Lion Head Mesa Thlípsi

The mesa had been nothing but cool red stone and pleasures. The wolves who had pledged themselves to Akashingo did not want for much of anything, at least from what the Greek could tell as he watched them indulge in each other. One thing he could say for the Pharaoh was that the man knew how to have a good time. There always seemed to be berries that were so ripe they could make a man’s head swim for hours, naturally warm waters for bathing, and the company of pretty women.

The lady queen was with her betrothed when Arsenio slipped from the caverns and into the evening air of the mesa. Arsenio thought first of going to find the soldier, offering a small report on the limited information he had gathered. It did not take long for his mind to wander to @Tamar. It had been several hours since he had last seen the autumn maid. He could not help but wonder where she had gone, what she was doing.

The Greek man lifted his head to the cool breeze and knew that there would be rainfall, possibly flurries of snow before the sun rose again. Winter would soon be upon them.

tamar did not like the excess of akashingo. there was a war to come and there was nothing about pharaoh implying worry or care.

she had not been able to sleep. tamar had departed before dawn and had not returned. she wished to be wakened before the flowers.

the chill had killed most all of them. she found a soft peach petal left from a last bloom, and a shred of blue. the maidservant intended to take them to satsu as potential wedding colors. the feast would be so late in the season, perhaps it might be a winter celebration.

tamar was aware that she could simply leave the mesa, that she could walk into the lengths of red earth and be replaced. and yet she did not. it mattered less to her that she was here.

she slept in the afternoon, more late than she had intended. flying awake with a gasp and a hurried word, she rolled to her feet and ran for the mesa. where arsenio was, of course. tamar was flecked in soil and stained with bits of blossom and grass, tangled and panting and only just remembering that she had forgotten her flowers.

tamar glared at the man as if it was his fault as she stalked by him.

And just like that, the autumn maid seemed to appear before him. Her pelt was covered in an array of twigs, leaves, and flower petals. It looked as though she had been dusted with it. As she approached, her eyes were lit with irritation toward the misthofóros. Arsenio did not falter with the smile that swept across his lips, dancing in the blue of his gaze. He could not help but wonder what she might have been doing, what hurried her steps back to where the bulk of Akashingo was.

You have been prancing through fields of flowers, Tamar.

The smile that had pulled on his lips faded. Arsenio did not wish for the Pharaoh to catch him out there with the servant girl, not so boldly. Nevertheless, he was pleased to have found her there, unharmed, brimming with her customary ferocity.

You would not want the faraó to think you had been up to something… indecent, Arsenio murmured, stepping forward to pluck a crumpled flower from her hair, just behind the downy fur of her ear. The blue of his eyes danced with mischief, but his tone was not mocking of her. The Greek teased, but did not believe she had been up to anything nefarious.

such liberties he took with her! tamar froze only a second before she clipped white teeth on open air and ducked away from him. "it does not matter where i have been, guard," the servant girl growled. she refused to use his name. arsenio was the title of a brazen red beast with ghost-crag eyes.

his breath smelled of good things, and her own belly cramped with the hunger of an empty day. tamar had not paused to hunt. "the only indecent one here is you! i see the way that you look at me! i cannot cavort with you."

she had become breathless. "look at someone else." her pale eyes latched to his own for a brimming, hot moment, and then the girl was moving along once more, ears tilted backward to see if he followed. she had been gone all day. queen satsu would castigate her thoroughly for it.

Tamar’s teeth snipped and Arsenio pulled away with surprise. He could not help but chuckle at her chiding tone, the way she stood her ground was admirable. The Greek narrowed his eyes at the way he was addressed but he did nothing to correct her.

The woman went on to say that it was he who was indecent. Arsenio would not say that she was wrong, not entirely. He was unabashed in the way he allowed his gaze to travel her frame, the striking highlights that colored her figure. Cavorting with the girl was not all that filled his head. She was in a den of lions, after all.

Tamar moved to leave him, to make her way past his prying eyes and into the warmth of the merry wolves. Arsenio followed her, stepping so that he might breathe in the fragrance of flowers that she left. She wished for him to look upon someone else, but he did not want that for himself.

I do not want to look at others. I wish only to look at you, Arsenio breathed to her, his tone hushed. The faraó has only forbidden me from cavorting with his betrothed, this was said teasingly. A breath of a laugh fell from the Greek’s lips. As they drew further away from the privacy they had shared only moments before, the mercenary quickened his pace and called out to her in a breathless voice, please, wait. Tamar!


Arsenio stopped his pursuit.

it was only the breathlessness which stopped her. tamar turned around and allowed the guard to close the last few feet between them.

"he has forbidden you, so i am second?" but her voice was not angry. "it was the pharaoh who put you at the queen's door? why would he do this if he does not trust you?"

she did not know why she did not trust his words. "if you continue to look at me we will be separated. the queen does not want her maids with her king. she will not want her guard with me either."

tamar did not yet turn away.

The autumn maid stopped and spun on him, her words sharp against his ears. Arsenio sputtered to a stop near her, leaned back so that he would not risk the snap of her sharp teeth again. Tamar believed that the Pharaoh had put him at the queen’s door, had arranged the guard to watch over his betrothed out of trust. For once, the Greek man did not seem to be the fool.

Tamar then stated that if he continued to gaze upon her, they would be separated. The lady queen did not want her maids to be with her husband, she would surely not want them to lay with her guards. To this, the misthofóros could not argue. It was not likely that the woman Satsu or her husband would like the intentions that urged Arsenio to trail after Tamar.

