathor whispering into her ear, she is so talented. You will see shortly."
Mana nodded, as she set the sandals down.
"My sister Teana has many ambitions," Isetnofret said. She puffed her cheeks, as if she were holding in a secret. "Perhaps, one day, she'll tell you about them."
"She doesn't seem to like me that much," Mana retorted, grinning sheepishly.
"I doubt it has anything to do with you~" Isetnofret reassured, as she slipped into her sandals.
"I'll tell you a story!" Her face brightened. "Teana is usually demure with strangers, but you have already seen her famous temper so you'll have no trouble believing this!" Isetnofret smiled smugly. "When she was younger, Teana had this friend called Heba. He was the son of a travelling merchant, one that gathered not only common goods, but unique curios and puzzles from the places he visited. So, one day, Heba presented Teana with a ring-&-pin toy from his grandfather's wares. Teana spent all day and night trying to master it, but could not. She became so frustrated, she flung the toy at the wall, and smashed it to bits." Isetnofret laughed. "One would think Heba would have become disheartened, but he found her another, easier toy to master, and gave that one to her as well~"
Before Mana could puzzle out the meaning of this story, Isetnofret rose to her feet.
"Alright!" she announced. "Time to make my debut, so we do not miss my sister's dance!"
Mana only managed to bite her tongue for a moment. "Are you sure?!" Mana demanded. "I didn't think the others should rush you," she said, "if you're not ready to leave."
Isetnofret smiled.
"I'm so flattered!" she said. "But I'm ready!"
She clasped Mana's hand in hers.
"I understand now why the weddings and marriages you bless are happy ones," Isetnofret said. "I was feeling really anxious this morning," she admitted. "I feel so much better, after you sat in here and listened to me." She pressed her forehead to Mana's.
…
In the feasting room, Mana was sitting at the elder's table – a seat reserved for a guest of great honour. She had a collection of great party tricks to preform later, but she found herself convinced, as she looked up to the head of the room, that none could outshine Teana's dancing.
Teana's hair whipped behind her, as she turned to the music. Sweat flew down her neck and off her shoulders, as she flipped up into the air. Every movement of Teana's body, every turn of her hand and point in her toe, seemed in harmony with the sound pounding in Mana's heart. The shawl at Teana's neck whisked back and forth, and the jewels at her wrists sparkled, as if the life in Teana was so great it spread through every cell of her body and overflowed out into her garments.
It was a lot like magic, Mana thought, and maybe even a little bit like love.
.
.
"Like love?" The Prince asked.
It would have been easy to read the Prince's words as teasing. He leaned back against the balcony with one arm propping him up, and another scratching the ear of Mahaad's cat, who had climbed up onto his thigh. It was a posture of such ease and self-assuredness, if Mana had not known better-
"That's right!" Mana doubled down. "Love."
She tapped her foot against the balcony, and puffed her cheeks.
"You're still just a child at heart," she said. "Immatuuuure~" she dragged out the vowel. "That's why you don't get it."
Atem maybe should have protested, but instead he just laughed.
.
.
It was after the wedding of the third sister, Bintanath, that Mana managed to corner Teana again.
Mana was holding six different cups of wine, and juggling them between the air and her palms without spilling. It was a kind of whimsical trick that routinely amused guests at these parties.
Teana sniffed moodily and, when ignoring Mana didn't seem to drive her away, she spoke.
"What are you doing? Can I help you with something, Miss?" Teana asked in a manner of affected politeness.
Mana flipped the cups up, so they were in a line. She let them crash down to stack on top of one another, in a beautiful fountain spray of wine and stars. Then she pulling them apart again, still filled with undisturbed wine. It was a complicated trick.
For a minute Teana's eyes sparkled. Her cheeks glinted a rusty pink, and her eyes widened.
But, then, the moment was over, and Mana wondered if she had just imagined it.
"Why don't you go find Bintanath and show her this illusion?" Teana said curtly. "Or perhaps Amisi would like a display of the types of gimmicks you will one day pull at her wedding party."
"I wanted to show you," Mana explained. "I was so taken by your dancing, I thought you might be able to give me your opinion as a fellow performance artist." She winked and cocked her shoulder up in a way she hoped was both direct and tantalisingly unclear.
