Lion Head Mesa benet

<3

toula was sweet and pious and dutiful. all he had wanted for any of his princesses, makono included.
but she had changed the fate of her future. and they all must abide, unless a son of the palace rose to challenge her.
"for you, my lotus," he said gently, and then laughed at her inquiry. "there are all sorts of marks! look!" and he drew a circle in the dust, then a lupine approximation of an ankh. "this is the world. and this is life."
"a charm can be any sacred item: a bone, a feather, a piece of wood. what matters is that it is blessed and made magick by the gods." ramesses looked at her as she spoke, seeing how despite the fact he would like her to remain small, she was not. toula's girlishness was fading, becoming the rich kohl of his own eyes and treva's grace.
his heart ached.
"have you given any mind to what you might like to do, outside the palace?"