ramesses had made
@Satsu feel inferior and diminished.
the day that followed their meeting with the raving king of ursus saw pharaoh awake and receiving jawahir's newest find. she shone as finest gold, this tamar, and her accent was unplaceable, the melodic tones of some place far beyond a seafaring journey.
it was only the sharpened poignancy of her eyes that marred the girl for him. she was supple and pleasant, apprised of her role within akashingo and willing to submit to his royalty at once. but ramesses did not want sorrow for a bedfellow.
"you are a wedding present," he told the gilded maiden, nipping her playfully before him toward the pristine rock-walled apartments that satsu resided in alone beneath the mesa.
he stopped some feet away, and called to his betrothed with a wistful, gentle voice, asking her to please receive him with grace.
before nyra had hold of the saints, it was kynareth, and it was his war with ursus which had made her doubt and run; now she had met the madman at the helm. in trying to avoid a war, she had somehow invited a new one to her home.
having run from one corner of the world seemingly to another, and here there was still trouble. satsu lounged in one of the many empty rooms below ground, quietly lamenting to herself.
her betrothed called for her. she resisted the urge to rise on command and stretched, choosing in that moment to be petulant, which was rare enough. let him wait; he cared little for her, she thought.
when satsu did emerge it was to find pharaoh standing with a woman. something possessive flared in her belly at the sight of them. dawn-touched, doe-eyed. warm and pretty, and everything else that would draw the eye of ramesses.
she is silent, cold. saying nothing, and only looking to pharaoh rather than the girl.
she had wandered.
tamar perhaps showed herself too willingly and too swiftly to be an outcast. the slender jawahir had found her and encircled her with words. she had allowed herself to be brought into this place of rearing red rooms, and had waited for the man called ramesses to properly initiate her.
but he had not. he had not called for her until this day. and it was not to his chamber that she was led, but to another. tamar said nothing. there was no fear in her, only a bit of curiosity glimmering in the void.
it did not matter who she had been, not now. tamar meant to serve, for each hard day would stamp from her the memory of what she had done. she stood at the proud flawless side of the ruler, eyes fixed upon the red sand.
satsu appeared at last, impassive and cold. ramesses let out his breath in relief. "i have brought you something. a beautiful shabti."
"she is more fitting than your last servant. she will know only you, satsu. she is yours."
surely now she might see her role and her status. that he would give her such loveliness untouched and unaltered. he did not wait; he lowered his muzzle to push the offering forward.
and then pharaoh looked toward satsu, trying carefully to adjudge her from behind the cool watchfulness of his painted eyes.
the girl's eyes were downcast to the sand.
satsu listened, knowing now why this one was brought to her. it was a replacement for maggie; he did not think she would survive much longer, then. her death meant there would be no reason for crowfeather to linger.
and what, he hoped to stave away such knowledge with this gift?
satsu turned to regard the girl. she drew up close to her - not enough to touch, but enough to study - and saw not a tuft of fur out of place. no heavy scent of ramesses draped across her every inch. a wolfish face; everything else sharp and tapered, clearly impure.
so in some ways, an upgrade.
content enough with this, satsu drew back again and settled to her haunches. she looked to pharaoh but her voice was for the new girl.
down the hall is the bath. bathe there, then clean the water. find me when you are done.
it would be too much for one person to do, this cleansing of the wellspring, but it would keep the girl busy and away from satsu, for a time.
tamar outtie
tamar found herself inspected.
the queen was young and lovely, with the cool voice of one who knew she had been chosen for greater things than the new harlot.
maidservant, she reminded herself. plaything. the wolves handled her and spoke to her as if she had no mind of her own. the red-gold along her shoulders shimmered all the same. she bowed with the ease of emptiness, unencumbered by pride. "yes, great one." it was what pharaoh had told her to say.
with that she was gone, and only when she was alone in the waters did the pale earthen tones of her eyes pool with a tearless anguish.
ramesses was pleased to see satsu so self-possessed. she inspected the girl and did not find her wanting, then gave a crisp order. the servant obeyed at once, with a deep respect that pharaoh hoped might temper any remembrance of their poolside disagreement.
"her name is tamar, but of course, name her whatever you wish. she will answer." tamar was the name of some dirty-footed strumpet from a bedouin backwater. ramesses had no doubts within him that satsu would polish the foreign little fellahin into a more fitting companion for herself.
and once more, he himself had been so magnanimous in not enjoying her once. tamar was far too melancholy for the laughter ramesses enjoyed keeping in his ears.
the name of the latest of ramesses' collection did not matter much to her, but she accepted the gift - in so far as she could not deny the girl - and gave a curt tuck of her chin as the only visible acceptance.
satsu turned from ramesses then to look at the retreating figure, catching sight of her ginger shoulders, the tapered hips, just as the shadows swallowed her up. something ruminated within satsu that went unmentioned.
i do not have a gift for you.
came her quiet utterance, her brows raising slightly, though he would not see. i suppose that will be added to my agenda.
brevity, then silence. satsu had much to do - more now with the addition of this girl to train, but she could call on jawahir and leave the pair alone for most of the day. a stifled sigh, and the woman danced away again - to her chambers, most likely.
ramesses could think of several ways in which satsu might gift him. but he said none of this lewdness, only bowed to his promised queen.
business. tasks. the responsibility of planning their future here. these were ways in which he might mollify her, exemplify her importance here at akashingo.
pharaoh himself did not wish to be bothered with any of that.
it was not after her he stepped, nor the sorrowful tamar.
pharaoh wandered to maggie's sick-room to stare at her a long while, once more.