When Elissa woke up, dream flashes full of symbols associations and strange events were floating in her blurry mind. She had however the strong hunch that this messy whole had not occurred by chance and will have an undeniable importance for her if she could be able to decipher it. So she started to worry seriously when the memory of these hereafter speaks began to decline as the embers of a dying fire. Reacting with what she had under the paw at the moment, she rolled on the side of the mat, grabbed a shard of pottery lying near her small clothes chest, took off the fibula closing her light tunic and wrote a few words with the pointy bone rod. Each letter in demotic was anchoring the dream a little more in her head, giving it substance and life, in fact materializing it in the real world with all the possible consequences of this irruption. She promised herself to show this ostraca as soon as possible to the district soothsayer.

Once it was done, Elissa could stretch voluptuously and with an evident pleasure, letting her feline half instincts appear without any shame as she was alone in her 'bedroom'. Admittedly it was a former storage cubbyhole, very badly lighted and really foul-smelling so more suitable for a slave or a low rank servant than for a free young female, but the good side was at least that her 'mother' could not yell at her because she was "waking up slowly and in an indecent way". She decided to quickly stand up but her absent-mindedness played a trick on her : not hold by the fibula she have forgot to put again in place, her night chiton slipped as a whole and unveiled the pretty curves of her adolescent charms... Letting out a short cry of surprise, she put her clothes back on, cheeks burning and eyes anxiously turned to the filthy curtain closing her small room. She was dreading an impromptu visit of Abel who, as well as always bugging her meanly when he was sober, had a way to look at her that did not suit to a older 'sister' and made the young female extremely ill at ease.

A quick spurt of water on the face and a fast snort constituted her only ablutions, a stale bit of a loaf and a small piece of ewe cheese her breakfast, smoothing her – well attached now – chiton and short fur was how she did a quick wash, and she just had to roll the rush mat serving as bed and put against the adobe wall to tidy her domain. Taking a large breath, Elissa opened the curtain and entered the small common room while preparing to be torn off a strip by her "mother" before even the crow of the rooster. But only her 'father' was here, paying homage to the family manes in front of the modest domestic altar. She had none reason to joint this daily religious duty celebrating the ancestors, because she was not the paterfamilias, because she was female, and above all because she was an adopted child. But she was feeling that she had to do it, that it was just... the right thing to accomplish.

When he stood up after his prayer and then noticed the presence of Elissa, none greeting or gentle words went through his lips. This cold silence was usual for the soon old dog and a single nod while looking at the door was amply sufficient to ask her to follow him outside. The interior courtyard giving on the small warehouse and shop was so cramped that one could scrutinize all the nooks in one look, but the reassuring absence of everything notable seemed to upset him. After a glance in the storage room, he heaved a long sigh but did not need to formulate his question: Abel was not here but either frolicking with his gang while believing to be the terror of the district or recovering from yesterday's excess.

  -   "Open the shop" he said – probably his only words for her of all the day, as if she was just a servant – while entering the warehouse, before coming back out weighted down with a pile of wicker racks supporting a hundred of simple bowls.

Elissa did what he asked, having the rising sun just in front when she took down the shutter serving as counter and placed cleverly on it a few above-than-average potteries, then dragged the heavy potter's wheel and needed gear near the stool on which she will surely stay all the morning.

She took in a basket a good quantity of male clay, heavy and slimy, and mixed it meticulously with the correct counterpart of female clay, light but flaking, until having a homogeneous ball of malleable matter. Placing it on the upper turntable of the wheel while hitting the lower wheel with her feet to make the whole turn as regularly as possible, she began to model the material and soon the pleasing curve of a small plain jug rose gently under her agile paws. A slight pressure on the edge to make the roll and the general look was correct. Then she used the claws of her right paw, thumb backward and ready to smooth a potential defect, to trace fine zigzag friezes on the side. Finally, adding two handles engraved with a few geometric figures was only needed to finish the pottery, which will dry during the next two days on the flat roof thanks to the sun heat before being put in the large oven. "Perhaps I'd add clear enamel between the two upper zigzags and the two lower, to highlight the wide mouthed shape of this jug" she asked for herself while tearing the pottery off the wheel "Just hope we still've enough left of it, after the massive orders for the wolf mercenaries."

Elissa's habit to work on her potteries while selling the family stock was not only dictated by the need to produce enough cooper statere-worth pieces if they wanted to eat each day, but also by the fact that canines – the great majority of potential customers – were treating her less contemptuously and haggled less when they could see her juvenile dexterity in action. But the streets were near empty at this early hour and she could work with interruption on a series of vases, for which she tried successfully to obtain more slender curves with less matter.

At one moment, a muddled succession of raised voices and gross ripostes began to be heard louder and louder from the end of the street.

  -   "Oh no, not another band of young loafers..."

It was always a lost-lost situation for her: if it was her brother's gang, the latter will shake a purse full of stateres with an air of "Look at what, me, can gather without having to work!" that was quite humiliating for her, even if it was not the aimed goal. If it was another gang, they never find better to do than set about a rival's sister. And it was the second possibility that occurred... Gibes and infamous nicknames – "cut muzzle", "clawless and gutless", "we'll hang weights to your lustful cat ears until they slop to normal", etc... – based on her half-breed status began to rain, combined to smutty jokes. But the red line was crossed when the one seeming to be the leader insinuated that she and Abel were siblings in the pharaonic way and that she have initiated him to the Cythera's vices.

Without warning, a leather strap trailing on the trodden ground was transformed into a sling in her paws. The first projectile hit the leader in full front, making him painfully voiceless as he raised his paws to his badly hurt Adam's apple. The second rock doubled up him with pain but still without a cry, even if the impact was doubtfully powerful to subtract his idiocy to the canine gene pool. Elissa could not help enjoying a little this not-so-funny spectacle but felt relief above all: now that their leader has been humiliated by a young half-breed girl, the other members of the gang will no longer consider him as the dominant and a period of power struggle will begin, buying her a few days of quiet. But she reloaded the sling by precaution, prepared to aim the forehead this time.

Suddenly, when the group of wild teens were hesitating between launch a real assault and choose the most "appropriate" insults before turn back, somebody female yelled strongly in a chanting dialect. The lads turned their head in her direction then immediately cleared off without look back... that drove Elissa to satisfy her curiosity and lean over the counter to look at the person who put the gang to flight. A large smile appeared on her face when she recognized her protector: with her fiery orange fur and blood red long hair floating in the slight breeze, she looked like a living torch pushing her way trough the thin morning crowd of the faint fur dogs.

