Nehmasis

Divine Childhood - Blessed Day

The Sixth Year of the Blessed Day of Righteous Vengeance, Time Immortal, Palace of Irkalla, City of Ersetu, Underworld

Nehmasis

"Blessed Day, little warrior!" Papa Thelios tosses me in the air, catches me, and flings me around his body in a giant circle. Laughing uproariously, he sets me down on my feet and pats my head. I'm smiling just a tiny bit. I don't reward him with a laugh, no matter how much it bubbles in my tummy. Mama hates this game he plays, and Papa Thelios knows it.

I glance over, and sure enough, her ink-dark eyes are screwed shut, red lips pursed like she ate a tart pomegranate. Papa Thane grins and winks at me before he brushes a bite of my Blessed Day Bread against Mama's mouth.

Mama giggles and snaps her teeth at Papa Thane's fingers without opening her eyes. I feel my smile growing broader just a bit.

"Is it my turn?" Uncle Lier grins, a flash of stark white against his swarthy skin. I look up at him and grin slightly, not as reticent with my smiles for the god of Love. "Here you are, Nehma." He hands me a charm bracelet, and I feel my smile fall.

"Jewelry, Uncle?" my nose wrinkles.

"Nehma," Mama scolds gently. I immediately force my face to smile for my uncle. I am supposed to be gracious to my gift-givers, but... a bracelet? It's the kind of gift I expect from Auntie Enlal, the earth goddess, or even Uncle Pir, the sea god.

"It's pretty, Nehma," my mortal sister, Poppy, says softly. She has a lot of jewelry. Why didn't Uncle Lier gift her this bracelet?

I can't help but be disappointed that my favorite uncle is treating me like one of those fancy, perfumed females who follow him everywhere with simpering moon-eyes and fluttering eyelashes.

He laughs uproariously, not at all offended. Huge warrior hands spread to each side of his wide body, "I make what my heart tells me, niece." With a gentle smirk still on his face, he kneels, fastens his silly onyx and gold charm to my wrist, and then kisses my cheek. "Don't pout, little warrior." I smooth my expression out immediately. I don't pout.

"And the grand finale, Nehma," Papa Thelios hands me a gift, an atrociously gaudy box-shaped vessel crafted of Underworld gold, glinting with the precious gem eyes of souls' last wishes, emeralds and sapphires and dark yellow diamonds and the like. It's the last gift of the day. Papa Thelios always has to give the last gift. He waits until everyone else is done with their gifting. I imagine if the gift-giving took place later in the day, Papa Thelios would never be able to hold out, but Mama always wants my gifts first, as soon as we awaken. She likes watching me smile. We haven't even had breakfast, and I have a treasure trove, a veritable pile of goods, an assortment of cloth and toys, and a rock that suspiciously resembles petrified horse dung from Mushu, one of Mama's gargoyles.

Papa Thelios laughs again when my nose wrinkles at the ostentatious vessel he's handed me. He's still grinning as he reaches out and lifts the lid of the box for me. It falls open to reveal the most beautiful Blessed Day gift I've ever seen.

I gasp as I hurriedly let the ugly lid fall to the marble floor with a dull thunk to grasp the handle of the bone-and-black iron dagger. I examine it carefully while Papa Thelios beams. Along the hilt, my name has been inscribed in gold: Nemhasis, goddess of Righteous Vengeance, Daughter of Grief and War, Granddaughter of Death, Princess of the Underworld.

The pommel is an effigy of Mama, and the blade is... "It's perfect," I whisper.

"It's a double-edged blade," Papa Thelios brags. "The black iron will cut through even a soul." I nod excitedly, admiring the smooth, shining iron. It is the same as the scythe Grandfather uses to slice souls apart. "Touch the bone, sweetheart."