Vadde opened her eyes to a strange sensation. When she recognized it to be hands fondling her breasts, she thought of Wyrn but froze.

The rush of fear to spread through her vanished when she glanced to her right to find Orm fast asleep beside her.

But if he was there, then who…?

After easing up, Vadde looked down at herself. A pleased smile greeted her from the purple nymph.

“Oh, you’ve come around. Wonderful.”

He sat on her left nipple, more than just a bit casual.

The moment he bounced on her, rather comfortable, she bit back a swear.

As small as they were, she felt they were still rather powerful, so she tried to keep her tone measured.

“May I sit up?”

“Huh?” After a moment, the male nymph looked down at where he sat and laughed. “Oh, but of course.”

Vadde focused on her feet to find the bandages still in place. They hadn’t healed. Now her ankles sported a bruise, red and raw.

“What am I to do?” Vadde asked herself.

The green wood nymph walked the length of Orm’s body then stopped below the bellybutton to peer down.

“Well, the size isn’t bad but the one to wield it surely shouldn’t be allowed to procreate.”

She gave it a kick which had Vadde biting back a laugh.

But then the reality of the situation came back to her, and she asked, “What is to happen here? What will happen to me?”

The purple nymph flew to sit down on her knee. “You are to be the new Living Goddess. It was a bargain set by your mother, the queen.”

His words had Vadde stunned. “You know my mother?”

The nymphs shared a glance and shrugged in unison.

“Of course, we know your mother. It was us who granted you to her.” He scoffed, muttering under his breath, “After that pathetic attempt at payment. Do you remember?”

His companion nodded, complaining as well. “It’s the way of monarchs, thinking we value riches such as stones and gold.”

“How very useless,” the male nymph declared. He asked Vadde finally, “What is the price of a life?”

Vadde puzzled about his words. “I do not know.”

“You do not know! Of course, a life is only as valuable as another life!”

The green nymph frowned. “So many lives lost that day.”

“Yes. It was unbalanced. But look, she has returned, and the bargain is complete. We need not worry.”

Vadde narrowed her eyes. “What…what exactly was the bargain?”

Unsurprisingly, the green nymph explained, “Your mother was barren and wanted a cure. So that meant multiple lives.”

The purple one scoffed, “Such trickery. And for what? Pretty stones and shiny silver and gold?”

Vadde thought back to nearly six years ago now when The Living Goddess came with her demands. You cannot have another child because you refuse to let this one go. Had that been the agreement?

Though fearful, Vadde turned to ask her hosts, “And the bargain was for me to return here and become a fairy?”

“Become a servant in the temple, yes.” The green nymph shook her head. “Fairies must attend to fairies. At one time there were many here caring for The Living Goddess.” She snarled. “Until one came and killed her.”

The purple nymph threw up his hands and exclaimed, “Gutted her like a pig, she did! Cut her right open.”

Vadde feared asking for more details. So, she’d been meant as a sacrifice in order to provide more children to her desperate parents. And when they refused to turn her over, they could not have more.

That was one piece of the puzzle fixed, but what was the other? How did they manage to strike a deal like this with treasure nymphs did not value?

“Explain the bargaining process to me,” Vadde begged. “What exactly are the terms and who sets them?”

“Anyone can set them,” the nymph said in unison. “Absolutely anyone.”

She felt fine at the first utterance of that affirmation but the second addition to it made her ill-at-ease.

“And a maid—a fairy in this service…cares for the goddess?”

“Yes. Or becomes The Living Goddess in an emergency.”

What a very strange arrangement.

Vadde looked up and around. There was no end to the white on white of the ceiling.

“So that was what this tower was built for?”

“Oh, no,” the girl nymph said. “This was the throne room of the fairy king and queen. That is, until they became enemies.”

Good. Now they were getting somewhere. Vadde asked, “What made them become enemies?”

Though the girl set her mouth to answer, her counterpart raised his hand.

“So many questions answered for free. All for free,” he complained.

Vadde considered his words then insisted, “Well, I’ll surely answer any of your questions.”

The nymphs traded a glance. At their smiles, Vadde found her breath ragged. She did not trust them, though she knew they would not harm her directly.

“All right,” the green one said, marching over Vadde’s toes. “What did you like about your husband the most?”

Her husband. They knew of him. So why didn’t they know that particular thing as well? Wyrn didn’t trust any creature of magic. That much Vadde had gathered.

She decided to believe in him and not these unknown things.

“His shield. It looked very handsome on him.”

Her answer surprised them, but they seemed satisfied.

Now it was Vadde’s turn, and she asked, “What did my mother give you to seal my bargain? What was the specific arrangement? Was I to come here upon birth?”

“So many questions,” the purple nymph complained. “You can choose one.”

Vadde considered her words for some time then came to one thing that she deemed important. Finally, she asked, “What did my mother give as payment?” She was quick to add, “That you found acceptable.”

“Oh! It was something rare,” the green one said.

“Something so rare,” the purple echoed. “Life. And then servitude. So, life twice.”

