The Beast Queen [ On hold]

Chapter 3

When I woke up, Kin was gone. I was lying alone on that bed missing the warmth and reassurance of his body. I could feel all my muscles aching. I stood up and looked around the room. The fire place was  cold and the sun was high in the sky. I stood up and walked to the door. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. I didn't want to shout to bring someone here like they were my family slaves because there weren't any slaves in Kharibdis. On the other hand I was afraid to walk outside that room. Truthfully I was stilll hoping this was a nightmare and that I was going to wake up in my bedroom like I did every morning. I opened the door and walked outside.The corridor was empty so I started walking down. It wasn't difficult to find the big hall, after all the corridor was leading me on its own.In the hall the fire was still on but not so strong as last night. Five women were standing against the wall and were talking. One of them laughed loudly and I understood that she was the black woman from last night. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to go near her and greet her,after all she was a criminal and she could be dangerous if I did something she didn't like. One of the other women saw me looking and pointed at me with her finger. All of the women turned to my side and looked at me.The black woman waved at me smilling and called me by my name.

-Hera, come here!

I walked slowly, carefully. They were all wearing capes like the one the woman who had let us in yesterday.

-How are you? You must be hungry! You slept  all day and night after all!

-Excuse me? I said confused

-Babe take it easy! She is a newby here, said one of the other women.

The others laughed. None of them was slacking off as I noticed.Two of them were piling some kind of fruits, while the other two where weaving wicker baskets. Only one of them, the one who had spoken last-was making something completely different.

-What's that? I asked curiously and bowed a little to see better.

She was holding a knife in the right hand and a stick in the other. The edge of the stick had been sharpened by the knife.

-This is going to be an arrow, the woman said.

She wasn't pretty but she wasn't ugly either, that one. She was plain. She seemed to be in her 30's but she could be older too,with brown eyes and white skin. Her brown hair was long and she had braided it in a stange yet beautiful way around her neck, making it look like some kind of necklace. There was a tattoo on her face, right below her left eye that looked like a barcode that from a distance looked like a gall. It didn't suit her at all.Yet she had a beautifull smile,gentle,like a mother’s smille. Under her cape I distinguished her swollen belly, she was pregnant.

-So you are Hera i heard,she said. What a coincidence! My name is Dimitra.

-What is that supposed to mean? one of the other women asked

Dimitra leaned over and continued her work while she explained in her cool voice.

-Dimitra and Hera were two of the twelve olympian gods in ancient Greece. Dimitra is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth while Hera was  the goddess of women and marriage and also the wife of the King of the gods. She was pratically a queen. So Hera, does your personality suit your given name?

I looked at her astonished, not sure about what she meant.

-Oh come on Dimitra! YOU are going to scare her too, the black woman said and stood up.We met when you came, my name is Babe.

She was really tall and she had a weird accent.I nodded not knowing what else to do.

-Where is Kin? I said at last.