Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, given that I felt like I had a moment to myself back home. This is an entirely different level of work, however. Kina's energy is endless. She finishes tending to the animals, then goes inside the small cottage and gets to work grinding spices from their cellar. When the spices are ground, she takes fresh milk and begins to churn it. Then she gets to work on her loom, her hands moving quicker than I ever thought possible. I offer to help out with the churning, but she takes one look at my plump arms and hands me the mortar and pestle instead and tasks me with grinding more spices to a fine powder.
As she works at a frantic pace, Kina chatters at me about how she wants to marry a boy that lives in town, but her parents need her help here on the farm. That he works with his father as a smith, so they haven’t yet figured out how they’re going to work things out. “I’d ask the goddess of love, but I’m sure she’s got other things on her mind right now, what with the Anticipation and all.”
“I think you should ask anyhow. Isn’t that her job?”
“Well, yes, but everyone knows that the gods come to the mortal realm during the Anticipation because they’re not doing things as they should.”
“Maybe she needs a reminder that she serves you.”
Kina’s smile is amused. “How hard do you work for people when you’re told that you’re shite at your job?”
Excellent point. “You’re just going to wait for better timing to marry him? What if things never change?”
“You’re here, aren’t you? That’s proof enough to me that things are changing.”
Another excellent point. “Maybe when Kalos gets here, I can ask him to put in a good word?”
She freezes, terrified. “Oh, please don’t, Mistress Elsie. We don’t want to involve Lord Kalos at all. We want to avoid his gaze entirely.” She grabs a pinch of salt out of the salt cellar and tosses it over her shoulder, then goes back to her weaving. “Lord Kalos is angry at the goddess Belara anyhow. She was once his lover but no more.”
“Oh? I wonder why.” I don’t want to come between exes, even as a babysitter. That’s a quick way to get in over your head fast.
“The stories say he was a scorned lover. He was angry that she would not agree to become his bride, so he sent a plague to her followers.”
Yikes. Okay, Lachesis did mention that we wanted to keep Kalos as neutralized as possible. What was the word she used? Apathetic. If I asked him to put in a good word for poor Kina, he’d probably kill the entire village so the smith would be free to join her on the farm. I have to watch myself here. This isn’t my world, and I can’t think of things the way I did back home.
“Pray to the goddess anyhow,” I advise Kina. “Maybe just flatter her a lot instead of asking for specific things. We’ll skip asking Kalos anything.”
She brightens. “That’s an excellent idea. The gods love flattery, almost as much as they love a sacrifice.”
I wince.
“I know, I know. You don’t like sacrifices.” Kina grins at me. “I won’t do that while you’re around.”
“She’s the goddess of…what? Love? Beauty?” When Kina nods, I suggest, “Maybe you sacrifice something beautiful to her, like flowers or a favorite earring.”
Her eyes widen. “Or the most beautiful goat—”
“Or your favorite necklace,” I state again, voice firm.
“I’m teasing you, Mistress.” She laughs. “As for your goat, don’t worry. He’s quite safe.”
He is? I’ve forgotten all about him. “Where is he at?”
“He belongs to the farmer down the road. When you’re ready to retrieve him, we’ll go get him. I insisted that you rest first.” She frowns at the mortar and pestle in my hands. I’m probably doing it all wrong, and I grind a little harder on the spices in the heavy stone bowl just to be certain.
Retrieve him. “What am I to do with a baby goat?”
She shrugs. “If you don’t want him, we’ll tell Davios. He’ll make a fine stew out of him.”
“We’ll get him,” I say faintly. I know that people eat farm animals all the time, but something about saving that little goat from sacrifice just for him to end up in a stew pot doesn’t seem right to me. “Perhaps tomorrow. And then we should head back to the temple.”
Kina looks up at me, surprised. “So soon?”
I nod. “I have a feeling Kalos is going to be arriving quicker than we’d like.”
Hadn’t Lachesis said as much? I want to be there so I can truly begin my task. I don’t want any chance that I’ll be sent back to my world and mess up David’s chance for a happy ever after.