Tamah

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I sat on the windowsill overlooking Thebes, my hometown, while absentmindedly brushing my hair. The weather had been dry and a lot of the crops had died as a result. I knew that wouldn't affect me particularly much, there had never been a day when I had gone to bed hungry and I was sure there never would be. But it made me worry for those less fortunate, for those children who already barely had enough to eat.

"Lady Tamah," a voice said behind me and I turned to look. My handmaiden, Kiya, stood at the entrance to my room with her head bent. I sighed for I had no idea how many times I had told her to not do that, but she never listened. "Lady Hedia is about to leave for the temple and wants to know if you would like to join her."

I nodded and got down from the windowsill.

"Thank you, Kiya. I will be out for the rest of the day and won't be needing any assistance. You ought to go home and help your mother with your siblings."

Kiya looked up at me. Her round eyes were wider than usual as she shook her head. "No, of course I'll come with you to help you."

I walked over to her and placed a light kiss on her cheek. She really was quite adorable and hard-working. She had worked as my handmaiden for almost two years now. When Mother had first told me I would get one when I turned sixteen, I had tried to argue against it. There were so many things that got more complicated with a human around, and it wasn't like I needed the help. But Mother had insisted because it was expected by the humans of a girl of my standing to have one. I still didn't want to have a handmaiden, but Kiya's company was always welcomed.

"Then you can come with and with any luck we might run into Reth."

Her eyes widened even more if possible, and she looked away from me to the side. I suppressed a giggle over how cute she looked and took hold of her hand to walk through the corridors.

Mother was already outside waiting for me. When she saw us, her eyes went to our interlocked hands and a scowl appeared. I let go of Kiya's hand. Not because I was afraid that my mother would be upset with me, but because I was afraid she would take the anger out on Kiya.

We walked in silence to the temple, Kiya and my mother's handmaid trailing after us. I could feel Mother's reproach build as we walked, and I thought through all potential answers I would need to give.

The walk wasn't long and it was early in the day, so we barely met any people as we strolled past pillar after pillar. The few that we met, stopped and bowed. I didn't really like walking next to Mother because of that. When I was alone, all would be friendly, but with Mother around, they were rather respectful on the borderline of fearful.

I couldn't really blame them. Mother had an imposing aura that even made me bow to her. She had made herself deserving of that aura. She rarely talked about her triumphs herself, but my aunt had.

We got to the temple and walked into a room in it that was reserved for us. No one else was allowed to enter. Not even the king and queen.

The only thing in the room was a statue of Hecate and a low table before the statue on which incense stood. We both kneeled in front of the statue and Mother lit an incense. Then we prayed in silence.

I prayed for better harvests and for all of the children in Thebe to grow up into healthy and strong adults. I always wondered what Mother prayed for when we went there because it always seemed to me that she had a specific purpose when she wanted to pray.

When she was done, she turned to me.

"You need to be more careful with how you act around your handmaiden. It's not suitable for you to be friendly with her," she reprimanded me as I had known she would.

"I know, but she is my closest friend, Mother," I answered and hung my head.

"It's better if she's not that. You know it won't do you good to become too attached to a human. Their lives are so much shorter than ours."

"I know," I mumbled because I did, but that also wouldn't stop me. There weren't many other witches around, so I knew I would feel awfully lonely without the friendly company of humans.

"What more are you planning to do today?" she asked me next and stood up.

"I'm going to the orphanage." I stood up as well and then continued, "Mother, the harvest really has been poor. Can't we do anything about it? Use our magic to help them?"

She shook her head, but also gave me a soft smile before kissing my forehead. "You will understand better when you're older. But we have to be careful when helping the humans. If we are not, they will start taking our help for granted."

"I will at least do something for the orphanage," I declared.

She shook her head again, but removed a golden bracelet from her wrist before pressing it into my hand. "This ought to help them a bit."

I smiled and hugged her. She could at times be strict, but she also had her ways of showing her care. I also knew she had good reasons to be vary of helping humans. In the stories my aunt had told me, Mother had slayed dragons, fought off whole armies, contacted Zeus and convinced him to help, all in the name of keeping their home, Cairo, safe for the humans.

