Page 18 of Locking Down Qetesh

"Alas, there are some things that even magic can't help with."

"Not unless you were a mermaid."

"Still just a dryad," I said.

"Same. Though I did hope to sprout a tail every time I went to the beach."

"Really?"

"Oh, yes. It was my secret boyhood fantasy. I wanted to be a merman." From the smile on his face, I had to guess that was true.

"What colour was your tail?"

"Blue. There was nothing particularly inventive about my fantasy."

"Does there need to be?" I asked. "It's a fantasy, it can be as basic as you want it to be. I wanted to be a lion shifter."

"See, that's inventive."

"I lived in Egypt. Every other person wanted to be a lion shifter," I pointed out. "And it stayed with me long afterwards. When humans started putting me on their walls, they would ask me what animal I would want to be associated with. I thought I was going to get a fun head like a lot of the other Egyptian gods, but instead, they painted me standing on top of a lion."

He chuckled. "I might have seen those drawings. I hoped you were going to tell me an exciting story about a time you really did stand on a lion."

"I hate to disappoint you, but it never happened. I didn't go around holding a snake in my hand either. I'm actually quite scared of them."

"I have to imagine that's a normal reaction to have if you live in Egypt."

"You get used to them after a while," I assured him. "But now I really should get out. You're not supposed to spend too long in the hot tub."

"I've never understood why that is."

I shrugged and moved over to the stairs. "I always assumed it was something to do with making sure other people got to use it, rather than anything else. But I could be wrong."

"No idea," he responded.

"It shall have to remain a mystery."

"I'm going to go for a swim," Jacob said, gesturing towards the pool.

I smiled at him. "Have fun." I headed over to my chair and made sure that my towel was spread out. It was warm enough in here that I should dry off quickly, but there was no harm in making sure of that.

I let out a contented sigh and relaxed, letting all of my worries slip away. It was going to be a rowdy weekend if some of the past events of Ella's were anything to go by, so I was going to make the most of every moment of peace that I could get.

Chapter 8

QETESH

Any predictions of noise had been underestimated now that there were forty people in the room. I didn't even understand how Ella and Nadia were this close to so many people. I'd certainly known more over the course of my long life, but that didn't mean I'd want to invite them all to an event like this.

Then again, it was probably because I wouldn't have an event like this in the first place. I didn't mind this many people around when they were supposed to be talking to one another and I was just there to oversee everything, but here, I was one of the guests.

"Tesha!" Ella cried as she sat down in the seat beside me. Her cheeks were already a little flushed from drinking, but she seemed happy.

"Are you having a good time?" I asked.

"The best. I'm getting marrrrrried!"

"I certainly hope so, this is a lot of celebrating to do if you're not," I teased.

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