Barrier Gulch [m] Asp

last from me!

breathless and manic, she stares wide-eyed at the crumpled form of eset as the scream scrapes her eardrums. how could she not see what had happened to her? that this — man was manipulating her, trying to isolate her from the people who cared for her? that he had sown her with his disgusting seed; that he was at fault for all of this? why was it her fault? why was it always her fault?
she realizes that she is completely and utterly helpless — that she was to be punished both as woman and man, predator and prey, because she is both. there is no winning either way.
she also realizes, as she watches more blood collect between eset's thighs, just how selfish she was being.
defeated, ashamed, she purses her lips and turns herself away; registering in her mind now that the poisoner had foolishly launched himself for the throat of khusobek. as she moves to assist, she dismisses eset, the hemet and the loverboy with a subtle, regretful glance, as if to say go and do what you must.
the interloper, however, is met with the snap of her jaws; there is no mercy for him. where khusobek's attack ends, zaahira's begins; teeth and muscle pound into flesh until he is subdued and prepared to be dragged back to the catacombs of akashingo's dark halls. there, he will rot.
the trip home is a solemn one.