The story of how Mother had convinced Zeus to help was a favorite of my aunt to tell. According to my aunt, she had bewitched one of his sons into, little by little, look more like a bull for each passing day. It had been a son who had constantly been bragging about being Zeus' child and acted as if he was better than everyone else because of it. That attitude made the transformation cause extra embarrassment for the son, that it was well known he was Zeus' son created embarrassment for the god as well. Mother had promised to lift the spell if Zeus agreed to help. Now how much of it I believed, I didn't know. Mother would always get upset when she heard my aunt tell me the story, so I assumed very little was true.

However, Mother had helped Cairo a lot and in many different ways. So much so that she had eventually had to leave because the humans hadn't let her have a moment of peace.

I left towards the poorer part of the city with Kiya, while Mother went back home with her handmaiden. We had barely taken any steps before I felt a prickling sensation, the sensation of being watched. I cast a glance around, but saw nothing, so I shrugged it off. Instead, I focused on that Kiya walked behind me, like she often did. I stretched my hand out, grabbed hers, and pulled her to walk next to me.

"This isn't appropriate," Kiya mumbled with her eyes on the ground. "If Lady Hedia..."

"Mother won't know," I replied and made no movement to let go of her hand. I always enjoyed holding her hand. It was callus from the hard work she had to do day in and day out, but at the same time soft and warm.

We only got a little on our way before a man approached us. He wore a white kilt made from the best linen and around his neck was a collar of gold.

"Tamah, what a pleasure to see you. Where are you off to?" he asked and smiled at me.

"Oh hello, Ilo. I'm on my way to the orphanage," I replied brightly.

"Again?" he laughed and lightly touched my arm as he did. "Weren't you there just yesterday?"

"Yes, but the children need a lot of attention," I answered with a shrug.

"I don't think I've ever met anyone that cares as much for others as you," he smiled and then brought forward a gold bracelet with red stones in it.

"What is that?" I asked and peered at it.

"For you. I thought you might be able to put good use to it." When I looked back up at him, his eyes were downcast. I frowned slightly at it, but shrugged at the odd behavior in my mind.

"Thank you! That's perfect!" I exclaimed and took the bracelet from him. "The orphanage needs all the money it can get."

I placed the bracelet in a pouch I had hanging from my waist and then smiled at Ilo. He looked at me with his mouth agape. He honestly looked rather foolish and as if he was unable to say anything more.

"Come now, Kiya. We must hurry," I therefore excused us and went on.

After we had gotten some distance away, Kiya looked over her shoulder and then at me.

"Lady Tamah, that was not what he meant by giving you that bracelet," she told me in a low voice.

"What do you mean?" I frowned and tilted my head slightly at her.

"He meant it as a gift for you. For you to wear."

"But why would he gift me a bracelet? I don't like wearing those things. They are just in the way. And even if I did, I do not lack money to buy them myself."

Kiya giggled slightly. It was a soft and peaceful sound that I loved hearing.

"He is hoping you will pick him to be your husband," she explained.

I looked back over my shoulder and my frown deepened. "Why would he hope that? I have no interest in him like that at all."

"You're turning eighteen in a week. Many of the men hope that Lady Hedia will force you to pick a husband then."

I just shook my head at that. Mother would never force such a thing upon me, though I could see why the humans would think so. They didn't know about mates after all.

As we continued to walk, the feeling of being watched increased. It was so intense that it felt like blisters would erupt on my skin. But I still couldn't see anyone watching me as I looked around, so once again, I decided to ignore it. 

Alright, so I know I've had quite a few end of chapter notes that are a bit on the silly side. A lot of that comes from the fact that there is so much about this book that I love. This one, however, will not be silly. 

If you have managed to read until this point without checking out the warnings in the description of the book, now it's high time for you to do so. There is some more information about it in the author's note in the beginning. There won't be any warnings at the beginning of the specific chapters.