The door is opened by a tall young woman. She seems slightly groggy. Like she just woke up for the day. She looks out the door and instantly her face changes.
"Gilly!? What a blessing. I was planning on going to find you this morning. And here you are at my door."
Gilly is still standing outside. She wipes away more tears. "I wasn't sure if you would be home today. I can never keep track of your training schedule. Inke, could I stay with you for a few days?"
At this, the tall woman instantly grabs Gilly's hand and pulls her inside the house. "The answer is always yes. Is your father at it again?" replies Inke.
Without waiting for an answer, Inke grabs the blankets she has stashed in a corner and starts making a bed for Gilly. This isn't the first time she will be sleeping over; it won't be the last. When Inke was younger, she always felt slightly embarrassed about Gilly sleeping over. However, that faded as she and her best friend became close enough to be sisters.
Gilly goes to help her friend prepare her bed when she remembers the cheese she brought. "For you, since I know how much you love this stuff."
Inke grabs the cheese and gives it a sniff. It's fresh from today. She makes a face and immediately stops making the bed and goes to put her lunch on a plate. Inke asks her friend, "You always spoil me. Why don't you just come live with us?"
Gilly is taken aback by her friend's request. "And leave my mother alone to deal with everything? I could never do that," answers Gilly.
Inke reminds her friend, "But she isn't alone. I think you should consider doing something for yourself. You aren't getting any younger."
Gilly is ready to retaliate against this. She immediately goes for her friend, starts stroking her face, and retorts, "Neither are you. Where did you get all these wrinkles from?"
Inke pushes her friend's hands off her face and starts to laugh. "You know I can never leave you. I swore to stay by your side when I was a child, and I intend to honor that oath.
Gilly thinks back on this oath and a smile comes to her face too. Despite all her best efforts to push Inke away, Inke always sticks to Gilly. The two will never be separated. Gilly reminds her best friend, "You know that oath was just child's play."
At this, Inke shrugs. The two stand in the room looking at each other. Anyone looking at these two would never have predicted they would be friends. Gilly is small, curvy, and has dark hair and dark eyes. She is constantly in clothes fit for her work in the temple. Deep hues of purple or blue with ornate details. Her jewelry always depicts something from a story from the gods. Her hair is always perfectly in place. One would never guess that anything could be wrong in Gilly's life.
On the other hand, Inke is tall, slim, and well-muscled. The majority of her time is spent training. She has a position as a soldier. This means that her clothes are also that of a soldier. She never changes out of this role. Her hair matches her personality. It is a deep red that almost looks like a fire when the sun catches it. Despite not having expensive clothes, Inke had a much more imposing presence when you looked at the two together. She carries herself as someone always ready for a fight.
Not only being physically different, but the two women grew up in entirely different neighborhoods. And by all accounts should never have met. Especially given that Inke and her family are some of the only people in town to never visit the temple. They don't believe in speaking to gods in that way. If Gilly hadn't snuck out one day and tried to run off and join the royal guard, the two would have never met. But fate brought these opposites together and they want to remain so for the rest of their lives.
Seeing her best friend so glum makes Inke feel like she needs to take some type of action. So, she goes over and hugs Gilly. And with this hug, something inside Gilly cracks, and she starts to cry again. Inke steps back, maybe she shouldn't have hugged Gilly. The best course of action for these types of days is usually to avoid feelings entirely.
Inke is looking out the window, trying to give Gilly space to cry without an audience, when Gilly mutters, "I don't know what I did to deserve you."
The mood was too much, so Inke did what she does best, and tried to lighten the mood. "You were probably a very virtuous woman in your previous life."
Gilly stops crying and looks up at her friend. Suddenly feeling slightly annoyed. "Am I not one in this life?"
Inke hears this question and immediately starts laughing. Of course, Gilly takes it that way.
Gilly reminds herself, "if there is anyone who knows of my failings, it is you."
Before Inke can say anything, an older woman walks into the room where the two women stand. She looks just like her daughter, only with much more weight. Her red hair is gathered into a bun. As a merchant, the last thing she needs is hair in the food she serves. Inke's mother quickly goes to Gilly and hugs her. "I should have known you were here, Gilly, no one else can make my daughter laugh. Are you staying with us for a few days?"
Gilly spends some time in Inke's mother's embrace. There was no one else in the world that was more loving and considerate than her. She always made Gilly feel safe. Something she doesn't feel anywhere else these days. Gilly doesn't want to seem as though she can stay whenever she likes, so she asks, "If that's okay with you."
Mother quickly shrugs off the request, "oh, honey, you don't need to ask. You are always welcome here.
Gilly replies, "Your daughter said something similar, but I wish I wasn't always taking advantage of your generosity."
Inke cuts in, "It's not generosity. It's common respect. You are basically family."
Gilly flinches at the mention of family. "Luckily for you, that isn't actually true," she finishes.
The three women fall silent. Inke and her mother are well aware of what is happening in Gilly's home. But the rest of the world is not. Very few people would understand all the pressure that Gilly feels daily to try and act in a way that would keep people from finding out what happens in the temple. Something that has been happening to her family for generations. A family curse.