Her slender look, pointy muzzle and ears counterbalanced by a long fluffy tail, but particularly her haughty bearing were telling well her status of member of the fox ruling clan. However, her appearance was way more humble than when an impressed and nervous Elissa have met her in the depths of the Royal Den. Her spindle dress was not made in this expensive midnight-blue tainted satin but in a simple – and dazzling – white linen, the glints from the large belt she was wearing just below the chest were coppery and not golden, and finally the fibula holding closed her bodice was not adorned with a shiny polished emerald but just a silver plate bearing the household's motto.

When she drew level with the young half-breed, the latter stood up and executed an exaggerated curtsey.

  -   "I'm very honoured that her princely highness Joanne Sainfleur has deigned to defend my insignificant person against these bandits, and I want to thank her from the bottom of my heart."

  -   "Oh Elissa, stop these shameless flatteries or I'll start to blush !" said the latter while trying not to giggle.

It was a waste of effort and they shared a short moment of open laughing before the young potter sat again in front of the wheel.

  -   In fact, when I saw the gang run away, I though first that it's your brother that's going down the street coz he's often striding along the district with his scribe. How did you made them leave ?"

  -   "In fact, I saw no trace of him since my awakening. But I can make myself very persuasive without his help..." she answered while tapping the pommel of the dagger hung to her belt.

Elissa took a sidelong glance at the powerful blade then, in a quite long and embarrassed silence, loaded a new load of mixed clay on the wheel's upper plate before resume the talk.

  -   "I'm sure you didn't come here just to save a young damsel in distress, but principally to tell me something important... Guess it's about the Solstice Hecatomb ?"

The clay mix was now well rolled out on the rotating wheel.

  -   "Exactly !" answered Joanne with a smile. "Our astrologers have determined yesterday night the optimal moment for the great ceremony, what’ll begin at the seventh hour of the present day. I just hope to see you there."

The walls of a largely wide-mouthed wine cup began to raise, the young artisan's tongue put out as she was gathering her concentration.

  -   "Sure you'll have to take part of it, coz of your rank. Lemme guess... you'll hold the sacrifice knife !" she added with a knowing little smile.

  -   Oh, you're silly !" said the princess while laughing heartily. "I know absolutely nothing about the haruspicinal science, so my role will be a lot more simple and modest." then she replied with a gentle cutting remark "On your side, you'll attend the ceremony surely because it'll be your only occasion to eat meat in the year..."

Elissa pretended to be offended by these works, coupling her feigned air of outrage with a high-sounding "Joanne" before giggling.

Now, it was time for the retractable claws to go into action and carve fine floral patterns on the inside and outside of the cup. Joanne remained quiet during these operations to not disturb her friend, admiring alternatively how she was doing this delicate work and the various products arranged on the counter. Then she grabbed delicately an elegant enamelled small bottle and examined it carefully under the sunlight.

  -   "This flask is well from you ?" she asked when Elissa has finished her task. "Even if it bears your foster father's hallmark, I recognize here your meticulous work with this attention to details and delicacy of execution that I met rarely in the luxurious products my household is accustomed to gather, for the only pride of accumulating shiny golden things..." she shook her head with disenchantment a few seconds "I really hope that you'll be able to live happily from your craft. At this subject, my brother has a potentially interesting proposition for you and he'd like to talk to you about it during his next checking round. By the way, does your father still consider you as his professional heiress ?"

  -   "More than ever, by lack of internal concurrence..." But then her voice became glum and the end of her ears felt back, visible sign of sadness. "but I'm sure Abel'll chuck me out as soon as he'll put his paws on the house. And I'll end in the streets with only dad's stamp in my purse..."

Elissa heavily sighed and Joanne did the same. She was about to say a few words of consolation when the old potter, having just finished to load the large kiln, sighted her from the rear of the small courtyard. He then came quickly to met her and launched himself into unusually polite salutations, at the verge of obsequiousness, until transform them into servile flatteries.

  -   "Do you like this little bottle ? You don't have to worry about the prize, I offer it to you !" was how he ended this sudden prolixity.

After Joanne has left, he ordered with a brusque gesture to his daughter to go keep an eye on the kiln, task that she always thought to be deadly boring. To make thinks worse she could not drag the potter's wheel near her imposed work station, because he had the strange principle to not want to be seen in her company when he was running the shop. The rest of the morning promised so to be quite long...

At a moment, after having checked the fuel loading in the fire chamber for the fifth time in the only hour she has spent here, Elissa sat down again on the bench. Wanting to know how long this chore will last yet, she raised vertically the palm of her paw and used it as a sundial by counting the number of phalanges in the shadow, but the result was not really encouraging and drove her to brood on dark thoughts.

"It's odd to think that I've been adopted coz my foster dad, after a first fruitless wedding, was ageing and in absolute need of a child to which teach his craft and then hand the pottery on. He even took the risk to welcome a half-canine baby in an all-canine family and then earn a bad reputation by. All could've worked smoothly: with all the skills and tricks he taught me, and which I always tried to improve, he could've trusted me enough to lemme wear his seal-ring when the time'll come. But this waste of sperm of Abel would've to born the year following my arrival here..."

Speak of the devil... The back door opened on the latter whose filthy clothes, heavy step and glazed look were illustrating well the unavoidable effects of palm wine. And he could not shake a full purse of front of his sister, as this heady but above all expensive beverage have surely cost him all the money dishonestly earned yesterday. Elissa looked away and difficultly stopped herself from greeting him as loud as possible, just to accentuate the sharp hangover which was still tormenting him. But she believed to fell almost physically his mean glare stabbed in her back, before the strong impression that it was lingering in an unhealthy way on the base of her tail made her shaking with ill at ease. Claws spread out, heart pounding in her chest, all muscles tense, the young girl was half-unconsciously preparing to counter a sexual assault. But Abel was eventually not looking at his sister, too busy not to throw up with an already empty stomach and using the house wall to guide his hesitating steps.

Effusions were heard when he got over the doorstep, but sounding more like worries than reproaches and irritating Elissa intensely as every time – and it was frequent – that this situation occurred.

  -   "Now the mother hen takes in her straw poppet, swallowing all his pathetic lies about his behaviour... She indulges his every whim, I swear!" she said in a low voice. "And just coz she spent for him eight hours crying from pain and begging the midwife to take it out now but not for me, I count less than a slave and she won't get off her ass if Abel wanna hurt or throw me out. In fact, I'm pretty sure she'll help him since she considers me as her son's rival..." she added, head in her paws and ears completely floppy. 

