Lion Head Mesa (ap) sympathy butters no parsnips

It was insulting to fellahin, when a wolf wished to maintain virtue? Ruenna's head spun, and it wasn't the fermented fruits which were to blame.

Here was yet another way she might misstep in Akashingo and cause insult. 

The mention of the mazoi brought Ruenna's mind back to the scene at the party: Pharoah's warriors, beating Reyes by order of Ramesses. Now that Jawahir had supplied the missing information, Ruenna now understood why the mazoi were complicit, but was it really worth it? To draw blood without honor, in exchange for lying with fellahin?

Ruenna would never know, she decided. Whatever was expected of her now, alone with this jewel of Akashingo, she could not and would not know. She would excuse herself before she managed to cause any insult, or let slip any gossip that she couldn't unsay. 

"I think I would like some air, Jawahir," she requested, her gaze dropping to the glassy surface of the wellspring. "I've been told the stars are lovely, when viewed from atop the mesa." Since Jawahir touched the water, Ruenna deduced that this was allowed, and so she also dipped a claw, watching the ripples fan out across the pool.