His new lover

Passion

For Ahkmenrah, the following month was a whirlwind of non-stop lessons and facades of strength and emotional breakdowns behind closed doors. Merenkahre, and indeed everyone except Lev and the twins, was completely oblivious to Ahkmenrah's constant inner turmoil. He praised his son for how regal and composed he always seemed to be during such difficult times, saying that he was born to become Pharaoh and that Egypt would flourish as it never had before. Ahkmenrah would simply smile and thank his father, able to ignore the urge to either cry or scream. It was when Merenkahre would talk about Ahkmenrah having to marry that he would hide his shaking hands beneath the table or politely excuse himself from the room, feigning exhaustion, before sneaking off to the harem to be with Lev.

Lev.

Lev had never asked for any of this. Almost every night, Ahkmenrah would repeat over and over in his mind both how blessed he was to have Lev, and how terrible a person he was for doing this to him. Lev deserved complete, unconditional happiness, without the fear of punishment or the burden of being Ahkmenrah's only source of comfort. And yet whenever Ahkmenrah could get away, he would find Lev waiting for him. It never mattered how difficult his day had been or how little sleep he had gotten worrying about Ahkmenrah, Lev was never anything but happy when they were together.

Even though they were both young, Ahkmenrah knew that Lev was a great man, perhaps greater than he himself could ever be, and he couldn't thank the gods enough for bringing them together.

"Ahk?"

Ahkmenrah's thoughts were interrupted by Lev's voice, Ahkmenrah's thoughts were interrupted by Lev's voice, and he flushed in embarrassment for he had been staring at him the entire time. "Yes?"

"You didn't a hear a word I said, did you?"

"What? Of course I did! You were saying something about...um.....horses?"

"Yes, specifically your horse and how much I adore the name you gave her."

"Oh, Sesmet?" Ahkmenrah laughed, resting his head on Lev's shoulder. "I grew very attached to the name, and it does suit her quite nicely."

Lev chuckled, kissing Ahkmenrah's head and relaxing against the bench they were sitting on. The moon was high in the sky, and Lev had convinced Ahkmenrah to sit in the garden and relax. Oh, how Lev loved that garden.

The grass that grew was lush and green beneath their bare feet, and there were all kinds of trees and flowers: grand sycamores with thick trunks and bushels of sun-dried figs, acacias with thin branches reaching over their heads to protect them from the sun and cast shadows over them at night, dancing pomegranate trees laden with their succulent fruit, daisies with bright yellow centers, cornflowers with cerulean petals, roses smelling of the sweetest perfume, jasmine twirling daintily in the breeze, and poppies with cheeks of crimson silk. In the center of the garden was a rectangular pool; blue lotus flowers floated gently atop the calm waters as fish of all sizes and colors swam lazily beneath the surface.

Lev admired the moonlit garden around him for a moment, before glancing down at his right hand, in which he had enclosed a certain object. He shifted, suddenly anxious, and Ahkmenrah sensed Lev's change in demeanor.

"Lev? Is something wrong?"

"Mhm? No! Of course not!"

Ahkmenrah lifted his head from Lev's shoulder and looked at him for a moment. "...Are you sure?"
Lev took a breath, reminding himself that he had nothing to fear, and spoke. "Well, love, I know you've been under a lot of stress lately, and I just want you to know that I'm so proud of you. So here. I want you to have this."

Lev held out his right hand, revealing the object in his palm, and Ahmenrah gasped.

"Oh...Lev, it's beautiful."