Page 114 of A Tribute of Fire

“Because all of you give me a reason to!” she said with an indignant huff.

This was unlike her typically warm and sunny personality and I found myself wanting to ease her mind. “I will be fine. If anyone is foolish enough to approach me, Antiope has made certain I can defend myself.”

Suri patted Io on the back, comforting her.

“That’s true,” Zalira acknowledged. “Lia can take any of us in a fight.”

“We should go with her,” Io said.

“No!” I shouted and lowered my voice to a more moderate tone. “No. I’m not going to let anyone else get in trouble for my actions.”

“That’s what we do,” Zalira reminded me. “We’re sisters.”

I shook my head, hard. They all kept telling me the city wasn’t safe. I wasn’t going to put any of their lives at risk. I would never do that again. “No. I will do this on my own.”

“Will you be able to get past the patrols without getting caught?” Ahyana asked.

Thanks to her, yes. “I think so.”

Io just shook her head. “We need to get to the courtyard. Someone will come looking for us.”

Right. Our chores.

We walked in a strange silence and I felt guilty. Io was obviously upset and I didn’t want to be the cause of it. Even Kunguru seemed uneasy. He flew away from us, off into the distance.

Io led us over to the stone altar. “We’re supposed to replace the fruits and vegetables that have been left here, and then tidy up the courtyard. Zalira and Ahyana, can you go to the kitchen storage andget new ones? And Suri, could you get the brooms? Lia and I will get rid of the older food.”

The others left and Io was quiet while she began to gather the fruits and vegetables.

“Why are these here?” I knew the answer but wanted to get her talking again. I wanted things to be all right between us.

“They were brought in as sacrifices to honor the goddess. These offerings are to remain fresh all throughout the harvest season. The citizens count it as a miracle that they are continually preserved.”

I hadn’t known the last part. It seemed a little dishonest to me, but I knew that now was not the time to press that particular issue. “Can’t the goddess keep them fresh?”

“Why should the goddess do anything when we are available to do her work in her stead? It could be worse. I have heard that there are some bloodthirsty gods who demand the sacrifice of animals.” She shuddered. “Our peaceful goddess only asks for the first fruits of the plants she has grown for us to be returned to her.”

Although I should have controlled my anger at her statement, it was too difficult for me to let her words pass unchallenged. “‘Peaceful’? In my home, her need for vengeance has nearly destroyed us.”

Io paused her work, looking at me. “Sacrilege cannot be treated like other crimes. The whole community inherits the guilt from one generation to the next.”

That seemed incredibly unfair. When I managed to steal the eye, would my children be punished for my actions?

Then, with a sinking feeling, I remembered that it wouldn’t be an issue. I could commit all the sacrilege I liked because there would be no one to follow after me.

“Should we quiz one another?” she asked, and she still had that strange tone in her voice that made me concerned. But Io routinely tested us to make certain that we were retaining the things we were taught in our classes.

“Yes. What should we start with?”

“Do you remember yesterday’s lesson?”

I helped her push all the food into a pile at the center of the altar. “It was only yesterday,” I said with a smile, teasing in an attempt to restore her typical good mood. “So, yes. We spoke about shape-shifters.”

She nodded.

“Do you think they’re real?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “It’s hard to tell sometimes what’s been made up to illustrate a specific point and what’s fact. Are there really creatures with a scorpion’s tail, the head of a dog, and the body of a lion? Possibly? As I said, I don’t know.”

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