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With a rare smile on her lips, the Satyr’s gaze moved when Sohteth spoke. Even with her attention turned to his face, her ruddy cheeks still flushed further red as he kissed her hand. [color=f6989d][b]“Of course you couldn’t.”[/b][/color] Antigone said, amused despite her pulse still pounding. It was, after all, just so like her paramour to have some nefarious new tactic for setting her heart racing. 

Two desert-clad stablehands arrived promptly to take Useful and Antigone passed the reins to them before leaping nimbly from the saddle. Her hooves made no sound when she landed, nor did the leather plates of her armor. The only sign of her movement was a small plume of dust around the hem of her cloak. At Sohteth’s gesture, she started towards The Spire alongside him. 

The mention of his father quelled her joy at their reunion, however slightly. There was much for them to discuss with Lord Canak, and little of it would be pleasant. At least when their business was through, Antigone could enjoy whatever gifts Sohteth had been accruing for her since their last meeting. He’d proven a doting suitor time and time again in the years since he’d begun courting her, and she could only imagine what awaited her this time. 

As they walked through the dim village, which was hardly more than a cluster of large tents, she happily let Sohteth go on about his dealings with the Ashekh. As was her habit, her amber eyes flicked about while he spoke, assessing her surroundings again and again. Her stomach turned as he told the tale of the monstrous Arek’s demise, crippled at Sohteth’s hands then devoured by his own progeny. Death had been Antigone’s trade, like so many of her kin, since she was old enough to wield the Scorpion-Steel blades; the politics of the Shyr Polaes, however, were even more violent than the machinations of her own family. 

Still, she was glad for his quick victory.

As one who had delivered her own lethal poison to innumerable mortals, Antigone laughed aloud at his musings. It was brief and dry, nearly a scoff, clearly the sound of someone disused to finding humor in anything. [color=f6989d][b]“Do not apologize, beloved. I will always take delight in your victories, and share the grief of your losses, should you ever have any.”[/b][/color] She said as they passed through the towering doors of The Spire, where the seamless green-black stone was cool and smooth beneath the heels of her hooves.  

Several of Sohteth’s servants awaited them in the entryway. They were all clad in the same genderless, beige tunics as his sister’s attendants. As she removed her cloak and mask for one of the servants to take away, another held a broom ready to sweep the sand that fell from her dark curls and clothes. Yet another held a bowl of perfumed water with a cloth for her to wash the dust from her face. 

Comforting though the welcoming display was, Antigone knew that somewhere in the multitude of chambers above her, there were predators waiting. 

[color=f6989d][b]“Productive, indeed.”[/b][/color] Antigone began as she set the cloth aside. At the wave of her hand, a pair of servants holding ornate incense burners aloft with lengths of gleaming chain made their way towards one half of the curving double stairways that wrapped the circular foyer. The swirling smoke rising into the cavernous chamber was heavily perfumed, masking the charnel stench that permeated every room within The Spire. Such was the stench of blood and meat in all stages of decay that it was greatly offensive to Antigone, and so the incense-bearers accompanied their master’s beloved wherever she went within Clan Canak’s stronghold.
            
[color=f6989d][b]“The ‘accident’ transpired exactly as we intended.”[/b][/color] She began with plenty of sly satisfaction in her voice. She slipped her hand around Sohteth’s arm as they ascended the first stairway of many. Comfortable as she was at her beloved’s side, her eyes swept every room that they entered. 

[color=ed145b][i]…surely the hunt is on by now…[/i][/color]

[color=f6989d][b]“He was happy to take the fall, once I explained the alternative.”[/b][/color] A sneer tugged at her mouth. [color=f6989d][b]“If he hadn’t gotten so drunk, though, he might’ve thought to find some business a few floors higher before he took his little tumble. I heard he was still alive, albeit briefly, when they found him. He broke a couple of branches from the sacred tree on his way down, too, so they’ll leave his body in the dunes to shame him in the Spirit Grove. A pity, after his noble sacrifice.”[/b][/color] Another of her wry little laughs.

[color=f6989d][b]“With my previous betrothed indisposed in the afterlife, I am now, of course, free to formally entertain suitors again. Once your Lord Father announces your bid, no one else will dare to declare interest for fear of drawing the ire of the Shyr.”[/b][/color] Antigone carried on as their ascent through The Spire continued. [color=f6989d][b]“Even if my father has his suspicions, he’d be a fool not to secure the union of our families. He was higher than a kite-scout when we spoke, though, so it was more difficult than usual to read him. I suspect his condition is worsening despite the treatments. He may not have long left, but should he decide that this is some defiance worth punishing, open war will provide ample opportunity to eliminate him quickly along with his most loyal lieutenants. Then, my brothers will turn the war inward as they vie to replace him.”[/b][/color]

A sigh escaped her. [color=f6989d][b]“I find it quite a shame that it’s come to all this. I truly believed that I’d served my father well enough, that I’d done enough for the family to earn some sort of respect. How many throats I’ve slit, necks I’ve snapped…”[/b][/color] Her laugh turned more bitter, and her smirk became something of a snarl. [color=f6989d][b]“Then again,”[/b][/color] her hand tightened around Sohteth’s arm and when she continued, she all but spat the words. [color=f6989d][b]“I suppose compliance never did begat respect.”[/b][/color]