The young girl stayed in such a mood until about noon, when her father came to check by looking through the spyhole if the five hours of firing have been sufficient to give the bowls the needed resistance and colours. Judging that the indicator tile have turned in a correct reddish colour, he decided then to put out the fire and close the fire chamber loading bay with a large wood plate, operations for which he asked silently the cooperation of Elissa. Once this done and being the only one in the family to know how to control the cooling process, he leaned over the doorstep to call his wife and ask her implicitly to run the shop at his place. The middle-aged she-dog made a point of throwing a few hurting remarks about her adoptive daughter's laziness, but the latter has become hardened. She could at least fetch the potter's wheel at a moment when her mother was gossiping with a customer instead of selling something.

The situation became then quite peculiar, as two potters sat in silence on the same rickety wood bench were doing their job which each his personal method. The oldest was mounting by coils simple features-less objects respecting the academic conventions while keeping an eye on the kiln spyhole, the youngest was using the wheel to experiment and create slender prettily-shaped potteries decorated then with claws-carved elegant patterns which could be highlighted latter with enamel. The whole picture could have been touching if there was more reciprocal tenderness involved.

Suddenly, the deep harsh sound of the conchs carried by the wind reminded Elissa that the hecatomb will begin soon after the passage of Vhar-i-Ash at its zenith. She asked politely if she could go to the ceremony and rushed into her bedroom the moment she received the paternal quiet permission. Her dressing change was quick, not only to not be late at such an event but also because she only had one spare chiton kept for the great occasions and no make-up. The only thing she was allowing herself in this case was to not follow the trend, which prescribed to tighten the belt high above the waist – setting off the chest, but Elissa considered her own as too thin to worth the induced breathing discomfort – and gather the hair into a bun as needed when you wear the marital shawl – but it was not yet the case for the young girl and her hair was only coming down to her shoulders. Her small knife slipped into the belt and she was leaving the house by the back door.

The noon Sun was reigning supreme over the cloudless sky and bestowing his glazing light on the small humbles houses in serried rows, whose whitewashed walls have made the least back street quivering with heat waves and dazzling reflections. As Elissa was walking quickly to arrive at the Sacred Esplanade before the second call of conchs, the sound of her sandals scratching the dry earth in the working class districts was soon replaced by the clattering against the cobblestones of the town centre. But the din from the circulation – handcarts, cartages, pack-saddled donkeys, all mixed up without any notion of rules of the roads – and the crowd soon drown out this little noise. At this hour, a great number of daily workers were in front of the greasy spoons' counters having a quick bite to eat washed down with black beer, so she had both to push her way trough the colourful crowd and repress the rumbling of her near-empty stomach at the view and smell of all this restorative food.

While she was approaching the corner of a crossroads, the young girl bumped into someone a lot taller and well built than her. Raising the head, she let out a short cry of surprise when her intimidated look met the piercing glance of the wolf warrior she has violently struck. Followed immediately sincere apologies and a step backward to let him pass, but he did not give her a look or word as if she become insignificant again. But she was quite sure that his first gesture, hidden by the large felt cloak covering the top half of his body, have been to put the paw on his double-edged blade. The other passers-by, them, did not mind to throw her scornful looks or mumbled comments like "Where's the world going if a half-breed like her can have such a lack of respect for one of our elite fighters ?"...

On her side, Elissa have resumed her travel while heaving a relief sigh. "Good thing it wasn't a coyote. Wolves can be so full of themselves sometimes, but not as susceptible as these desert scraggy canines: I could've ended with a sabre stab in the chest..."

When she was within sight of the wooden knock-down terraces erected for the occasion and forming a semicircular structure around the Triple Altar, there were already a lot of people massed near the entrances of the temporary amphitheatre. But the instinctive repulsion felt by the average xenophobic canine in view of her hybrid appearance played here in her favour: each time she had to say "Sorry sir" or "Watch out!" to someone before her, the latter had a quick look and then immediately moved away from the young half-breed as far as allowed by the dense crowd as if she had rabies, not even trying to stand on her way although he could think at her as greatly impure and risking to defile the ceremony.

After having received a small carved token as everybody else, Elissa went sat down wherever she could and was soon tightly surrounded by other spectators. Among them, a kid started to ask loudly "Mom, why the lady she has pointy ears? Mom, why the lady she has a squashed nose? Mom, why..." at the great embarrassment firstly of his parents who had to keep him quiet and secondly of the young girl's immediate neighbours who let her more place around her.

Located in the centre of the space made by the terraces and bordering the Hidjaï River, a large stone platform with marble pavements and a long ramp on the front was supporting the altars dedicated to the divine triarchy. Although today's ceremony was ecumenical given its importance, the first heifer will be offered in sacrifice to the tutelary fox goddess Kyosune because the household of her "descendants" was ruling this year. All the clergymen of the three main cults were present and already at their respective places, from the Royal Haruspice waiting in the centre of the platform for the first victim to the simple deacons forming a guard of honour in the direction of the ramp. Elissa looked around for her friend and thought to have found her in the line in front of her, standing still in the long belt-less alb worn by all the priestesses and whose dazzling whiteness was attenuating the redness of her fur, but restricted herself from signalling her presence with a wag of the paw.

Suddenly, on a sign of the Great Archont, the priests stationed at the corners of the platform raised their conchs to their lips and gave the signal of the beginning of the ceremony. A respectful silence was made in the crowd. Then the deacons executed a well orchestrated choreography where, one after the other and alternatively from each side of the guard of honour, they came out from the line and headed straight for the altars while carrying a large flat basket full of vegetable offerings. When Joanne's turn came under the worried look of Elissa, she climbed the ramp with dignity and knelled at the edge of the sacred pit while placing the basket over it, before the priest facing her helped her to drop its content in the underground altar. When all the minor offerings were done, the grid situated just under the honour stand was raised and a white heifer entered the sacred arena, guided with a headcollar by a young all-white fur she-dog. Everyone was a little tense, scrutinizing the least sign of weakness or disobedience from the sacrificial animal which could be interpreted as a mark of divine disagreement, but it walked impassibly straight toward the altar without even slowing down at the level of the ramp. When it arrived in front of the Royal Haruspice, the latter put a paw on its forehead and declaimed in the fox-specific chanting dialect the prayer offering the hecatomb to the gods while raising high the sacrificial knife, then plunged it in the carotid with an expert gesture. The animal stood still a few seconds before collapsing as a whole, probably killed on the spot what that was a good omen for the following of the divination, but everybody would have to wait for the examination of the liver. So the tension was at its height while the haruspice, a foot on a stone mark placed before the altars and the massive organ on his raised kneel, scrutinized it carefully by view and palpation for any anomaly.

  -   "Clear and without stains, the future is announced !"

