Lion Head Mesa it’s time to hand it over

qiao woke with a hiss in her throat.

the first she remembered was being outside @Makono’s chambers — but it was not there she rested. her head split in pain as she rose, the room spinning away.

she was forced to embrace the ground.

bit by bit the hemet fought back the veil of fog which corrupted her mind. she pieced together she may be in @Tavina’s room; there were scents which caused her head to reel.

qiao called for sayf, but her voice was scarcely more than a whisper.

"be still."

tavina's voice was harder than she had meant. her purple eyes softened; she exhaled.

something was happening, something she knew but did not want to know. her jaw tensed. she wanted nala and gucci free of these things.

"you are lucky to be alive. do you remember who did this?"

tavina bid qiao be still, her voice tense. qiao pulled from her surly heap in the floor, gaze dull and mistrustful despite tavina being the very first woman she’d met in akashingo. 


if the jodai struck her down, what then would stop others? none could be trusted. 

qiao’s head ached. she thumbed along the rough gash that cleaved the backside of her skull, noticing new flesh knitted between the cracks. how long had she been here? the jodai. why did he not finish the job?

"because he is loyal to the heir," tavina said, not bothering to hide such things now. violence did not come to a world of luxuriant peace without merit. why else would khaba have cut down this woman? she was indeed shocked, but she she hid this, with effort.

"the balance of power in akashingo is changing, i believe. you are lucky not to be involved." she met qiao's eyes with a look that conveyed more than her words gave.

but why had he not killed her? qiao's tongue was thick and uncooperative.

she nursed her head and grimaced as she rose. tavina did not soften the delivery of her words. for this, qiao was appreciative.

my skull feels as if it were involved. qiao pointed out dryly, voice thick with ruefulness and pain. is he here?

she was in no shape to kill, yet all the same her gaze glinted like a knife's edge.

tag for ref!

"you struck the wall, i believe. and no. he has not. he has fled."

she wondered what @Gucci might make of ramesses' obsession with nazli, with his growing madness, with his seclusion and cruelty and shouting. would he stand beside the pharaoh, or walk with the heir to whom their eyes now looked?

"you must be still. you are not yet out of the window where seizures could happen."

qiao irritably obeyed. she knew from experience tavina was right, but it was most inconvenient when it was her own body needing to be doctored.

stupid, stupid man. qiao muttered into a thick pelt of deerskin. she wrapped it about herself as she studied the doctor. it seems there is an undercurrent here i was not aware of. what else have i missed while i was on the road? if i cannot move, please, humor me with the truth. khaba owed it to me, but instead saw fit to cut me down

"khaba does not act without order. makono was not here to order that." she looked dourly at the woman and sighed.

"ramesses is going mad." she fluffed the furs beneath qiao's head. "he — there was a girl, born in the palace. his daughter's own servant, almost her own sister."

tavina's eyes snapped. "he called her into service. he refuses to let her out of his sight if he can help it. night and day she is with him, she is —"

"i should have taken her away long ago but i did not think he would ever dare. by night he rambles about his tomb and in the morning he only shouts incoherently."

and yet, for all these things, he still held command.

it was not possible for qiao's expression to darken further, yet she received the news with a gradually chilling expression.

she had not seen for herself how the man had succumbed to madness. yet even she, in her brief interaction with the pharoah, had sensed a change.

oh, her timing was very bad.

as far as the child... qiao had seen many things in this world, had experienced how flesh was merely the gristle in which others made their mill: the world was built on this bodily sacrament, and the sooner tavina realized that --

who is the child? i may have tonics that might help her forget.

"her name is nazli." there was something like gratitude in tavina's eyes.

"she — exhibits symptoms as though she is pregnant. can you explain this?" tavina asked, searching qiao. "nazli is far too delicate to be as sick as she is."

i can explain nothing without seeing the child. qiao rose from her bed of furs. it was a tremendous insult to be rendered so useless -- her mind leapt for the chance to ruminate diagnostics.

tavina's voice took on the shape of gratitude. what did the girl mean to her?

has she had her first season? it seemed unlikely to the hemet, yet she asked all the same. and has she been keeping food down? her eyes lit in excitement - bedridden as she was, it was delightful to have a puzzle to pry over.

tavina shook her head slowly. "she can hardly eat but no, my lady, she is not yet a year."

the shame of it congealed under her breast.

