Lion Head Mesa Ō kara no tegami

once the blood was slowed satsu led ramesses to his favored place - hit in the face by the strong stench of coyote that prevailed.
once resting, she moved deeper in the catacombs to find @Crowfeather and the man @Germanicus.
her coat was bloodied; she did not notice.
i do not mean to cut your resting short, but we have need of you, sir.
our allies the saints are no longer friends to us; their master kynareth is said to have gone, while his second has taken the helm. nyra - she was here, come to attack us.
breathing rapidly, filled with worry, satsu could not think of a missive for germanicus to carry with him just yet.
we hoped you would carry word of this in your travels. so that others remain watchful and safe.

the eagle woke, limbs untangled from that of maggie.

for a long moment he tried only to recall the evening before. a low sickness rose in his gut. the egyptian had plied him with fermented fruit and honey, soft meat. he had stolidly resisted the advances of jawahir and maggie.

until he had not. he had only told himself that trust would never be gained between them if he spurned the pharaoh's offering.

in shame he rose to bathe in the scented water, and went at once to find where crowfeather had been spirited away. but before a word could be shared, lady satsu came among them. there was blood upon her, and it pierced through the scent of flowers. in direct words she explained what had gone on.

the pale harlot who had whiled away last night's hours was nowhere to be seen.

"a nation's power is derived from its vassal states. the saints will not appreciate that you have slipped their chain." the eagle's voice was calm. "are you injured, domina?"

he did not say yet whether he would carry her message.

Satsu’s voice sounded, though Crowfeather did not know if he wished to answer to it. The dark figure had soured in their time at Akashingo. He no longer wished to stay there, no longer wished to take part in their festivities, or to gaze at the haughty Pharaoh and his predatory lapis eyes.

When Germanicus spoke, the dark wolf puckered. His heart felt heavy, and his stomach flipped somewhere between anger and boyish jealousy. Crowfeather had not forgotten just how easily he had been swept aside in the merrymaking, how easily the eagle had wandered away with a pale woman where a shadow once stood.

Crowfeather approached the two but did not meet Germanicus’ gaze.

I can tend to your wounded. I have knowledge of herbs.

The seer looked to Satsu with a frown.

He will be faster without me, anyway.

the man said something about vessels or vassals, lost in translation, among the worry that plagued her; but as he went on to ask after her, satsu shook her head and seemed flustered.
i came along after - i, i was trying to stop the bleeding.

satsu thought she should feel indignant for nyra's behavior, or frenzied, for the sight of blood spilled upon the dirt brought to mind her family, but she was neither of these things. she was cold, business-like.
and then there came crowfeather.

he looked the same as he had when they'd arrived, harrowed, avoidant of the warrior man. whatever transpired between them during their stay remained outside of satsu's realm of influence; she only latched upon his offer and felt a sudden sweeping joy.
please --! i know very little. come, i will show you where pharaoh rests. she was already turning to usher crowfeather away, steal him from the wellspring and his surly companion.

it is not the visit i had envisioned for you, but i am glad you are here - the both of you. please, help us, i will owe you each a great debt. remembering then that she was here for germanicus as well, satsu paused to watch him, hoping he would accept the role of messenger on behalf of akashingo.

crowfeather did not come near him.

there was something large and tense between the two of them. satsu explained, but it was all the eagle could do to keep himself from looking at the shadow. the lady asked for their help. it seemed the egyptian had come to blows. 

a great part of him wished to see ramesses dead. but he had come here for a report to bring back into the caldera. holding this land against the saints would serve their new allies well.

she spoke of rewards. the man shook his head, barbed by crowfeather's sudden shift in the refusal to leave his side. instead, satsu came and wound herself about the boy.

germanicus nodded stiffly. "i will carry your message to the caldera and to brecheliant. is there more i can do?"

he kept his eyes from the shadow. guilt lashed him from within.

Satsu appeared to be relieved at the offer for help. Crowfeather did not shift, not even in the face of her delighted rush to his side. She wished to show him where the wounded were. Satsu went on to speak of the debt she would owe to them, but the shadow did not wish to think of this.

Crowfeather only wanted the scent of flowers and honey to vanish.

Show me the injured. I must see their wounds before I will know if I can treat them. I will need to search for herbs, Crowfeather stated sharply, almost coldly. There was a sour tone to his voice. It was the word of a boy who had never known his own heart before and the shame that came with such learning.

The burning desire to look at the older man’s face was swallowed by a lurch in Crowfeather’s throat. He felt tears sting at his eyes as he waited for Satsu to lead him away from that place.

in haste, i sent someone to the caldera already, but they did not need their help with crowfeather here, and the message that germanicus would carry was something different.
but—there is something. satsu did not know how to word things; her eyes filled with crowfeather, her mind (and tongue) with ramesses.
we were to have a feast in celebration of.. our marriage. while you spread the news of the saints, could you also invite our neighbors here? tell them they are welcome to celebrate with us.
the dichotomy of these things gave pause to satsu, but there was no time for such hesitation. pharaoh needed tending and - begrudgingly - so too did maggie, wherever she'd been cast aside.

to carry news of the saints was one thing. to carry a flowered note of marriage was quite another.

this time he did look toward crowfeather. if satsu was to be married, then perhaps it was not that sort of entertainment they had found together.

germanicus was limned with shame. the pleasures that maggie had given him were scarcely recalled, and in the muzzy darkness it was not her he had wished was with him.

in his hand he crumpled the proverbial paper. ramesses meant it politically.

"i will be gone some days. if the saints return, call to me. i will surely hear."

if there was nothing else, the centurion would bow before satsu before turning away to take himself from akashingo at once.

Some days, Crowfeather thought with stiffness settling into his frame. It was only then that the dark wolf turned his gaze to Germanicus. He could not help it. He did not believe he would last if the eagle left and he did not look upon him.

There was a pleading in his lantern gaze.

Please do not be gone long, Germanicus. Please do not leave me here with these wolves.

Crowfeather regretted his decision at once. He did not wish to stay and tend to the injured. The dark wolf could not help but imagine Germanicus leaving Akashingo and never returning. It twisted his stomach into such a dreadful knot that he nearly blurted his regret to the open air.

Instead, the dark wolf bowed his snout to the eagle. A silent wish for his safe return.

thank you, satsu called to him. germanicus was already departed; her words slid across a shoulder and perhaps went unheeded.
what mattered now was pharaoh.
quickly she would lead crowfeather to where the man lay waiting, and then perhaps go to find maggie, wherever she had been discarded, and make up her mind on whether the harlot was worth the effort of a rescue.