These reassuring words induced not only to take a weight off the vulpine household members' shoulders by allowing them to rule until the end of the year at least, but also a thanksgiving chant from the choir of young deacons soon took up in an enthusiast way by the crowd of the believers, with Elissa among them. She chanted heartily with her best voice, taking part with fervour to this great spiritual communion and wagging her tail in step with the others. But the ceremony was far from finished – as ‘hecatomb’ means ‘hundred sacrifices’ in this context – even if the next ones will not be have to be that scrupulous. So after the first heifer's remains were learnedly divided between the three gods – the leather and grease thrown in the sacred pit, the other good parts burned on Vhar-i-Ash's altar, the carcass plunged into the Hidjaï in the honour of Titrak – the other animals followed closely and at a quicker rhythm. This time, their remains were dragged outside of the platform near great fires where officiants put them to roast for a moment. One of the city criers went in front of a portion of the terraces to shout the name of an object, and the spectators with the corresponding symbol on their token went downstairs to trade it against a piece of roasted meat placed on a slice of bread, before going back to their seats.

Fortunately for Elissa, her turn arrived early enough before the hypoglycaemia she was beginning to suffer from had serious effects. She wolfed the half of her bread down without delay to calm her hunger, keeping the rest as a plate to cut properly the yummy-looking meat and avoid staining her chiton. But her cheap arsenic-cooper alloy knife was a lot less cutting than the bronze ones owned by the people next to her, and so the needed efforts much longer before she was able to savour this kind of host. The result had worth the wait: the meat was delicious and grilled just fine, with a strong flavour while staying tender and melting in the mouth... She decided to eat by small bits so she could prolong the pleasure, eyes often closed to better feel the changes in taste and consistency of this dish that her family could not afford more than once a lunar month.

  -   "Mom, why the lady she's making strange noises ?"

Really, this kid had the knack for breaking the ambiance... But by taking back Elissa to the hot sunny reality, he allowed her to notice that she was involuntarily purring... at the great astonishment mixed with sidelong glances from her neighbours. The other more annoying thing she remarked was that she have forgotten her gourd while beginning to be thirsty. An heat stroke being more than a simple possibility under this glazing sun which had heated enough the terraces to make everybody pant – expect her because of her peculiar physiology and the dignitaries of the honour stand because of the velum above their heads – she finally resigned herself to pay three cooper stateres to a young ambulant vendor in exchange for a pint-capacity amphora of warm plonk, although she did not like at all this kind of beverage. The goal now was to save it for the remaining duration of the ceremony and succeed to drink from the bottle without looking like a female drunkard, something even more shocking than being a half-breed...

Elissa have received her part of meat from the twenty-fifth sacrifice and only four others happened when she bought the amphora about five minutes later : the ceremony was promising to last from two to three more hours. So the relief was general, although kept for oneself, when the Great Archont announced the end of the celebrations halfway trough the afternoon and everybody hastened to exit the amphitheatre and stretch his legs on the square formed by the rest of the esplanade.

  -   "Frankly... Are there good manners to leave that way without saluting a friend ?"

Elissa cried from the surprise when someone put a paw on her shoulder, then immediately turned on her heels before recognizing the person who have talked.

  -   "Phew... Don't do things like that, Joanne, you scared me shitless !"

As her friend's face turned face while she seemed to look at something placed in the young half-breed's paws, the latter looked down and then realized that she has unconsciously drew her knife. Blushing from the shame to have threatened her friend, she slipped it again in her belt without delay.

  -   "Sorry for this stupid reflex, I could've hurt you... But how did you spotted me in this crowd ?"

  -   "It's me that'd be sorry for having seriously startled you. And for the crowd, it was easy because of the stupid security perimeter some ignoramuses are forcing themselves to observe when you're around... Don't worry: they are the ones suffering here, from their prejudices. By the way, your reflexes aren't stupid but quick and efficient. Plus, your small knife is way faster and easier to use in case of street ambush than the heavy dagger hung to my belt." she added, being able to say that as she has put her morning outfit back on.

  -   "Perhaps, but I'm neither threatened nor running into trouble, you know. Well..." she hesitated before finding a better subject of conversation. "You know, you're fabulous during the offerings and final chants, with such an innate dignity in your moves...

  -   Thanks you, but everyone has to be perfect during this important event, because it would've been so bad that an error in the ceremonial has rendered the whole null and void. And I'm sure that your voice is way better than mine! I'd love to hear your chant... and why not this evening after a dinner in my place ?" 

Elissa was a little taken aback by this sudden proposition which was going way further than the few walks they have made together before, so she panicked during a few seconds.

  -   "Well... thanks... but... I don't wanna impose myself... Plus I ain’t been at the shop for all the afternoon and..."

  -   "Oh yes, sorry, I almost completely forgotten that you have to work hard to earn a decent living. And your foster parents might worry sick if you come back late, so it'd be better th... Oh no, don't pull such a face, it makes me sick at heart to see that!" she reacted while seeing Elissa lower her head and ears. "In fact" she added when the young half-breed has pulled herself together "I wanted to invite you to stay in company until the supper, since it's only in about two hours."

  -   "Well, in this case... why not ? I'm sure ‘mom’ can run the shop without my help" she said with irony "and Dad might still be watching the bowls cool down in the kiln. As for Abel, he might've recovered from his hangover now and I've none will to meet him at home... The only thing I'll have to do tomorrow's to sell one or two cups more than usually, to get my money back of this." she finished while raising the small empty amphora she still had in paw.

  -   "You think of keeping this cheap little bottle ?" asked Joanne, astonished.

  -   "At the prize it cost me... but I'll have to wash it a lot."

The unpleasant memory of the cheap wine's acidic taste then went back in mouth with a strong force.

The two young girls went northward into the main avenue leading straight toward the city's hill, but the almost deserted streets during the Hecatomb were now severely congested again and their progression was quite slowed down. Not to mention that Joanne did a bit of shopping and bought a few trinkets under the obsequious thanks of the traders, who always gave the said objects to Elissa because they mistook her for the vixen lady's personal servant. At one moment when they were waiting for the end of a road congestion to go across an intersection, a chat at their subject began a little lower in the street between two shrews, a trader and her customer.

  -   "Eh, do you see the young mixed-blood there, following the vixen ? Do you think it's her slave ?"

  -   "Think so... but why having a half-breed as slave ? Is that a new whim ?"

  -   "Dunno, perhaps she wants to show it as a curiosity, like dwarfs or albinos... and I'm sure she'd gain some influence on these old goats of the Elders Council if she makes it execute a belly dancing for them..."

  -   Sure, and its feline natural lustfulness would be a great help in this case..."

Elissa fortunately heard nothing of these gossips, but Joanne had her ears turned back in this moment: the long black look she gave to the two malicious persons made them huddle up with shame and fear the possible beating incurred for having slandered a member of the ruling household. But she just decided to resume her travel, taking her friend by the paw to drive her in a lateral street and then avoid the free-for-all which just began at the intersection...

