A Princess for the Witch Doctor (Legends of Rahasia Book 3)

Chapter Twenty-Five

I'm categorizing separate scrolls in the library, feeling uncomfortable after drinking a whole pot of tea on a whim. I've been drinking a lot of fluids lately. The more bathroom breaks I take, the less I have to actually perform the menial labor tasks that Boaz assigns to me.

I think he's catching on, though. He keeps giving me tasks that are the farthest away from the bathroom. What a jerk.

"Princess. I've been assigned to watch over you." It's that young woman again, the one with the scar over her face that was sent by Elio and Ryu to pick me up from Raja. She's in her early twenties from the looks of it. Already a member of the Royal Guard, one of the only women from what I remember. Impressive.

But she's still the last person I want to see right now.

Even if she is attractive, in the non-conventional way. Which is the best way. Dammit.

"Tell my fathers that I don't need a babysitter." I huff, trying to reach a scroll casing on the top shelf.

She ignores my snarky comment, instead lifting the scroll casing easily. No wonder, she's as tall as a tree. I blush, envying her easy reach. She beams back down at me. It's like a golem looking at an ant. "My name is Zahra, of house Ibrahim."

I falter at the name, my tongue suddenly feeling very heavy as I try to process this information. "How do you come by house Ibrahim?"

She shrugs, running a hand over her cropped hair, the usual military style. "I am a niece of the former General Ibrahim, a relation to Arno, the Golem."

Arno, the best friend of Ode Ngayoh. The one who gave me my name, Arnina. He sacrificed his life for Ode.

Of course, I can never escape the death goddess's shadow.

"I see it." I point to her face. Her eyes, the look of her skin. "Eyes the color of clay, skin born of the earth." I hesitate at the next bit. "Can you...?"

"Transform into a golem?" She passes a hand over her face, showing cracks in her skin. Her eyes covered by a thin veil of sandstone. "A little present from House Ngayoh. All members of Ibrahim are now tainted with monstrous blood. Forever and always. Family feuds and Diviner curses don't die easy."

I smirk. I'm warming up to her now. "Ah, another person cursed by dear Ode Ngayoh. You must hate her too."

"No, princess," Zahra points to my scrolls. "May I?"

I give her half the load, and we shelve them together. She explains while I gather more from Bo's table. "I don't hate the goddess of death." She moves quickly, surprisingly graceful for being a physical giant and a golem to boot. She stands taller than any man I've ever seen. I'm both impressed and a little bit in love. "It's not so bad being a golem. You just can't be spoi—." She switches smoothly when noting her present company. "You can't be choosy in this Empire, not as mad as it is."

"It's okay." I shrug as she takes more scrolls from my hands. "You can call me spoiled. With everything I've done lately, I probably deserve it."

"The way I see it, princess," she stares down at me with those clay-colored eyes of hers, the fetching scar over one eye. Her features are wholly human, for now, but I can see the shadow of the monster beneath the surface. The golem blood in her, power to be unleashed. "We're all cursed just by virtue of being born." She grins, rolling her shoulders back and nearly knocking over a bookshelf in the narrow space. "Might as well deal with it."

I look back to the table, seeing all the scrolls have already been carefully filed away for the day. "So, seeing as you're my unwilling bodyguard now, Zahra." I look up at her, eyeing the sword at her side, the countless weapons in her belt. It'd be stupid to just get rid of her. House Ibrahim trains notoriously good fighters. Maybe I could befriend her, mad as it sounds. Maybe I can enlist some help in trying to defeat Rangda and the witch doctor. "What do you say we go pray at the local temple after I run to the bathroom?"

She shrugs. "I didn't take you for a pious one. Last I recall, you laughed when a bird took a shit on the death goddess's altar at her honorary feast."

I fight a smile at the memory. "Maybe I'm pious now."

She raises an eyebrow, clearly not believing me. "Why do I sense we're going on an adventure?"

I just wink at her as I shuffle off. "I can neither confirm nor deny."

The joviality disappears as soon as she fades from view. I still remember the Dukun's warning as his missing toe was patched up. How I was supposed to help him break his curse. End his suffering permanently.

Go to your gods' temples. Find the one who has no present.

I pass the statue of Ode Ngayoh, see some coins set at her feet with notes from prospective university students hoping to pass their exams. Figuring I've already stolen Rangda's gold and given it to Cato, I take some of Ode's to give to the present-less god at the temple. When the heavens don't break open and shoot thunder at my skull, I figure I'm safe.

I am spoiled, after all.

***

Readers,

Man, I'm loving Zahra a lot.

Best!

Sophia