“Did you really think I died?” The voice was small and sad, so unlike the sibling I remembered.
My eyes filled with tears and I nodded. “That’s what they said always happened to girls by themselves in the city.” Before I could receive a response, my thoughts flitted to the next thing. “You are…neither a man nor a woman?”
A slow nod came. “I consider myself somewhere in the middle. A third gender, as many call it. I go by Jo now.”
I stared at Jo. “I’ll have to get used to that.” I gave a weak laugh. “If we are able to see one another again.”
They sighed and gave me a tired smile. “I hope so. The first few years were difficult. I didn’t have any skills for a job, and being a young woman alone on the streets is dangerous. The elders weren’t completely lying. After the second night I spent on the street?—”
I shuddered at the thought of them alone like that.
“—I went to one of the larger churches for Erlik. We’ve been taught these larger, more established churches are lukewarm worshippers of Erlik and not to be trusted. But I was hungry and tired and cold. Lilith, they were so kind to me. Gave me everything I needed and found me a charity boarding house. Then I found a job, joined the Temple of Saras, and enrolled in some classes.”
Saras, daughter of Erlik, was the goddess of knowledge and humanities. All universities and schools were dedicated to her, and most physicians prayed to her. I didn’t know the temples offered classes to people like Jo—homeless, penniless, and struggling to survive.
I took a deep, shuddering breath, the relief that Jo hadn’t starved or been killed in a back alley making my knees weak. “What are you doing now?”
Jo spread their arms as if to show me what they wore. “I just finished work. I’m a clerk for an ecclesiastical judge.”
My eyes widened. “They let women do that?” I blushed. “Err, I’m sorry, I mean…people who are not men?”
Jo laughed, and I was grateful I hadn’t hurt their feelings. “It is unusual, but this judge works within the Temple of Saras, and because we all worship a goddess, we are more free with what women can do. And Saras recognizes people like me, of the third gender.” They paused, then added with a shy smile, “I’m happy, Lilith. Besides missing you and Absalom, I’m truly happy with this life.”
I winced at the reference to Absalom. I would tell them, but not right now. They deserved to find out in a better place than a street corner after work.
Their smile grew. “It’s all the things I would have hoped for as a child, if I’d known it existed.”
My eyes brimmed with tears. “Then I’m happy for you.” It still hurt, though, to know my sister had been kept from me, cut off from family, and I’d been left in the dark, assuming Jo had died.
Jo wrapped me in another embrace. “I’ll always be your sister.”
Relief swamped me at those words. “Truly?” I blinked rapidly, my chin tucked over their shoulder, my hands around their waist.
They squeezed. “We’ll always be sisters.”
In the distance a clock chimed.
I jumped, reluctantly pulling away. “Oh my goodness. It’s so late. I have to hurry back before anyone misses me.”
Job’s brow wrinkled as if they were concerned for me, and then their gaze snagged on Castiel behind me. Truth be told, I’d forgotten he was there. “Who is that?” they asked in a low voice.
I turned in time to see Castiel gracefully step forward. The cloak looked ridiculous, but the night was dark enough and the fabric black enough that maybe I was the only one who noticed.
“I am Castiel, a friend of Lilith’s.”
Jo looked at me, frowning.
“It’s fine,” I assured quietly. “He’s visiting the church, but only for a short while.” I ignored the pain piercing my heart at my own words. “I’m helping him find a book. Then everything will be normal again.”
“Are the elders treating you well? Are you married?”
I shook my head. “Not married. The elders have me assist them with meetings, so I get to do things many of the other women never get the chance to do.”
Castiel cleared his throat, and I understood what he was reluctantly trying to tell me.
I squeezed Jo’s hands, backing away slowly. “I need to go.”
Jo nodded, their eyes dimming. “I understand.”