The cups of wine jiggled unsurely in the air.
"I'm not interested," Teana assured. She began to walk away, past the family of Bintanath's fiancé.
"Even if you're not interested-!" Mana pouted. "Can't we be friends? We are both young and talented." Mana nodded sagely. "And it's a wonderful day to share the joy of your sister's wedding!"
Teana turned and squinted, with no small amount of confusion and annoyance at Mana.
"Was it a wonderful day-" Teana began carefully, "-when you broke through my father's wall and window, and intruded on our private gathering?"
It had started off an improbable series of events, one that involved more commitment and care and desire than Mana had originally planned for. But Mana wouldn't have called any of them so unwelcome she would have wished the day in question had not happened. And that was not even considering the significance of the day for Teana and her family.
"Well, yes," Mana decided, spinning one of the wine cups in the air. "I think-"
Teana's eyes narrowed in base fury. Her hands clutched, and balled into fists.
"You may have charmed everyone else-!" she cut Mana off. "But I can see you for what you are. And you are an inconsiderate girl with an over-inflated opinion of herself. One who never ceases to cause trouble for the people around her with her carelessness." Teana huffed angrily. And her bangs whipped to frame the curve of her blue eyes. "I can't deny you entry into my father's household. But that doesn't mean I have to be another toy for your amusement."
Teana's lip wobbled.
"And, when you come to grace me at my wedding party," Teana added, "know that no amount of your blessings will be able to make it a joyful occasion!"
Mana had not seen someone bow in such a hostile manner – such as Teana did to her – in a long while. But she supposed the Prince had to deal with such things on a daily basis.
"I hope you enjoy the rest of the party," Teana said stiffly, as she stood back up straight.
She turned to go. But then her head hung, and Mana watched the way the nape of her neck quivered.
"And I hope that you'll see to it that Bintanath will be happy," Teana added softly. Before finding her posture once more, walking off, and leaving Mana behind in a cacophony of trembling cups and spilt wine.
.
.
"So that's it?" the Prince asked. His golden headdress caught the light as he turned his head down, to where Mana lay listless on the balcony.
"That's it," Mana shrugged.
"A Duellist doesn't give up until the last draw," Atem said, cryptically. He held Mahaad's cat, sleeping lazily in his arms.
Mana blew a wet raspberry at him. "What would you know about any of it, Prince?!" she demanded. "Sometimes people just don't want to get to know you like you want to get to know them. And you have to accept that."
Mana frowned to herself. Even in the knowledge that Teana had meant to be more hurtful than truthful, some of it had hit too close to the bone.
Atem crouched down over her. He considered her for a moment, before setting the cat right on the centre of her chest.
Mana held herself steady for a few seconds, before the weight of the overlarge animal forced her diaphragm to collapse.
She wheezed, and the cat yowled angrily when she turned on her side and forced it off of her onto the balcony floor.
"You're a good magician, and a good friend," the Prince said. "Don't let it get you down. If she doesn't see your good qualities, she's the one missing out."
He offered his hand to her – to help her get up.
"You told me I wouldn't be able to get Set to play knucklebones," Atem turned his head smugly, "but here I've managed to convince him to play dice with me this evening… Come cheer me on as I beat him," he prodded, soft and teasing.
By the end of the evening, Mana was in much better spirits. The Prince and Priest Set were great fun to watch. They traded theatrical quips and good-hearted jeers. And every time Set managed a good roll, he would laughed in his manic happy way. Which immediately disintegrated into sputtering blushes when Mana reached over, stole his headdress, and ruffled his hair in congratulations.
.
.
"Miss Mana~"
Mana paused in the middle of her bite of almond cake.
Mana had yet to talk to the bride, but had talked extensively with the groom's family already, and was sitting at the table near them now. The groom's family seemed a good sort – mild and reliable – although Mana had expected as much. She might be more alert at some of the other wedding parties she attended, but the elder Maza seemed not the type to arrange marriages where his daughters would not be cherished.
The elder Maza nodded softly, and beckoned Mana away from the feast table, urging her to bring her almond cake with her. They stood over to the side of the room, and Mana rocked between one foot and the other, moving her stuffed cheeks around a big bite of cake. She held the remainder of the loaf in her hand, close to her mouth, at the ready.
