The Goddess's Gift

My head throbbed as I woke. "Oh goodness." I groaned. Gods, I felt awful.

I tried to take a deep breath, only to find my nose was super stuffy. My mouth felt about as dry as parchment, so I reached out and took a sip of water from the cup on my bedside table, grimacing as I swallowed as I realized my throat was very sore.

Great. It wasn't just a stuffy nose. I was sick. Just what I needed. Truly the icing on the cake after a day like yesterday.

Diana got up from her spot by my side and came to stand near my head, purring loudly. "Hello, sweet miss." I murmured, reaching out to stroke her silken fur. "I feel like poopy this morning. It's not fun."

Thank the goddess that I hadn't lost her. Hell, thank the goddess that I hadn't lost any of them! Diana, Lear, or my Lou! If Veris had had his evil way, I'm sure we'd have all wound up dead in one unpleasant way or another. I shuddered, pushing the thought from my mind. It was hard to believe that the attack had only happened just the day before. Or maybe I just was struggling to wrap my mind around the fact that we'd been attacked, and that Diana had lost most of her power. Normally this area was so peaceful.

Not that bad things didn't happen, they did, but attacks, theft, and murder were all incredibly rare.

Hearing me awake, Lou got up from where she'd been lying between my ankles and demanded pets by flopping down on my stomach.

"Oof!" I snorted, but smiled a little. "You silly cat! That's my bladder!"

Lou maowed loudly, indicating that she didn't care if she was on my bladder or not, she wanted pets! Or that's what I imagined she meant. After all, it was Lear who spoke cat, I still had to guess.

I indulged my silly cat, glad I had two hands so I could pet the two kitties at the same time.

I let my gaze linger on Diana as I loved on my feline friends. She seemed much more like herself ever since she'd woken up after exhausting so much of her magic the day before, but had slept even more than usual, for a cat. Although that seemed totally understandable, given what had happened. That said, I would be keeping a pretty close eye on her for a little while, at least until I was sure she really was okay.

Shifting slowly, I gently pushed an annoyed Lou off my stomach and glanced at the clock. It was a little later than when I usually woke up. It was okay, especially since I wasn't feeling well, but I did still need to get up to take care of the barn animals.

"Gooooods this isn't fun." I muttered as I hauled myself from the bed.

Since I wasn't feeling very well, I gave myself permission to stay in my nightdress, for now. Throwing on a robe over my pajamas, I shoved my feet into a pair of fluffy slippers I kept for when I had a little chill, as I currently did.

Shuffling a little dazedly from my bedroom, I was surprised to hear the sounds of breakfast already being made, and smiled.

Sometimes Lear could be an angel. Sometimes he was a little devilish...I wasn't sure which side of him I liked more. Cause the twinkle in the devil's eye was...phew, it was something else!

After taking care of the issue of my bladder that Lou had so helpfully exacerbated with a quick trip to the bathroom, I made my way slowly to the main living area of the cottage. The cats had already done so, and were lounging around. Lou was stretched out by the heating stones, clearly having not a care in the world, much less a thought in her head, and Diana was curled up cutely in the armchair, looking very cozy indeed.

"You didn't have to make breakfast." I told Lear, going over to the door, kicking off my fluffy slippers, then sitting on the floor to put my boots on so that I could take care of the animals.

"I wanted to." he smiled at me, then frowned. "You okay?" His voice was still rough from being choked the day before.

"I feel like crap." I replied honestly. "Head hurts, sinuses pounding, sore throat, stuffy nose...ugh."

The handsome fey man was at my side in an instant, stopping me from shoving my feet into my shoes. "Oh no you don't. You're sick. You're staying inside."

"But the animals-"

"I'll do it."

"You're making breakfast!" I protested, flicking my hand in a gesture at the kitchen.

"And I can take care of the animals, too. The biscuits need some time in the oven. If you want to help, sit and keep an eye on them." he croaked, shaking his head, "Alright? I'll take care of the outside chores. All the chores, really. You just rest and get better."

"You're supposed to be my patient." I muttered.

"Oh, how the tables have turned! I bet I have a great bedside manner." he grinned at me, then scooped me up and deposited me in a chair in the kitchen so I could watch the oven. "Stay here."

"I will." I mumbled.

"I'll be back." he said, then darted out the door in the blink of an eye.

Feeling kind of useless, I waited for a little while, then got up and put the tea kettle on, then sat back down and stared at the oven.

