Redsand Canyon proximus

the imperator was unsure what to make of his wife. she spoke with the same poised confidence she had always possessed.

but now she talked of death and poison without so much as a single outward hesitation.

he grunted to the truth of makono being the one to place herself in that vaunted, terrible place. "maybe we should be the ones to place her there."

germanicus spoke the thought and released it in the next breath.

they were meaning to do this. his yellow eyes flicked to her face, and for a moment he was cast in a vulnerability he did not like nor expected.

"taking a man's life is one thing. taking that of a pharaoh is quite another."