Lion Head Mesa tearstain
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#1
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it had been three days since satsu had told tamar she must lay with one of the mazoi.

it was to be her choice.

nightfall of the fourth day found her searching for @Arsenio, and when she found the guard, she pulled him into a small alcove and kept her voice low. "the queen has said i am — she has sent me to understand —" tamar's voice wavered. she raised her pale eyes to the stalwart ice of his own. "she says i am to lay with one of the mazoi. then i am to come back and — teach her. she is — she does not know men."

and tamar did not dare to look at arsenio. she feared she might see anger in his eyes. refusal.
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#2
Arsenio followed Tamar’s instruction, stepping into the alcove with a curious smile on the corners of his lips.

When Tamar spoke to him, it was in whispers. The Greek leaned toward her, curious to know what had flustered her so. The fire that had burned beneath her surface did not scorch him, not like it had before. Something had changed in the autumn maid. As the guard listened to what she said, he rediscovered the sharp touch of flame – this one raced beneath his skin.

It is a trap, the misthofóros said, at once troubled. Arsenio moved toward her, hoping that he might offer comfort. The red fur of his chest pressed against her frame, but he was not incessant. The ice of his eyes searched her features, wondering what could have happened to have inspired the queen’s command.

Look at me, Tamar, he implored her. The man moved to nudge beneath her chin.

I will not lay with you if you do not desire it. I will help you with words for the queen, but you must… say you found another man. A wild man. The Pharaoh will kill the one who touches you, if it is not him. Arsenio believed this with all of his soul.
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#3
but i do desire it.

the thought nearly leapt from her lips. the strength of him so close soothed the girl. but his words did not.

tamar was horrified. shocked. disappointment raced through her, and fear suddenly for arsenio and his safety within this palace.

"then we must not," she managed. she must find a man not within akashingo. she must learn these things from him and speak nothing of arsenio. she must not even dare to lay with him and say it was another. pharaoh would know.

"i also do not know — what the queen wishes me to know."

if she sought sihaya, she might also turn pharaoh's gaze and thereby spare the crimson guard.

tamar lay her head upon his chest. "you will think badly of me after."
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#4
The falling leaf shifted in tone, speaking at once that they mustn’t be with each other, that she did not know what the queen asked of her.

Arsenio felt his stomach sink, disappointment clenched his jaw. He knew better than to give in to his desires, to the wants that played throughout his mind each day. The Greek longed for the fragrance of her pelt upon his chest, to feel the warmth of her slender figure. He wished he had the words to assure her of this, to tell her that she was almost always on his mind.

The older man rested his chin atop her head and drew her closer to him.

I could not. I could not think poorly of you, he grunted, aware of how tactless it seemed. He only wanted her to feel honesty in his words. They did not need to be beautiful, and yet Arsenio wanted to make them so. He wanted to sprinkle flowers upon his tongue and whisper poetry into her ears.

You have bewitched me, autumn leaf.

The guard sighed, pressing himself closer to her, wanting only to feel her near him.
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#5
autumn leaf.

bewitching. tamar remained as she was. his heart sounded beneath her ear, rich and strong. she wished that she could have so much strength, to understand what she must do.

but the maidservant did not wish to leave akashingo. "i was given in chasteness to the queen. when that is — when i no longer have — when this is changed," she decided, "then pharaoh will come for me all the same."

"i will lie," tamar murmured, finally drawing away to look up into his gaze. "but it does not matter in the end. he will have what he desires."
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#6
I will kill him.

Arsenio pulled his head back so that he could look to her. The cold blue of his eyes did not falter upon her face.

Anger swirled in his figure, bristled the fur along his neck and shoulders. The man clearly did not have qualms with his feelings for the Pharaoh. The Greek had eyed the royal’s neck for some time. All it would take was one attempt. If Ramesses should try to touch Tamar, it would be the last thing he would do. Arsenio was not afraid of this truth – he would claw his way to the ends of the burning sands until his tongue tasted the Pharaoh’s blood.

If he tries to touch you, Tamar, you will call. You will call loudly. It will be the last thing that spoiled brat will ever do.

His breath was ragged, his jaw clenched.
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#7
"and bring death to all the fellahin?"

tamar lifted her paw, placed it upon arsenio's broad chest. "i and all the rest of them will suffer most if pharaoh dies. we belong to him." it did not matter that she resided within the queen's court.

it could not be forever.

"if he will kill the one who chooses me, then i must choose who it will be." arsenio understood that she had been given this power. 

let akashingo crumble. only then could tamar be free. she saw it now, as clearly as she saw the shape of his mouth and finally lifted herself against the guard to kiss him.
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Arsenio wanted to argue, to question the rationality she pressed into him.

