Lion Head Mesa ma'murir

once they had been a jewel and now they were only a nursemaid. jawahir hardly felt like their body belonged to them now.

the meshkenet prowled, looking for one of their own. it could not be said that there was love between them. but jawahir was curious. and they were envious of how much time this little fool spent with the princess. @Nazli, the coyote called, turning a corner.

The servant was between tasks.

A voice called her name as the girl danced along the passage. She moves to meet the order - used to juggling many things at once.

When she finds the elder fellahin waiting she knows to be respectful; it is odd to see them free of their constraints (so to speak).

yes? a blink, eyes prompt to avert, do you have need of -- something?

the girl is faster than they expected. their nostrils flare once and the hotness of their eyes is like the sand beneath the pharaoh's god.

Walk with me. it is not an invitation. the jewel sets off with a stiff back, frustrated until the two of them were beyond the recesses of akashingo and in the open-air throne room.

She was found here.

Nazli has serviced this area before but not alone, and not for months, especially since Makono has taken her as a personal servant.

It is colder here than usual - a seasonal shift, or maybe the presence of Jawahir is chilling to behold. They called them the jewel once, from what Nazli had been taught, but rarely did anyone whisper of such things now.

She...? It took a moment before Nazli remembered the deceased queen. It was not a subject often upon the girl's mind, as it felt so distanced from her. oh, yes. A respectful bow of the head came with her understanding - but what was she needed for here, of all places?

their eyes narrow. but satsu was before the time of the girl and her blinded brother. It was poison.

Now the priestess qiao has disappeared. She was there. and where was the piece of meat?

they do not know why they continue to talk. maybe it is a misguided attempt to reforge something with the girl. If someone will poison a queen, that one will do the same to any member of the royal family.

there were tracks. by the lotus petals the jewel gestured.

Yes, she could recall asking Tavina about that.

It has been a long time. Months, which might not have meant anything to Jawahir, but to someone as young as Nazli whose life changed often day to day, it felt like a lifetime of difference.

The girl looks when shown the place where the tracks once sat, and expects to glimpse them; but they have been cleaned away. Everything about the space has since been tidied and corrected.

There has been no word among the fellahin about it. Not that Nazli would know, given her focus on the princess and their recent return. If Qiao was the culprit, that would make the most sense - and again the chill came, unsettling the girl.

Is... Is the princess in danger? Her stomach fluttered.

Anyone royal is in danger. our pharaoh was too overcome to search properly.

they are aware their words border on treason. And then the roman soldier came, but nothing has been solved. jawahir and satsu had shared a contentious relationship. they were aware the existence of this made them a first suspect.

but no one in the palace knew that germanicus had given his report to ramesses and that the royal man had not acted.

So it must be us. Do you know why queens are killed, nazli?

What a grim conversation. Nazli didn't like how easily the words flowed from Jawahir and wanted to be anywhere else; but, she couldn't refuse the elder fellahin in any way.

Because... they are too nice, the girl went on to murmur, remembering a small and childish detail from a conversation a lifetime ago. It sounded ludicrous now.

She shakes her head.

Because someone else wants their place. Because someone else wants to send a message to ramesses.

their eyes are bright unlike usual, filled with something bordering upon obsessive.

Have you noticed that both the wolves made priestesses in Akashingo are gone?

It is a truth that Nazli finds painful to hear. Given that the queen had been killed, there was no refuting it - and she thought immediately of the new queen, the new royal children.

And the priestesses were gone now. The sad woman with the smiling face - her name had slipped Nazli's mind for a moment, but her image flashed there.

I... I've been busy, she admits. The whole palace had been busy, with the funeral, the birth of children - with life, everywhere and all at once.

jawahir nods. As have I. it was no excuse not to learn.

Go back to the princess and keep your eyes open. one day nazli would be a woman and then would understand what became of them beneath this roof. jawahir's mind is cold but the thought stems from something like worry, worry that the child borne of their body will not understand until it is too late.

The dismissal is swift.

It seems there is no task, only a conversation to be offered here.

Nazli feels something almost like whiplash, but she's also glad to be sent away. Thinking back upon those days of mourning while she was so small, she had not understood much; but now, she felt unsettled.

yes, of course. She bows her head quickly and in a shallow way, departing the way she'd come - and there is a steeling of her spine as she strides, a sense of importance that Nazli cannot shake.

She would never let anything happen to Makono.