The main avenue was opening onto an elongated cobblestoned place running along the base of the hill where could be sighted, placed on each side of the large stone stairs leading to the citadel and topped by the large corollas of the famous "bronze sunflowers", the multiples entrances of the Royal Den as was called the vulpine household subterranean residence. From afar, they just looked like to small Greek temple fronts, but their show-off gleaming appeared clearly to Elissa when they got closer : the fine marble was mixed with porphyry, the stucco friezes almost all highlighted by gold sheet applications, the capitals of the columns overloaded with festoons.

It was with a certain apprehension that Elissa followed her noble friend in the insides of the palace. Firstly because none normal people except the foxes can stay in tunnels for a long time, secondly because the only time she went here previously – escorted by Joanne's brother until the room where the princess wanted to meet her – was spend with her legs wobbling from the irrational fear of being driven before the Great Archont and condemned for obscure reasons... Although she never put faith in Abel's tales about canine sacrifices taking place in the deeps of the Den in the honour of Kyosune, who is also the ruler of the Kingdom of the Dead, they could have had an unconscious influence on her behaviour. But no need to worry anyway, since she was in good company.

Once went through the sunlit entrance patio situated just after the pediment, torches and triple-lips oil lamps took over. Placed in staggered rows on the whitewashed walls and completed by bronze reflectors, they were diffusing in the narrow corridors an amber-coloured quasi-uniform light which faded the shadows and gave a less sinister ambiance that Elissa expected in comparison with her memories. She chose to keep a low profile by lowering humbly her head, letting her ears voluntarily floppy, staying two steps behind Joanne, all that as if she was her servant. And this tactic seemed to work: a lot of hurried people – scribes, guards, dignitaries, servants and slaves – passed the two young girls while saluting sometimes the first without turning their attention to the second.

  -   "OK, we'll first make a stop at my bedroom so I can leave my purchases and superfluous gear, then go to the small east triclinium : this room is sufficiently isolated from the internal circulation to be quiet there." said Joanne while they were approaching a bend. "Cheer up, it's not far away from here, just on the left after the next junct... But... oh my, it's Claudius !"

The well-built and robust silhouette of Joanne's brother just appeared at the level of the bend, glowing in his combat gear almost completely in bronze except the training helmet in leather : well-adjusted breast-plate, cnemids protecting the knell and lower leg, large belt with reinforced fringes coming down to mid-thigh, long half-moon hilt sword and dagger, small shield. Their eyes met each other and they faster the pace to conclude this reunion by a short hug.

  -   < Oh Claudius, I'm so glad to see you finally... Where did you hide all this morning? Not on a real battlefield, I hope... > she said in her native dialect.

Indeed, his gear was not gleaming as for a march-past but largely covered with dust or sand - which have soiled Joanne's white dress in the same occasion – and his brown-red fur was made sticky by the sweat.

  -   < Course not, lil sis, but close... and I'd like to know what got into our officers to force the Sacred Battalion upon large-scale manoeuvres in such a day! I should've taken part to the Hecatomb or at least watch you from the stand. >

  -   < So the backstairs gossips and uncertain worries seemed to be founded... Is the Great Archont really willing to denounce the old treaties and bring all his people in such a risky adventure? >

  -   < Looks like that way, Joanne... >

  -   < So promise me to be watchful and not take exaggerated risks whatever finally happens. >

  -   < Don't worry, Mom, I'm a grown-up now... > he replied with a kid voice, both to cheer up his sister and lighten the now heavy ambiance generated by these worrying news. < Seriously, little sister, I always tried to protect you as well as myself and I'll continue to do that whatever happens. >

He finished his short talk by another hug – of comfort this time – and only then noticed that she was accompanied, so much Elissa's attitude was modest and retiring.

  -   < Oh, you took a new servant at your... but no, it's my favourite young potter! > "Straighten up theses cocker ears, it doesn't fit your pretty face... like that, it's much better." He greeted her more amicably by scratching the back of her ears, despite her slight embarrassment and the fact she could not help purring a little. "By the way, I'm still taking great care of the small carved bowl you offered me. It's always in my pack and anyone who tries to steal it will have me to contend with..." he added while making his dagger spin around his thumb, then pretended to clumsily let go of it in Elissa's direction before catching it at the last second.

  -   "Claudius, I already said you to stop that little dangerous game ! You know well that one day you'll miss your trick and stick your blade into someone's chest."

He took a sheepish air and made sincere apologies to both Joanne and Elissa of which the face as white as a sheet, wobbly legs, ruffled fur and pounding heart told well the retrospective bad scare she was feeling after having realized to have been literally passed at two fingers of death.

  -   "Well, it ain’t like I'm getting bored, but I've to go and give my unit report to the wises of the military commission... after a good needed grooming at the thermals baths ! So, see you later !" and he led toward the other end of the corridor at a quick cadenced pace.

Once arrived at Joanne's bedroom, Elissa waited besides of the door that her friend has finished to do all the tiny things she has scheduled, then saw her coming back out with a dusted dress but also a small box under the arm.

  -   "What's that ?"

  -   "Not sure, but it looks like a gift for me. I found it on my bed, probably put down there by one of the laundry she-dogs. We'll take a better look at it once in the triclinium."

The travel to the said place was short and they entered a quite small hemispherical room whose perimeter was just enough to have three alcoves with a two-place stuffed wall-couch in each. The lighting was provided by the classical wall oil lamps, but also by an odd round window placed quite high in the vault and diffusing a warmer and more natural-looking light, what kindled Elissa's curiosity.

  -   "You'd be surprised, but it's sunlight." answered in advance Joanne.

  -   "You've to be kidding ! We're under the height of the hill !"

  -   "It's you that's exaggerating : there must be less that fifty cubits between here and the outside. Don't ask me however how it works exactly, I almost forgot all the explanations given by the foreign architect who constructed these 'bronze sunflowers'. All I can recall is something about multiple reflections of the sunlight into a bronze tube or stuff like that... this isn't the most interesting thing to examine now." she added while showing the little box, although her friend did not totally agree.

Placed under the beam of natural light on one of the three low tables in the room, the small casket in cedar revealed the contrasted glooms of ivory and ebony constituting the marquetry on the faces while the polished golden bronze of the corners and closing system was brightly glowing. It must have cost a small fortune, even if the finishing was not that terrible for Elissa's perfectionist hawk eye.

