Lion Head Mesa now we'll see who is who

set shortly after ramesses' ro

qiao limped from her chambers out into the red halls. pylons of gold sunlight lit her path.

ramesses was not in his throne room; it lay quiet and bare.

qiao tracked his scent out to the red plinth. here the sun rose around them in shades of mahogany and liquid gold.

a form hunched along the mesa's edge. qiao slowed her shuffling gait to study the way that familiar fur glinted as if molten sun ran from its figure and out into ra's endless realm.

she did not need to feel his pulse to know he was dead, joining the thousands before him.

qiao set her briar torc upon the ground and threw back her head in a howl. where were his fellahin, his guard? how was it that she was the first to come across him?