"Miss Mana, I know I have asked so much of you already," the elder Maza said in a pleading voice, "but do you think you might be able to do just one more favour on my behalf?"
Mana swallowed her cake, half-chewed, and her eyes welled up temporarily from the pressure on her throat. She nodded eagerly.
The elder Maza sighed with a tone of relief.
"You see, Teana appears to be missing. I've checked her room, and the yard, and she is nowhere to be found. I can think of more hiding places, further from the house, but I don't have time myself to go locate her." The elder Maza shook his head. "Amisi very much wants her younger sister here to give her blessings and bid Amisi farewell. Could you please go see if you can find Teana for us, and bring her back?"
Mana chewed the last piece of cake slowly. Her brow furrowed in concern. She was not pleased with what she had to say, but-
"Elder Maza, sir. I'm not sure I'll be able to help," Mana admitted. "Teana has made it clear she is not very fond of me."
In fact, Mana had wondered if she would even be invited to Teana's wedding, or if this was the last she would spend in the Maza household.
The elder Maza's brow curled in confusion, though.
"Nonsense. Teana is very fond of you."
Mana laughed under her hand. "Clearly, you have not heard the things she's said about me."
"On the contrary," the elder Maza said, "she speaks of you all the time. And with such passion! You can't know what an inspiration you are. Teana has dreamed of the Magicians of the Palace ever since she was young. And, now, well," he spread his arms in reverence, "here you are in front of her."
The elder Maza beamed at her. And Mana wilted – wary of the way she felt her spirits soar.
"You'd best go talk to her yourself," the elder Maza said kindly. "Won't you please go find her? For Amisi's sake if no one else's."
Mana hesitated. But it seemed her responsibility – as the great mystic god that conspired to make marriages happy – to look after this problem.
"I can find her quickest if I have something of hers to find her with. Something pliant would work best."
And that was how Mana ended up with one of Teana's dancing scarves tied to her wrist, a long tendril falling unevenly from one side of the knot. The elder Maza had instructed Mana where she might find Teana – her favourite spots in the neighbourhood – although it was hardly necessary. When Mana synched her ba with that of the scarf, and pressed it gently, it would point her in the direction of wherever its owner was.
The Maza house was in a prosperous part of town, away from the shacks located right on the Nile's flood banks for those that worked the fields. But there was a lone distributary that had branched far out to this place. It flowed calmly, and date palms had sprouted easily around its edges, plied by the water and the shade of the buildings.
Mana did not have to travel too far, before Teana's scarf unravelled, and led her right there. She was only a couple buildings up from the Maza residence, near the rustle of the river stream and the palms.
She was led to the edge of a white clay wall.
Mana ducked around the corner.
She immediately turned to conceal herself once more, but it was too late. She'd already been spotted.
Teana was leaning against the wall of the house, unworried about the dirt pressed against her shoulders and heels. She was picking tears out of her eyes like pebbles stuck in a cliff face. She wiped them on her dress but, rather than blotch wet the fabric of her dress, they fell to the ground like grains of sand.
When she turned to Mana, it seemed like she'd composed herself. She placed her hands on her hips.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded curtly.
Mana felt herself at a pause. She felt her face redden. It seemed both wonderful, and yet completely cruel and unfair, that she should catch Teana in such a moment of vulnerability.
"Well… Your father sent me to look for you," Mana defended. "You were being missed."
Teana frowned, but she nodded and turned her face to the ground.
"He said you liked magic," Mana admitted.
Teana huffed angrily.
"My father sent you," she repeated, electing to ignore the comment about magic. "That does not really explain why you are here!" she insisted. "It was bad enough when you crashed through our wall that first day. That at least was a mistake. But you have shown up to every wedding day since just to make a mockery of me!"
Mana felt her brow wrinkle under the stress.
"What? No!"
