Chapter 08

I get home and everything is set up for some event - such as the event my mother made me promise to attend. Everything is luxurious, there are tables, chairs, a buffet where I'll probably finish eating. My mother is wearing a red dressing gown and her hair is tied up in a satin cap. She is shouting at the staff who are tidying things up and finally realizes that the three of us have arrived.

"What a delay! I was about to send someone after you, where were you?"

"We made a stop on the way," Devi says, taking the reins of the conversation. "Lanton needed to see someone, I told you this morning."

"Oh, that's right! Everything's a mess and I forgot. All right, go upstairs and get ready, okay? The guests will start arriving in two hours. Come on, come on!"

Lanton and Devi leave ahead and I continue to stare at my mother as I walk to the stairs. It's just over two months since she married Daud, but she's already completely given herself over to the role of a ma