Tamah

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Me and Kiya brought over all of the gifts to the orphanage. The rumors had already traveled to them by the time we reached there, though they still didn't seem to believe it as we started unloading the carriage.

"Are you sure, Lady Tamah?" one of the adults asked. Her mouth hung slightly open and her eyes were wide, as if they had to work hard to take in the pile of gifts.

"I am," I smiled back.

"All of it?"

"Yes." I looked over at it and my eyes fell on a necklace. It was with beautiful green stones that hung in several rows. "Or actually, all except this one."

I took it from the pile and the woman let out a sigh, as if me claiming at least one of the gifts lessened her burden by a lot. I, however, turned to Kiya and before she had time to react to what I did, I had clasped the necklace around her neck.

"It fits you perfectly," I told her.

She touched the necklace with a big smile, but also shook her head. "I can't possibly accept this. You know that, Lady Tamah."

"Please, let me spoil you a little. And just remember to wear it the day you become Reth's wife."

She shook her head even more, but to my satisfaction, she didn't protest.

The rest of the day was nothing special. Most of the women of my standing would have lavish feasts on their birthdays, but Mother and Father knew me too well to even try to convince me of that.

I spent some time in the orphanage with the children and then went home for dinner. Father talked about his trip to Athens. He had gone there to look at trading possibilities, but from what he told us, he had spent most of his time talking to different scholars.

After dinner, I left for a moment to get the scroll to read before joining Mother and Father again. They sat watching the sunset. As I got closer, I picked up a piece of their conversation that made me halt and hide to hear more.

"I wished she would have found her mate," Mother said. There was both sorrow and worry in her voice, and it made me grip the scroll tighter.

"You cannot know that he will do anything to her," Father replied while drawing circles on her back with his hand.

"I would be more certain he wouldn't if she had her mate."

"She's strong. She can defend herself," Father continued, but Mother shook her head.

"It doesn't matter how strong she is. He's a god, after all."

"You cannot know that he will do anything to her," Father repeated himself. "But if he does, we will be here for her."

"I was so stupid and arrogant in my youth." Mother's voice trembled. I had never heard that before, never seen her as anything other than strong and happy. "And now Tamah might pay the price."

Mother turned to Father. He embraced her as she cried.

I unfroze from my place, but I did not join them. Instead, my feet carried me back to my room, while my head was a scrambled mess. I had no idea what they had talked about and my mind refused to make sense of the conversation.

It wouldn't have to though, because I had barely set a foot in my room before a bolt of lightning struck. From it, a man came out. He wore a white kilt and nothing else. He had a bushy beard and shoulder-length hair. His body was ripped with muscles and on his chest was a scar shaped like a lightning.

I fell to my knees and bowed, for I knew very well who it was. Zeus. One of the mightiest of gods. But what was he doing in my bedroom? What could he want with me?

"Stand Tamah," he said in a voice that made me tremble.

I did as he asked, but kept my eyes on the floor. I knew I ought to have greeted him somehow. But my tongue felt heavy in my mouth and my lips refused to part.

"How very unlike your mother you are," he told me. "She would have demanded to know my intentions by now. But I have watched you for a long time, so I'm not surprised. You are nothing like her. You are weak and foolish."

My heart thumped hard and I tried my best to make my mouth work, but it wouldn't. I could do nothing to retort him. Nothing as he grabbed my jaw with one hand with such force that tears came to my eyes. He tilted my head up and moved closer. He was so close that I could feel his breath on my skin. It was far too warm and it felt like it left blisters where it fanned over me.

"I know you have heard what your mother did to one of my sons. She utterly humiliated him. Humiliated me! I told her that if she ever had a child, I would do the same to that child. But you are in luck. You are far too pretty to hurt. I had quite fun today watching you turn away all of those men. And you did right in that. You are far too beautiful for any of those mortals."

I barely heard him over the thumping of my heart, but of course I knew that story all too well. I also knew of other stories, which I wished I had remembered to ask about any of the times my aunt had told of the embarrassment Mother had caused Zeus. Because there were countless stories of Zeus being unforgiving and revengeful for even the smallest of things, but I had never considered that he would want revenge on Mother.

He changed his grip on me. Fisted my hair instead and tilted my head. He bent down so his nose was in my neck and he drew a deep breath. Then I felt something wet move up my neck, over my cheek. He had licked me.

That made my mouth able to work again. I knew what he was about to do and I wanted nothing of it.

"I... I apologize, Zeus. I do not wish to be rude, but I want to save myself for my mate." My body trembled, for though the heat from his body engulfed my front, I felt frozen cold.

He let out a rough and taunting laugh that made me flinch back. But that movement caused sharp pain in my scalp due to his hold on my hair.

"Save yourself for your mate? What a cute little notion. I am going to have a lot of fun taking away your innocence. But I better make sure no one disturbs us."

I felt power radiate from him and I knew he had used some sort of magic, though unsure what. My best guess was to make it so no one could enter the room, and I couldn't leave.

"You're not wearing the gift I sent you. How rude of you," he muttered next.

With his hold on my hair intact, he dragged me to where the box lay by my bed. He opened it, revealed the beautiful jewelry again. But now that I knew who had sent it, I wished I had never seen the box.

He took the piece of jewelry out and put it on my head. He smoothed out my hair a bit, then took a hold on it further down so the jewelry could lie as it was intended. Then he smirked as he continued to talk.

"Much better. You know, you ought to be grateful," he said as he placed a hand around my waist and pressed me to him. "You've been lucky enough to catch my attention. I can give you much, much more than what those feeble humans can."

"I do not want your attention or your gifts," I whispered as the first tear fell from my eyes.

"I am certain you will be saying something different soon. I've had a lot of women and no one has ever left unsatisfied. They have all screamed my name in ecstasy and asked for more."

In my mind, I told him that wasn't true. In my mind, I told him of the countless stories of women whose lives he had destroyed. In my mind, I cursed him out of existence.

But he was a god and I was a mere witch of eighteen years. No matter how much of a fight I put up, there was no way for me to win.

So though I wanted to push him away, though I wanted to cling onto my dress as he ripped it from my body, though I wanted to scream and fight as he violated me in the worst possible way, I let it all happen and prayed that if I didn't fight, it would all be over that much quicker.