Lion Head Mesa DAGOTHWAVE

the listener regarded the palace of sand from afar. allies; this was what she required. the valley packs were alert to the threat of her, watchful, armed against her. they would be swift in their response.

she meant death for herself. for her husband. but not for @Pelagius.

it was for his sake that she called now for the leaders of this place.

forward dated <3 once some threads conclude i can date this more specifically if desired

tavina found that being out of doors made her feel rather better. with singleminded intent she had strode out to collect herbs beside the serpent river.

the call drew a huff. she put away her carrying-device and splashed water on her face before marching with the same intense goal toward the borders.

"i'm not a leader, only a doctor, but more than one has caught their death of heatstroke on our borders. who are you?" tavina asked, not unkindly but only in her usually brusque manner, cutting right to the point as not to waste precious time.

a doctor. she called to mind the wispmother, and for this the listener favored the woman. the listener, a pause.

i seek a temporary home, and offer my skill in medicine and magick in return, direct, as the doctor prescribed.

pretty thing, wasn't she?

"i'm afraid i can't make that call," tavina declared. "what sort of medicine? and why only a temporary home?"

was it loneliness, boredom, the complete vacuum left by nala, who had surely been with child when —

tavina, a woman waiting for her future to resume, now questioned.

much of my experience is in tending the injured. i collect all knowledge that comes to me, intriguing, to be on the opposite end of this familiar dance. what is your worth, what will you give?

temporary because i will soon have business to attend elsewhere. a debt to settle. for now, i have a son in need of stability, a small lie. pelagius needed nothing but, perhaps, his own space to grow. soon he would have it.

i do not know if he will wish to join me. but he will be near, the prophet glanced away from the mesa. certainly he lurked somewhere nearby.

how quaint, a man lingering on the borders in the middle of a military conflict. tavina smiled wryly.

"and is your debt going to come back on this place? because i'd rather not, if it's all the same to you, miss ...?" she had not even registered 'the listener' as a title, so frazzled she was with thoughts of all else.

asperas, the prophet gave it no thought but a fleeting glimpse of merrick's face passing her vision.

call it a debt of choice. a moral obligation. no one will come to collect.

tavina scanned the striking creature with the two-toned eyes and then turned away crisply.

"come. the queen will decide."

but not inside the mesa. at the great stone steps leading up, tavina stopped, calling for an audience with @Toula just outside, in defense of the palace's details.

a call for her rang out. nearby and again on her way to the altar of Khonsu, Toula was temporarily diverted. accompanied by her fellahin and Mazoi, Toula made way now to Tavina. 
and when she arrived, she was given pause as she beheld the otherworldly woman. it was not the visual that causes this, though, but the scent of mothersmilk—Toula had prayed to Tawaret, and wondered at Her immediacy.
always, she had told Tuna. here before her stood stark proof of that. 
the Gods worked in strange ways! the divine Queen looked to Tavina, asking, who may this be? but as her gaze shifted to the dark rorschach in the shape she saw as wolf, there was room for her to answer the question for herself.