Lion Head Mesa seventeenth

senmut put his arms around her again. it was almost rote, she divine and he only a peasant from a far-off place.

and yet it was to him the pharaoh returned for comfort.

pharaoh makono — her name was a balm to his spirit.

in the half-dark, he saw a mark upon her cheek. but he did not ask. the queen was gone, and he breathed in relief to know it.

the imperator's son! "i will draft a message," senmut said.

he wanted to speak of who the queen might be, to ask if makono wished a formal coronation. but the mention of qiao stilled his tongue.

the silence stretched.

"while you were away, qiao was sent to summon you, by ramesses. i instructed khaba to detain her." he had not ordered what happened but it was upon his head all the same. "i will seek him tomorrow. but in his stead i should bear his punishment, divine one."