Otter Creek every step that i take

water beckoned.
ramesses chose this moment to leave alone.
maggie breathed but did not waken. pharaoh had surrendered any hope of that. and if by some dark chance she should return from this dusky sleep, there would be little life for her after.
cruelty was pragmatism.
aware that it was dangerous to be far from the mesa, the man shone beneath the sky all the same.
he meant to cleanse himself. delicate nostrils flared for any sign of the saints, and when it was discovered, ramesses bristled. "show yourself, dog," he hissed in a serpentine grate far unlike any tone usually uttered by the royal. fear and anger rose equal heads within him. had it begun now? had nyra already sent her minions forward?
but in the end the ivory hackles faded, and settled, for it was charles, the beautiful plaything of the grandmaster. "i could kill you where you stand, for your wolves are my enemies."
the lapis eyes were hard.