Lion Head Mesa mirrors

It was rare for Nazli to be indisposed and separated from the princess, though it did happen on occasions such as this, as the girl was sent on a small errand by a wayward fellahin away from the palace. It was meant to be short, sweet, quick.

Being among the scrub-grass and in the open air, it felt as if she were still on the road to Mereo. The sun was fully formed above the horizon line and climbing. There was a thickness to the air that smelled almost foul and certainly not normal; however, Nazli did not care.

She took great pleasure in running down a little bird and was fortunate to find a lizard also, which tried to scurry beneath a slab of stone but was not quick enough. Her girlish features had almost entirely been shed by now. Her stride was long, her body lean.

When next she is spotted by a patrolling mazoi it is with her prize pair hanging from her teeth, her sparse coat hewn with dust, returning by way of a servant's passage which cleaved close to the royal hall.