Lion Head Mesa magnetic

akashingo could be seen from the lip of the caldera. within an hour she and @Nala had descended into the flatlands.

the ground beneath their feet had not yet changed from green grass to red sand; tavina looked at her companion with an encouraging smile.

she had seen the mesa only from a distance, once.

it seemed far different the closer they got to it. something about it far more daunting now and she stayed near tavina's side.

what should I say when I see them?

"bow very low. thank pharaoh for his grace. say nothing aside from what answers you have asked to give."

she was becoming nervous. suppose ramesses went back upon his word? she did not think he would, but as the land shifted into the first shades of crimson, tavina wondered. 

"queen treva is firm but kind. you may find gentleness in her."

okay.

she repeated these things internally to herself, over and over. bow low. give thanks. don't speak unless asked.

queen treva was supposedly a kinder face.

her feathered tail betrayed any attempts of looking calm, it danced in waves behind her.

i'm ready. i promise i'll be wonderful.

"i know you will be."

she kissed the soft forehead, looking up in time to see a shadow turning away from she and nala.

fellahin or mazoi, it did not matter. the entire palace would be aware of their arrival before she and her lover even reached the steps.

as if bidden, ramesses' imperious howl rang out soon thereafter, summoning all to his throne room.

tavina cleared her throat and picked up the pace.

she found it haunting.

the figure that cut away from them and the following howl. a summons. strong and to the point.

she did her best to remain strong in these uncertain moments.

all of that just for us?

she laughed weakly one last time before silence would surely take her.

ill post w ram next!

"pharaoh will want to welcome you with all his might."

it was not necessarily a thing of goodness.

the three large steps of rough-hewn red stone rose before them. she led nala over each, pausing in the open-ari throne room. it had been so many months, and all signs of the death that had taken place here long erased.

but still she knew it to be haunted. tavina guided nala down the descending hallway, into the caverns and corridors and arched rooms, with the scent of underground flowers drifting heavy in the filtered air. shafts of sunlight marked their path. 

the halls were empty, but the cacophony of sound grew as the sesh and her guest moved toward the throne room. deep purple gaze beheld nala. 

and then they stepped inside, two mazoi parting at the door for them.

for the purpose of this post, im assuming all tagged are present! feel free to add a post anytime; we can go to rounds once nala and ram talk a bit if yall want!

cool lapis eyes beheld the pair, travel-dusty and quiet. tavina seemed more intense than her usual stuff. and ramesses found her companion an enchantment to his eyes, though his heart was hardened against this nala for her origins.
at his right, treva, and to each side of her, little @Toula and sethnakht. makono stood to ramesses' left, and @Siptah to his right. 
the royal family.
@Gucci was surely with @Midas and @Medusa; or perhaps they were with jawahir. @Khaba would be present alongside jakoul, while @Akhtar, senmut, @Sokha, and even lady qiao might be in attendance together, gathered in a holy pantheon.
and all eyes upon nala.
ramesses allowed the silence to stretch into a formidable length.
"you are nala, formerly of the saints, our enemy. you stand in this room only by word of your new queen and our sesh who has served faithfully. but you must earn your place here."

suddenly, she wished to cry.

burst into tears and roll over. a pitiful thought she did not act on. instead she did as tavina had informed her to do.

she bowed, low and deep, the feathery wisp of her tail a banner to this act. a position held for a moment as she dared to speak. once more only at the instructions of what tavina had said.

thank you for your grace, pharaoh.

when she straightened herself, she could not bring herself to look at the lapis gazes that lingered upon her. not even the kind queen!

she was brave, a folly. and she was polite, a credit. ramesses cast his eyes over the sesh and then returned to nala. 
"you are aware of the trials you must undergo to prove yourself? three months' toiling as sanpin?"

she could not speak at length, nor did she quake before him with the horror and awe of everything.

tavina was her strength.

yes, pharaoh.

she looked at grand golden paws.

tag for ref! open now! can be replied to or closed in a week <3

therefore it was done. "very well, sanpin. i give you into the responsibility of @Sayf. he will show you around the palace and he will assign your tasks."
he waved a paw. "so let it be written. so let it be done."
thus the second former saint passed into the shadow of the palace, willing themselves to be dissolved and rebuilt in the image of what pharaoh desired.

there was a tension in the air, the feeling new and strange to toula; in seeking to understand it, her gaze shifted from brother to her mother with wonder. the ever-smiling toula watched the woman she so adored, noting the absence of all things upon the soon-to-be queen. toula could not read her, and still too young to understand courtly intrigue she could only know that she thought her mother was so very lovely. toula wished to be as lovely as her, and so adopted the same expression, as though they two could be carved from the same stone. the light that joy and wonder brought in her own gaze was impossible to snuff out, however, and so was the love as her eyes now fell upon her father the pharaoh. 
his words could now be understood, but there was several things that toula was only just beginning to understand the meaning of. it was a serious moment, though. and her features shifted again, adopting some of her fathers own dignified mien as she turned her gaze to the one that awaited, and then received, judgment.
and once it was all done with, she looked to her father once more. here, she did not think to question him… but it was clear there were several on the tip of her tongue, just as each took form in her own mind.