Lion Head Mesa noctilucent

"whatever you... ask of me, pharaoh, i will do it."

she sucked on the tip of her own tongue. felt it pinched between teeth for a moment. surely it would have been easier to demand to go to tavina at once. to do everything that could be done to absolve the issue entirely. but what of nazli? what damage would be done to her in the hunt to damage what was in the womb?

senmut's voice crept down her spine in a slithering crawl now.

"i would have suggested you end her as well, had your love for her not been so great."

the high priest had pierced her heart in an ugly way. it showed here now, before the fellahin she once knew like a sister. like a love. the lilac she had once shared nearly every waking moment that she could. found any excuse to always have her near and take her on trips.

my wish is you, nazli. her voice steel even when the emotion pooled in her eyes. there is no man sitting here. in this room or on my throne. yet still he has — ruined you. ruined me. ruined us. —left a mark, on you. her voice teetered into the dark gloom of the night, of the soured air she felt all around them.

was she any better to think her mark would be prettier?

come back to me. the lives within set aside, until she could once again have the life already before her.