Once opened they found in the left compartment a pile of small jewels like earrings or rings made with the most various precious materials – silver, emerald, gold, opal, ebony, ruby, ivory, agate... - and well-ordered delicate small bottles, flasks and phials filled with different ointments and make-ups in the other one. The whole was making this small easily transportable casket something quite handy for a travelling lady who would want to be pretty in all circumstances. A roll of parchment placed on the top draw Joanne's attention, who grabbed it and began to read, while Elissa's eye was caught by a tiny odd phial that she delicately took between two fingers. The matter constituting it was all at once translucent, of a slight milky tone and very light so she had the impression to hold a small crafted piece of solidified cloud : in theses conditions, the dark viscous liquid in the central cavity was seeming to be a concentrated extract of black night obtained by only-God-knows magic...

  -   "Before you ask it to me" said the young vixen when she rose her eyes from the roll a few seconds before immerse herself in it again "this phial is in alabaster. Given that and the kind of liquid in it, I'm quite sure that this eye-shadow comes from the Two Earths Kingdom."

  -   "Wow... dad said once this country is far-distant in the east."

  -   "Possible, but I don't know exactly where it stands." answered Joanne without stopping her reading.

Intrigued by her unusual behaviour and the mobility of her eyebrows conveying a mix of astonishment and perplexity, Elissa asked the reason of this apparent worry.

  -   "Well, this long text seems to be what looks like the most to... a love letter. And it's from a different person that the other one I received this month."

  -   "Aw, you have lovers... and several in addition ! Wish I'd have only one..."

  -   "And I wish they'd be sincere..." she replied while heaving a sad sigh. "Look, these lines use obsolete turns of phrases and archaic vocabulary only found in the old classics. And I'm quite sure that the beginning is a copy of the opening verses in the fifth chant of the 'Saga of Melops'." she added while showing to Elissa the incriminated parts, despite the fact that the latter could not decipher the erudite language. "No real lover would entirely plagiarize the famous playwrights in such a letter without at least add a few verses of his own, even if poetry isn't one of his best assets."

  -   "And what's the real reason then ?"

  -   "Frankly, Elissa, you could’ve guessed it... In a palace like here, full of people who can reach the ultimate power if they are at the right place at the right moment? Political intrigues, of course... matrimonial in fact, since the fastest way to rise his rank is to marry well and have a durable offspring while trying to prevent the collateral branches to outnumber you. And it's why I'm baffled here : I only know this guy from sight, but a sure thing is that he outranks me both about immediate rank and descent position, what makes his proposal absurd !"

  -   "So perhaps he really loves you then ?"

  -   "Well... you can be right, but our respective parents won't allow such a misalliance in this case... I really hope to find someone who cares for me as a beloved to happily live with and protect if needed, not a tool to gain power and mass-product cubs."

  -   "In summary, someone like your brother but not your brother." replied Elissa, receiving a nod from her friend "But something still makes me wince about this lover : it's just my personal feeling, but sending a box full of jewels and make-ups is the same for me then saying "You're pretty but not enough to meet my standards, so wear that and that...""

  -   "You're a bit extreme here ! Personally, I think jewels can be interesting, if used parsimoniously, to set off the parts of your body you're proud of. And I give priority to delicacy of chiselling over rarity of the material, so it's why I appreciate so much your work. No false modesty, young lady, you fully deserve this compliment. Well... for example, the best contrast and then highlight with my red fur is obtained with sliver or falling that tin. On the contrary, your pale short fur is asking for darker matters like... I'm thinking about obsidian and ebony, but it isn't a really practical example given your limited means. In this case, I think black wood necklace and bangles would do great to set off the curve of your well-shaped neck and slenderness of your wrists..." she said while touching softly said parts of Elissa's body.

By this way began a long period of girl talk during which, from digressions to abrupt changes in subject, the young girls went to compare the non-monetary content of their respective purses. In view of Joanne's astonishment to see her friend carrying knucklebones, the latter answered that any game even the most childish is good to play when you have to keep an eye a whole half-day on a kiln which only needs refuelling twice a hour. The long forced training of Elissa appeared clearly when her friend tried without success to overcome the little challenges that the young potter was winning without any apparent effort, so she asked for a change of rules. Grabbing a beaker on the low table on her right, she used it to play to her brother's favourite game when he had to stay at the barracks: the knucklebones became dice and felt regularly on the table's waxed wood with a hail sound. This time, luck seemed to have changed as Joanne obtained the Venus throw three times in a row while Elissa got half the time the dog throw... and her sound sigh of discouragement was once covered by an as well sound rumbling.

Excusing her for this call of nature, the vixen princess took a look at the hours candle hung on the door lintel and noticed that the twelfth hour was already past by a quarter of hour: more than time to supper.

  -   "This room ain’t very practical to eat : these tables are too low to grab something put on them and I'm touching the alcove's top if I sat down." Elissa said.

  -   "It's just that the custom prescribes to eat in a triclinium while lying on the left side... Given that we'll be only two, it'd be simpler if we share the same wall bed. Hope you don't mind to have my body against your back, since it's quite cramped in here." Joanne answered while installing herself on the said couch.

Her friend imitated her, not without blushing a little at the thought of the double meaning words her friend used innocently, then pulled on her demand a small fringed cord suspended at the head of the couch. Less than thirty seconds later, a middle-aged Dalmatian seeming to be the chef appeared at the doorstep and asked if they were waiting for other guests, wanted some inter-dishes entertainment, and what kind of meal and wine if would be. At these quick and precise questions, Joanne answered no, no and a light meal without meat served with four parts-diluted ordinary wine.

Even if it was not really extravagant and somewhat frugal for the vulpine standards, this supper seemed for Elissa the most fabulous of the princely feasts: even the rolls of bread have an extremely fine crust and were filled with Punic apple's jam, mind you! They were also served as starters accompanied with soft goat’s milk cheese, dried fruits and candied berries, all kind of food she did not often afford, but it was only the beginning… Her feline instincts made her water a lot as soon as her nose caught the deliciously promising scent of mountain trout fillets marinated with garum, so she did justice to them as well as its assortment of fresh mixed salad with a visible pleasure. She drank few wine cups, both by lack of habit and by precaution about hangover, but it was way lighter and pleasant that what she has drunk sooner. Small almond-chestnut cakes coated with caramelized honey and served with white grapes, absolutely great and making the tongue well sticky, concluded very agreeably the meal: it was the first time that she could worry about getting pudgy…

When, at the end of the dinner, the chef brought to each one a cup filled with an amber-coloured liquor then exited the room in a bow, before closing carefully the translucent door curtain and blocked the latter with a rope given the projected shadow on it, Elissa did not ask herself questions and began to drink. But Joanne ordered her to wait on a slightly worried tone, smelled carefully the liquid and tasted it with the end of her tongue, then put the cup back on the table with a crash and asked her friend to do the same. Calling the chef with the cord, she curtly ordered him to take way these cups, saying that they were this king of people, and he complied with profuse bows and prompt apologies which intrigued enough Elissa to ask her when he has left the room.

