Lion Head Mesa Krýo

When the autumn maid spoke again, it was of her mother. She said that when they had been young, her mother had used those leaves to help with their coughing. This told him two things of Tamar that he had not known before. Tamar had siblings, and she missed her mother…

Arsenio softened when she turned back to him.

The maid approached and he continued to look at her, searching for a sign that she was not quite finished with him, that he had not pushed her boundaries too far.

The desert, the Greek repeated in a rough whisper. He could picture her sleek figure among warm sands – a streak of firelight against a sea of earth. So transfixed with her tale, Arsenio did not understand that she meant for him to take the herbs from her lips. The mercenary only smiled at her, pleased to be in the same space.