Redsand Canyon sand blossom

"@Aquene? i have brought you something to eat."

tamar stood outside the tablinum, but after a moment she stepped inside and let her eyes adjust to the light. they searched for the healer.

there was an odd tension in mereo. or perhaps it was only her own wistfulness.

There was much to consider, and Aquene didn’t even know where to begin. There was anger, a decision trying to force her own hand in a way that resembled the brutes of her homeland… how could she not be angry?
 
A part of her had considered leaving, but she couldn’t do that. There were too many wolves here she cared about, and regardless of if she stayed or went… Dimitri would be back to enact revenge on Mereo for protecting her. Of that she had no doubt.
 
The friendly voice came through and her eyes softened. “Tamar?” She called out, a welcoming tone as she made her way to the edge of the tablinum. “Please, come in.” Tensions she might have particularly against the Imperator aside… Tamar was always welcome to visit and she would always make time to chat with the woman.

tamar settled herself gratefully upon a patient's cot.

she passed the limp goose to aquene. "i caught it not far above mereo." there was a hint of pride there.

but was there something else here? tamar leaned back upon the pallet. "how are you recovering?" she wanted to ask if anything was the matter but did not wish to assume. perhaps she was only sensitive.

Aquene offered a wide grin. “It looks delicious.” She added after hearing the hint of pride in her voice. She considered for a moment asking if the other woman wanted to share it, but based off what she knew of Tamar, she figured the woman would not accept.
 
The question fell and Aquene smiled. “I am recovering well, thank you. I feel mostly back to normal.” Physically, she was thankful to still feel fine, even if a slight limp still lingered as she regained her strength, but even that would soon fade. Soon, physically, it would be as if it never happened… “How have you been?” She heard that she had gone beyond Mereo to catch this goose and she worried for anyone who went beyond the borders knowing Dimitri lingered.

"i am well."

tamar's mouth twitched. she examined the claws of one forepaw for a moment. "i am — waiting for my time to come. perhaps i am a little envious of the matrona." her smile was wry when she cast it back toward aquene.

"the soldier you told me about." she arched a brow, inviting the physician to speak if she so chose. but if not, tamar would leave it there and take their discourse in another direction. "now that the south has been scouted, perhaps the imperator and the matrona might allow a civilian patrol. i would like to see it."

She was well. The woman was relieved to hear it. She admitted once more that she was waiting for her time to come and Aquene offered a softened smile in her direction. “I am certain your time shall come soon, Tamar.” She could see it in that moment, a group of little Arsenio’s and Tamar’s bustling about and playfighting. It would be a sight to behold, and more natural in her mind than the surely strategic and cold coupling of the Matrona and Imperator. She still did not fully understand how love or children had any place between the warm and caring Matrona and the cold and calculated Imperator. It was not her place, however, to judge… apparently that responsibility fell to the Imperator.
 
She offered a soft smile at the mention of the soldier, a strained look also finding her features. “Married… the Imperator demanded we be wed or chaperoned.” She explained softly, a sigh though she did not dive further into it. Nothing else had changed, it was just a title. She forced herself to remember that. There was a hint of worry and concern at the mention of a civilian patrol. “I am not certain it is fortified enough for that… the injuries Kallik and Glaukos sustained on their venture… they were quite severe. I think the Imperator might want to make the area more secure before we are allowed to venture that far.”

married?

tamar opened her mouth to congratulate aquene but noticed that her companion did not wear the happiness of a new bride. she listened further and it came to pass that the imperator had been the push behind it.

the girl frowned. she could not relate so well, as she had been with arsenio before they came to mereo.

but her sympathy was great. she moved forward, wishing to sit alongside the physician now.

"my father arranged marriages for my older sisters. he did not choose old men. he did not choose cruel men. and my sisters were allowed to say that they did not want this boy or another."

she watched aquene's face. "this soldier. he is good to you?"

A part of her was happy, truly… but a part of her loathed the systems in place that had forced the decision so abruptly. It had not been the way she had wanted to start a marriage. Tamar moved to her side and she found the other woman’s presence comforting. She needed that closeness in this moment.
 
She spoke of her father arranging marriages and the stark comparison from her own father. “My father arranged a marriage for me once… the man who attacked me on the border was my betrothed.” She admitted quietly, information she had seldom shared outside of those who had needed to know. She didn’t trust the system of arranged marriages.
 
