Redsand Canyon why you looking so beautiful to me now when you're so sad

qiao arrived at mereo's borders at the edge of dawn. a false light crept in behind her, augmented by snow. soon dawn would follow suit, and the world would wake to glittering light and the call of thrush in the wildwood.

she shifted the greenbrier along her pelt, and then threw back her head. her voice rose jagged into the wintry air, and around her plumes from the earth rose in smoky haze.

"state your name and your purpose here."

germanicus had come down from a high path to confront the smaller creature. he knew ramesses had a predilection for them, and his suspicions were confirmed by the scent this one wore.

now he stood watchful and cold, proverbial hand upon proverbial hilt. a spy then. or perhaps a herald, announcing the pharaoh's impending visit. whatever her reason here, germanicus did not care for it.

a man of hardened battle lines and a world-weary suffering about him met qiao. his manner -- as were his words -- came to a perfectly sharpened point.

decisive. direct.

qiao bowed deep.

from her peltskin she pulled a fresh-killed hare. this she placed between them. "my name is qiao. my purpose is to serve you. ramesses has sent me to help your pack flourish." qiao was equally direct, careful not to meet his eye or come across as too forward. "if your men are hurt, i can heal them - and if you have women, i can teach them my trade."

Cameo, unless he's addressed. <3 ^^

Arsenio had heard her voice and had known it to be familiar. He wondered if she had found them by accident, or if her journey to the canyon had been intentional.

The redstone wolf trotted toward their borders with his eyes trained for signs of movement. When he caught the dark figure of the Roman, he slowed slightly. The best to intercept visitors at their border would be the Imperator, but Arsenio did not fall back.

As he drew close, his ears caught that the herbalist was visiting them on behalf of Ramesses. The hairs along his neck bristled with distrust. How had he gotten her? The woman who had stood in the wilds with him and mocked the rulers like Ramesses. Arsenio eyed her curiously, wondering why she would do the bidding of such a man. He did not speak, only stood to listen.

germanicus did not accept her gift. if it was not poisoned it undoubtedly carried the expectation that he act in some way. 

he pushed the offering firmly back toward the woman.

arsenio was beside him. he could feel the man's tension and attempted not to mirror it in his own posture. "we have a skilled physician here in mereo. our training is internal. what has the pharaoh sent you to see?"

she was here for a reason. he did not think it was only to serve. the imperator waited.

arsenio arrived. qiao expected warmth and instead found frigidity. tension rippled under that sunfire pelt. a stare like icewater, newly steeled.

germanicus returned her gift. qiao accepted it gladly; better her belly be filled with warm meat than anyone else's.

what has ramesses sent you to see? germanicus asked, every bit as distrustful as rameesses had warned. what was it with men's obsessions with other men's meddlings? "everything. how much i decide to reveal to him lies in your control."

this was a game of two chief players - ramesses and germanicus. qiao stole across their hidden court on her own veiled missions. she served no order but that of the nine -- their whisperings had driven her to ramesses' doorsteps and promptly fell silent.

it was not her place to question fate. only to serve it.

careful to keep any semblance of threat from her voice, qiao spoke simply. of someone who had seen the truth for its horribleness and elucidated its importance the moment she spotted it. "whatever you choose general, ramesses will see fault in it.

send me away, and he will think you gather your strength under his armpit and make plans for coup.

keep me here, and he will think his plan is working and he is most clever for having done away with a nosy shrew. until he hears otherwise." qiao's green eyes were lidded with quiet contempt.  "allow me to be of use to you, or you put each of our heads in jeopardy."

germanicus did not care for gambits. less so from the pet of a man whom he loathed and on the grounds of mereo as well

he stepped forward, his height greater than her own. the spy offered two paths and suggested that ramesses might be fooled if mereo were to provide succor.

"or i could kill you and leave you in a midden. the pharaoh will not send an army for you. and i do not fear him." the eagle was aware of his own cruelty in that moment but he did not care. and with arsenio cold beside him, he knew that his message would be well received.

yet the way that the woman spoke did not escape him. she was world-weary and he had half a mind to ask what horrors she had seen inside the mesa. but germanicus would not commiserate with a spy. 

"mereo will treat you hospitably. i will show you our sparring grounds. you will meet my wife. and then you will return to akashingo." it was decided. he did not want her in this place, gathering up images to carry to her master. the hard yellow eyes commanded her for a moment and then the imperator was turning away.

the general threatened her life.

by all accounts, that was unspeakably rude. blood thickened to a contemptuous curdle underneath qiao's thin muzzle, yet she refused to be afraid.

ramesses had been vain and insufferable in a way that seemed endearing compared to this man; this man who imperiled a servant at his doorstep. there were thousands of curses she could impart upon him for such evil.

almost instantly any shred of goodwill that occupied qiao deserted her. she followed behind with the hare in tow, silent curses lingering like asps unspoken beneath her tongue.

cool to fade here unless we need a couple more for trades!

true to his word, germanicus gave their tense tour.

he kept the red-cloaked greek beside him. he wanted to know if there was another truth here. but he did not ask.

the sparring grounds. the punishment arena. he left his soldiers ungathered. she did not need to know their number.

eventually they came to the common grounds and the imperator turned his gaze upon her, then looked back to arsenio.

the tour that followed was terse. quick. qiao did not miss the lack of introductions, the cold decorum: she was being hushed along through corridors and halls like a sequestered beast.

still, she made note. if not for ramesses, for herself.

of the faces she saw; was their light in their eyes? of corridors and footpaths; did these lead to egress?. of quarters -- how many hidden fangs lurked within them? of punishment grounds, of spar-grounds -- the dirt here packed red with clay.

she felt his gaze upon her. it was cold, like unwelcome wind to her back. qiao kept her gaze to the ground. still the whispers were silent, and qiao wondered if she had gone a little too far east of their hauntings.