"she believes her duty is only to serve him. can you make her forget that too?" voice like a cut of steel as she pulled away from qiao to hide a face stirring with angry tears.

emotion briefly overcame the doctor. qiao was hardened by many years -- it did not help she spoke clinically. qiao's tone shifted to one better suited for the mood.

a ruefulness overcame her. no, my lady. but that we can teach the girl. she motioned for @Sayf who lingered outside the chamber. in the fourth cupboard from the door, beneath the sheaves of bearpine -- get me the paste i prepared before i left for makono's door. and, sayf! the devil's club please. qiao winced to speak so urgently - her head! 

she turned to tavina carefully. we will have to steep it like a tea. it is not to be taken lightly, and the girl will be out of it for days. but it will help her body heal. she should know this going in, as it will not be pleasant.

tavina listened to these things and made a mental note of them all.

she looked at qiao and gave a nod.

"she is with him now. he will not let her go. i fear —" and her mouth twisted. "there is a practice among them that says he can take servants to accompany him into the afterlife."

her eyes were ablaze.

what a gruesome custom. qiao's lip curled. men and their selfishness knew no bounds - but she knew that already, didn't she?

you care a great deal for this girl. qiao remarked while they waited for sayf to return. it puts you in jeopardy. it was not in qiao's interest to hurt the doctor, but she spoke of things in qiao's company that would see her end if the pharaoh knew. if you do not wish the girl to die, hide your care. make your moves silently.

that was all qiao would speak of treason, but her eyes flashed. did tavina understand that women must play their cards close to their chest?

sayf would return soon with qiao's prized paste. it had cost her -- and leshen -- much to make.

who was qiao, to speak in such a way! tavina's eyes flashed. "i have helped to raise her. i am sorry that i can't be cruel."

the silence was gravid.

she exhaled. "if makono takes the throne, then we should all look for the kindness the previous reign denied this place." she looked toward the herbs when sayf returned. "should i have her eat before she takes this medicine?"

tavina was rightfully offended. qiao pulled from the doctor as a gesture of apology. i do not speak this way to offend you, doctor. only protect you in our current reign. if pharaoh senses you had reason to take his trinket from him, he would covet it all the more fiercely.

soon her fellahin returned, a bundle held in his jaws. qiao waved him off with a slight dip of her head in gratitude. you can try. take this. qiao proferred the green paste, held on a thick clamshell. steep it for two days with these. a pair of owl pellets steeped in some unknown tincture. place these around her bed. qiao pressed the devil's claw forward. if a spirit is upon her, it will protect her. she will be delirious the first day, and the second and third will burn with fever. by the fourth, you should observe improvement. would you like me to see her first, doctor?

tavina considered these things, even qiao's talk of pharaoh. her eyes turning the items over in her mind. she took all their details and belatedly she nodded. "yes. i think you, my wife nala, and i, we should seek her out together."

her eyes shut in pain.

"i want you to monitor her with me." more eyes upon the ailing girl could only help her in the end, tavina supposed.

qiao nodded. in her current state she could do little but dictate — all the same, the potion would take two day’s time to cure. 

long enough for her body to heal and for things beyond her knowledge to be put into motion. i will help any way i can.

that was the closest thing to gratitude tavina would get from this irritable old crone.

tavina nodded. "rest now, my lady."

but there was gratitude in her eyes.

"i will mix you a sleeping draught." opium-tinged wine with a lavender back for pleasant dreams. tavina worked in silence now, thoughts ablaze.

fade? <3

rest now my lady.

qiao set back on her heels and closed her eyes. it was incredible how quickly exhaustion seeped in, its talons around her like some great bird of prey to lift her off into the world of listless and thankless sleep.

she nodded. a tincture would be most appreciated. qiao set her head gently on the ground as tavina worked, unaware of the wildfire of thoughts which blazed in the doctor's mind.