True to his word, Osiris hurried to tell Azora of his mission and set off without anymore delay. He didn't think anyone else would miss him for a few days; he was oft inclined to wander out patrolling the whole of the borders, or in search of prey, so he didn't think permission was needed.
He didn't realize this could've been spun or seen as kidnapping or scandal as the guard made off with the noble lady.

His dusky form strode beside her with long, languid steps. Travels? Some, he rumbled, peering at her quizzically for just a moment, my party and I traveled with the young amiirad to get here here, but the trek was not so terrible. Did he think he could've traveled before that? Yeah, would've been fuckin' nice, but those in his family didn't get such frivolities. He'd trained till his claws were dull and his pads bled and his head rang, he hadn't gotten to go anywhere but right into his duties.

'Everything is different now,' she said, and Osiris turned to look at her earnestly. Different, my lady?

'Aiesha', came the insistence. Osiris rumbled a quiet sound, neither agreeing or otherwise. He didn't want to disagree, but certainly, protocol and manners insisted more hotly! If this was his first mission since becoming mazoi again, he didn't want it known he was unprofessional.

The rusty canine went on to explain; she'd been born in the summer palace of the Queen Toula, and Osiris smiled at the mention of her. It was she who had let him pick his own path, who set him into enough favor to be the trusted Handmaid of princess Neferseba. Apparently, when she had gone, she'd left Aiesha's father to rule in her stead. What an honor!

He realized it as she said it: she was Amiirad, too. And she refused to hear him call her lady? Osiris quailed momentarily, sucking in a sharp, ashamed breath as he soaked in her words, but resigned himself to the knowledge he had: she was speaking of the past, which must have been the change she spoke of.

'Then we arrived to Satriya and... I suppose since my father is not pharaoh, I am not really a nebet.'

That was quite a larger shift than the one he was sulking over. What should've made him feel better only sharpened his curiosity, prompted sympathy.

Does one stop being Amiirad? They may call you something else, but if your Father was pharaoh even briefly, then surely Ra has blessed your family all the same. That cannot be taken back, in spirit. They might bow to a new set of royalty, but that didn't mean the gods hadn't blessed her father, blessed her.

Aiesha didn't openly disagree, but he could hear the uncertainty in her voice. She saw the logic to his words, but did not feel it in her heart, nor did she know how to put it to words. Osiris fixed her with a sympathetic gaze, listening.

How interesting this not-noble-princess was.

She didn't think her father a god. Blasphemy. Yet Osiris didn't seem to flinch.
It was a strange path she walked; a princess in another kingdom, whose father was touched by the divine but not celestial himself. And did Satriya not believe Pharaoh Khaemwaset the chosen? Different kingdoms, same rules, now overlapping. Even Osiris could appreciate the tumultuous nature of that. And yet, were there never others? No other kingdoms ruled by other branches of bloodline, all thinking themselves highest above all?

All of a sudden, mid-rant, she stole a look at him. Osiris' tail curled and he chuffed an affectionate sound, as if soothing her apologies. You have a right to those feelings, my lady, he rumbled, then smiled, Aiesha. I won't pretend I know the answers, but I can listen, if nothing else. I can offer my own thoughts, help how I can. A flame as vibrant as yourself should not be left to be battered by the wind in the open sand when there are stones to build fortification.

She would rather be mazoi.

Strange, isn't it, he sighed with her, How often those with the choice often wish to move down from the status offered them, he dared a glance at her, and how often it is one of those most deserving of being lifted higher.

A princess who never wanted to be royal. A boy raised to be the guard of those royals, who wanted nothing more than to sing and dance and be merry with them. Did Merneith wish to be free of her queenly responsibilities? Would Khaemwaset choose to give up his crown if someone worthy of the light of Ra stepped into the pyramid?

Fathers always do seem to want the best for their children, don't they? Perhaps the gods are the same. They think we ought to thank them for offering us everything we didn't want, never asked for. How many among the sprawling resplendence of Satriya alone have actually chosen their path? How many of us bow our heads because it is bid of us?

His words toed that same heresy, but Osiris --named for the god of death-- had always held a complicated relationship with the gods.