I made my way quickly to the training area and looked on my charge and surrogate child. My heart ached at the thought of leaving her behind. I walked to her and scooped her up in the middle of a thrust and held her to my chest tightly. She let out a little squeak as she squirmed in my arms before looking up at my face.

  Her skin was flush and hot from the beating sun and the hard work she was putting herself through. I pulled her further up my chest so I could nuzzle my cheek against her head and pced a gentle kiss on her forehead.

  “Sister, what are you doing? I thought I was still scented.” She didn’t fight though and instead twisted her own head into the treatment rubbing her cheek onto my chest. The practice spear cttered to the ground as I took a moment to show her gentle motherly affection.

  “I just missed you st night. Sometimes though you need a night with your mates just to yourselves.” I kept ignoring the scent of cooking flesh in the air and hoped my own musk would overpower Aphiwe’s senses. I was not so lucky.

  “Something smells really good Sister. Did the hunters or warriors find something for all of us to eat?” Her eyes were so hopeful and I could feel the gorge in my throat rise once more.

  “No little one. It is a warrior’s feast, none for us.” I started walking away from the whole vilge and towards the watering hole to flee the mouth watering scent of meat. “I still have plenty of dried meat though. You can eat your fill tonight. I even have some more gazelle blood you can have. I’ll share tonight. It’ll help make you… nevermind.”

  I pced Aphiwe down and let her get her fill of water as I watched on. I took a cup of the water and wiped away some of the sweat on her body. Sending shivers down her spine. I ran my hands through her hair and pyed gently with her ears much to her giggling delight.

  “You’re being strange, Sister.” Aphiwe said but still stepped into me and cmbered up my body to clutch onto my shoulders. Her legs trying their best to tch around my waist but being far too short to do so.

  I sat down and held her in my p as I enjoyed the quiet moment. Far enough away to ignore the enticing scents. I tilted Aphiwe’s head so I could pce kisses on her cheeks and forehead. In return she mashed her lips hard against my own cheeks with enthusiasm but it was more like a headbutt. I ughed and squeezed her tight trying to ignore the creeping sense of dread in my chest for tomorrow.

  “How did you like spending time with Lethabo and her mates?” I looked off into the distance and the sinking sun. I begged Hathor to freeze the sun and make the day st forever so I wouldn’t have to worry about tomorrow. But even the gods couldn’t stop the universe.

  “They were so nice!” Aphiwe cmbered further up my body until she was sitting on my shoulders and hands in my hair. I leaned forward to keep her banced as the little girl pyed with my rge ears. “Her mates kept tickling me and showing me their baby bumps. One of them said she even had three pups coming. She could tell this early! Something about a feat.”

  “One day you’ll have to worry about feats and how you’ll gain strength. If you’re lucky you will ascend as well.” I grabbed her feet and tickled them lightly much to her giggling delight as she clutched onto me and kicked wildly trying to get her feet free. It was difficult to keep her banced on my head with her thrashing.

  With a twist and yank I had her on my p belly up. I could barely still see her ribs thanks to the copious amounts of food I had been feeding her. I was worried it would disappear with the ck of food. They still might come back if I forbade her from eating the sves. However I couldn’t bring myself to talk about that to her.

  “Has anyone told you of the afterlife and the gods?” I asked as she stilled and breathed hard from ughing. She shook her head lightly, her shaggy hair spread out across my shins. “Let me tell you of Anubis, god of the underworld.”

  She looked at me with a smile as I pced my hands on her stomach and drummed my fingers with the implied threat of more tickling. She stayed still but had such a deep interest in her eyes that I knew she would enjoy a story.

  “Anubis is the god of the dead, who is concerned for the care of them. His head is that of a bck jackal, as dark as a moonless night. In the end of things when you pass away you meet with him, sometimes upon the sands, others upon a boat. He brings you to a scale, one that will measure the life you lead and if you have followed the tenets of the gods you worshipped. Gently and without pain he takes your heart and pces it on the scale.”

  I pced a hand over her heart, feeling it beat beneath my palm as she looked at me with fascination. “He produces a feather, one that changes for each of the gods to weigh against your heart. If your heart is perfectly banced with the feather then he will guide you into the field of reeds.”

  “Why a field of reeds?” She asked gently as her hands rested over my own.

  “It is a simple life you can lead through the rest of eternity, one where there is no pain or hardship. Where you will always have food, never struggle to provide for those with you. Sometimes the gods have you stay with your loved ones, never being apart from them again.” I turned my hands over and csped her hands softly in my own.

  “The kings of the great cities to the northwest follow a different tradition from our own. They treat the bodies of their leaders with oils and unguents, they scoop out their organs and pce them in special jars with the heads of the gods depicted upon them. Soon after they are wrapped tightly and buried in great mausoleums that will house them and their families for all eternity. With them they bury trinkets, gold, dates, jewels and all the riches of the world in their tomb. They believe that by doing that they will give the kings these things in the field of reeds.” I pulled her up and brought her close enough to kiss her forehead. “I think they are wrong. I think the gods reward you for following through with their tenets. I believe that whatever we do in life is what we get in the afterlife.”

