“I would like to walk this path with you. And perhaps you might be interested in a conversation.”

“One that will last longer than a moment?” This time, Fatrada turned to face him fully. She knew that the breaths in the market had passed far too quickly, and that he had been unhappy with the outcome; and that despite his best efforts not to attract attention.

“That would be nice.” It was impossible not to be charmed by her. Her long hair braided into a plait, she appeared like a woman who managed her tasks with thoughtfulness and yet possessed a certain understanding of everything.

“What do you want to talk about, vizier Assou?”

He mused for a moment. Outside the palace, he knew only the few images he stumbled across when he collected taxes. Simultaneously, there were the new impressions. The certainty that he was missing something important. The poverty of the lower town was unmistakable. But talking to Fatrada about it would strain their tempers. It would expose the gulf between them. He wanted a nice evening, without serious issues that could come between them. So he shrugged his shoulders. There was nothing he could think of that wasn’t related to Maathorneferure or the other insidious issues behind it.

“You come to speak without a subject?” Fatrada’s amusement rose. “Do you always keep it that way with your interlocutors?”

“I ... rarely have anyone to talk to but Ramesses.” Assou pursed his lips. He was doing worse than expected. He knew his duties and knew how to communicate them. A conversation with Dinem was the easiest thing in the world. But everything outside the palace resembled an alien world he couldn’t master.

“No?” Fatrada’s brows lifted. “Yet I thought that the pharaoh’s vizier would always do nothing but talk to people.”

“Primarily, I do a lot of writing,” he confessed. “Away from that, I also carry out most tasks in written form. Communication is ... a rather rare concern that usually catches up with me when I least expect it.”

“Is that so? Then I will make it easier for you. Ask me a question and I will give you an answer. Then I will ask a question and you will answer me. How does that sound?” Fatrada abandoned the lead. Instead, she settled beside Assou.

For the first time, they found space next to each other in this way and it was a rare, comforting feeling that came over the tjati. This one moment could be the beginning of infinity. They would be able to stay together forever if only time stopped. All of it, if Djehuti stopped the flow of life.

“If you ask in this way ... tell me, where are you from?” His first question came over him completely detached and even if it sounded trivial at first glance, he wanted to cling to whatever little information it could give him. Every word shaped her, made her an old acquaintance in whose arms he could lose himself.

“I would like to say that I come from another land. From a forgotten time when the gods themselves still rested in the lands. But that would be too far-fetched,” Fatrada began, half in thought. “I was born in Mennefer.”

“Ah, one of our most important cities.”

“Probably. I am the third child of four. The only daughter,” Fatrada continued. “My brothers have devoted themselves to trade and have advanced in life with moderate success. I, however, was married off so that I could get a job. My parents didn’t want me to stay with them and perhaps not find a man – or sell myself worse. A man who harvests wheat doesn’t earn much, but it is a secure job that can feed us. That was good enough for my parents.”

“If only they had looked a little closer.” Assou couldn’t help but shake his head. “You are such a beautiful woman. I am sure a man of better status would have seen you. You might even have been allowed to experience love.”

“Love...” She sank further into thought, almost as if there was a memory that made her reach back to that one feeling. Assou watched her, clinging to the certainty that all of that was far too long in the past. In those moments, there were only the two of them.

It took a while, during which they walked side by side in silence, for Fatrada to find her words. “I think I have loved before. But it was brief and nothing that lasted long. Nagib is the only constant that has stayed with me every day since.”

Her features remained motionless, completely untroubled, although the work had to be hard. She didn’t show it and sauntered along beside him as if there was nothing that could still save this world. But Assou thought he noticed something else behind it. Somewhere hidden in her voice was the shallow sound of bitter origins that otherwise found no place. It made the moment more real and Fatrada more human. Where all this time she had seemed like a perfect blossom in the middle of constant heat, now she revealed the faint imperfections of her smile – the frail side that was probably only found among humans.

Her soft steps, her forward gaze, the silence that surrounded them both, squeezed Assou’s throat. A part of him wanted to show courage. The rest tried to let the silence pass so as not to conjure up a storm.

But he was the vizier. He would never get another chance like this. Not least because Maathorneferure would surely recover from her own restlessness before long, and also because between work and the king, there was only the market that could give him a few glances at Fatrada.

So he took the plunge. “Are you happy?”

She looked at him. It was barely noticeable, but she towered over him by a few inches. Not enough for her to look down at him as Maathorneferure did, but enough for her to face him easily. Her thoughtful expression brought renewed silence before she gave him a smile.

“We all do our best to be happy at the end, vizier Assou.” She turned her attention forward again. “Yes, I am happy. Because I know how to live my life without wondering what I could have done better.”

It wasn’t an answer. At least not one that inspired satisfaction, which was why Assou pressed a sigh over his lips. She knew how to handle her life, but it had nothing to do with luck. There was more to it than avoiding disaster. Love was a component of all that. Something, someone to confide in. It needed harmony, which she didn’t possess with Nagib, even if they were similar in some ways. Perhaps Fatrada had turned him into what Assou had seen at the market. As if she possessed a magic that helped her find calm in the eye of the storm.