Lear was soon back, thanks to his fey speed, and joined me in the kitchen.

"I put on the kettle for tea."

"Oh. You didn't have to."

"I wanted to. Gave me something to do." I mumbled.

"Well, you should take it easy from here on out." he told me, lifting me easily again and taking me to the couch this time. Once I was settled, he pulled the blanket off the back and draped it over me, taking a few moments to tuck the blanket around my feet. "There! Now you'll be all cozy!"

"Thank you." I smiled at him.

He stooped and kissed my forehead, then frowned and flicked open his second set of eyes., He studied for a moment before shutting them again. "You have a fever."

"Doesn't surprise me. I feel pretty bad." I grimaced.

"But you were still going to go out into the cold and take care of your animals." he smiled, "I admire your work ethic."

"Lear, before you came, I didn't have another option. No matter how much I felt like death warmed over, going out to take care of them is what I had to do." I shrugged. "They depend on me for food and water, especially in the winter."

"I know. I just...you work hard."

"I guess." I muttered.

The kettle whistled, and Lear went back to the kitchen and assembled the tea things. He carried it over to the coffee table, telling me, "Some tea will do you some good. I wish we had some lemons, lemon tea would really be nice for you, I think."

"It'd probably be good for your poor throat, too, if we had lemons. But unfortunately, we don't often get them here."

"I imagine not." he shook his head. "Probably not too much citrus in these parts at all, huh?"

"Mm, not really, unfortunately. We get enough so we don't get sick, but there's definitely not an abundance. They just take warmer climes. Otherwise I'd grow them myself. Have a nice lemon tree and a little orange grove."

Lear smiled, "That would suit you. And then you could have as much lemon as you wanted in your tea."

"Yeah."

We were quiet for a few moments.

When the tea had steeped long enough, he poured me a cup, putting sugar and a splash of cream in it, which was exactly how I liked it, then handed it to me, "Here."

"Thank you, Lear." I murmured.

"Anytime." he said, pouring his own cup.

Soon the biscuits were done, and he'd brought all the breakfast things over. "Just biscuits and bacon, nothing fancy."

"I don't need fancy." I smiled a little. "Thank you for making it."

"I...wish I could give you fancy." he muttered, "But you're welcome."

"Other than the tea shop in town, we don't really do fancy around here. Although that probably isn't actually truly fancy. It's just our version of it."

"It's fancy if you want it to be fancy."

"I guess." I smiled. "But I bet you've been some fancy places, huh?"

"You could say that." he snorted, then coughed a little, throat probably hurting a little.

"What's so funny about that?" I rubbed his back absentmindedly, trailing my weak healing magic through him as I did, just to ease any residual pain in his throat.

"Well, you know I'm a soldier."

"Yes, we've discussed that many times." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Well, my squad is...kind of important."

"I'd assumed you were, given you were carrying out an assassination. I don't think normal soldiers do that."

"They don't."

"So...how important is your squad?"

"We answer directly to the king." he shrugged, like it was no big deal.

I blinked. "Oh. So when you say you've been fancy places..."

Lear nodded, "Yeah. My apartment is in the fey palace. And my work office."

"Wow." I blinked again, a little surprised. "Did you grow up in the palace? I know you said you grew up with servants..."

"I didn't, but I was raised in a manor. Grandfather is a duke."

"Oh goodness!" I laughed, "Do you have a title?"

"No." he shook his head, "But I do have money and connections."

"I see." I nodded. "Is the fey palace the fanciest place you've been to?"

"Yes, probably. Not the most interesting though."

"Where's the most interesting place you've been?"

We'd both finished breakfast, and were now just passing the time, working our way through the rest of the large pot of tea Lear had made, which was being kept warm by a little tea light.

"Mm...I think a merfolk village."

"Like an underwater one?!"

"Yep."

"That's cool!" I grinned, "What was it like?"

"A lot like any other village, but with very sea-themed architecture. The buildings are built to resemble seashells."

"Oh! I bet that's pretty!"

He nodded, "It was. Lots of spikes and spires, as such."

"Yes, I imagine!"

"There was a tower in the middle of the town that looked like a tower shell. It had multiple stories and was honestly some of the most interesting architecture I've ever seen!" he grinned.

I grimaced and had to admit, "What's a tower shell?"

"Oh, one of the ones that looks kind of like a unicorn horn."

