Reshina
In silent curiosity, I allowed Piffle to heal the rest of my wounds. I’d been sent to the Underrealm for less than a day and I’d learned so much in that time. I needed to settle. To think.
I tested my shift into a raven a few times before I was satisfied that I was not permanently damaged, and after leaving my rooms for less than five minutes, the Changelingfae brought me a sleeping gown of deep emerald silk along with a black robe cuffed in black lace.
I wondered where he’d gotten it on such short notice of my arrival, but was too exhausted to ask, my body needing rest to renew the power I’d spent stunning the Underfae and healing from their teeth marks.
“Piffle,” I started absently, brushing the tangles from my long black hair. “What more can you tell me about the Underfae?”
He shuddered, fluffing up the pillows across my bed. “You know what I know, Mistress. They need the dark. They take their sustenance…through…” His black eyes widened for dramatic effect as he finished. “...blood.”
“And they’ve always been this way?”
He shrugged. “They have since Master André’s curse.
I’ve been here at least as long as that.
” He finished the last pillow and folded the sheets back.
“Please say you’ll not go back. Please promise, Mistress.
Not just for your sake, but for the Master’s.
” Sighing heavily, he took my hand as if I were a child, leading me to the bed, pulling the covers over me as I slipped inside.
“If you wander down the western corridor again, he will follow. He will always follow you.”
“Always?” I questioned, covering a yawn.
He nodded vigorously. “Now that you are bound as his captive to this curse, the Beast will follow if ever you are in danger. Or if ever you try to leave his lands. Or if ever you do something to make him truly angry. Or if ever you—”
“The Beast will always follow me if I get to the surface?”
“Yes, Mistress. He will be called by the curse to drag you back, so do be careful.” He shook his head, blowing out the candles around the room. “You are relatively safe from the Beast here in the Underrealm, but anywhere on the grounds above…he will come for you.”
Fascinated, I remained silent, thinking through how I could test Piffle’s assertion.
“Goodnight, Elegant Goddess. Shall I wake you in the morning with tea and breakfast?”
“Yes, Piffle, thank you,” I murmured, turning across the soft silken sheets, my eyes already fluttering to a close, my mind already formulating ways I could escape the binds of this curse—for one curse upon my soul was more than enough.