Tamah

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The first few rays of sunshine woke me up on my birthday. They found their way through the thin curtains, and from their light it looked like it would be a nice and bright day.

I yawned and stretched my body. Then rolled over to my side to enjoy the calm and quietness of the morning. Before my eyes fell close again, however, they landed on the table next to my bed.

On it was a wooden box, which hadn't been there when I had gone to bed.

Thoughts of snuggling in bed were gone, and instead I sat on the edge of my bed and took the box, certain it was Mother who had put it there while I slept.

I opened the lid to reveal a beautiful piece of jewelry. It was in gold, and was supposed to be on your head. A chain that went around the head was in a shape which reminded me of olive branches. A similar chain went to lie on the top of the head. In the front were several golden circles of different sizes interconnected. They made me think of clouds, though likely simply because from them hung a pendent in the shape of a lightning.

It was so beautiful. Though I wasn't much for jewelry, I thought it beautiful enough that I wanted to wear it, even if it would prove to be impractical. It shone in a way that wasn't of the Earth.

I put it on and went to look at myself in a mirror. The pendent hung so the tip of it rested between my eyes. It looked as beautiful on as it had in the box. I raised a hand, touched the tip of the lightning and smiled. Mother had really managed to pick a perfect gift.

A knock sounded, and Mother opened the door as I turned. She carried a plate filled with fruits in her arms and had a wide smile to match the one I knew was on my lips.

"Happy birthd..." she started saying, but broke off. Her eyes seemed to look into mine, but I knew they were on the jewelry I wore. The way her eyes widened, though, confused me. And how her smile disappeared immediately. But I shrugged at it, ignored it, and went forward with my smile still intact.

"Thank you so much for the gift, Mother. I love it," I told her. I saw on her throat as she swallowed saliva.

"That gift is not from me," she said, and my eyebrows furrowed.

"But then who..."

"Take it off, Tamah," Mother said next and her voice was shriller than normal.

"Why?" I took a step back and touched the tip of the lightning again.

"Just... We should figure out who you should thank for the gift before you wear it."

That did not make much sense to me, but I trusted Mother. Trusted that she had good reasons for not wanting me to wear it even if she didn't tell me them straight away. So I took the jewelry off and put it back into the box.

We sat down to eat. It was rather uncomfortable to start with. Mother didn't say much and her smiles were strained. But eventually she loosened up, and we talked and laughed. She even teased me about that I could now find my mate.

Though through the whole breakfast, I saw her casting furtive glances at the box.

We were almost done eating when there was another knock on my door.

"Enter," I called out and Kiya came in. She bowed quickly to Mother before turning her attention to me.

"Happy birthday, Lady Tamah," she smiled. But then the smile fell. "There are some people here that wish to congratulate you as well."

Mother got off my bed and walked over to the window. She peered down and laughed softly.

"You better get her ready, Kiya. I'll entertain them while we wait."

Kiya bowed again as Mother left, and I noticed Mother's eyes rest one last time on the box before closing the door. When it was just me and Kiya left, I walked over to the window. There was a small gathering at the entrance to our home, which in itself was a surprise, but I could not understand what had made Mother laugh.

"They are all men," Kiya pointed out, as if she had read my mind. She poured water into a ceramic bowl and then handed me a cloth so I could clean myself a bit.

"Are they all here to ask me to be their wife?" I asked her and she nodded.

"And they are all bringing gifts to persuade you."

"Did you see any good gifts?"

"It's mainly jewelry and fabrics as far as I could see." She brought out a dress for me to wear. It was light blue and belonged among my favorites.

"What a waste! All of that could be put to much better use," I grumbled for I knew I wouldn't like any of it. "How do I decline them?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something," she smiled as she helped me into the dress.

When I got down the stairs, I quickly glanced around at the gifts brought. All of it seemed to be useless stuff. As Kiya had said, jewelry and fabrics. A few other things also, but all of it along the same line. Did women generally actually want these sorts of things? Was I the odd one for rather feeling annoyance over the extravagant wealth the gifts exuded?

I smiled at them, though. I would decline the gifts, but I needed to do it in a polite way because even though I did not want any of it, the men had taken their time to prepare it for me. The least I could do was to be polite.

I was seated in a chair, with Mother standing beside me and Kiya behind me. The men lined up and the first one walked forward.

"A beautiful brooch for a beautiful lady," he said.

It was indeed a beautiful brooch. It was formed like a beetle with golden stones on its back.

"Thank you," I smiled at him and then decided to play on my own naivety. Because I knew a lot of people did find me naïve. Thought that I was slow with understanding certain things and too innocent to pick up on it, especially things regarding what men's intentions were. Personally, I didn't think I was naïve, it was rather that I had never considered any of them as more than just friendly people, so I didn't notice when they wanted more.

But I knew now perfectly well what all of those men wanted. None of them would get it, though. My aunt had had relationships before she met her mate. I wasn't sure about Mother, but I thought she had as well. I didn't want that, though. I saw no point in involving myself with someone when I knew someone better was out there waiting for me.

"Really thank you for your contribution," I added with a huge smile. The man startled a little.

"Contribution?" His eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes! Oh... You haven't heard? I thought I had managed to spread it enough. That I would collect donations for the orphanage today."

Mother coughed lightly at my side and I imagined Kiya fighting back her smile. My words were a bold lie, of course. But I assumed that none of the men would believe me capable of coming up with such a lie on the spot. That they would assume they had missed it and that through gossip and their desire to save face, the lie would become the truth.

"Of course I have heard of that! And yes, this is my small contribution to your donation," the man in front of me proclaimed, proving my logic correct.

The rest went pretty smoothly. All of the men gave me the gifts intended for me to the donation, all of them praising me for my selflessness, but none of them saying anything that came close to a suggestion of union.

When all of them had left, Mother placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "I will get the carriage ready so you can transport all of this."

"Thank you, Mother," I told her and got up to give her a hug. When I let go of her, I saw a figure at the entrance. For a moment, I thought it was another man bearing gifts, but as soon as I properly saw who it was, my face lit up.

His beard had grown long and his clothes had been slightly torn. Over his shoulder was a bag that looked heavy with things. But his eyes sparkled with untamable happiness.

"Father!" I exclaimed and ran over to him. I threw my arms around him. He dropped the bag and lifted me up as he hugged and spun me around. I giggled.

"I heard you had a hoard of suiters that wanted to take you away from me," he said as he placed me back down on my feet.

"A hoard of suiters?" I asked and put on a quizzical look and turned to Mother. "There was no suiter here, was there, Mother? There were a lot of people here that wanted to help me with donations to the orphanage though."

Mother shook her head and Father burst into laughter.

"You really are something, my sweet, innocent, little daughter." He kissed my forehead. I smiled brightly and especially at what he had called me. Tamah meant innocent and he had been the one to pick the name. I had always liked it and it always made me feel extra precious when he called me innocent.

"Well, I do hope you will not donate my gift as well," he went on.

He bent down to the bag he had dropped and brought out a scroll from it. My eyes widened as I took it and gingerly unscrolled it.

"It describes the latest discoveries in the art of healing from Athens," he told me.

I rolled it up again and hugged it to my chest. "Thank you, Father."

He leaned in and placed a kiss on my forehead. Then he hugged me to him. "Happy birthday, sweetheart," he murmured.

My father really was the best father I could have asked for. He was a human, though, and every time I thought of that, it saddened me. Even if he lived a full life, he would die when I was still very young. It was very likely he would never get to see me find my mate. My children would never know him.

But I did my best to not dwell on that fact. He was there now, healthy and alive. We never could know what would happen in life, so it was always better to simply enjoy the happiness you had.