"Yes!" Teana insisted. "I was not happy, but I was resigned. To watch as every one of my sisters was married off. To have them leave me, one by one, alone to a house filled only with our childhood memories." Teana sniffed and her lip wobbled. "I might not like it, but I knew it would happen. Everyone would get married and move away… and then I would be married too…" Teana leaned forward and waved an angry hand. "And I was ready to put up with it, but then you showed up! And you laughed in my face, and flitted around and smiled and preformed magic tricks and wouldn't shut up about how wonderful everything was! And you turned the most difficult days of my life into some joke!"
Teana's scarf, having been enchanted to find its owner by Mana, had snuck away, and had now finished approaching to spin around Teana's ankle. Teana's eyes widened, as she looked down at it. She seemed even more upset, as she beheld the way it turned and tucked itself softly into her skin.
"And the worst part is… you ruined all my dreams!" Teana declared. She raised her foot, and tried vainly to shake the scarf off, before giving up with hardly an attempt.
"I used to dream about being a magician! And living in the palace! And falling in love with the Pharaoh!" Teana declared. "I used to watch the Court Magician rain light into the sky, and dream it would be me someday!"
Teana laughed bitterly.
"But I grew up and came to accept that that would never happen. There's no way I could live up to something like that. I was not born with enough prestige. Or enough talent. Or with the right romantic inclinations. But then you-!"
She met Mana's eyes this time, maybe for the first time, and glared angrily.
"You burst through that wall! Some stupid girl two years my junior! And you were foolish and simple, and you casually threw around disaster and illusions and light and beauty like it was nothing! …And you have completely destroyed even the memory of all my dreams. I see now the realm of the Pharaoh was never filled with lords and gods. It was filled with children!"
Teana whimpered.
"And so I had never lost to a worthy opponent. I see now, I'm not even as good as a silly girl like you!"
Teana advanced. She waved a fist at Mana's shoulder, struck with a messy blow. And Mana should have pulled back, but she leaned forward instead. Teana's fist rattled to settle against Mana's clavicle, and it ended before it had even started. Teana had curled in on herself, against Mana's chest and was sniffling into her shoulder. And Mana pulled her loosely into an embrace, tugging at the linen of Teana's dress. And Teana was taller than her, but Mana leaned up so her feet floated above the ground, and she let Teana inhale and exhale in trembling shudders against her breast, and Mana let her own eyes cry too.
And then she leaned down, so her feet were once again rooted to the earth, and pressed a light kiss under Teana's jaw.
And Teana's face contorted and she cried even harder, and clung to Mana, arms encircled around her back.
And so that was how Mana spent the wedding of the fourth sister, Amisi. She spent it embraced, crying with Teana, near an abandoned wall and staring up at the date palms. And her silks and Teana's linens were dirtied alike. And for a long time they did nothing and said nothing until-
"We should go back," Mana insisted. "You won't want Amisi to leave for her husband's household without your blessing!"
"…Or your blessing." Teana grumbled, exhausted, into Mana's dress. "How will Amisi have a happy marriage, without the blessing of the Magician Apprentice?"
"No," Mana said. "Your blessing is much more important than mine."
Teana was properly chastised, because she nodded. And she let Mana lead her back by the wrist.
"I'm sorry," Teana apologised, when they were halfway there. She was too ashamed to look at Mana. "You're not stupid. Or foolish. You're really very amazing. And I don't truly believe you came to the weddings of my sisters to upset me. It only felt that way sometimes."
Mana felt her eyes begin to water again.
"No, I'm sorry," she said. "It's my job to make these weddings happy occasions. It looks like I overlooked you the whole time though."
Mana wiped at her eyes with the hand that was not leading Teana forward.
"You don't have to cry for me," Teana said.
And Mana didn't have to bless weddings either, but she did. And she was glad for it.
"I know I don't have to," Mana said, petulantly.
She let a firework burst in her hand, and held it up for Teana to see.
And Teana smiled, her lips and cheeks curled up in spite of themselves, where the water marks were splayed across her face.
"We'll figure something out," Mana promised.
And when they had made it back the rest of the way to the Maza household, Amisi embraced Teana, headless of the dirt on her clothing. She thanked Teana for her blessing on the most fortuitous day of her wedding.
.
.
After that, there was a lot of magic, and dancing, and coming to know one another. And then a lot of planning and intermediary visits.
