Lion Head Mesa sackcloth

around the same time that tamar had been given to the queen, a new man had appeared.

he too did not leave satsu's side, and by extension he did not leave the side of tamar.

the maidservant had not spoken to him. she knew that his name was @Arsenio, that he was the queen's new guard, that his laughter was easy, and that the piercing sheen of his eyes missed little. he did not act as a servant.

early in the morning, jawahir and tamar had worked to sluice debris from the bathing pools. the girl had been awake for hours, and the tiredness sat upon her face for a rare moment as she carried fresh-cut fragrant branches to arrange in satsu's bedchamber.

The maid girl was difficult to ignore. Her autumnal coat flitted past the woman Satsu at every opportunity, timidity in her gaze. Arsenio watched her shamelessly, the piercing blue of his eyes followed the path that she cut whenever she stepped into his line of sight. The misthofóros did not believe that the autumn wolf was a threat to the lady of Akashingo, only that she drew his attention as an individual of interest.

It was morning when her vibrant colors appeared outside of the queen’s bedchamber. Arsenio was positioned stiffly outside of Satsu’s sleeping place, waiting for the hour when he would follow her to her tasks and listen to all that went on around her. The autumn maid approached with weariness in her features and branches clasped in her teeth.

Good morning, ypirétria, Arsenio greeted her with an easy, toothy smile.

arsenio was there. tamar halted, and the pale tan of her gaze reached around the guard. if he was still here, then the queen must still be in her bed. 

the girl did not know what he had said to her. she set down her burden of heavy, leafed branches, sliding down gratefully against the wall some feet away from arsenio.

"the morning is good." tamar looked away from his hot blue eyes and toward the way the hallway curved away from she and he.

The autumn maid would not meet his eye, but this did not dissuade him. In fact, Arsenio seemed to take a small amount of delight in the curious behavior of the stranger. In such close quarters, he could smell the foreign fragrances that still hung upon her fur, the scents from faraway. This was an indicator that the timid woman was new, she had come from somewhere outside of the mesa.

Do not turn your head, I am only a hired fang, Arsenio instructed her, shrugging. He was not the Pharaoh; he was not even important enough to be inside of the queen’s bedchambers while she slept. Still, he found pleasure in knowing that the mystery shrouding his purpose was not so easily burned away. A ypirétria is no threat. Not one that the misthofóros would have taken seriously.

The stiffness of his shoulders eased some. Where have you traveled from? Are you Egyptian? A servant of Pharaoh?

his voice was light but commanding. tamar was used to by now the orders of men. pharaoh did not even treat her as more than a pretty object. and one he desired, despite having given her as a gift to his queen.

arsenio asked her several questions. the maidservant drew in upon herself, jaw setting more firmly. she remembered very well from where she had come. she knew the words still. jawahir had not warned her against using them. and yet it was irritation that kept them locked away now.

a hired fang. "i am a wedding present from pharaoh to queen satsu." what did the rest of it matter? tamar turned her pale eyes toward a leaf that had dropped to the floor.

The misthofóros let his eyes settle on the tightening in her jaw. Arsenio did not shift, but his lips curled smugly. Something dwelled beneath the fall-leaf color of her cloak. The maid had not forgotten her home, her origins, and she carried that with her like a storm under her surface.

When the woman went on to say that she was a gift, a present from Pharaoh to the lady Satsu, Arsenio leaned toward her intently. The smile fell from his lips. Ice blue chipped away at her, he gazed so intensely upon her features that he thought it might allow him to pry her open and spill her secrets on the cavern floors.

What does it mean to be a gift? What is your purpose?

"why do you ask me so many things, hired fang?" tamar retorted. she had meant to rest here a moment. but his voice would not stop. "i sleep near so she has me at her side always. i bring her meals. i go out with her, outside this — place."

she spoke too much. tamar's mouth quieted. his eyes tore at her, and she felt herself angered. "i do whatever the queen asks. that is the purpose of a servant."

better a maid than one of the bodies used to entertain. the girl wondered if arsenio understood yet where he was.

‘Why do you ask me so many things, hired fang?’

