Lion Head Mesa thirty-second

war, his tone indicated to the man @Seth.

it was the sound of a man recalling his spy for a larger venture.

senmut's heart beat fast to think of nazli, soon within akashingo once more if the gods were kind.

A command, resonate and sharp enough to rid the brine from the tops of the saltflats the Mazoi now wades through. His noble calls: it is for blood.

"Stay put, Rabbit." He instructs the flaxen boy before slipping off. For now, the less he understands, the more useful he is.

There will be no time to inform his raven, though he trusts her to stay the course and return to serve answers. But this is not as the Red Prince has mandated. Perhaps time is up.

The howl's fiery timbre beckons him up the banks of the Lion’s Head and into the royal presence of the High Priest Senmut. Such urgency manifests as sweet thrill in the hollow of his chest.

“My liege,” he addresses with a purr and an exaggerated sweeping bow before joining their eyes.

soon enough the cunning mazoi attended the prince. senmut had never before been ambitious, but as toula's reign sounded the mark of conflict, he had thought long hours on the empty throne of pharaoh.

why should he not sit there, above all others?

but the man did not allow himself contemplation; he turned his vibrant gaze on sutekh. "the Divine One bids us reach out a hand to the lake and smite it. the leader there is traitor to the pharaoh of akashingo." his gaze did not waver. "our queen did not wish to continue a previous conflict, and so showed mercy. but his former co-regent has come to us: he has taken her crown and her children. she asks for our strength and in return, the lake will be an extension of the palace."

quiet now, allowing the man to take in all that had been said.

There’d come no breath of dissent from the shadowed serpent, who hungers for bedlam in all its incarnations. And here it is shown upon the Prince’s face, a man more inclined to act than dither in uncertainty- a man he would serve proudly. In inky impasse he listens on, but every word stokes the flame.

“The usurper will be eliminated, Honorable One.”

Let the Red Kingdom press down upon the lake. Fear is their surest route to loyalty. Pharaoh’s power will be infinite.

“I’ve a little bird stationed on the basin banks. The woman Nazli will be found, my Liege.”

so the spy had his own spy. senmut approved of this and sutekh grew in his estimation.

hearing nazli's name filled him with the boyish excitement of seeing her once more. no matter what his rank now, senmut had been born to fellahin. only through the gods' will had he ascended.

and he would do the same for her.

"there is a newcomer among us, sent by the queen's own aunt. khusobek. i do not trust him or his intentions, or the idea that he is a 'gift' of goodwill. surely he is only a spy. but already the queen seems fond of him. keep your hawk's eyes also turned there."

An apparently intriguing man is this Khusobek with obscure motive. One perhaps Sutekh will indeed delight in keeping his eyes upon.

“There is reason to suspect unrest between this sister kingdom and the realm of Akashingo?” He asks to understand the role a spy might play here. All the more reason to take the lake- oh but why stop there?

"there was enmity between toula's late father and his sister. it is why he came here to begin his own dynasty." senmut paused for a moment of reverence. "but now he is dead, and no sons sit upon the throne."

it was weakness only to those who did not know makono. there was fierce hope in him that pharaoh would return to retake her rightful place, and yet!

"many will vy for her hand. it is not uncommon that a distant kingdom should seek to mingle blood with another."

The man remains silent. There is power in such a coupling, whose kingdom would lend arms against the Lake- and what lies beyond it. The age-old solution that makes allies out of enemies. But this is not a course of action endorsed by the Red Prince, or otherwise the Gods will not deign him a proper suitor to the child-Queen.

“I will meet this Khusobek, Honorable One. If he means to bring corruption to the Red Kingdom, you will hear of it.”

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"so let it be done."

what sort of man was this sutekh? in his eyes senmut had seen no designs but power was easily lusted for and so —

he would wait to see what both of these men showed themselves to be.

the mazoi; dismissed.