The Lion or the Bear?

I don’t have a lot of words right now (since all my words are being used elsewhere). I had a bumper day today and did two days worth of work. I’m pretty happy with this part.

The two adherents left the military training ground behind and passed through a purely industrial quarter. They were surrounded by the smoke from kilns and the noise of draft animals. As they passed a large clay vessel factory and came alongside a open air flax-weaving operation Amenmehat asked, “You saw the beginning of the excavation work at Gizeh. What do you make of my brother Thutmose?”
“His eyes are like the desert lion. I saw one caged when I was a girl,” she added to prove she knew what she was talking about. Then she realized she may have spoken too freely. She made an apologetic noise, “Ahh...”
Amenmehat was simply looking down at the road in front of them as they walked. His expression was grave. Ahtinamun did not know what else to say so she remained silent. Then the priest spoke. “Thank you for speaking the truth about what you have seen.” They were both silent for the length of a few more buildings. Very softly Amenmehat asked, “Did you know Pharaoh has died?” Even though she knew well the theoretical progress of individual Pharaohs through the ages; each new one becoming the living Horus as each former became Osiris in an unending chain, she was still gripped with a sudden fear. No pharaoh? It had never happened in her lifetime and she felt unmoored. As the idea sunk into her mind she recalled there was a definite process.
“How long until my Lord is buried?”
“Two months yet. Then the Son of Horus will rise to be The Living Image of Horus.” He sounded very sad about this prospect.
Ahtinamun realized she was being invited once again to peer behind another veil. “Will the royal family have need of a priestess of Isis?” Even in asking she was other priestesses who outranked her could not be bypasses for this unique opportunity. Amenmehat was looking at her meaningfully. “If not, perhaps I can serve you in some other capacity.”
The priest nodded his acceptance. “Let us speak again of hypotheticals,” he said loudly with a wave of his right hand. “Let us suppose a wild desert lion, like the one you mentioned earlier.” He looked at her and she nodded her understanding. “Now suppose also a bear raised in captivity which had grown to hate the bear-baiters and the bars which were a necessary part of its life.” Ahtinamun was beginning to understand the shape of this argument. “If these two were taken from their cages and left to roam, which would be the more dangerous creature?”
“Are these beasts well-fed or starved?”
Amenmehat suddenly laughed, lifting his head back and expressing his mirth in a short exclamation. The suddenness and force of the priest’s odd laughter caught Ahtinamun by surprise. With a smile he said, “let us say they are fed but neither starved for fattened.”
Ahtinamun knew little enough about animals, especially savage beasts. She had seen a bear as well as a lion. She compared the two. She knew her mentor was not really asking her about animals. She left she had to answer very carefully. “In your example the bear would seem the safer choice, its life of captivity would have made it more docile than a wild bear, certainly.”
“Certainly.”
“However, that familiarity could be a trap. It would be a mistake to treat such a bear as tame. It could strike out when violence was least expected.” The priest nodded. “While the lion could never be mistaken for tame and no one would treat it so. Given a chance the lion would be more likely to return to the desert where it had known true freedom rather than staying in the city at all.”
“I think you are correct in all points.”
Emboldened Ahtinamun pushed forward with another point. “Of course, the question then becomes, that is the purpose of the animal? Is it a guide to be followed? If so, what use is running into the desert for most of us? If this theoretical animal is simply a symbol of power, why tolerate a symbol which returns adoration with contempt?”
“You see the dilemma very clearly, indeed.”
“And it is your place to decided between these beasts?”
Amenmehat was very grave and returned to studying the ground. “It is not my place by right or by obligation. Yet the choice is before me.”
“If we are all part of a cosmic priesthood, who better to make a choice for order than the High Priest of Amun?”
They had reached the plaza where they must part. Her to the sacred precinct and he. No doubt to the palace where the bear rattled its cage even now. “Goodbye for now, Father. I am most grateful to you for these discussions. I feel I am learning much.” Ahtinamun bowed low to the priest.
He returned the bow, but more shallowly, respecting his greater stature. “I am glad you find our time together beneficial.” Without another word the highest ranking priest in the city turned on his heel and crossed the plaza.
Ahtinamun watched him go. His black cloak cut such a grave silhouette against the white stone he was easy to follow until her view was blocked by a public building across the plaza. He was like a shadow, dark as a smear of charred resin, which moved on its own from one forgotten corner of the universe to another. She was very certain what they had been talking about. She would choose the lion. She stood at the edge of plaza for some time watching the mundane business of the city being conducted at its edges. What could she do to help bring about the rise of the lion and the fall of the bear? Perhaps the answer was only known in the lost corners of the universe where shadows roam free.

Right now my word count is 32,027 words.
By now I should have 30,006 words.