"You tricked me, Nusina. You said you wouldn't force your power on someone, but you didn't tell me the truth."

"I said I needed someone to restore the shrine and claim it. Who is the rightful owner of a goddess' shrine?"

Ruyo glared at the spirit. "That's still not honest, and you know it."

The water-ball's glittering eyes dimmed and drifted downward. "I know. All I can say is, I was desperate and scared when I woke up, and you were there, and I had a chance to survive and be useful again. I'm sorry I didn't try to convince you more honestly. But what would you have done, if I'd said what I really wanted?"

Ruyo looked at the old mosaics again, just a fragment of former glory. She ran her fingers along the dusty tiles. "I don't know if I would've accepted, even if you promised me the world." This job potentially was an amazing gift for her, and for everyone else if she worked at it. That was the key. If she became adored and rich and mighty, it'd be because she did a decent job. "But now that I know, I'll try."

The spirit swirled around her, dancing in the air. "Thank you, milady! I'll do everything I can to help."

Ruyo smiled at the creature's enthusiasm. "What are you, really?"

"I told the truth about that. I think I was a minor shrine guardian, and this was a small outlying collector. Something that survived whatever befell the rest of the world."

"Did the damage make you lose your memories?" Ruyo asked.

"Partly. I think some of it was because I attuned to your language when we first met. I can speak and read your language now, but not my old one."

"Is there anything else you've been keeping from me?"

"One other thing, milady, and then I'm done with the secrets. As a new goddess, you must have at least one shrine if at all possible. Without one you're extremely vulnerable and might even die, along with me."

Ruyo shuddered. "Am I chained to this cave, then?"

"No, you can leave. But if some clueless adventurer does enough damage, maybe without even finding the hidden area, then this place stops counting as a shrine."

"So in a way I'm more vulnerable than I was as a mere mortal!"

"Only temporarily!" Nusina said, sounding defensive.

Ruyo tried to be calm about the new threat, and get a solid assessment of it. "Could someone else seize the place?"

"To threaten to destroy it? Yes. To take over your power? No, unless you died first." Nusina went dim and quiet for a moment. "And now that I've met you, I'd rather let this place run down forever than help a killer claim it from you."

"Thank you. Let's try to avoid that situation."

"Do you have a plan, milady?"

"I want to go into town to sell what I can, maybe get another horse... Damn, I should've asked Baris to track mine down. Anyway, can you guard this place while I'm away?"

"Not very effectively yet, I'm afraid. I won't be able to manifest. I could manage to levitate some water and make spooky noises."

"We'll have to risk it. I need food and to try explaining our situation to some of my friends, if we're going to get anywhere. I probably can't even do much magic until we get more energy, right?"

Nusina said, "As a magic user you have a certain amount of mana absorbed from the world --"

"And by 'certain' you mean tiny, right?"

"For now! It should be enough to keep me alive and do a basic spell once in a while without draining our reserves. You're like a beginner wizard who can store a little power in her body."

"You said there was a power leak in the shrine?"

"I wouldn't worry about that yet. Think of it as a crack near the top of a glass; it won't spill much while the glass is almost empty. And we can't exactly call a licensed theotechnician to fix it the easy way."

Ruyo considered. "All right. I'll set out to try to bring friends here. I'll bless the next person to get me a soft bed and a good meal, too."

#

It was afternoon now, and Ruyo had to travel by foot. She hefted her backpack and settled its straps around her shoulders and hips by long hiking practice. In it she carried a fraction of her trade goods and what silver and copper she had, and the very last of her bread. At least her canteen was full.

The spring weather was uncertain, warm and sunny but punctuated by a chilly breeze. Averell was only a little closer than the town of Brotherhood back west -- her previous major stop. But she got the sense she wouldn't be very welcome in Brotherhood, especially to preach. Those folk didn't like magic in general.

At sunset, when Ruyo had been about to give up and make camp, she spotted the chimney smoke of a village called Sor's Hill. She hadn't much considered trying to recruit people here, partly because she had once ticked off a prominent local farmer with an ill-considered insult. These were among the few people stubborn enough to have carved homesteads out of the forest that lined the east-west trade road.

Ruyo made it to an inn called the Stag and Nanny. With much gratitude ("Bless you, seriously!") she paid for the one private bed and a filling meal of hot pea soup, bread, grilled squash, and ale. She rested her weary legs and chatted with a hunter she knew, Henrik. The spindly, sunburned man was drinking the weakest beer in the room and nursing a broken leg. He'd done something stupid, he confessed, chasing a boar in the rain over slippery rocks. "I'm lucky I made it home."