The Pharaoh did not put me there. He is only letting me stay because he believes I am a dullard with brawn for brains and no purpose other than to die for those greater than myself, Arsenio corrected her, his voice cold, his eyes latched to her features intently. The mercenary scoffed softly at this sentiment. Let the Pharaoh have his ego, his women, his lavish items.

A pause before he spoke again, I will not let her see… the way I gaze at you. I will not do it in her company, or the company of the king.

tamar had no loyalty to pharaoh.

he had given her as an object and was never slow to announce his desire though a wink or the way he moistened his lips.

but arsenio spoke of deception, and now the servant must decide if her loyalty was greater than a man's ego. the way his face was now, so unlike the blank and smiling expressions he often wore around the palace.

and so there was more to the guard too.

"is it so important you look at me? why not the queen, despite what pharaoh has said? she is lonely. her bed is empty."

as for the rest — tamar swiftly put it away.

The woman did not offer a reaction to the information he shared. Arsenio wondered if he would have to kill her to keep her from telling the Pharaoh. It would have been easy enough. She entered the lady queen’s bedchamber in the middle of the night. She bared her fangs to the sleeping Satsu’s throat-

Tamar asked why not the queen, to which Arsenio faltered, blinking several times at the servant girl. No, he could not kill her. Even if it meant saving his lies to the Pharaoh. It would be easier to make the man believe that she was lying than it would be to murder Tamar and offer a suitable reason why he had done it. Arsenio still was not certain she would give his secret away, not yet.

The queen is… the queen is neró, the misthofóros said to her, his tone plain. Like water. She is soft and supple, she flows easily. When she speaks, her words are soft.

Arsenio smiled again, softer, more genuine.

I have always liked fire – unpredictable, quick, unafraid.

she too was not sure if she would inform the pharaoh.

the idea of entering his rooms nauseated the girl. she felt as if he were a great pale spider, his eyes fixed upon her wherever she went. he and the guard. ramesses frightened tamar. arsenio frustrated her.

he described the queen as water. he would not say so if he had suffered her sharper words. arsenio wanted fire. "the flames can burn," she warned him. "men like danger until it is directed at them."

tamar's ribcage swelled with a breath. she was not certain why she had said it, only that she must. 

"do you hope i will come to your bed, arsenio?" the girl said his name carefully, drawing out the syllables.

When the autumn maid spoke his name, Arsenio frowned.

It was not a question that he had anticipated from her. The Greek man would have wagered that she would have sooner lashed him with her tongue than speak it. He’d rather enjoyed the game of trying. No, she wanted to know if he wished to bed her. Heat rose in his belly and he lifted his head upward, shaking it back and forth in a solemn no that did not last for too long.

Arsenio’s crown fell and he smiled sheepishly.

Yes, but- a great sigh rose from his lips as he took a step back from Tamar, frustrated himself at where their conversation had led. But not like this. The misthofóros did not know what that meant, even to himself. The auburn wolf frowned deeply, fixated for the first time on the woman’s feet.

Not without good reason, without fire between us both.

it was the first time she had said his name, and his features fell.

tamar watched him knowingly. maybe now he could see the way that some part of her had turned to jade. "what if i said i would let you have me now?" she wanted to see what expression arsenio might give her now.

now she did not think he was acting. it did not amuse him.

"the fire is the chase. when you have me  —" tamar pursed her lips with a puff of air as if to end a candle "— then there will be no more fire." was this not always the way? how many girls had given themselves to a handsome face and ended up less for it?

the maidservant stepped back. "there is no man who has made me feel that." and there would never be.

The woman tried to speak words of reason to him, but Arsenio shook his head – again and again as she tried to tell him he was wrong, it would not be satisfactory after the chase had ceased. She did not know that, and he did not know it for himself either. That was the point. The chase was thrilling, yes, but the catch was not all there was. It was learning more than just the sharpness of her gaze.

Tamar!

Arsenio’s voice filled the area around them, just too loud.

You ask me a question, I answer honestly. This is because I only know the surface of you, and yes I see fire on the surface – you do not conceal emotion so well, Tamar, the Greek man spoke to her quickly, trying to sort through the words. The common tongue felt so heavy in his mouth. If you said now I could have you, I would still say no. Not like this, not in this way. Though he was not certain, for his stomach had tossed at the very thought.

You are too quick to judge me. There is time yet.

Arsenio turned from her, his head low enough to hunch his shoulders.

arsenio talked and tamar listened.

she did not think she had misjudged him. he was a man, and he was a man who looked at her often. the boom of his voice splayed her ears but only for a moment before they were up again, quivering with indignation.

tamar did not believe him. he turned away from her, and so she chose not to speak. when he had shown her otherwise, perhaps his words might mean more.

the girl rounded aside and disappeared below the mesa. tamar carried with her the way his eyes had shone for that moment.

The autumn maid turned from him and departed without another word.

Arsenio cursed beneath his breath.

It would not matter what he said to her, she could go to Pharaoh and tell him whatever she wished. Her flame had licked at his lip, burning sharp against him.

The lumbering guard prowled back to the commotion in search of a spot where he could watch the queen, from a distance. The glaze of his eyes was fixed on nothing, but he did all he could to see everything. It was the first evening that he felt weary, the first time since his arrival there that his shoulders ached with the weight of his task.

The Greek was growing restless.