Welcome to Gaia! ::

~This Thread is an ORP for Anubis' Hieratic Members Only. If you do not have one please refrain from posting in this thread Thank You!~

There are situations in which to be late. A situtation involving either the Pharaoh or the General, or, Duat, any of the royal women, was not one of them. But given her--his, his, royal women--choice, Aineias would rather be a little bit late than be caught with women's make-up on. Eyeliner to keep out the sun, that was fine, even expected, but the rest? Not so much. His face now wiped of incriminating evidence and a spear clutched between his teeth, the second-eldest prince galloped full-tilt towards the training ground. He arrived nearly two minutes after Ka-set had. Aineias cringed inwardly at the look of contempt on his brother's face, but outwardly he kept a stern mask of calm and deliberate aloofness. Since becoming an adult, he'd been trying to avoid his siblings. It no doubt made them suspicious of them, but it was well worth avoiding the intrigue and the trouble they caused. As a boy, he wasn't exactly at the top of the social ladder, and his brothers seemed quite uninterested in giving him any respect or care.

He didn't expect that--or rather, he shouldn't. He was a prince. He was a vessel of the Pharaoh or the General, whichever one of them picked him. That should be enough for him. He set the spear on the ground and stood stiffly at attention, waiting for orders.

From the direction of the palace stepped Ai, the first of the daughters to emerge it would seem. Her trademark laurels glinted in the sun as she made her way over at her own pace, showing she had little concern for being late or early. She was going, that should be more important than when she arrived. Ai didn't feel she needed any group training. She already knew how to use her spear, teeth, and hooves in a fight. What more could the General teach her she didn't already know? Or perhaps this was the 'choosing' she had heard about. Where each parent picked an offspring for special training, like her long gone brother Parushta had been selected by Nefertari to be her personal assassin. Some may be surprised she hadn't picked another to take his place. Parushta had been trained ever since he had been a foal, sculpturing his personality into a hardened warrior. Her next batch of children were all grown up, none of their careers set in stone, yet.

Ai, however, was not surprised. For some reason, Nefertari had doted a little extra time on the petite mummy. It wasn't clear to the younger mare what her purpose was. The training sometimes consisted only of talking about the history. She suspected it had something to do with her body and that was why she had been given the name Ai Nefertiri, Beloved Daughter of the Pharaoh. Nekhbet had a better one, but perhaps Nefertari thought a mixture of both herself and Morrigan would be lucky.

Whatever the case, it gave Ai a closer look at her mother than she had ever wanted. Nefertari was cunning and mistrustful. She had been played a fool once before by a child of hers. She would weigh her options with these new ones before she picked anyone new to do so much as to shine her horns.


But Ai, however, did not come alone. Had everyone failed to notice who followed at her heels, the frown on her face might have given it away, instead.

Behind her daughter the Pharaoh walked with a proud step in her algiedi hooves, giving each of her children present a kind of weighted look, judging them from the very instant she set her glowing eyes on them. Five children was a good number to weed out the potential. But would five be good enough?

When Ai stopped, Nefertari continued walking past the group, her eyes half lidded as they always were, the ruby glow giving her a menacing look. She moved to the side, out of the way but still there. She had no intentions of involving herself with this training session, not today. Today she was here to observe. Over the years, her mate had collected enough trust from Nefertari that she had no problems leaving the floor to Morrigan. Her feelings and treatment of stallions, to Nefertari, seemed a little extreme at times, but as a whole they thought the same. Morrigan would not make a disaster of all Nefertari had worked towards.

And that was about as far as the love went between the two.

She stood there, now, waiting as the children did. Pretending to be interested in something far off in the distance to their left.

The crimson and gold princess strode in, head held high, eyes seeing everything and acknowledging no one. Her siblings had made it ahead of her. This was an annoyance but Nekhbet was not concerned. She did not view her siblings as a threat to her succession. Especially Ka-Set. He was so delightfully inferior.

Without needing to be told, the princess took her place and bowed low with a graceful swoop of her neck. Before she rose, she spoke quietly.

"I apologize, my wondrous queens, for my untimely arrival. As I was on my way some foolish stallion saw fit to run into me. I was forced to make an example of him so that all would know that no disrespect will be tolerated toward your great, noble line," as she finished she closed her eyes in a further sign of respect towards her mothers.

With that, the princess remained quiet, her glowing eyes as placid as an undiscovered lake. She was determined to not allow anyone to read her true emotions. Nekhbet was just a little nervous. She refused to let it show and kept complete control over her body.

Cosmas wasn't all that concerned about who got what position, he would indeed like it if the Queens saw him fit to fill an higher position so he could serve closer to the them. But his expectations could easily be crushed, so he did not think hard on it. He had his head held high, to respect the Queens, to show they had his attention. The need to please them was great inside Cosmas and he found that it was his only real meaning in life anymore. It was like as soon as he stopped having adventures with his brother, and he went into training, fun was no longer an essential need to him neither was emotion all together. Nonetheless he could not let his mind wander, the Queens were present.

He listened to Nekhbet, and her reasoning for being slightly late. Cosmas found it to be a reasonable explanation, though in the end he wasn't allowed to say what he thought of her late arrival, but he still took a second to think on it. Cosmas did not have a reason to speak up, just to respect the Queens, but he did run through his head what he would say to his brothers, and sisters. (If they where in the mood) Perhaps he would ask Aineias if they could spar or talk about what they missed while they where both in training. Cosmas hadn't really spoken to Ka-Set at all, but maybe they could share some tips for the battle field? Cosmas didn't know what he would say to his sister's they always seemed so cold, not that he was complaining that was just their personality.

Cosmas nearly sighed, thinking about how far they had all grew from one another. But he wouldn't let anyone notice that he may actually think of something other than the Queens he stood before. He cleared his mind of everything but the Queens and his loyalty to them, straightening his stance while slightly looking beside him to see his brothers and sisters, looked forward, and awaited instruction.