September 19, 2022, 02:01 PM
In the afternoon, after seeing to Makono for a time and then being given leave for a rest and another meal, Nazli took the initiative and went without; she chose instead to visit the same hill where she had found the flowers earlier in the day, and ventured a little further.
The conversation she'd held with Tavina was still fresh in her mind. She mulled over what life would be like if every moment was not in service to the princess (something she could not truly fathom, but in her mind danced images of the two of them in strange fields, or sleeping beneath the stars, far from the palace). Climbing mountains and visiting new places.
Nazli's path took her across the scrubland until she spotted one of the running birds, and for a moment the two stared at one-another.
When she returned some time later, a cluster of the bird's tail-feathers lay clutched in her teeth. There was no bird there and subsequently no meat to take to the fellahin's preparation room, but the glorious red-gold feathers were mostly intact and would serve as another piece of Makono's gift.
The conversation she'd held with Tavina was still fresh in her mind. She mulled over what life would be like if every moment was not in service to the princess (something she could not truly fathom, but in her mind danced images of the two of them in strange fields, or sleeping beneath the stars, far from the palace). Climbing mountains and visiting new places.
Nazli's path took her across the scrubland until she spotted one of the running birds, and for a moment the two stared at one-another.
When she returned some time later, a cluster of the bird's tail-feathers lay clutched in her teeth. There was no bird there and subsequently no meat to take to the fellahin's preparation room, but the glorious red-gold feathers were mostly intact and would serve as another piece of Makono's gift.