Lawshipping (Isis x Akhenaden)
. . .
She arrived without warning one twilight evening. A simply dressed girl who held herself like a woman, she was the talk of the palace guards for more reasons that one. Not only did they speak of her incredibly beauty, the lustrous obsidian of her hair, the soft curves of her face and body, her deep colored eyes the color of the Nile in summer – they also were amazed at her soft spoken voice and the authority that came with it. They weren't technically allowed to let in petitioners after Ra had left his highest position in the sky. But when she appeared, silhouetted against the purple sky with her hair let loose and drifting in the wind, they found it hard to refuse her request.
Akhenaden was not pleased at visitors being allowed in at this time of night – what kind of impression would it set? Aknamkanon was adamant, however, that if the guards deemed her safe, she ought to be listened too.
They hadn't exaggerated her beauty. She was not much older than Set, but seemed mature enough to be an old woman. The way she held herself suggested nobility, but her dress was of mediocre make and her only jewelry consisted of two bracelets on each arm, a pair of simple copper earrings, and the silver rings she wore in the strands of her hair that framed her face.
She dropped her eyes and bowed before the pharaoh before she approached. Yet, it was a less of subservient act and more of simple respect, as though the pharaoh was no more than an former superior. Akhenaden snorted. He did not like her already.
She approached the throne and bowed once again. She did not rise as she spoke.
"My lord Pharaoh, I thank you for accepting me at so late an hour," she said. "I have traveled many miles. I wish to request acceptance into your court."
Aknamkanon did not reply at first, seemingly considering the question. Akhenaden didn't know what there was to consider. She was a woman, for one thing, one that none of them knew and was most certainly not of noble blood.
"You ask of the pharaoh a large favor," Akhenaden rumbled. "What do you believe qualifies you for such an honor?"
Still, the woman did not raise her eyes. There was something about the position, though, that seemed to make her more important rather than less important. She was playing this court like a game of senet – she was incredibly good. Appear lowly, but be important. Were she a man, she would have made a good lawman.
"I did not come for that singular reason alone," she continued. "I have heard the former holder of the Millennium Tauk has passed into the Underworld. I wish to take the test of the item."
Akhenaden heard a few soft intakes of breath from several corners. She was so young. Too young. She was a woman – the previous Tauk bearer had been a woman as well, but she had been well into her prime. She had been strong enough. This girl, though, she could be blown away by the merest breath.
"You are aware of the consequences of failing that test?" Akhenaden asked her.
She raised her eyes then and met his square. She did not flinch from the sight of the metallic eye in his left socket. She did not flinch from the condescension in his remaining human eye.
In fact, he was the one to flinch slightly, at the cool determination in her eyes.
"I am," she said.
The words, and her expression, sent a cool shudder through him. Where had he seen those eyes before? Where had he felt such an indescribable emotion before?
"Then so be it," Aknamkanon said. "You may take the test."
"Your own head be on it," Akhenaden muttered.
He was certain he was quiet enough so that only he heard himself, but the woman turned her head towards him with a slightly bemused expression. He scowled.
The Tauk was brought forward, kept as it was in a stone box so that no one would touch it accidentally. They were dangerous things, these Millennium Items.
The woman stood, then, awaiting the servants who brought the box forward. She lifted the lid of the box herself. For a moment, she stared at the golden jewelry. It was as though she thought to find some truth, some answer to a question in the golden reflection.
She won't make it, Akhenaden thought. She's too young. It's a shame.
With delicate fingers, she lifted the necklace from its place. Without hesitation she turned it in her hands and pulled it about her neck.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the item flashed a brilliant gold. There was a sound like water rushing from a falls, a sound that echoed and crashed about the hall. A few people screamed as a violent wind ripped through their ranks.
And then it was over. The woman stood perfectly still in the exact same position as before. Her eyes were closed, but she looked all right.
Better than all right, it was as though her entire stance had gone taller, prouder – it was almost as though she had grown several years.
Then her eyes opened. The first eyes she found were Akhenaden's, who was staring at her with disbelief. Her smile was almost patronizing.
"The Tauk has chosen," Aknamkanon was saying in his rumbling voice. "What is your name, child?"
Her fingers went up to the Tauk, touching it softly.
"Isis," she said. "My name is Isis."
. . .
A/N: Ummmmm...yeah. There ya go. I think I have a tendency to warp Isis' personality a bit too much sometimes. ^^; Next is Lateshipping (Yami no Bakura x Amane).
