Lion Head Mesa Lachtára

The Pharaoh had requested that he be left alone with Satsu. Arsenio had bobbed his head dumbly and plodded away, far from where he might hear their voices vibrating from the cavern walls. He knew that it would have been more fitting if he had waited outside, tried to listen to their conversations, but he could not. His mind was stolen away.

Arsenio prowled through the caverns until he had stepped out onto the mesa and into faded light. Clouds moved overhead, whispering of a chance for rain. The smell of it was in the air. He drew his head up and breathed in the smell of the weather, breathing until his shoulders had relaxed and his eyes searched the orchards in the distance.

The man wished for @Tamar. He had not stopped thinking of her, could not pull her from his mind. So, he searched.

the orchards held no fruit.

she found herself in the shadows all the same. a moment from the queen. from pharaoh. from the new fellahin through which tamar found herself out from under ramesses' eye — for now.

she had thrown the bones away and now ducked out from beneath branches. the cold air seemed to illuminate arsenio's coat. she thrilled to see him but held back, half-shy, half-breathless, but visible in the gloomy light if he should come near now.

tamar's heart raced.

Just as before, it was as though his wishes could conjure her. The man’s icy gaze fixed on her figure, tucked in the shadows of the orchard. There was no one else around, only Tamar hidden away in the gloom of the stormlight.

Arsenio approached swiftly. He could feel his heart thrumming in his chest. It urged him forward, whispering to him in the form of memories. The fragrance of herbs and leaves, her breathlessness against him, and he could not help but to feel his stomach lurch in delight as he neared where she was.

Tamar, the redstone wolf whispered to her, drawing so near that he could press his muzzle to her throat.

"we must be careful," she whispered into his fur.

ramesses would be incensed to know that he had not been the first.

she tugged arsenio closer, drew him deeper and deeper beneath the bare and tangled branches.

they burned like flames against one another. "how long do you have?" tamar asked, pressing her crown against his strong chest.

No, no, the Pharaoh is with the queen, he murmured into her neck, hoping to chase her worries away, hoping to press himself as close to her as their bodies would allow.

The autumn leaf pulled, and he followed without resisting. Into the shade and quiet of the bare orchard, into the tangle of tree branches that stretched toward them, Arsenio followed.

Her head was on his chest, and he placed his chin there, nudging her nearer to him. The man wished to tell her that they had all the time in the world, that there was no need for secrecy or urgency in their visits to one another. We will have long enough, my autumn leaf, he rumbled warmly to her. How have your days been? Tell me how you fare?

his autumn leaf.

her features lit with an open, charmed smile. her arms went around him, and for a while she only held arsenio against her.

"the queen is good at giving orders. i am good at keeping busy. pharaoh has two new favourite ones. he does not look so often at me."

she propped her chin upon his chest to look up at him. "what have you been doing?"

The maid’s arms were upon his shoulders, holding him. Arsenio smiled warmly at her, nuzzling his nose against anything he could touch, any piece of her that he could reach. He listened as she spoke of the queen and of her own duties. When she had mentioned that the Pharaoh was occupied with two new additions to his Fellahin, the redstone wolf drew his gaze to her face, interested.

Tamar wished to know what he had been doing. Arsenio did not believe it was valuable to lie to her, or to create small talk.

I am bored with the queen and the Pharaoh’s games, he grunted, glancing down at her. I would like to show you the ocean, away from here. His ice gaze was soft upon her. He could not help but to feel like puddy beneath her touch, held that close to her fragrance.

The hunter we ran with, Shoko, I brought him to see the Pharaoh. I do not know how much longer he will allow me in Akashingo.

tamar touched her tongue to her lip.

she wished that she could touch him in the same way.

her breath quickened; if he could did not know the sand, then she did not know the ocean.

tamar's brow furrowed. "why do you say this?"

had he traded shoko in the way that she had traded kasmut? silently?

Why?

Arsenio’s head tilted curiously.

Because it is so, because it is how I feel, he answered her firmly, fixed upon the warmth in her eyes. Why else? Why do you ask?

Why was he so frustrated? The mercenary did not want to start these conversations with Tamar. He wanted to bask in her presence. He wanted to dote upon her tirelessly until she felt worthy of all things in the world. If he could have gifted her half of the Pharaoh’s pretension, he would not have hesitated.

Arsenio did not wish to give her the answer that had sprung to his lips.

