Erisa smiled at Mama Kuko, and said. "Well Mama, I did not come explicitly to meet you, but Threye did say you may be here. I really came to make friendship with Regus."
"Why?", asked Mama Kuko. She was startled indeed. She had expected that Erisa had come all the way from Mrod to meet her. She was not too pleased that the main objective of Erisa's visit was Regus and not her. Was she feeling the first pricks of a hurt ego? Time indeed would tell.
The two of them passed the better part of an hour talking of this and that, and then they retired for the night.
The next day, Mama Kuko invited Erisa to go with her when she was to visit Loona. When Loona saw the two of them approaching her, she screamed in panic.
"The Terrible Trinity cometh, The Terrible Trinity cometh", she screamed. The onlookers looked on in fear and wonder. Was this another round of possession, or was this the portend of things to come? The air was still, as Loona kept on screaming and pulling her hair out.
"Oh dear", sighed Mama Kuko. "It looks like the poor dear has been possessed again."
As she sat down to begin her treatment of Loona, Erisa wandered off back to the Palace. As she walked back, she looked around at the streets, the houses and the shops. She noticed that everything was very well looked after. There was a very - social - atmosphere on the streets, as people sat at the cafes, and sipped their drinks with a relaxed air.
"They certainly seem to be on very friendly terms with each other", she thought. "The shops and houses are quaint, but very well maintained. I like the flowers and the plants that seem to be hanging out of every balcony and window. They are a happy people. I wonder how this will change in the future."
She walked up the cobblestoned streets upto the Palace. The Palace gleamed in the warm afternoon sunlight, and all the colours reflected a richness that most places that she had visited simply lacked. The paint on the gates of the Palace were fresh, the colours bright and rich. Everything was calm, relaxed. There was no sense that things would change.
"Altogether very happy," she thought. "Regus certainly seems to have been a good king. I wonder if they even have an army. They do seems to be an optimistic people....... After the illness that has ravaged this place....."
As she entered the gates, Regus greeted her at the main hall, and asked with a smile, "How do you like our poor country?"
"I certainly like it very much", replied Erisa with a smile. "I could imagine that you are a very good, very warm king indeed. Your subjects cannot be so happy, unless their king is good..."
"Well, why don't you come and have some tea with me, and then you can tell me about your first impressions." he replied.
As the two of them went to a small ante-chamber, tea and crumpets were brought in. The two of them launched into an animated conversation, discussing his philosophy of kingship, and how his people were so happy. Erisa hung on his every word. She had her chin in her hand, as she looked deep into his eyes. She seemed to be completely fascinated by everything he had to say, and certainly her questions and the gay look in her eyes only served to strengthen this impression.
They spoke for a long time, and after a while the Queen came in to join them. She was a pleasant enough lady, if not particularly impressive otherwise. Regina was her name, and she clearly doted on the King. Certainly nothing in Erisa's manner indicated anything other than the deepest respect and admiration for the King. Her decorum was faultless, and she only seemed to be intent on listening to the King's words.
Dinner was soon served. Mama Kuko came in looking tired, and she seemed a bit disturbed by the quick intimacy that seemed to have sprung up between the royal couple and Erisa.
After dinner, Erisa invited Mama Kuko back to her chambers. She washed Mama Kuko's feet, massaged her neck and shoulders, and asked about her day. As Mama Kuko spoke of the day, the cures that she had created for Loona, Erisa was nothing but the picture of attention and concern.
Gradually, the conversation shifted to their past experiences. Mama Kuko spoke of the cures that she had done for people, her falling into the well of arrogance, her capture and her rescue. She dwelt briefly on how Percival and Jenna had been cured in Lavonia. Erisa was standing behind her, gently massaging her neck, and so she missed the sudden fire that flashed from Erisa's eyes. Caution never left Erisa, however, as she only paused ever so briefly in her massage.
Erisa spoke of her adventures, but she spoke of them in terms of glory, in terms of bringing many people to liberation, of introducing them to higher values and superior ways of doing things. The people that the Mrodics had enslaved were portrayed, gently, as people who had been liberated. Those who had been betrayed were portrayed as people who's eyes had been opened and, all in all, while she did not do too much to hide the bloodshed, the blood was portrayed as a necessarry sacrifice that had to be undertaken.
Mama Kuko was far too shrewd to believe Erisa's soft words, yet something in the manner in which Erisa combined the massage with her words; the gentle, warm lighting in the room made Mama Kuko a little less vigilant than she would normally have been. When she retired for the night, her dreams of Erisa were rather more kindly than they would have normally have been.
The next morning, when the two women met, it was with warmth and affection. They looked at each other, hugged, and went down for breakfast arm in arm.
Erisa had taken the first step towards forming deep friendships in the Valley of the Kings...
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