"Be more careful! I want to keep doing business with you. Have you got any hides to sell?"

Poor Henrik shook his head, then leaned as close as he could with his splinted leg up on a chair. "Not this week. Truth to tell, I'm glad for an excuse not to be out hunting. There's word of a monster prowling around. Something got two of the sheep, with nasty sharp pointy teeth."

The innkeeper had picked that moment to walk by with a drink. "Nonsense," he said. "Don't scare her; it's just a wolf."

Ruyo said, "I met a ranger named Baris on my way here. Have you talked to him yet?"

"Not lately. You know Naveen, right?"

That was the richest farmer in town, and the same one Ruyo had managed to insult for bargaining too hard on some tools months ago. Ruyo said, "We've met."

"Well, he's planning to hunt the beast down, whatever it is. It was his sheep that got attacked, and some high-and-mighty monk from Brotherhood has boasted that he'll kill the thing first. I'm not in the running and I don't mind."

Ruyo said, "I'm no hunter, so I doubt I can help. But I'm headed for Averell and I could try to bring someone qualified back. When is the hunt?"

The innkeeper was still nearby; it was almost closing time for the pub. "He wants to go in two days. Say, why did you show up on foot?"

"My horse ran off. I'm looking for another, or even to borrow one."

Ruyo realized she should probably not tell anyone there was an abandoned cart behind her, let alone anything near it. She glanced around the inn but saw only one man, apparently passed out. "Hmm."

Henrik said, "If the price is right you can borrow mine for a week or two. Only fit for light duty though."

Ruyo negotiated and shook hands. "I haven't decided for sure whether to visit the city first or meet up with Baris, now that I have that settled." It wasn't quite a lie, since she had more options now, and it was good to discourage that guy in the corner if he wasn't really asleep.

Ruyo slept soundly.

#

Ruyo couldn't contribute much to a hunting party. So she slept in, then headed onward to the east as planned. She now had Henrik's beautiful dapple-grey mare to ride.

The beast was agreeable, though she seemed to regard Ruyo strangely before letting her up. There were tales of wizards spooking animals.

They made good time. They passed the little farmsteads, mills and tanneries that ringed the city, and a stone obelisk that was a watchtower of the Steadfast Church, with a single guard in sight. By afternoon Ruyo reached the city.

Thousands of people lived here, with a sturdy stone wall raised by the same patient effort and magic as the watchtowers that ringed it. Ruyo first reached the Glasstown district that had spilled beyond the walls. In the shadow of tall kilns, she found an inn where she could stable her horse and get a good turnip salad. And listen for business gossip, a habit that often paid off.

"I heard a guy singing to slaves," one man said. "Eerie chant kinda song."

A besotted man slapped down his mug. "It's probably some damn foreign fad. Some way to mess with our heads while their troops steal whatever they're really after."

Ruyo said, "Foreign troops, here in Averell?"

"Yeah, it's the Khyberians. Our 'allies' you know. They marched a bunch of men into dear Averell for 'training' and there's nothing we can do about it. Bunch of drunks and troublemakers."

Ruyo's first thought was Ship Khyberian wine to Averell! She had no great concern for trouble between the southlands cities and Khyber, a land safely far off to the north beyond the Summer Mountains. Her own homeland was either the open road, or the fair coastal city of Starshore to the southeast. Even so, Averell was a true friend of Starshore, part of the loose southlands alliance, and Khyber was an ally in name only.

So Ruyo had two opinions to offer when hearing about Khyberian soldiers here: as an admirer of this city who didn't want the outsiders here, or as a passing merchant who didn't care.

As a supposed goddess, she had no idea what to make of anything.

Ruyo said, "So you think they're here to steal?"

The more sober guy beside Ruyo said, "They keep sneaking out of their barracks in the Flask district at night. And I hear they ain't leaving until the Church gives them something. Nobody's saying what."

"Strange."

"So what about you, lady? New in town?"

Ruyo said, "I'm here to trade. I'm bound for Starshore before too long, and I bet they won't be happy to hear about Khyber harassing this place."

The man grunted in approval. "Watch yourself out there. Do you need a guide?"

Ruyo smiled but tried to discourage him. "I'll let you know. Nice of you to offer." She finished her drink and went to bed.