That she would have looked lovely beside the waters, mist in the air, sand beneath their paws. Why did he speak of those things? Because he did not think he could remain in Akashingo forever.

"i want to know if you feel you are in danger from pharaoh."

he had said so before.

tamar bit the inside of her cheek and drew aside. "the queen has sent me to all the mazoi, arsenio. i must be seen with each one. but —"

"but i have not — only you," the maidservant breathed, looking hauntedly into his knowing eyes.

He watches me closely. He is trying to find me, who I truly am, the man answered her, stiff in his delivery. Arsenio did not want Tamar to worry for him, or to think that she was in danger by being near him. How was he to go about his days if he could not see her? It was impossible. He wouldn’t do it.

Tamar told him that she was to lay with many Mazoi, but she had not.

Arsenio watched her closely, his chest rising and falling with the steady flow of his breath. He was not certain why she told him this. He had been sincere when he had told her that it did not matter who else she would lay with. It did not matter.

I do not understand, Tamar, he said. I would protect you from any of them. I would kill that man for you. Arsenio felt his heartbeat quicken and he wondered only to himself if she would not agree to it because she would feel indebted to him. That she could not go if it was because he had made it so.

The man’s eyes searched her, pleaded with her.

I would not force you to stay if you were free…

"it is almost winter, arsenio."

each day she grew colder. "i do not know the snow."

even now she shook against him. and then her shoulders curved with a sob. "i do not want you to kill for me." her voice was muffled against his chest. "then you will not be free."

ramesses pursued the saints with new soldiers in the mountains.

he would not spare arsenio in any other way. tamar sniffled and pulled away. "maybe i do not know how to be anything more than a servant."

Arsenio listened, but he still did not understand.

Tamar spoke of snow and that she did not know it. She did not want him to kill in her name, for his own freedom, for the sake of his soul… perhaps. The Greek did not know. He had killed for less, before. To take the life of a spoiled man like Ramesses so that it might set her free was a motivating and powerful cause. It put the belief of victory in his heart.

The man opened his mouth, as if to argue against her word.

Tamar spoke again, words that Arsenio did not like.

The ice of his eyes hardened. Hatred for Ramesses and his luxurious life filled his chest. Tamar did not know how to be anything more because she had not been given that chance. The Pharaoh had plucked it away from her. Before him, it was another man with the same thirst for spoils.

How do you know? he asked her softly.

There is a difference in serving because it is what you wish. That is a choice to be made when you walk on free paws. 

Arsenio was clearly troubled by their conversation.

he spoke again of freedom.

she closed her eyes.

"i do not want to know the name of the man who put you in this place."

her palebloom eyes were upon the seawaves of his own; she found herself stilled there, gentled. 

tamar tasted sand upon her mouth. 

"i want only to know if you have been told the cost of my freedom."

she had not stopped thinking of this.

Arsenio shook his head to her.

I have not been told, but it does not matter.

The misthofóros locked his gaze with Tamar’s.

I will pay whatever the price is and we will be free of this place.

The words were plain. Arsenio did not wish to leave room for doubt. He would not believe that Tamar’s fate was to remain in Akashingo and tend to the wishes and wants of the Pharaoh and the Pharaoh’s queen. He could not understand how that could be her fate. Tamar belonged in the sands, by the ocean water. The sun would glimmer from her eyes.

Then I will take you to the sea and I will feed you fish for days.

Arsenio kissed her, pressing his nose into the crook of her neck.

can fade here <3 gonna start them a new one

she laughed aloud and curled into arsenio's chest.

it was a dream. it was a beautiful dream. and the girl hoped it would not forever only be this.

she was about to speak again when she felt she certainly had heard the voice of the queen. tamar looked into the red wolf's eyes. and then she backed away.

she returned to kiss him, a lingering and full gesture that left her breathless.

"i will see you again, arsenio."

tamar swept away before he would be able to stop her.

The sound of her laugh filled his heart with joy.

Arsenio exhaled a breath through his nose. The end was touched with the hint of a laugh that danced along his lips. He could have remained that way with her forever.

The sound of a voice drew his ear. He felt Tamar pull from him. She returned for only a moment and blessed the man with a kiss. The guard felt his heart thud. He lingered on the image of her face, the glimmer of light in the soft brown of her eyes. The air was sucked from his lungs just before she turned from him and slipped back toward the heart of the territory.

Arsenio remained in the empty orchard until his limbs were too cold to withstand it. Only then did he return to the rest of Akashingo.