Excerpt: Amazon sequel

Essla stared down at the pale body lying across the marble tabletop. So young to be battered and bruised this way. Too young to be dead. She’ll never know love, never hold a newborn in her arms, never laugh or cry again. A hot tear wriggled free from the corner of her eye to drip down on the dead woman’s forehead. Essla reached out with her trembling fingertips and caressed it away before anyone else noticed.
“What do you mean we have to take her home?” Glaukia asked, “This temple is our home...hers and ours.”
Essla looked up at her daughter, her heart thankful not to count Glaukia among the dead, and explained, “Vivinna had a last name before she came to the temple. She is the daughter of Tanazu Volcini, the Magistrate of Populonia. Her family will want her body for a proper Etruscan burial.”
The young priestess shook her head, “I don’t understand. She left her old life behind when she came here. We all did.” After a few seconds of silence she added softly, “Well, most of us.”