Shards of Ankh

Chapter Eighteen

"So what did you need from me?" Ankh asked. "You said something was needed from me. I am more than happy to oblige, assuming I am able."

"Oh, yes. Um...I wanted to try an...experiment."

Ankh rose his eyebrows. "An experiment?"

"Would you be willing to allow me to, erm, take something with me?"

Ankh looked confused.

"A necklace, a bracelet, something of that sort."

"Of course."

"I'll return it, of course."

Ankh smiled. "No need--you can keep it. My gift to you."

Thea felt herself blush. Without thinking, she curtsied. Ankh returned the gesture, which caused her to laugh. He looked perplexed.

"I'm sorry, it's just--in our society doing that is reserved for girls only."

Ankh blushed once again. "Oh."

Thea threw her head back and laughed. "It's okay, really."

Ankh nodded before returning to his throne. He then snapped his fingers, and one of the guards came over. "Yes, my King?"

"Please get a chair for Miss Thea here."

The guard bowed and then rushed away. After a few minutes he returned, high backed chair in hand. "Where would you like this, my Pharaoh?" 

"Next to me is fine."

The guards looked as surprised as Thea felt. She shook her head at Ankh. "Oh Ankh, it's fine, I can sit elsewhere--"

"Perhaps I want you to sit next to me?"

Now it was Thea's turn to turn an unnatural color. She felt the blush from the top of her head all the way down to her chest. "I couldn't possibly--"

"Sit."

The chair was positioned next to Ankh. As the guard bowed to Ankh and backed away, Thea curtsied to the guard, and then quickly sat next to the King. 

"Let us discuss what's going on," Ankh told Thea. He then snapped again, getting the attention of the guards. "Please fetch Lapis."

The guard who had retrieved the chair bowed once again and rushed off. Ankh instructed the other guard to remain posted at the door so he and Thea could speak privately. Thea leaned over.

"Lapis?"

"My vizier."

Thea blinked. "Oh. That was--a woman?"

Ankh chuckled. "Yes. However, she prefers to not be referred to as such."

"Oh." Thea blinked. "I will keep that in mind. Why doesn't he change his name then?"

Ankh rose an eyebrow. "Change their name? Why would he do that?"

"I thought Lapis was a female name."

"It is."

"It's a common practice in the future for people who don't feel they correspond with their genders to change their names."

Ankh went "hmm". Then, "But why? Do names matter that much in the future? Or perhaps, more importantly, do they not mean so much?"

Thea laughed. This discussion was quickly becoming tricky. "Yes and no. I know that names from this time period bear great meaning--they tell a story, who you came from, where you came from, where your loyalties lie. In the future, and specially in my society, names tend to hold more meaning for the parents than the children. And if something so deeply personal as gender is at stake, people have no problem taking steps to have their name changed."