Lion Head Mesa incoming

“She is a simple, feral woman. She will not be persuaded by the gift of your word or precious stones. Feed her. Patrol her borders. Dispatch your rivals. She has no power. You are in full command. Do you understand?”

He could say no more of the woman who had refused to come to the palace to make negotiations. There was the possibility she’d become far less burdensome once bred, but he anticipated only more strife for Akashingo in the months to come, until the ogre children arrived in the desert, ready to be educated.

“Tame her, Sphinx,” the Consort ordered, “In whatever ways you must.” Mesen-ka was a tender man. But he was also a loyal one.