Arsénio, his correction came before she could finish her query, but he did not stop her from carrying on further. The misthofóros listened to every word, every shift in her tone, until she had ceased speaking and stood bristled before him. He rather liked the spirit that rested beneath her demure surface. Whatever duties had bound her, he did not truthfully care all that much.

Knowing well what his next inquiry might do, Arsenio drew his chin upward and pointed his ears.

You stay by her side, but so do I, eh? What does the queen need of you? Do you tend to her wants? You are there to please the woman Satsu in a way the Pharaoh cannot? The mercenary could not help but to laugh as he had his slew of inquiries to the autumn maid.

You are not a fýlakas, not with a body like that. The Greek sneered. So what did she really do for the lady queen?

tamar had come alive and trembling at the crudity of the guard's words. she knew of what he spoke, for jawahir had prepared her for the reality of being beneath pharaoh. and when it had not come, when the girl realized she was to be a present, it had shocked her in another way.

arsenio's striking face had become hard in his mockery. "pharaoh does not visit her rooms. and if our queen asks me to do this, i will." her voice was defiant, and she did not give her name. if they spoke louder, satsu would waken. 

tamar dropped back down against the wall again and turned her narrow spine to the guard. soon the queen would waken, and then the girl could disappear into the recesses of the room forbidden to this man. arsenio had spoken of her body. tamar was warmed through and provoked.

Pharaoh did not visit the room of his to-be wife. Arsenio tucked this information away for later, knowing he would reveal his findings to the soldier Germanicus when they met again. The misthofóros had not expected this news, for the man who was Pharaoh there had seemed to take pride in his lavish items, the comforts of royalty. What then was it that prevented him from taking his lover in that way?

The Greek snorted at her response, amused that she had such ferocity in her.

The autumnal maid turned her back to him. He might have thought she was exasperated had he not been trying to ruffle her nerves intentionally. When she would not face him, defiant against the words he used on her, Arsenio wondered if he had truly offended her.

Tell me, how did a Pharaoh win the loyalty of the servant gift he presented to his wife?

The auburn wolf moved around her; his head hung low in a hunter’s stance. Arsenio wished for her to see the cold blue of his eyes. He did not want her to look away. The maid might have been even prettier than the queen.

his breath was upon her shoulder.

tamar was rigid and the goldblood hairs upon her nape stood sharply, but the pale brown of her eyes lifted slowly to his own. and though she could not hold the cold fire of his eyes for long, the girl was not afraid.

"i was brought to him by jawahir." tamar blinked. "you do not understand this place, do you, arsenio?" she would tell him then. the tan of her eyes firmed. "i was to be his object of pleasure, but the queen does not want her maids running with her king. and so i am all of hers. do not look at me in this way. i have nothing to give you."

The maid did not cower from him. She blinked and then her pale brown eyes drifted to his face. Beneath her hardened resolve was a sadness Arsenio had not prepared to feel. 

Jawahir was a person of great interest, then. A wolf who carried tributes back to their ruler. The Greek thought it odd that there had come a passing decision to relinquish the autumn woman to Satsu. Then again, perhaps the Pharaoh had enough women to choose from. 

Do not be so sure. I believe you have much to offer, Tamar. Only when he spoke her name did his gaze shift from her features. 

Arsenio returned to where he had stood guard before. He waited to see if the maid would leave or remain in waiting for the queen.

arsenio spoke her name and the maid's face flared beneath the short and gilded fur.

as the hired fang returned to his post. tamar began to gather the branches again, dropping leaves here and there. she did not want to wait with him or beneath the scrutiny of his knowing eyes.

the girl bent her head and crept into the darkened bedchamber, more willing to reap her queen's irritation at being awakened than remain another second at arsenio's mercy.

tamar's heart raced.

The maid did not speak to him again. She gathered the branches for the lady queen and opted to brave the dark of Satsu's bedchamber. Arsenio followed with his eyes, tracing her frame, memorizing the shades of her fur. 

When she had disappeared from sight, the auburn wolf settled smugly into his post. His ears were splayed in hopes of catching any words that might be shared between the women, but Tamar moved silently. 

The guard did not stir.