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Rigel had told me what had happened with his Priestess, and much of the rest of his hesitance I had surmised from what I had learned of Antares. Rigel had told me, my own husband, after forsaking all companionship in the wars, had believed himself unfit for any such kindness that a woman could offer. It would be easy to believe that the warrior brother would feel the same after the depravities they had witnessed on the battlefields.

Even now as he beseeched me to be the Voice of Wosret, I understood the ache in his heart. I had known as soon as I saw his eyes drawn to her as they had been to no other, the way he had fought against himself every time that she was in his vicinity. It was evident to me that they belonged together, and had been since the first day.

"Adhhab ya 'akhya. Sawf 'atahadath 'iilaykum eindama yahin alwaqt.""Go, brother. I will speak to you when it is time." I murmur to him as he retreats, and I turn my attention to the black mare he has left in my care. I know well enough how confusing it all was, how the swell of emotions might seem as though they were a tsunami threatening to crash over your own head while the tide tugged you in another direction. I stretch the slender arch of my neck towards her, offering an exchange of breath in greeting.

"Hello, Eness." I say her name with a smile, my eyes sparkling with delight despite the seriousness of the occassion. As much as I would love to devolve into idle gossip with her, to hear of the words that he had murmured into her skin before they had separated, it is not my duty tonight. Tonight I am called to be the Mira for the first time, the voice that stands between my brothers and the matching of their souls to one another. It is a large task, though I take it on gladly. Carefully I choose the words to allow the mare to make her own choices, for me to evaluate her own feelings without my wishes threaded through. I cannot lightly take on the concept of a soul-sewn for the brother that has been through so much already.

"What are your thoughts, Eness?" I ask the question gently, tucking myself at her side so that we may walk free of any restless energy and potentially remove the temptation of staring back at his retreating form. "Do you understand what he means by soul-sewn?"

I ask it gently, my eyes still on her face. I keenly remembered how overwhelmed I had been the next day when Rigel had tried to spoon feed to me all of the lessons that I should have learned when he visited the first time. Granted, I knew the two of them had not been engaged before, but that did not make their marriage any less sacred or the feelings less intense.