Who? Who would harm the Fellahin if they had no master? How could freedom hurt them more than the Pharaoh? Why did she wish to remain loyal to that man’s playthings?

The anger he had felt before doubled, only for the thought that Tamar believed herself to be owned by the likes of Ramesses. As if she was a carcass, or a mesa, something to be claimed by spoiled kings. The Greek wanted to shake life into her. He wanted to hold her so close to his body that she would become part of him. So close that she would share in his strength and his determination.

But she kissed him, and Arsenio breathed a heavy sigh.

It was not fair, this life she had been given. It was not fair to ask him to wait for the king’s games to be played.

You will not belong to anyone, Tamar. I will be sure of it. One way or another… if I must bathe in the blood of every Pharaoh and queen in Akashingo, I will be certain you have your freedom.
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#9
his words rolled over her in another vow.

tamar did not want him to vow. she wanted the pressure and the passion of him, for him to forget this deception and all words and only exist with her for an achingly short time.

he had asked for her freedom, the maidservant reminded herself.

arsenio meant the words that he spoke.

but he did not understand what it meant to be indentured. his service ended when whoever had placed him here decided it was time to leave. tamar bore a debt to be paid. at any time she might leave akashingo, might run away and exist elsewhere. pharaoh would replace her. it would not be difficult. but she did not know why she remained.

and so tamar stood nothing, only stood desperate and trembling against him with something she wished did not feel so like hope.
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#10
The trembling of her figure silenced him, if only for a short time.

Arsenio placed his chin over her head again and hummed softly. A melancholy tune rumbled from his throat.

The Greek had killed before. It would not have been challenging to kill again. If he could be sure of her release, certain that there would be none who might follow her, he would have killed all of them. Akashingo would have been draped in the blood of its people without any hesitation. Arsenio would not share this with Tamar. He knew that they were not words that would bring her comfort.

So, the mercenary hummed against her until the weight of his anger had fallen from his shoulders. He breathed in the leafy smell of her fur. When her aroma overwhelmed him, the man pressed his nose into the back of her ear, toying with the plush fur, savoring each moment.


He was intoxicated.
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tamar closed her eyes. if anyone walked along the hallway now they would be caught.

she blinked back to herself and glanced around the corner.

satsu was with crowfeather. slate was surely there, and sihaya hovered close. sakai wandered his home, and there was a new fellahin ready to serve the royal pair.

tamar did not think they would be missed.

she gave arsenio a steady look, turning to lead him on quick paws toward the storeroom where they had once spoken. the smell of dried herbs filled the air as she ducked inside, not yet ready to face him among those hushed shadows.
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#12
The man followed her, drunk on her fragrance and the warmth of her eyes.

She led him through the caverns to the storeroom where the fragrance of herbs overwhelmed his nose, roused his senses. Arsenio drew his head up and watched her. He was unsure why she had led him there, but he was still willing to follow her.

A smile played at the edges of his lips.

Arsenio stepped toward her again, tired of the distance she had created. He wanted to be close. He did not want to waste the moment they had.
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#13
arsenio came closer. 

tamar turned and breathed him in. she closed the small distance between she and the guard, pulling him against her smaller frame.

"it can only be you, arsenio," her voice hitched beside his ear, breathless before she fell to urging him with presses of her lips to his tongue, his mouth, his jawline.

in her heart, she hoped he would only go with her here, and say nothing more.
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#14
The mercenary devoured every breath she offered him, breathing in the fragrances that flitted about her autumn pelt. His eyelids were heavy, bewitched by her beauty, and Arsenio could scarcely control the urges that he felt stirring in his belly.

The man pressed his chest to her. His muzzle worked at the plush of her ears, down her neck, to her shoulders where he grazed between the fine furs with his teeth, pulling at her nape when he felt his hips buck – the pressure within his stomach was like the stone of the mountain.

It can only be you, Arsenio…

The Greek man groaned against her. His jaw felt slack as he pushed his weight upon her frame. Pleasure the likes of which he had never felt drowned him. Arsenio could scarcely keep his head above the waves before her scent would fill him, and the touch of her muzzle would kickstart his heart into a thousand war drums.

I… want you so, the man moaned into her throat.
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#15
can tastefully fade here!!

his voice burned her.

"then have me."

this was only freedom of a servant: to give of herself to whom she chose. 

she did not enter arsenio's arms for queen satsu.

tamar embraced him for herself.