Lion Head Mesa i'll be a regular guy for you, i never said i'd do that

a doctor! certainly more interesting than a guard! qiao's eyes danced with quickly hidden delight, but she followed in silence.

up into sandstone stairs they went, the doctor's gaze turning to the right. unknown faces scurried by; qiao gave each of them a quiet study.

now they came to a room tastefully open; qiao knew these quarters for the many years she had spent as a king's mage, a queen's adviser, a sheik's grihasta. she kept her eyes low.

ramesses arrived, far removed from the coolly composed regent she'd met by the earthstone. his servants came from the woodwork to attend his disheveled state. dark anger pulsed from him like a wound.

she wondered if her coming here may have been a fools' errand. it was not her lot in life anymore to bend to the capricious whims of kings -- but by every king was a glut of gold, of blood, of full bellies and fine spirits. their pull was undeniable in the way the waves sucked back over crushed seashells and sand alike.

his lapis stare seemed to consume the room to the point where she was but a flea among the great red stands and stone archways. qiao lowered her head, her trinkets clinking. "that is exactly why i am here."