Lion Head Mesa noctilucent

neither one spoke.

and yet makono had already thought these things. no use for words. none fit. so on and so forth. a long winding train of thoughts that she could not stop fast enough.

she turned and placed herself upon the beds. delicate in the way she postured herself now. as if she wished to be smaller than her status, as if the weight of her title sagged her shoulders now. in a way it did.

so did her thoughts — and the thinking of how much more nazli knew of some things than makono. how somehow it was only the lilac who made the divine pharaoh feel like nothing more than a husk.

a fellahin should not have such grand power, but she had once been more than just a fellahin to the girl who stood as pharaoh now.

she did not force nazli to sit upon furs with her. only waited in a breathless silence to know what her natural move was next. all the while her gaze stayed fixed on the soft shoulders and the gentle slopes of the lilac's neck. never roving to the rounded sides.