Lion Head Mesa girl in the tower

racharra sits atop the mesa, watching the land that stretches beyond the palace. her eye, naturally, leads her to the lake. she frowns, and forces herself to look at the river that seeps from the lake. it cuts through the land like a scar, before disappearing faintly into a forest. beyond that is a mystery. and she's curious to figure it out.

it has only been a couple of days since akashingo's return. but soon, she will set out again with a small traveling party to keep her safe from harm — hopefully all kinds of it this time. a husband her only goal, the nebet realizes she must do it herself. less senmut pairs her with the next oldest man he can find — she snickers when thinking of it now to herself. her smile fades again as she continues to think.

marriage is now the only way for her to repay her debt to akashingo. to eset, to nazli, to toula, and to her gods. to everyone. she could care less if it made her a dog. but she's toula's daughter in heart. she has no debts, she reminds herself.
but not of blood; someone else would have that privilege and soon. instead racharra is bound to an ogre. the ogre of greatwater lake.
the lake is most likely taken, and the only way to get it back would be through bloodshed. soon that river truly would appear like a wound, or like the blood that trickles from an injury. the land has seen enough violence, and racharra wants none of it. maybe she should've taken up hearthwood's offer and gotten the marriage done with, but now it's lost. oh well.

the nebet takes a sip of wine. her fears melt away with the wash of alcohol. perhaps she'll visit the coast again.
what does she want in a man. toula's question returns to her. she sips more, but this thought clings on too tightly to just leave. it negs at her for daring to ignore it. entertaining it, the nebet slouches and closes her eyes, hoping then she might see what is it that she wants.

id tag but itd be so many ppl so idk shoutouts thru the void