Lion Head Mesa staves

pharaoh had woken early and sought to breakfast alone with @Jawahir. he had allowed her to take possession of him for a time, having missed her during all the wedding proceedings.
an hour with @Sayyadina, where her skill plied new and delightful sensations from him. another with @Sayf; in the strong lithe arms of the yellow-eyed fellahin, pharaoh allowed himself to forget again —
to forget his queen;
and how her shoulders had looked beneath the moonlight.
he had whiled the afternoon away with @Kasmut last, still reveling in the fact that she had served none other than him.
and now the king lay indolent and alone in the wellspring, surrounded by crushed and fragrant herbs, still blurred and amiable from his long hours of indulgence.

it was in this place that the eagle found the ruler of akashingo.

he stood upon the edge of the pool.

"pharaoh."

when the haughty blue eyes rested upon him, the neb dipped his head. "i have come to ask about the price for the maidservant, tamar."

ramesses was loathe to see the roman so close. "i do not hold the girl's contract," he said lightly, shifting in the water. "she belongs to the queen."
he narrowed his gaze unpleasantly. "i did not think you had a preference for vibrant women."

germanicus recognized an evasion.

"what does the queen want for her?"

it was implied that he would not be asking satsu. he had come to hear from ramesses what this might be.

and the eagle would not be barbed.

pharaoh glittered with a cold smile. "the queen would lose a loyal and faithful servant in tamar." his words meandered, suggestive. "she would not appreciate that, especially when the girl was given as a gift."
he inhaled, shutting his eyes. he had come here to bathe but now the imperator demanded and glowered.
"an equal trade. exchange one beautiful thing for another."

the eagle was displeased.

"the price for her service is to put another in her place."

he was not a flesh-monger.

and he doubted arsenio would be this either.

this was all quite tedious. "you speak as though the fellahin are not here of their own accord. tamar is free to leave at any time. who will stop her? she chooses to remain."
"that is the price, roman."
ramesses leant back in the waters, lazuli eyes cruel and observant upon the tactician.

"she is indentured. given in trade by desert men and then given again to jawahir."

it was not the same. and pharaoh knew this.

germanicus waited. he would not be turned away. he did not answer to ramesses, despite his place in the ranks of akashingo.

ramesses snorted.
"she chooses to work out her contract. again, of her own free will, she belongs to akashingo." what was it so difficult for the military dog to understand.
"her service ends when she breeds a new crop of servants. or until there is a suitable replacement."
his tone was casual. it encircled the malicious words with silk and honey.

germanicus had grown to loathe akashingo.

bring another girl here to serve the pharaoh's lusts. or leave tamar to be bereft of her children when she was freed and they were not.

it was a terrible evil. he watched ramesses simper in the wellspring.

"this is not justice."

"very little about pleasure is just, roman," ramesses snapped. he climbed from his bath now; the moment had been ruined. as he had with sihaya, pharaoh tossed droplets of water across the stone and the imperator himself if he did not step back.
"i have entertained you long enough. now you will tell me what you have made in the mountains."

germanicus showed no sign of his anger.

"mereo grows. but it is not by your hand, pharaoh. it is by mine."

the tactician bowed. he turned upon his heel and strode from the pleasure area.

germanicus left wet steps as he departed.
in his heart, pharaoh cursed them. he mocked the imperator. and he went at once to seek easier and gentler company, scathed by how he must share his outpost with the foul roman.
there was an irony present which he did not see.