After letting out a deep sigh, Vadde gave up. They were toying with her. And they’d keep doing it because she wasn’t smart enough to know how to anticipate their tricks.

“Good,” the male one said, “we have a question now.”

Something came over Vadde. She wasn’t sure what. It was bad enough she was tortured for three days by the man she loved. It was bad enough she was given to a pervert by her mother-in-law. It was bad enough she’d have to lie down here under that bastard. And it was all bad enough to know her life’d been given away from the start, but now to be toyed with. She’d had enough.

“I will not answer a single thing until you are more direct!”

The shout had both nymphs taking flight. They kept out of her reach then risked landing on the floor before her again.

“Long ago,” the purple one began, “this was a throne room for the fairies. And they ruled us, and they were unkind. But none so bad as the king. The queen, his wife, fell in love with a giant. And it hurt him. It hurt him deeply. So, he sent fairies to attack. The giants retaliated and the queen cast them out. After that, they fought, and it only stopped when the giant ripped out her wings, thinking it would kill her.”

Disheartened, Vadde sat up. As terrible as the story was, she longed to learn more.

“The Fairy King hadn’t expected this. He’d meant for his queen to order the giants’ eradication. She was no good to him mortal, so he bound her to this space which allowed her to use the earth’s magic. The king and queen of the fairies are very important, you see. The king commands the armies, but the queen commands the fates. Together, they are unmatched. Have you agreed to stay and become The Living Goddess? It was a thing discovered by mistake but now it’s been our very way of life for so long.”

Vadde cringed. Was she honestly born mortal, made immortal then dragged back into a limbo of some kind?

But what was the alternative? She couldn’t go home. She couldn’t go back to Wyrn.

“Once you’re one of us,” the green nymph explained, “you need not pay for information.”

With that, Vadde made a hard choice. She nodded. “Yes. I will be The Living Goddess.”

Their eyes lit up. The purple nymph gave the green one a nod and she took a step forward.

“The original bargain was simple and more than adequate. One life, one amazing life, for all the lives the queen chose to bear.”

Vadde didn’t mask her disappointment. “You’ve said this.”

“Ah, but not all of it,” the purple one interrupted. “She brought us a life that was adequate, but shortly after, a fairy maid came and disputed it, saying it was stolen and to spare it.”

“Spare it?” Vadde waited then hazarded a guess. “Not to kill it?”

The sharp teeth gleamed as the purple nymph grinned. “Exactly.”

Vadde swallowed down her worry. “What exactly…do you two do?”

“Us?” The green nymph flew up to face her. “We collect all tangible payments and turn them into magic.”

“You…consume it?” At the nod, Vadde hesitated. “So, the fairy maid said the payment was stolen?”

The purple nymph rose to join the green. “Yes. And it was true, but only The Living Goddess could remove such disputes.”

“And the goddess wouldn’t?”

“Well, no. She chose not to. We’d already agreed, and a bargain can be…adjusted, but not erased. So, the goddess granted the maid one thing—”

“A replacement.” Vadde let out a slow breath. “She set her free…if I took her place?”

“Oh, she is so clever,” the purple one told his companion. “She is well suited for this.”

Vadde found peace in knowing that all parties found some compromise.

“But that maid refused,” the green one complained. “Spitting and cussing. Well, there was no turning back once the bargain was made, you see. So, we collected the payment and granted the wish. Once we were finished, that was to be the end of it.”

Vision after vision passed through Vadde’s mind but she formed one conclusion and sat up to ask, “Are you all bound by the laws of bargain or the queen?”

They spoke together. “Of bargain, of course.”

A pit formed in Vadde’s stomach, and she asked, “So why didn’t anyone avenge The Living Goddess’s death?”

It was the first time they fell silent. They glanced back to the pool but once before turning to her again.

“Maids are put in bounds of servitude for a reason. Then their claims have no merit and no strength. The Living Goddess was generous to set the maid free, but….”

Vadde narrowed her brow, “But then all the wrongs done to the maid could be avenged.”

The green nymph hung her head and nodded. “The maid had been wronged but it would take immense power to correct that magic and the goddess would not risk it.”

“Well, not exactly would not, more like could not,” the other nymph argued.

“Well, she could not risk undoing such a powerful bargain,” the green nymph spat back.

Back and forth they went with no end in sight, so Vadde begged, “Tell me what she did—what did the maid do?”

In unison they looked at her and pointed back to the pool. The purple nymph answered, “Wishes are granted there. You need only enter the sacrifice and your wish. The Living Goddess was with child, a reincarnation of the Fairy King, and could not use a great deal of magic. Even upon hearing this, the fairy maid was unreasonable. She stabbed The Living Goddess and cut the child from her and threw her corpse into the pool with a wish for her son’s return.”

“We all waited for the vengeance,” the green one affirmed. “But nothing happened. No retribution came from the water. And she took the goddess’s baby and ran. Never to return.”

Vadde had a hard time closing her lips. Finally, she asked, “The—the payment my mother gave, was it a giant’s baby?”

Both nymphs traded a glance and asked, “How did you know?”