"Lear, honey, I've never seen a unicorn, and I've never been to the ocean. I only know what a couple of seashells look like because the people who have been to the sea have brought them back with them, and I've only seen artist's depictions of unicorns." I rolled my eyes at him.

He blinked, then laughed sheepishly. "Oh right! My bad. I didn't think." he got up, went over to my writing desk and got a piece of paper and a pencil, then came back and drew a long, horn-like shell that had a spiral to it with a few skillful strokes. "It looks like that."

"Oh, ok! That's cool! And you're good at drawing."

"Fey folk tend to be good at artistic stuff." he shrugged.

"So the building was like a big one of those?" I tapped the page, eager to hear more.

"Massive." he nodded.

"I can't even imagine that!" I laughed a little, shaking my head.

"It was an awesome sight."

"So...if it was all underwater, how did you breathe? I assume you didn't manage to hold your breath, unless that's a fey talent, too?"

"No. It was magic." he shrugged. "Some dwarfs at our workshop in the fey palace worked with some merfolk to create a device that acted like gills for us."

"Oh, that's really cool!"

"It was." he nodded. "They were these helmets with enhanced glass visors to hold up at a decent depth."

"What did you have to go to a mer-village for?"

"Intelligence gathering. It was a while ago, now."

"What intelligence were you gathering?"

Lear shrugged, "We were trying to figure out if the rebellion we were trying to snuff out had any sway in that village. If it did, it might be a symptom of a larger issue amongst the merfolk."

"What did you find? Were the merfolk there revolting?"

"No. There was just one merperson who was only tangentially involved. They didn't realize what they'd gotten into, and were just helping a friend from the surface. They couldn't tell us much, and had never intended to help a rebellion. They didn't get in any trouble as such. I don't think the friend in question was directly operating for the rebels, either, so they didn't get in trouble, either."

"I take it you were able to stop the rebellion?"

"Yep! Although I let one of my squad members take lead on it, since it was an issue that struck close to home with him." he gave a slightly wry smile. "Actually, he had to take down his own father."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It's a long story, but...his father had it coming. He was a very bad man. Another duke, like my grandfather. But rotten to the core instead of just mildly mischievous like good ol' grand-dad."

I arched an eyebrow at him, amused, "Must run in the family, huh?"

"Oh, definitely." he grinned wickedly at me. "Although I like to think I'm more roguish than just mischievous."

"You're definitely something." I rolled my eyes at him, but smiled.

"Well, I do try!" Lear laughed.

We fell quiet for a bit.

"How are you feeling?"

"Pretty shitty still, honestly." I sighed, shaking my head.

"Is there any medicine you can take, or anything?"

"Yeah, I guess we could try some meds. What will help the most will be in the medicine cabinet over there." I motioned to the area where I usually tended to patients.

"Alright. I'll get it for you." he stood.

"It's in a blue bottle with a pink label." I directed.

Lear rummaged through the cabinets. "You have a lot of stuff in here." he muttered.

"Yep, it's accumulated over the years. And some of it is probably older than me. I should go through it and throw everything that's too old away."

"Not today though. Today you're going to rest." He gave me the bottle of medicine, then went and got a glass of water for me. "Here."

"Thanks." I muttered, accepting the water and then swallowing two pills.

"Why didn't you take it sooner?"

"Eh, wanted to see if I felt any better without it." I shrugged.

"Next time just take the medicine." he shook his head a little. "I'm happy to take care of you, but I'd hate for you to feel miserable just because you didn't take the medicine you had available because you wanted to try to wait it out."

"Alright." I murmured, smiling at him.

"Now, you gotta rest today, okay?"

"I will. I don't think I could get up to much, even if I wanted to." I sighed. "I don't get sick very often, I wonder what brought this on?"

"If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say stress. Between everything that's happened since I got here, and then what happened to Diana yesterday...well, I wouldn't be surprised if you worried yourself sick."

"Oh...no, that does make sense." I sighed.

"So you just focus on getting better." He reached out and gently brushed some stray curls out of my face.

Diana, having heard me say her name a few moments before, got up from her spot on the armchair, stretched luxuriously, and then came to snuggle on my legs, purring loudly.

"Hello, gorgeous." I murmured, reaching out and stroking her silky fur.

"What a good girl." Lear smiled.

"She really is." I sighed, grateful that we were all happy and safe again, even if I was a little under the weather.