let the children have their way
It was the neighbours who alerted Morgana, who came to hear herself the baby's wails. The neighbours were used to the sound of crying coming from next door, but it usually stopped fairly quickly – everyone knew the newly-widowed mother who lived there with her young daughter, and she was a good mother. At first they thought nothing of it, thinking perhaps that the child was having a tantrum, but as the hours ticked by they grew more and more concerned. Morgana arrived at the house when the baby had already been crying for four hours. Royal guards were fetched, who proceeded to break the door down.

They found the child – thirteen months old – in a baby pen in the living room, clutching the edge of it. Her face, framed with cherubic brown curls, was blue in the face from all the crying. One of the guards went straight over to reassure her while the rest searched the house for the mother. It didn't take them long to find her: upstairs, lying stationary on her bed.

It wasn't safe to move her, so the royal doctor was sent for. By the time he arrived, the young mother had already breathed her last.

The first priority, of course, was the baby. The neighbours – many tearful – assured Morgana and the guards that the child's name was Sekhmet. Several of the guards were instructed to pack up some of Sekhmet's things and take them and her back to the castle, where she would have to be placed in temporary care. Exhausted from the crying, she had promptly fallen asleep in the guard's arms and wasn't disturbed by any of the commotion around her. Inquiries were put out about remaining family members, but the neighbours assured the governess that there were none. Sekhmet's father had died a month previously in service to his kingdom. The couple had had no other family in Shaman.

Once the little girl was safely on her way to the castle, her mother's body was attended to. Efforts were made to spare her dignity, and then some employees of the morgue were called. The funeral would be set for the next few days.

At the castle, for some reason the guard charged with Sekhmet took her, not to the king's mother as instructed, but to the barracks. The present off-duty guards clattered over to hear the story.

For one, it would be life-changing.

let the children play.