A Strange and Stubborn Endurance (The Tithenai Chronicles #1)

by Foz Meadows

the realisation that she was not a she at all, but one of Tithena’s third-gender souls, called kemi, whose existence—

I reassessed thim, striving to correct my misapprehensions. Though thir face seemed feminine to me, both beardless and unstubbled, thir chest was completely flat, a fact emphasised by thir slim-fitted Tithenai robes.

Zo’s sons is more usual: they’re temple-sworn dedicates, and any child they sire is considered a gift from the god.

“Keletha is my kinthé.” The Tithenai word for a kem sibling.

I know that you have a terrible habit of pushing away the people closest to you whenever you feel you’re being a burden on them.”

“Telling me about Killic is not a burden. Your feelings are not a burden. You are not a burden, and whatever happens in the future, I am not about to rush off and leave you just because things here are complicated.” He snorted. “After all, when have our lives not been complicated one way or another?”

The same essence that turns a boy into a man is found in women, just as the essence that turns girls into women is found in men; it’s just that, in most cases, one essence is much more prevalent than the other, you see? But even then, the ratios between them aren’t remotely consistent,