  “Doesn’t that mean that if we are warriors we will be fighting in the afterlife?” Aphiwe asked as she turned around and wiggled her back into me. She grabbed my arms and pulled them tight around her chest as the sun sank and the sky turned red.

  “Montu takes the warriors and brings them to the eternal battlefield to fight off the denizens of the underworld. To keep eternity and the world safe from their corruption. That is what his tenets states.” I sighed deeply as I rested my chin between her ears.

  “Should I believe in Montu?” She asked.

  I had no answer. Do I wish she was still a warrior in the future? If what she will be tasked to do is sughter sves and eat the flesh of others? But what is the life of a breeder except to be used by someone to produce more heirs?

  “That will be up to you. Maybe you should learn the tenets of all the gods before you decide. Before you attend your own test of ascension. For all we know you could be gifted with a new way to guide the cn. Maybe it will task you with adventuring out into the world and to learn about everything.” I imagined a new world where Aphiwe could be free of all the castes. To chase after whatever her heart desired. It would be a loss to the cn. But isn’t she more important than the

  cn to me. Wasn’t Melokuhle and even Bongani more important that the rest of the cn in my heart?

  She pulled her knees to her chest and curl herself up into my arms. We sat that way for the rest of the day. Watching and basking in the sun as we rexed with one another.

  “Should I be training?” Aphiwe asked.

  “No, you and I should spend some time rexing together. You’ll have all the time in the world to train.” I felt something warm in me at the contact with the little girl. A new well of strength and will I could pull from.

  “How do I learn about the rest of the Gods?” She asked nuzzling into me.

  “You’ll need to go with the trader that will be sent to the other cns. They will sell the sves in return for more weapons and goods. Then there will be another caravan after that to go from pce to pce. It is then that you could offer to help and in return talk to other cns about their gods and how they see life. That would be your best chance.”

  “I’ll do that then.” Her stomach let loose a roar of need and she giggled lightly in my arms, “Can we go eat now?”

  “Are you going to want me to carry you the whole way?” I asked lightly as I kept holding her.

  “Yes please!” Answered my little charge. My heart ached in response to her words.

  We walked back to the hut and found Melokuhle there. Her eyes were full of tears as she looked on at me and Aphiwe. I set the little girl down and she ran to my mate. They embraced lightly before turning and entering the hut. I could see Melokuhle holding herself together as best as she could. Already we walked inside and there was a small meal for us to share together.

  I sat down in the small circle we had. Beams of sunset’s light filled the hut as I grabbed dried meat and started to slowly chew it as I watched the two women I had grown so close to the st few days. A flood of memories of being a little girl with Melokuhle as we trained and pyed. The raging in my heart when we snuck away and kissed once before we were told that we would compete in the right of ascension. The wedge that was driven between us and the distance that had opened up in our hearts. The dozens of sparring matches when we were left covered in bruises and cracked bones.

  Aphiwe looked so tiny in return. I couldn’t remember what I looked like when I was her age, if I was already developing enough muscle to be a warrior. I kept my eyes on her as she chewed the dried meat and greedily drank the gazelle blood that I would give her tonight. “Aphiwe,” I said, breaking the silence of the meal. “It isn’t right to eat those that have had thoughts like our own. If you can ever avoid it, even if it means to starve for a few days you should never eat kin.”

  Melokuhle looked at me stunned before she looked away from us both. I could tell that if I was tempted, so was she. It must have been hard watching others feast on the bodies of kin. Her courage would be appreciated as long as I remembered her.

  “I’ve decided that tonight, we will all sleep together. You, Melokuhle, and I will cuddle up and enjoy peace together. How does that sound to you Aphiwe?” I looked at the little girl with the warmest eyes I could.

  Her smile was like looking into the sun and it made my heart hurt, this might be the st time I would see her smile. I pushed more food towards her, “Make sure you’re nice and full ok? Did Lethabo let you eat enough?”

  “She said they didn’t have a practice kid yet and that they would learn how to make sure I grew strong. They all gave me little bits from their own portions. I felt so full I could barely move. Then Lethabo scooped me up and id down with me. She wasn’t as comfy as you. You have such soft pillows.”

  I smiled warmly and opened up my arms for her to crawl to me. I held her as her stomach was full and her day was long and hard. Her eyes fluttered as she yawned. I carried her to bed and motioned for Melokuhle to follow me.

  With Aphiwe sandwiched between us I locked eyes with Melokuhle and rubbed the side of her face lightly. I cupped her cheek and we locked eyes. I let myself hope that it would be ok tomorrow. That I would be tested and found worthy. That Ade would be lenient. Melokuhle turned her head and kissed my palm lightly. We held each other and Aphiwe that night.