Lion Head Mesa mirrors

senmut waited awkwardly in the hallway as nazli danced off, ears twitching to hear her rummaging in a room he could not see.

when the servant girl returned, it was with the smell of the storeroom laying over the scent of dust kicked into the air. the fragrance of desert places. he turned on his heel and led the way to the priests' quarters, near where the mazoi denned.

there were six bundles of reeds, unwieldy and long. senmut gave nazli an apologetic look before he took one in his teeth. their path would wend out and up, with several bends where the reeds would scrape and catch. their reward for the first bundles was to come out into the golden, ever-present light of Ra. senmut set down his burden and drew a breath of delight.