Two Eyes Cenote [m] hard odds to beat when you're on all fours

At first, he thought she meant she was no stranger to these attitudes. Many looked down on servants. But Inji spoke of her youth, of wandering and trading work for places to stay. Talisman’s eyes brightened when he realized she was a kindred spirit. She’d known a nomad’s life, even if her experience differed from his. Talis and his dad had always stayed on their own, looking after themselves.

Inji insisted her Pharaoh treated her well, that she liked the other girls who served. That made Talis wonder whether there were male fellahin. He found his chest tightening at the thought.

Maybe you were born for it, he said softly, insisting, and there’s honor in that. I think… I think I was born for it too, actually.

He didn’t even know what he was saying, though it felt right to the young coyote. His dad had told him stories about Regipre and Shardul so many times in his youth. Yet Talis had never had any opportunity at all to explore this deep-seated urge to serve. He’d only started living communally quite recently and everybody was an equal in The Tribe.