Lion Head Mesa sunlight sadness
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#1
He had been given his own quarters close to the wellspring, tended to often by @Tavina or her ward, @Zakariya. Time passed and with their attention Raimo steadily recovered.

The man found himself curious about the people that lived upon, and within, the mesa. The healer mentioned a ruler named Ramesses, and used terms that were unfamiliar to Raimo.

Fellahin. Mazoi. Quiet comments about a prince, a nurse in the catacombs; tidbits of a life far outside his own familiarity. Most of this hadn't been for Raimo's ears; but he was often feigning sleep, and loved a good story.
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#2
there were new attendants in his palace, and they did not seem as though they had come to be emissaries. from tavina he had received a basic description, enough to recognize the man he suddenly spied that day.
sihaya glowed behind him. sayf was with him today. they looked at the stranger.
"you are raimo." he meant to interrupt the other's rest. "how are you healing?"
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#3
Through his half-sleep came a voice that sounded as sharp and fluid as a summer breeze, but with more weight, as if a storm were gathering at the door. The man who spoke his name held an innate confidence; as if he was deciding for himself if he was only passing by - cloud-like - or gathering thunder for a future strike.

Raimo lifts his head; it isn't pained any longer by heat-stroke. The muscles in his neck are still a bit weak and so there is a slight sway to the look. Well. It should not be much longer.

But what would come next? I owe your people a debt. Yes; who else could this gilded man be, but this pharaoh mentioned to him?
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#4
oh, did this one know his place? "you both do," he said primly. pharaoh had not yet met the shadowed beauty jakoul, though today he meant to do just that, prise her from the endless hallways of akashingo.
"i need guards for the palace," ramesses said. his black-limned eyes roved approvingly over the muscled body. "as a member of the mazoi, you would have run of the palace, access to the larders, your own quarters, and all attentions offered by the fellahin."
"there is also room to rise as captain of the guard."
he was silent now, watchful. waiting.
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#5
Both? He had already forgotten about Jakoul; she was a figment of his heat-addled mind previous to this moment, but having the man mention another gave Raimo pause. He didn't think long about it.

When I am able, I would like to meet the other mazoi. He wanted moreover to ask about the origin of the word, or what precisely was the difference between that and the fellahin (although Raimo had discerned that one was a warrior-type by now, and the other was an attendant of some sort); he was increasingly curious.

I am... I was, a hunter too. Once, in another life.
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#6
"well for now there is only one, and she is — unavailable." he did not elaborate, his pretty, mobile mouth slipping into a broad smile.
"we could use a hunter or two. we need to begin laying in stock for the autumn weddings. i want full caches for that week."
his voice was a gentle challenge.
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#7
Raimo immediately agreed, I can fill them.

Just as swiftly he thought of the rising temperatures outside of the mesa. Being out there, baking alive in his own skin, had been the cause of his current situation. He would have to be mindful of his hunts; no doubt Tavina would be on his case if he worked himself too much.

The man's eyes avert to a pile a little out of his own reach. One of the servants had brought him food while he napped and he hadn't touched it yet. He now motioned to it; half to ask for help, half to invite the man to eat with him.

Your people — from what I've seen of them, and now of you — are suited well to this hot place. His voice strained a little bit and Raimo politely cleared it before continuing his thought: Is this land your hearth? Were you born to it, I mean. There it was, that indomitable curiosity.
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#8
he was so sure of himself. ramesses enjoyed that in a man. and despite the lack of delicacy, and the sheer masculinity climbing from raimo, pharaoh found himself attracted.
it deepened in the golden curves of his royal face.
"i was born far from here in a place much hotter. but yes. akashingo is built to suit Ra. its people follow in those steps." his tones teased.
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#9
The answer only sparked more interest within himself.

A place hotter? This was a desert! It had nearly cooked him to death, thought Raimo. How could a place be hotter than this? But it was not worth it to ask. Ramesses spoke of something called Ra and there was reverence there, and a certain familiarity from Raimo who had heard a tale of something similar from a few travelers.

Ra—is your god? He did not mean for it to sound so blunt; the question came flowing from him abruptly. There was a pause there for Ramesses to confirm, deny, or strike him if he so deemed it suitable, and already Raimo had other things on his mind.

I have been many places, but none quite like Akashingo. There were some people I came across that worshipped something called Raas, have you heard of that? He elongated the sound to what he'd been told, so that it became more like Rays, and then elucidated: The people communed with the light and feared the shadow. They made sacrifices, and preached avidly. It was a wonder to listen to.
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#10
"i have not heard of this. but a religion made by prophets is sure to burn brightly, if only for a short while." without the power of the state, a god had little true backing if wars were to be fought in one's name. he studied raimo. "Ra is one of my many gods. you are educated. well-traveled. and yet you were found near lost to heatstroke. do you know these lands?"
he would have ordered the guard to stand, were it not for his recovery.
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#11
Perhaps what the travelers had told him had been wrong. He had not stayed with them for a longer period, and it had been years ago. To hear Ramesses speak of his beliefs was of great importance; Raimo enjoyed to hear the man talk of what he loved, and would seek out more stories about this Ra, or the others of the pantheon, as soon as he could.

The mention of his wayward journey made Raimo sigh softly, and smile, with a pathetic chuckle. I know the Wilds. My family has ties here, and some of them would tell me stories of the greater Teekon when I was a boy. I do not know these desert lands so much; it was a mistake to try and cross them as quickly as I wanted!

A mistake, but not the worst thing. If he had not dared then Raimo would not have found himself here, meeting such a strong-willed man, and ruling such a diverse kind of people. In that way Raimo felt fortunate (but yes, stupid too.)
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#12
ramesses smiled, still enchanted by the dust-covered peon who had stumbled across akashingo only by the extreme grace of the gods.
he did not ask after the woman; he did not wish to put raimo on edge.
"i need a messenger," he said by and by. "it might be a worthy role." he was tiring of the conversation, still held curious by the strongman.
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#13
Raimo nodded. He too was growing weary, but for other reasons. He had yet to touch his meal and would wait for Ramesses to depart before he bothered with it; but his eye wandered.

Alright. When I am able, I will hunt to replace the meals I have been given, and perhaps the medicine. If any messages need to be sent places then I can carry them swiftly for you. A small smile, enamored by his vision of the future.
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#14
"very good. i will summon you, mazoi."
that was all. onward he went, followed by his creatures. ramesses was soon gone from raimo's presence, and he smirked as he made his way up the red path.