“Why do you ask?” Fatrada’s question snapped him out of the vortex of his uncertainty. He had to remain attentive. Nothing was more important than listening to her. He could worry about everything else when he was back in the palace, sitting bent over papyrus.

“I ... simply thought that surely there were still plenty of ways to forsake this life. You have the charm of a woman who can find a place even in the higher ranks.”

“I like to doubt that.” She laughed, soft and melodious, as if connected to the wind. “I am but a simple girl, entitled to no more than has been given to me already. And I’m in no position to challenge that.”

“And what if I told you that you very well might have that chance?”

She was far too humble if she couldn’t put into words that she resembled a gem that belonged to the top ranks. She deserved more than the wheat she sold and much more than a man who could give her nothing.

“Your thought is very kind, vizier Assou. But what chance should it be?” All at once, she looked at him and the gleam in her eyes challenged his courage. As if she knew what rested on his heart. Something she wanted to hear. Her words invited him to confess. A glimmer of hope that Assou grasped in its darkness and held tightly in his hands. Then he stopped.

The world should let him burn. It wasn’t the right moment, nor had he been able to do anything to convince her. Still, he couldn’t let her challenge go.

“You could break up with Nagib and become my wife.” His words sounded like a normal offer made to a woman he desired. Yet it constricted his chest and made his shoulders twitch. He had never given himself to a woman in this way before and it didn’t get any better when Fatrada just stood there looking at him.

“Do you mean to tell me you feel something for me, the wheat seller?” She was still smirking. A smile that was shrouded in shadow by the flames of the torches.

“I do,” Assou confirmed firmly. “I love you, Fatrada. And even though I am in no position to make this confession to you, I am sure I can make you happy. You would never have to sell wheat again and you could follow your heart’s desire – whatever that may be. May the gods guide you.”

“I believe the gods have already led me into the arms of another.” She tilted her head to the side before her smile faded. What remained was the gleam in her eyes. “I thank you. It is a beautiful feeling that there is someone in this land who loves me. But I cannot accept your offer.”

“Why?” Outrage crept into his voice louder than he wanted to admit. His heart raced as the tightness in his throat threatened to tear him to pieces. He had no chance and yet Fatrada seemed to be holding her arms open for him. “Is it ... because you don’t desire me? That’s not a problem. I will do everything in my power to make you love me.”

“I take back what I once said.” Her laughter remained toneless. “You’re not very confident about yourself, are you?” She took a few steps towards him. All at once she was far too close and the smell of her body clung to him.

Instantly, Assou pushed through his back. Of course, he was confident. He was the pharaoh’s vizier! But facing her was something else. She wasn’t a woman he could just have, and she wasn’t someone who put up with his every word. Fatrada possessed something that made him more cautious – with his words and his actions. Every step was planned. And it made him uneasy in a completely different way.

“I would argue that I know my position,” the tjati ultimately replied.

“Knowing your position and knowing what charm you have to a woman’s eyes are two entirely different things.” She leaned forward so that her forehead brushed against his. For a moment, her every thought belonged to him and simultaneously he had no place in her world. “I can’t become anyone’s wife anymore because I already have a man.”

“That’s not an obstacle. Separating and finding a better alternative isn’t forbidden.” He wanted to grab her, hold her close, and never let her go. The heat on his skin burned as the rest of him waited in comfortable warmth. His body craved closeness, but his mind knew better. He was in no position to give himself to Fatrada.

“I am a woman of my word, Vizier Assou,” Fatrada finally replied. “I would not leave Nagib even if they made me the richest woman in the world in return. When my parents married me to him, I made him a promise to stay by his side. No matter what.” She broke away from him. “And my fidelity is my pride and joy.”

Her expression left no doubt. She knew what she was talking about, and the gleam in her eyes left no room for regret. She had found her home and the only way to free her from this place was to find another option. Something other than leaving Nagib.

“Is that good enough for you to let me go, vizier Assou?” Tilting her head to the side, Fatrada waited for that one, inevitable answer to wither on his tongue. Letting her go wasn’t an option. He hadn’t yet given his all, hadn’t yet shown her the sweet moments at his side. She was a woman to be honoured. A person who didn’t always look for the best.

“I don’t think I can do that.” Assou’s thoughts fled the moment, the situation, as he moved closer to her and breathed a shallow kiss on her cheek. “I can let you go for today. But please, let me keep trying. I’m sure I can win your heart.”

“You talk a lot about love, for being a vizier.” Fatrada smirked, giving him the bit of wonder he usually got from her in the market. “What makes you want to keep trying?”

“It’s you.” It was the only appropriate answer. Fatrada possessed a different way of expressing herself, and she stood behind the burdens of life. At the market, she had simply been the most beautiful woman he had ever met. However, meeting her at such a late hour added a soul to the picture he had painted. A gentle, kind heart that possessed strength and determination where others lacked backbone.

The late hours had proved him right. His heart was at home by her side. Her smile captivated his senses and knowing that there was much more to her than those few breaths they had shared drew him in. Where before he had simply fallen for her, now the true form of Hathor greeted him. Love had caught up with him, as had the conviction that he had to do much more to win Fatrada over.