Lion Head Mesa fire bringer
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#1
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it was to be expected. a flurry of storming paws cleared a hall and makono was seated in a chamber that felt far too big for her. yet she did not turn to look at the doorway, the voice announced all she needed to know.

"what have you done?!"

practically a banshee screech at her. only it felt very much like it passed through her. treva had played court and wife to a man in madness from the moment of their wedding. makono had not given thought of what to do when the ire of her came down.

ashikaga had been meant to be queen's heir by the instruction of senmut. now makono considered toula — or perhaps an empty seat alongside her was the most honest course.

he was mad. do not tell me you did not see it. her voice was too tired to tremble or sway. i am pharaoh now. you are not my shabti.

you never were. a woman playing house in a seat her mother should have held for years. it burned her harsher in the wake of her father's demise.
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you are a girl!

she bellowed back, scorched earth beneath her feet. perhaps treva could have admired the great climbing that such a young woman had done. a young girl.

but now a father, a husband, a rightful ruler laid dead upon a high place.

and i have stood as shabti before you were even a crown prince! do not think so lowly of me as you have your own father!

their voices raised, carried. treva burned with a holy fire unbecoming.
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disrespect. as if makono did not mourn the very things she had to do for the good of akashingo! she stood and turned with a sharpness placed upon her features.

your thoughts do not matter. the truth is here plain as day. go out into the air! ask the people who still stands! words cutting through grit teeth. you are wedded to a dead man.

it stung with a strong cutting violence.

what are your accomplishments beyond birthing new royals the moment a queen drops dead? besdies that, what work have you done that i have not?

makono did not need a six sense to see a strike incoming.
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and it was true!

she moved to strike with a cutting of teeth against golden flesh. let the girl think she was mightier! as if she had understood anything beyond some surface level!

who with power is loyal to you, girl?! her voice quivered with its anguish. i will have more might to move against you than you may ever hope to have.

but was it true?

her chest vibrated with an overwhelming sense of unease and anxiety. the palace seemed far too still in the momentary silence that lingered.
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this was the woman her father had chosen — perhaps treva had carried the madness into their home. perhaps it was her to blame from the start and makono should have killed her first.

she felt the sharp sting of an open wound upon her cheek. she was reminded of mereo. of being pushed into the earth again and again until she learned her place in fighting.

you will do no such thing. makono could not think of a single face who would turn against her for what she had done. silencing madness. bringing peace back to the palace. you will gather your things and leave by the next dawn. be grateful none are here to give punishment for a strike against a pharaoh.

kindness in her hostility!

figure out your goodbyes. now leave me.
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what?!

she laughed, loud and hysterical. to be outed for the stupidity of a child! what of toula? of the priest? tavina and her wife?

she was stunned into a silence now.

YOU are mad! she bellowed in a pierced voice. she cared not if the whole damn flatlands heard them! let them know that their new pharaoh already seeped into the madness that she claimed her father had!

foolish child!

yet still she had already turned. prepared to storm down the halls to somewhere else. someone else.
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so it seemed that the once shabti had indeed been more dull than she had been wise enough to turn a blind eye. to think that makono was mad.

makono who could have ordered the death of the woman. makono who could have called everybody to witness this in a court and see that pharaoh's madness had also been inflicted upon his wife.

perhaps she should have ordered the woman to lay alongside her father.

the now pharaoh watched her storm away, down a dusty hall into a dark place beyond. she hoped the woman was met with scornful looks and dejection from the people loyal to a new pharaoh.