Master Mahaad had to be convinced to take on another apprentice. Although, he had only put in a minimum amount of resistance, and finally relented on the basis that no student could be as difficult as Mana had been when she was first learning. And, anyhow, it would be a good opportunity to teach Mana the basics of pedagogy, if she were interested in instructing someone herself one day.
Priest Shada had to be called to the Maza residence, to view the nature of Teana's ka with his Key, and to make sure she was healthy enough and with enough ba to make a good Magician.
Then the elder Maza had to be called to the palace, to iron out a contractual agreement for Teana's apprenticeship and living arrangements. She would be sharing a room in the women's wing. Not far from Mana's room, and only slightly further from Priestess Isis's room.
And once that was done, it was quite a spectacle when the Pharaoh's Court came and dispatched itself amongst the Maza household.
Atem seemed very interested in the decorations around the household. He examined the wreathes set around the perimeter, the drawings that Teana and her sisters had scribbled onto the wall in their youths, the reed carvings that the elder Maza had created himself, and the painted vase of fava beans Mana had once crashed into. He walked through the premises, oblivious to Maza's attempts to direct him away from what he considered too embarrassingly ordinary for the Pharaoh to see.
Isis seemed content to stand in the feasting room, and people watch from the window. She had somehow dragged Kalim with her, and pointed out to him the most interesting clouds and passers-by. Mahaad's cat watched contentedly from Kalim's shoulder.
Master Mahaad took it upon himself to place wards around the perimeter of the yard. For good fortune, he said, winking at Mana.
The Priests Set and Akhenaten were, thankfully, absent. Celebrations didn't seem to entirely suit them to begin with. But Priest Set had at least not said a rude word about the growing number of Magicians and Magician Apprentices at the palace.
After a few hours of feasting, the elder Maza was hanging off Mana's right shoulder, tearing up as he spoke into his glass.
"My fifth and last daughter, moving out of my household~ I am so very happy, but it's a bittersweet celebration. You will take care of her, won't you, Miss Mana?"
"Of course!" Mana answered seriously. "She's my junior apprentice! And a very important-"
"Dad!" Teana protested from Mana's other side, going very red in the face. She stood up and pressed between them like a wedge, pried her father's arm off Mana's shoulder and sat down. "You don't have to be so sentimental!" she insisted. "It's not as if I'm being married off or anything."
"It's at least a little bit like that~" the elder Maza protested. "We all know how you and Miss Mana have eyes for each other."
Across the table, Isis was giggling into her palm. The rest of Mana's party was more reserved, but they seemed to be taking pains to hide tiny smirks.
"Don't be ridiculous, Dad," Teana protested. She harrumphed and crossed her arms defensively across her chest, face still bright red.
Mana pouted slightly, but she didn't let her disappointment hold her down for long.
"Don't worry, Mister Maza. I'll make sure she doesn't get into any trouble," Mana assured, ignoring that the first impression she had made on the man was having gotten into a flying accident that sent her piling through his wall.
The elder Maza seemed pleased, although perhaps it was just the wine affecting him. He nodded vigorously and wiped his tears away with his forearm. The Prince and Master Mahaad seemed quick to pick up where Mana had left off, assuring him of the security of his daughter's wellbeing.
Teana seemed conflicted though. Her eyes darted to Mana, with some kind of unreadable expression. She uncrossed her arms and looked off straight ahead.
Mana was prepared for that to be the end of it, when instead Teana scooted closer, and then she felt Teana's thigh press flush against hers, and Teana's hand grab the inside of her thigh, just below the knee, and hold her in place.
"Don't listen to him," Teana said, in a hushed voice. "You don't have to worry about not getting me into trouble."
Mana ducked her head. "It's kind of my job to be sympathetic to people who take these-" weddings "-moving parties difficultly."
"Not when you're one of the parties involved in the 'moving'," Teana insisted. "It's their job right now," she said, jerking her head towards the Prince and Master Mahaad, who were trying to distract Maza with dice games and magic tricks respectively.
Teana's hand had moved off Mana's thigh, but their legs were still pressed together. Mana looked at their laps, and felt very charmed by this gesture.
She couldn't help but smile at the happy occasion.
.
..
Fin.