  -   "You'll be upset if I tell you."

  -   "Say anyway."

  -   "Well... this beverage is called 'alcove nectar' and have, if the statements of my cousin are correct, aphrodisiac properties..."

The young half-breed was more than astonished, but properly flabbergasted.

  -   "In fact, it's partially my fault" continued Joanne "The way I said that we'll be only us two, he wrongly inferred that we're Sappho's emulators wanting, after a romantic dinner in tête-à-tête... to share some intimacy together !"

Elissa became as red as a beetroot while not unpleasant but really unhealthy mental images unfolded in her mind, leading her to a sufficiently strong state of uneasiness that her tail instinctively folded up between her legs.

  -   "But... but I drank half the cup ! I don't wanna... with you !" she said panicked.

  -   "Relax, Elissa, relax... this idiot served us both the same nectar, although it's only active on foxes and vixens..."

As the young half-breed was fetching her knucklebones on one of the unused tables, Joanne remembered both their previous conversation about lovers and a potential mean to guess the first name of her soul mate that Aunt Aria told her. She explained this quite simple method of divination: shake the beaker containing the dice above one's head, put it upside down on the table while chanting a short specific prayer to Kyosune – master of the fertility of earth and beings – then lift it to reveal the result. The numerological addition of the numbers given by the dices indicates the first letter of the lover's first name, and that he or she will marry you when the black die show the maximum score. Applied to Elissa's knucklebones and done first by Joanne in a respectful silence, this procedure seemed to not be as satisfying as she would have expected.

  -   "Well... eleven which means 'K'... hum... Nobody I know to have potential feelings for me got this letter in their first name."

  -   "Perhaps he's a shy secret lover."

Then it was Elissa's turn.

  -   "Wow ! Let see... fifteen, so it's 'O'. But I know nobody with such a first name start !" she said, a little disappointed.

  -   "I'd echo what you said to me : perhaps your soul mate is shy or doesn't know you yet. But one thing is clear: dice have talked and named your future husband" she added while pointing the ochre knucklebone showing the lucky face "so cheer up and wait for him... At least you know from now that someone will love you for sure, lucky girl!"

During the return travel to Joanne's bedroom, the conversation moved on what to do after this wonderful dinner. Elissa wanted to return home before dark – which would happen late in the evening in this summer day – because the district she was living was somewhat seedy at dusk, but refused politely and firmly to be escorted by a bodyguard as logically proposed then by Joanne. The latter on her side proposed then to walk her back home while taking by the quick and secure route she used this morning to come meet her.

Joanne invited her friend to enter her little private domain, despite her visible reluctance to spoil such a private room. The small elongated room could have been perfectly in its place inside a rock Esenin monastery, if ornate hangings hiding the stone walls and a quite luxurious large clothes chest placed against the end wall were not breaking the natural austere ambiance emanating from the place. Then, opening the said chest and taking two fine felt chlamydes in it, she gave one to Elissa.

  -   "The evening could become chilly sooner that we think, even if it's the beginning of summer. Now, one last thing to grab before we'd... wait, what's this dress doing in there? It's no longer fitting me, but I'm sure it'll be lovely on you." she said while showing a simple-cut but beautiful spindle dress in indigo-dyed linen, before putting it back in the chest. "Well, the changing session will be for another time... OK, we're ready to fight potential cold, but it remains to equip ourselves to fight potential muggers. You said that the potters' district isn't very sure by night, so you'll perhaps need this."

The phi-hilt dagger she held out to Elissa was a similar model to Claudius' one: the circular rods tightening the holder's paw were forming the shape of the Greek letter Φ with the rest of the hilt. But she did not try Claudius' trick as she feared to hurt herself or Joanne in the attempt.

  -   "But... didn't you say earlier this afternoon that my knife was easier and faster to use in case of danger than this heavy dagger ?"

  -   "Good, I see you've took in the theory" replied Joanne while taking back the dagger. "And now..."

When she saw the vixen's right paw reach the opposite side of her belt, it was more the young half-breed's instinct than consciousness that told her to do the same and draw her knife. Her gestures were totally automatic and she viewed herself act as if she was her own spectator. Their respective arms executed their moves and the blades shocked themselves in a great metallic noise. It was only when they finished coming to a halt, facing each other weapons in paw, that she began to shake with fear.

  -   "You... you... almost... killed me ! Why ?" she shouted as her shaking paw let fall her knife.

  -   "Calm down, Elissa, calm down ! I just wanted to test your reflexes: if you haven't reacted, my blade would've missed you by at least one palm. I thought having given you a big sign about my next move. I'm so sorry to have caught you off guard and scared you so badly..."

The young vixen sheathed her weapon then went to give Elissa a long comfort hug. After a moment of mutual calming down, the young half-breed crouched down to fetch her knife and let out a sad sigh: the more solid bronze of Joanne's blade had left a deep gash in the softer arsenic cooper alloy.

  -   "And I almost destroyed you knife in addition... I shouldn't have drunk these three cups of wine, it makes me act stupidly. Well, at least it reminded me to pay you all my debts." Rummaging in her purse, she took ten bronze stateres and placed them in Elissa's paw. "There's four to pay the small bottle your father offered me – his gesture was gentle but a little illogic, as I can afford it without problem while you're trying to make ends meet – two for the amphora you had to buy while watching me at the ceremony and the rest to replace your knife."

Theses shiny coins represented forty cooper stateres, more than what the Elissa was earning in two days.

  -   "But... Thanks you very much, Joanne! But you gave me twice too much for the pottery, it doesn't worth them... and what is more the amphora cost me only three oboles and the grinder'll only ask me another one to repair my cutlass."

  -   "Come on, Elissa... First, I think you're underpricing your work although you put a lot of talent and passion in it. Second, I can be generous with you given my clan's wealth, and I'll be generous with you as you're my only real friend. But I also think to have to be generous, because the impression to not be worthy of all the luxury that surrounds me is just too strong... Do you see a lot of silver or gold here? No. Why? Because Claudius, who once escorted a convoy of slaves en route to the North mountains mines, told me what were really their working conditions..." The young vixen stayed quiet for several seconds and Elissa saw for the first time her friend's ears completely lowered. "Since then, I don't want to wear anything in these metals, except the family's locket bearing the household's motto, because I'd hold then in my paw the sufferings and deaths of tens of pit workers..."

