“I’ve been healing my own wounds longer than you’veexisted in this realm, Revelry or otherwise. Now let me tend to my?—”
“Pardon, Oh Greatest Goddess of the Realm, but I must insist on my assistance!”
The voice came from the golden bandage which appeared suddenly across my wrist, wound several times over.
“Oh, for Goddesses sake,” I muttered, unraveling the cloth that contained two black eyes and that same little mouth.
I crumpled the bandage, ignoring the muffled cries of the little man it actually was, and inspected my wound.
But I had none.
As I twisted my wrist in the dim glow of the Underrealm, I could not find a wound nor tear nor scar to imply I’d ever fallen and broken it.
“Now, Primordial Goddess so Divine, if I could just take a look at that bleeding hand…” He was back in his Changlingfae form, tugging on the bottom hem of his jacket, which had wrinkled significantly in his transition.
“What is your name?”
A look of surprise lit his face, his large eyes widening even more if that was possible. “Apologies!” He bent at the waist. “I am called Piffle, your most graciously humble servant, Beautiful Goddess so Preternaturally?—”
“Reshina will do, Piffle.” I rotated my wrist without pain. “And thank you. Your gift of healing is far greater than any I’ve encountered in the past century. Céad must have been very generous in her gift giving at your birth.”
At the mention of the Changlingfae Goddess’s name, Piffle uttered a squeak, slapping his hands across his mouth. “The Enchanting Goddess knows Céad?”
“Of course. Did you think one Goddess of the Veil would not know all the others?”
“I-I’ve spent much time here in the Underrealm as of late. The only other Goddess I’ve seen is Ishtak!”
A smile curled on my lips. I tilted my head, narrowing my eyes. “You are just the fae I need, then, Piffle. Come, take me to Ishtak and I shall see to it that you see the sun again.”
“Beautiful Goddess, I cannot.”
“Why?”
“It…” he leaned in closer. “It is forbidden.”
“I see,” I hummed. “And who is the one who has forbidden one Goddess from meeting with another?”
He shook his head swiftly. “It is not the act of meeting that is forbidden, but the western corridor where she dwells that you must never enter if you wish to…to…”
He held his neck, choking on nothing but air.
I huffed, glancing ahead to where the tunnel ended in a set of stairs. “Don’t tire yourself, Piffle. I recognize a man sworn to secrecy by the hand of a Goddess when I see one.”
“Th-thank you, My Exquisite?—”
“And as I already said once,” I added, beginning my steady stride toward the ascending stair, the click of my heeled shoes echoing through the tunnel. “My name is Reshina and you may call me such.”
I heard his steps scurrying behind me. “Please! I’ll show you to your rooms, Godd—er—Reshina!”
“First,” I muttered, swiftly finding the bottom stair, “You will show me the entrance to the western corridor. Then you may show me to my rooms.”
“But, Goddess?—”
I swiveled on my heel, staring down at the little man in a cold gaze and unfurling my wings at my back. “Do you question a Goddess of the Veil?” My words rang soft and dangerous.
His face scrunched into the shape of a withered squash. “The Master has said?—”
I took one calculated step towards him. “A Goddess is your Mistress now, Piffle.” I bent at the waist, meeting his eye. “And she takesprecedence over any king.”
