Redhawk Caldera melting point

at last tavina returned to the caldera. she called for @Nala at once.

a harsh rain had risen. it soaked the woman to the bone as she stood at the borders.

but this did not matter, for soon the pair would be reunited, and on the way to akashingo.

the rain had left her dreary. hidden underneath a thick canopy of trees as she watched the droplets smack the ground around her.

it would have been better to be tucked away in the earth, but she found little desire to move.

except a call had come for her, over the rumble of far away thunder and the pattering of rain. it was as if she had been struck by lightning!

all at once, she moved to crash through brecheliant and see the borders at once.

see tavina at once.

tavina's embrace was wild when they came together; she held nala against her drenched coat and covered the much-beloved face with kisses.

"i have spoken with pharaoh. he is willing to relent. but you must do hard service for three months."

tavina's breath caught.

they were warm and vibrant like the summer rain.

nala did not think of anything but tavina in those moments of kisses. only how great this expanse of adoration was.

what?

she was not off put by the idea, merely confused. looking for some sort of elaboration. she laughed, awkwardly with a soft shake of her head.

hard work? have you seen me?

she was a wisp!

tavina sighed briskly, annoyed by ramesses and even treva.

"it means you are to do dirty work and prove to pharaoh you are not a spy, and that you will be devoted to akashingo."

her eyes were solemn. "it will be hard. your days will be filled with nothing but tasks. yet each night we will be together."

a spy!

her?!

she wished to burst into more laughter but instead found herself hollow. to have left great warriors knowing they could hunt her, to wait by a lake for tavina and meet before a princess.

everything she had done to get here was met with speculation of her intents.

but not from tavina, never from tavina.

you promise? each night? they won't...

separate them? it was not so outlandish an idea if they thought her a spy.

she felt grateful for the rain all at once.

she nodded.

"the pharaoh and the new queen are — well aware of my sentiment for you. ours for each other." she kissed the other's downy cheek.

"you reflect me. and i have served the palace well."

they were aware.

yet the two sought to wear her body thin with three months of hard work. nala did not know what to make of it. but tavina had put so much on the line between alliances and homes.

perhaps this was the least nala could do.

what kind of work does akashingo need? she hummed into the crook of tavina's jaw.

"cleaning, mostly. planning. the marriage ceremony is coming up."

tavina could hardly speak, nor breathe.

she nuzzled nala. "perhaps i could ask that you are put into the queen's retinue. she is kind."

cleaning. planning.

a marriage ceremony.

how fitting, she thought, that she should do the hard work for somebody else's love to pay the price for her own.

a queen who was kind, but seemingly not kind enough to sway the mind of a pharaoh.

nala had never felt this way before.

maybe. it might be hard if they truly think i'm a spy.

she could not bring herself to pull away from tavina's grasp.

i'll do it, you know.

"only if you're sure!"

ramesses would not be kind.

tavina could not take the thought of nala's resentment. "i vouched for you. how could they believe it when they have actually met you, nala?"

maybe they will see me and realize they have the worst candidate for hard work and spying.

she laughed, small but warm.

when do they want to see me? the pharaoh? the queen?

tavina caressed the soft face with another kiss.

"as soon as possible. as soon as you are ready. and there is something else."

she spoke the brief story of maegi and gucci, and the children left behind. "they will need — guidance. of a kind."

nala could never be surprised by there always being something else.

but she had not expected this. a tale of tragedy and the small lives left in its wake. it drove her to feel something raw and deep, exposed in the mistmatched gaze of her eyes.

guidance? yours?

she could not connect it immediately in her teary-eyed state.

"well."

the look in nala's gaze seared through her.

"maybe ours." noble gucci was their father by order of pharaoh. but he would need assistance.

her heart beat faster. this was the beginning and the end.

tavina had arrived with everything on a silver platter.

she could forget about days and weeks and months of hard work. she was so filled with...with love! even if she did not speak it.

they would spend each night together.

they would guide a pair of little ones together.

she could not find words, so she only peppered tavina in kisses and hopes the message was clear.

she was kissed and gave them as freely as nala did, laughing into the other's jawline.

at length she pulled away and called softly for @Maia, to inform her that the meeting had been made and nala was clear to come toward akashingo.

i...i want to go now.

she decided, head bobbed eagerly and greedily. far too impatient to spend any more nights outside the domain of tavina.

she would make sure, somewhere along the way, to repay this magical place as well.

Maia was surprised to hear that Napa's friend was back, and so soon!! She'd barely had time to get accustomed, and she certainly hadn't had the chance to ask about Lilitu. It still struck her strangely that they'd felt the need to hide her here at first, and if she was being honest, she thought they were making a pretty silly decision. Why go somewhere you don't trust when there's a home here willing to accept you?

She didn't like any of it. She'd have to ask Teya later for more information about this 'pharaoh'.

That was quick. Maia said, smiling and shoving any judgement away for later. They were probably just happy to not be apart. She could understand that.

trying to pull her mooning eyes from nala was difficult but necessary.

"such things must be handled very quickly."

she dipped her muzzle to the raven. "thank you for giving her sanctuary here, lady maia. in the weeks to come i will be sending a gift basket of sorts here to brecheliant. and i hope to see some of you for the royal wedding."

she would not go unless dismissed, but the sooner she and nala set off the sooner the poor woman could run the gauntlet of whatever reception ramesses had planned.

the kindest woman arrived.

maia, how sweet she had been to nala in the short time here! opening her home to a stranger in need, even if the princess had approved. her tail waved in wide arches of approval.

i would love to see you again — and i cannot thank you enough. she offered, softer and a bit more sentimental now.

Oh, that's... uh, that's really not necessary. Maia replied, clearly a little flustered by the immediate offer of something as large as a gift basket. She didn't know what that entirely meant, but the last thing she wanted was for them to have to ask anything else from this place they were going. Just... tell @Lilitu hi from me, okay? That I hope things are good, and that I miss her.

Maia looked away briefly. It was a little funny, but she was fighting similar feelings now that she was then. Maybe it was a little selfish of her to want to keep anyone here but... well... yeah. It just kind of was.

You're welcome here anytime, she finished instead. Both of you. But good luck, and... I appreciate it. She smiled at them both, and despite her mixed feelings, knew better than to push it. They barely knew her. She just..... worried, is all. She always worried.

my b! fading!

a nod. a smile.

then they would be off, carrying tidings of a goodly brecheliant.