Spotted Eagle Mountain snake

she was exhausted and at some point it felt as if adrenaline turned into delirium. she had cried somewhere between there and here.

she cried now! but she blamed it on anything but her heart. she blamed it on dirt, on the wind, on the cold.

steadied herself with a sharp exhale and knew she would not be heard upon these stones. not in the far reaches of the palace, she thought. but there could be none other to call than @Germanicus himself.

a day of reckoning had come upon them.

the crown prince called.

fitting that akashingo should call when his merit with them was dimming.

but germanicus arrived all the same, snowblown and windswept.

something had occured. "princeps." his yellow eyes studied her, taking in the tear-stained cheeks and her exhausted mien.

her throat felt tight as she looked upon him, as if he was the peak of the very mountains they stood upon.

imperator, she straightened her spine. she spoke not of any wetness still in her eyes. it is time. it must be so.

do not make her say the words as clear as day, she begged.

now. 

germanicus grew silent and still.

ambassador, tactician, latin-speaker, and now makono meant to add regicide to her growing accomplishments.

the eagle did not question whatever had made her fly to him 

"how many are in akashingo? and how many are loyal to you?"

it would begin.

it is brimming, full — she soothed herself to not think too much upon the worries of how large the palace had become. eyes, ears, everywhere!

enough to me. enough who are vital. she prayed, deeply in her mind. she preyed upon the knowledge that senmut had given her. pharaoh's madness and now his so boldly wrongdoings in the form of nazli!

he is madness now. his hem conspires against him with me, his jodai has waning faith in his people. fellahin fall sick being called to him — his divinity had become a curse among them and she begged for germanicus to see it!

the prince had come to him and asked for a conflict he had wanted to engage himself.

the palace was filled but makono had found her own souls therein. she spoke of internal crumbling and those closest to pharaoh disillusioned by him.

"how do you want him to die?" he would not move without fennec and now he echoed her: "for it must be you, great one. if mereo puts you on that throne then akashingo will always question our involvement."

his eyes were solemn. "this cannot be done so quickly without mistakes. have you considered your line of succession? have you considered the moments after his death? have you considered failure?"

they were tacticians. he spoke evenly as though they stood in a room filled with maps, a great respect for the girl who carried too much.

how did she want him to die?

not at all, that was how! she wanted him to go in his sleep or surrounded by his oh-so-loyal fellahin. she wanted him to be the man she remembered looking upon fondly as her father. not a man that felt only like pharaoh. that she must bring down with her own hands.

it cannot be bloody. her voice strained against her tightening throat. the hem has instructed me on such things. what must be done with those left behind and — dizzy, nauseous. she must be steel and yet she felt like sand! shifting, changing under the weight of these steps.

and if i fail, then may akashingo crumble under the weight of the pharaoh's madness, and may i not be there to see it.

she did not know.

makono faltered and fell back into the vagueness of her noble formality. but how could she know? he did not blame her for not comprehending the details.

she spoke of his body. did she want to save it? 

"it does not have to be bloody." the eagle relented at last, easing metaphorical sword.

"you have met my wife?"

we spoke of plenty, and some part of her wished for the woman instead! so pointed and witty. of alliances and your thoughts on me. she dared to flatter herself as if it might give her that spine of steel!

she said not all were just for war — and she has a garden.

hadn't her mother gone much the same way? silent but seemingly sudden? but perhaps they had none such in their garden! perhaps they only spoke of healers and herbs meant for akashingo's sesh.

the world spun beneath her.

germ can be skippable till the end!

germanicus nodded.

"come with me."

and that was how he brought makono to the edge of mereo and called for @Fennec in a tone that said the moment had come. this was an art with which he was well-versed and so he would stand aside on guard as they spoke.

he let himself think of the tension between he and his wife since the last time they had spoken.

he thought of arsenio's mocking words and the way that he had so visibly lost the respect of the redstone wolf.

he thought of ramesses, forever dead, ended. he hoped that makono would stamp out the brothers that remained but would not speak it.

this, for the good of the land but also germanicus, who saw in the death of the pharaoh a redemption for himself.

her heart was too loud in her ears the whole way. stunned into a deathly silence. one that would soon overcome her own father! what an ill thought that had settled into her.

but she remained in this silence. let it weigh upon her heart and mind. she knew she could not back down now, there would be no such option. not for the good of herself and not for the good of akashingo. the words of senmut carried her spirit when it sagged too low.

she straightened her spine and waited for the familiar imperatrix.

im ngl I’m seriously overwhelmed rn <3 in a pretty bad way, with everything. If this is holding things up please feel free to powerplay or keep it short. I haven’t had time or energy to read much of anything so I’m going to keep things vague - let me know if there’s anything I need to adjust

Fennec heard the call and came. She hadn’t thawed much towards Germanicus since their discussion, still hurt for a reason she couldn’t even really pin down herself by the way things had happened. It wasn’t fair to hold protectiveness against him but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t like what it implied.

She’d meant to go but hadn’t had time and now, it seemed, she never would. This meant her annoyance was twofold as she arrived, and she didn’t bother to hide the guarded distance in her expression as she drew closer to them both.

Would she help, without going?

She didn’t know yet. So she would let them speak first.

we can keep this as short as possible <33

she was greeted with a silence. perhaps it was fitting given the call but...it unnerved her in a special kind of way.

i must ascend the throne now. pharaoh is filled with madness and it is spilling upon akashingo. yet i am not here to spill his blood. i know there must be another way.

my mother— she wanted to say, but her tongue clamped between front teeth.

sounds good <3

She was conflicted for a stretch of silence. But she knew this feeling for what it was; hurt. And as tempting as it was, not even Fennec was selfish enough to let that prevent her from helping Akashingo with what needed done.

She deserved more than whatever this was. But she’d long since given up hope on receiving it.

I’ll bring something. It shouldn’t be easy to trace, if you’re careful. They might not even know. Fennec stood, lacking a bit in the way they’d spoken last time.

It’s better if they don’t. Maybe that was obvious, but it felt that it was worth impressing. If neither had objections, she’d fetch what she had.

can fade on a reply maybe? <3

she felt grateful and relieved all at once. allowed it to roll over her in waves.

i will owe you. and she meant it. as ally.

makono had not forgot what the two women had spoken of. the possibilities that lied ahead of them if this took root as intended.

When she returned she brought the planned oleander and passed it, wrapped carefully, to Makono. It was enough to confirm death in a wolf larger than her husband - it should work, without a doubt, on any pharaoh. Unless he was truly a god, she thought with a bit of dark humor.

Give him all of it… and do it late. It’ll appear more natural if it seems he slept.

She turned to depart, then cast back as an afterthought. Good luck. If things went sideways, Mereo could be implicated, but she trusted they wouldn’t. The Prince had more to lose than they did.

She did not wait for Germanicus. That she did not have time to visit the Pharoah changed nothing. The mistrust she felt sown between them held strong, and only a separate conversation would resolve it.