The question did bring a smile to her features, an adoring look in her eyes as she nodded. “Very. He is kind, and protective, and he cares about me.” She knew that without doubt or question.

tamar gave a low intake of breath at the revelation.

she pressed aquene's paw with her own and looked solemnly into the healer's eyes. "then you know he will kill this man." arsenio loved her. he would have killed the pharaoh had they not departed akashingo.

"it is important that you are not forced to love a husband. it means your hearts grow together. i think." the girl blushed and looked away with a roll of her shoulders. "i want this for you and your new mate."

Tamar was quick to soothe her, a solemn look as she promised that Kallik would kill Dimitri for her. She paused for a moment, reflecting before she shook her head. She was certain he would like to do that very much. “No, he will not.” She stated with a certain vindication in her tone. “I will be the one to kill him.” She had made a promise to do no harm, but she truly saw no harm with the idea of taking his life… it would protect far more than it took, and it would bring her closure to see the life fade from his eyes just as the joy had out of hers the moment she became his betrothed.
 
She smiled softly at the words, and she was grateful for Tamar’s presence. “Thank you… it was not very conventional, our marriage… the Imperator, he told us we must marry or be chaperoned because we had lain together.” She explained, explaining the details to the other woman in less tawdry detail than she might have Towhee. “I want that too… we are still growing our relationship. I do not think it is love yet… but I think there is potential.”

tamar nodded. "you will be the one who brings his end." aquene's voice frightened her in a small way.

and the imperator was turning out to be more strict than she had realized.

tamar and arsenio had been given this privilege first, when they had come to mereo. they had not been made to work for it; it had always been an expectation.

tamar blinked. she did not think that germanicus would have been the one to force them. but it did not seem as though aquene was unhappy. "love grows in many ways," she said gently. it was odd to have been a wife longer than the healer despite the fact that the other woman was older.

"lying together was not a reason to be married in my home. it was almost expected that a girl would seek many men before she decided on a husband." her lips curved with humour. "i wonder what the imperator would make of that!"

Tamar seemed to accept her words. She had no intention to frighten the other woman, but she wanted to be the one to exact her revenge. She never wanted to rely on a man for protection ever again… even a man as kind and caring as her husband. She accepted his protection, loved it even, but she did not need it.
 
She hummed at her words, a soft smile on her features. She hoped the other woman’s words were true. She went as far as to raise a brow as she continued on. “I imagine he would not be pleased. Relationships are a distraction but for some reason in his mind, marriage permits it.” She offered almost humorlessly. “I gave him quite the earful about how he as a man should not make these kinds of decisions for me… I did not hesitate to inform him how displeased I was.” Still, she had chosen to marry Kallik which spoke volumes of her own feelings which she had not had the opportunity to sort out for herself either.

tamar laughed with soft delight.

"i am glad you spoke to him in this way. perhaps he will think a second time."

her friend, married. tamar's heart fluttered with pleasure at the idea. "maybe he wants everyone to be married. that is his goal. not only soldier, but matchmaker."

she left off joking to give aquene a look of alliance and affection. "i should go now. but i will come back." tamar gestured to the bird she had brought. "let me take care of you in some ways when your husband is upon patrol. you are still healing," she pointed out as tactfully as possible.

She brought a laugh out of the other woman and grinned conspiratorially. When she had first met the Imperator, she had been intimidated… now, there was respect, but with that respect came the power she felt to speak her mind and let him know just when he pissed her off. She chuckled softly at her statement. “Quite the theory… though I think you might be right.” She winked at her as well.
 
Her eyes softened when the woman said that she would go, but that she would return. They softened further at the mention of care, a soft smile on her features as she nodded with a sigh. Very few people could get such an agreeance out of her, but Tamar was one of them. She trusted the woman, and felt close to her, and that earned her more of the right to remind her of her own limitations than was afforded to others. “I would enjoy the company.” She finally agreed verbally to her tactful request.

last for me! <3

tamar reached out to aquene.

she pressed her cheek against one and then the other.

"rest."

it was a loving order. the former servant stood and with finality she departed the tablinum. she could not remember when she had friends before, or if it had happened.

she had been a girl. she had been fellahin. and now she was a wife.

but tamar did not know her true identity.