Fortunately, the light warm breeze which welcomed the two young girls at the exit of the subterranean complex alleviated their mind and made them think at more pleasant things than Joanne's latest words. At this late hour of the finishing day, just before dusk, the city's rhythm was really beginning to lower: almost all the shops were already closed or soon to be, the crowd was thin and so the noise background much lower, barely one or two cartages were visible. The descent of the main avenue toward the Sacred Esplanade was so a lot easier for Elissa and Joanne than during the way out, and they could stay side by side chatting and laughing at each other jokes without having to worry about the gossips.

When they reached the large place, the latter was desert and the wooden terraces already taken down and put away in one of the nearby clergy-dependant warehouses. In the meanwhile, the rays of the soon-setting sun were giving to it a look of sea of fire. It was then that the young vixen remembered the ceremonial chants as well as her wish to hear her friend's singer talents. Elissa, taken a little unexpectedly and wanting to spare to Joanne's innocent ears the smutty songs she heard form a boozed Abel, took a little while to remember the thanksgiving anthem's lyrics and started singing them heartily, letting herself get carried away again by the fervour she has felt earlier in the day.

  -   "That's wonderful, Elissa ! You really have a magnificent voice and an infectious go." said Joanne after her friend has finished.

  -   "Thanks , but I'm sure yours is way better..."

The young vixen took up the challenge, stopped and closed her eyes, then stated singing the same anthem on a more calm tone and using the more flowing intonations from her native dialect.

  -   "Told you so... I'm blushing from shame just to have had the idea to compare myself to you !"

  -   "Don't exaggerate, Elissa, your ability to chant is just as good as mine but not in the same register. On my side, even if I take part to the religious ceremonies since I'm twelve and repeated uncountable times under the rule of the chant teaching priest, I'd be jealous of some of my female fellows."

Once this musical improvisation ended, they led the clattering of their sandals toward the long and wide stone docks running alongside the Hidjaï. They were in security here, between on their left the soldiers in faction guarding the goods stored in the solid two-story warehouses and on their right the unfortunate sailors whose it was their turn to watch the silent ship. But dare moving away from the large road to adventure themselves in the tortuous back streets beginning just behind the massive storage buildings could only be done at their own risks: it was the kingdom of taverns, seedy hotels and brothels where any sailor could end at choice – and against a few oboles – under the table while forgetting everything till the next hangover, with snoring fellows sharing their fleas, or in the arms of a fixed-price lover. And a sloshed crew who could lay their rough-skinned paws on two young girls for free will not have remorse to fully take advantage of the situation...

The activity in the harbour was a lot less intense than during the day, even if one or two barges among the most impressive in size will still need a few more time to be fully discharged, so Elissa and Joanne met few porters. The same scene was repeated each time the latter had a free paw : he began to salute the vixen princess respectfully, suspended his gesture during one second when he noticed the young half-breed, resumed it while letting them pass, then finally launched a few slang words destined to Elissa. The latter was 'fortunately' the only one to understand these indecent propositions based on her supposed feline lustfulness, so she was both slightly blushing from the consecutive indignation and trying to hide her embarrassment from Joanne to avoid having to give her shameful answers.

When they left behind the stone pavement to find ahead a large dirt road leading to one of the numerous city posterns, the two young girls knew to be just about to leave the town. Once the large wall passed were offered to their view the hills and valleys of the tumulus scattering the necropolis, reddened by the warm light of the setting sun. Elissa however was wondering why they had to do this large detour to reach her house, and above all why they did not use the pomerium – a large space left between the fortifications and the nearest houses to ease the manoeuvres – instead of having to come out of the city.

  -   "Because the necropolis is a lot less seedy that the pomerium – which’s bordering the sailors district as I remind you – meanwhile this open space is way easier to watch for muggers. And for the detour, it’s due to your house location very close to the third East gate after the one we’ve used. Well… no harm wanted, but I largely prefer to go down straight the decamanus then take the docks and necropolis roads at a fast pace rather than get lost into the tortuous streets of your district! For me, it’s the quickest and surest way to come visit you, but if you know one better..."

Elissa recognized that, for someone not accustomed to this like Joanne, find one way between the half-anarchically disposed small houses would be quite a challenge. But she resolved to try saving her friend this long walk in the future, mentally checking if there was a large enough firing failure in the pottery’s dump to draw a rough map on it.

They took then the paths winding between the burial mounds built by Joanne’s household, while the miniature chapels and rows of urns placed around their large bases were containing only remains of working class people: the social hierarchy had to be respected even after death… At one moment, they went along a little smaller tumulus of which the ground was not covered with grass yet, which made Elissa wondering if her friend has lost recently a member of her kin. But she absolutely refrained from saying a word, as the soul of the dead might not have left this world yet, and saying its name will only lead to make him mad and willing to chase without pity the ones who stopped it from getting to the deserved hereafter… so this part of the walk was done in a tense silence.

A short while later, Elissa asked Joanne if they could do a quick break, because the young potter was more used to stay for a long in front of her wheel than to stride along the Royal Den’s in all directions and so had less stamina than her friend. But she let out a cry when she sat down on the grass, having put her thin behind on something sharp…

  -   "It’s a long shard of pottery, probably from a amphora" said the vixen picking up the said object, while her friend was rubbing the hurt part of her anatomy. "and a few words are carved on it : ‘For the pythia Delonia, one ewe and two doves.’ Wonderful, there’re still swindler seers wandering around the limits of the city... I thought the former Great Archont have taken sufficiently though measures to eradicate this kind of conniving ‘destiny’ tellers."

  -   "What’re you so rude about them ? There’s no harm done as long as they ain’t dealing with deep questions about death or stuff like that. And they give most of the time advices rather than predictions.

  -   "Well… I must admit that the point of view of the Wises could’ve influenced my judgement on this subject, but there’re so many risks of misinterpreting a prophecy… At least we can check of this ostraca means no harm in your point of view, as the question might be written on the other side."

So she returned the shard, began to read… and gave a loud hearty laugh which puzzled her friend.

  -   "It’s just – cough cough – so funny as coincidence, listen – cough –" she deciphered again the demotic letters. "Octavius, praying Dionne as well as Kyosune and offering them the agreed sacrifice, wants to know if is well from him the love fruit ripening in… Elissa’s belly!"

  -   "No way, you’re pulling my leg here !"

  -   "I’m not making fun at you, it’s what’s written..." she answered while giving her friend the shard.

The young half-breed read it quickly and made sure that Joanne was not kidding. Her first name, the male’s first name beginning by ‘O’, the situation normally implying to be married beforehand: all these facts were transforming this simple coincidence into a real omen… She stayed lost in her thoughts a long while, not saying a word and with a blank look, until she has took an important decision in her mind.

  -   "Omen accipere."

By pronouncing this formula with a smile, Elissa just gave this accidental prediction all its strength but also accepted all its possible consequences.