Lion Head Mesa God knows I could make amends.

She had seen them from the darkness of the forest, thinking it a dream.
There had been many of them — smelling of the familiar dust and sunlight, of dried herbs, of the sweet ichor of wine, all things that strengthened her heartsickness. Bodies moved fleetingly to the lakeside, and she followed them at her own pace; agonizingly slow, for she had little energy left.
Skin and bones.
The forest became highland, then highland became scrubgrass, dunes, stones.
She could stare at the monolith that was the palace of Akashingo, her features glazed. The sun on her back.
She thought she followed Khaba, or the whirlwind of bodies that swept the sand in a gale; but no, Nazli chased that heartsick feeling until she stared emptily at her once-home, and felt herself fade.
Her tiny body — made so much smaller with starvation — hit the dirt, and a puff of dust was all that signaled her landing. Nothing stirred among the grasses on the hill except the subtle rise and fall of her delayed breathing.
Not until a hungry bird began to circle overhead.

their war, a triumph! the children safe, what blood was shed was precious little (if any at all!). the report provided her much joy, though she was so greatly saddened to hear that the lavender girl had not been brought home, here, where she belonged. 
she prayed for her as she prayed for Pharaoh. the words were memorized now, a mantra. and as she whispered them against Khonsu’s altar, the wind stirred and Toula thought she could smell her.
what came next was the vision of her! but she was a wraith, unfamiliar to her this way, and Toula froze. her looks, at least, did not betray her revulsion for the sickly state of the fellahin. 
relief came next, and quickly. so too did her wits with this feeling. she gathered the mazoi with her. bring her to @Tavina at once—be gentle with her, she commanded, voice soft despite the firm order.

cameo & PPable! <3

another girl. another mouth to drink the bounty of akashingo, which their queen was sure to share. already she bent over the pathetic figure and ordered him forward.

and so in silence he did so. the girl weighed almost nothing; he put her across his shoulders and so with the medjay bayek so did he sojourn with his ruler back into the mesa, and to the small room where the physician held her examinations.

one of toula's servants had come breathlessly to tavina. but only pieces came out.

and then there was sound in the corridor, and then two mazoi with toula, carrying —

a strangled noise came from tavina, "nazli," and then she was herself once more. "lie her here," a wide shelf of scarlet stone jutting from the wall. 

tavina lay her cheek against the sunken chest; she looked at the exhaustion-smeared eyes and the dryness of lips and nose. "water," she ordered. "and sheep's liver, soaked in more water. save as much blood as you can."

the guards she sent away, but not before a low urging: "tell senmut."

skippable!

the day before, naberius had asked a question of senmut that kept the high priest awake into the small hours of the morning. 

he did not know when makono would return.

he did not know that she would at all.

pharaoh's spacious halls and cursed chambers; they lay dormant, dusted regularly and awaiting the echo of pharaoh's voice.

who that would be, senmut no longer knew. seeking peace, he reflected in the rooms of the priests, attempting meditation upon the holy laws of the dead — not to be, the pattering of feet announcing a messenger, who whispered grimly into his ear, and senmut felt his world constrict into one harrowingly sharp sickness. 

he sent the fellahin away with the order to bring the holy ones of akashingo to that small room, with incense and holy objects; as he stormed down the corridor to see for himself, @Melody and @Medusa joined him, and @Akhtar too he fervently hoped.

nazli, tiny and withered to nothing; nazli, with scarce life to support her breathing as the heady scent of orchids ground underfoot filled the small neat space, and the chanting of the priestesses lifted in sibilant prayer. and all could see his stricken and anguished look, as senmut came to her side. "she is losing her ka."

was she not the most betrayed among them all?

he breathed the the start of his prayers to Heqet.

So it was Horus who came for her first, circling.
To the endless winding labyrinth of stone.
She came-to enough to spy Tavina, and in her stead the delirium gave the woman the head of a jackal; she smelled iron in the air, glimpsed the red organ, and thought in vagaries of a heart and a feather, to be weighed.
Nazli knew the stories.
She struggled and again was lost to sleep, breathing laboriously with Tavina-Osiris' help, unaware.

Toula willed every breath of her own to imbue Nazli with strength. the fellahin went to gather, but were quick to return. 
she stood near, praying with the rest, but drew closer to Tavina. never to be in her way, only to do as guided—though some of this was now familiar to her. all the while her own prayer did not stop. had Khonsu brought her here only to die? she should be grateful for even this, but still, she begged of the Gods for more. 
they had taken not one Pharaoh,  but two—whatever else You might ask of me in this life, I shall do it, if she lives!

they prayed, toula and her holy wolves. tavina snuck a look of encouragement to the girl and another toward senmut, who seemed closed with grief.

she wondered. 

she worked, water for the dry mouth, blood-broth ladled carefully into the weakened jaws.

nazli swallowed what she was able and then was lost to black sleep.

the sesh reclined on her heels. such things belonged to the gods of akashingo now.

but she would not break her vigil, and bathed the still forehead with wet cloths, almost pierced with tears.

as it turned out, neither would senmut; he would cleave to the room as if his heart with tear without it.