Page 81 of A Tribute of Fire

“Yes, and it’s grouped by arrival date. We had to wait for you to be our fifth. There are hundreds of adelphias here. A larger sisterhood comprised of tiny sisterhoods. Like one tree that helps make a forest.”

“I’ve never seen a forest.” I’d seen many trees since I’d arrived, but not any clumped together.

“I’ll take you the next time I go to the orchard,” she offered. “It’s similar.”

“Thank you.” I paused and then said, “So that means even Artemisia is in an adelphia.”

She nodded. “And I can’t imagine that it would be very pleasant, but we’re fortunate. I promise you will like everyone in our group.”

Her using the word “promise” made me think of my vows again and how the oath I’d taken didn’t match up to the women of Troasin the temple courtyard seeking the goddess’s favor in marriage and giving birth. “What happens to the priestesses who break their vows of celibacy?”

Io playfully nudged me with her elbow. “Why? Is there someone you want to break it with?”

Jason’s face flashed in my mind, but I pushed the image away. “No. I was only curious.”

“I’ve heard they bury the woman alive. And if the goddess chooses to save her, she can.”

My chest constricted and I had to put a hand over my stomach. Being buried alive—I had to imagine that it was like drowning, something that had always scared me ever since I was a little girl.

When we reached our room, a table covered in food had been set up in the middle, along with five chairs. The aroma was incredible and as I walked around taking in all the different kinds of dishes, I wondered if this was a special occasion or if this was how they ate all the time.

“Before we eat, should we introduce ourselves to Lia?” Io asked.

“That might be good, given that we are now bound together by blood,” I said, and the others laughed.

“I’m Zalira,” one of the girls with braids said.

“And I’m Ahyana. You might have already guessed that I’m Zalira’s sister. Well, we’re all sisters, but she’s my sister by birth.” Another fact I’d already guessed. Ahyana was the one who had ribbons intertwined with her braids. Their faces were very similar—they had the same large brown eyes, matching high cheekbones.

“And that’s Suri,” Io said, pointing to the girl who had hair like Quynh’s. Suri nodded, but she didn’t say anything. Her eyes were nearly black they were so dark, and I noticed some tattoos around the edge of her tunic’s neckline.

There was a flapping sound, and then a bird with midnight-colored feathers hopped onto the windowsill and squawked.

“That’s Kunguru,” Ahyana said. She held her finger out and he flew over, landing on it. When she lifted her hand, he rubbed his headagainst her cheek. “He knew it was dinnertime. He’s a greedy little monster.”

There was nothing but pure affection in her voice. She gave him a piece of bread that he snatched and ate so quickly I was impressed.

“She has a literal army of ravens,” Zalira told me in a conspiratorial tone. “They’re excellent thieves.”

That was interesting. I was about to ask her to explain when she added, “It’s a good thing he arrived when he did. It’s about to start raining.”

I looked out the window, and even though the sun had started to set, I could see that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

But not a moment later, thunder boomed, making the plates on our table slightly rattle. It was a few seconds more before the rain began to pour down.

“How did you know?” I asked, incredulous.

“Zalira always knows when it’s about to rain,” Ahyana said.

Before I could ask her to explain, Io said, “Should we sit?”

The others pulled their chairs out, the wood scraping against the stone. I did the same. Io stayed at the head of the table, while we took the other four spots. I was seated across from the sisters and Suri was on my right.

“I’ll say the prayer.” Io held her arms out, pointing them down toward the ground. They all bowed their heads and after a moment I did the same.

She began to speak. “We greet you, great earth goddess, and beg you to hear us. You have listened in the past as we have prayed, and now we thank you for this food and for all the bounty that you provide. We thank you for the opportunity to serve and ask that you bless all of our endeavors and accept them. We eagerly await the day when your savior will appear to protect all of Ilion. We will remember you in words and actions.”

Then each of the women took the cup in front of her and poured some of the wine onto the ground. Flummoxed, I did the same.

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