The Goddess watched as he left her alone. It was weird being around an individual so full of energy like he was. He was happy not only to meet her but also meeting Iva. She got dressed and slipped out of the bathhouse only to find her clergy and everyone getting ready to head back home. She prepared them all for the trip and was happy to see him when he finally got there. “I am glad to see you coming with us.” 

That smirk lasted even when Angela conjured the portal for everyone to go home. “Everyone in. Should be on the bridge. Don't want to pop into the temple you know how fickle that building can be.” Everyone gave her a nervous laugh as she corralled everyone through the portal before going herself. Once they were through she put her arm up and let him see all of her realm.

“These are the Sundering Gardens, my realm, and this is my temple.” Her temple grew out of a large tree. The ornate building looked like it had been around for hundreds of years. The roaring falls and ravine alone were like music to her as she closed her eyes. “Everyone can go inside. You don't have to wait for us.” The clergy left her after bowing and went home to unwind.

“This is the final stop in my realm. From here out there are five more areas. You can visit them later if you like.” She took his arm and opened up the doors to the temple. Inside it was a lot more different than what one might think of looking at the outside of it. “The rooms change in here depending on what I want so people have a tendency to get lost.”

She stopped someone who was cleaning. “Could you go fetch Iva please? Tell her to meet us in the throne room.” The clergy member bowed and ran out to go get the girl. “We'll do introductions first. I'm not worried about the others as much as I am her. You'll meet the others as time goes.” She walked with him to the stained glass doors and opened them up. "This is where I meet most people. This is also where we have family time. Once in a while I hold a ball but I make another room for such an occasion. The fruit trees here you can enjoy whenever you like."

Drae smiled when he saw Angela and her clergy waiting for him. He smirked at her comment about him deciding to come. 
"We had an arrangement," he smiled. "I just had to make a quick stop," he said as he patted the bulge in his rucksack. "I thought I would pick up a little something for my soon to be hostess," he explained. He watched as Angela formed the gate that they would use to reach her realm, and he waited until the rest of the clergy had passed through the gate before he passed through just before the Goddess who waited to make certain the Gate closed safely behind them. 

He felt the spinning rush that came from gate traveling and he had to put his arms out to steady himself as he appeared on the great bridge that would take travelers to the Earth Goddess' temple. He looked around, his mouth slightly ajar as he felt the pure power of the world around him, and he paused to let it all soak in. The most impressive thing he saw was the temple, which was just as much alive as the people who lived there. He turned to Angela as she dismissed her clergy and welcomed her touch as she took his arm. 

"Oh, believe me, I will be taking a look around at some point. I've not had the opportunity to visit the realm of a deity in the past, and I understand your realm is quite extensive," he said with a smile. His arm supporting hers, they walked together into the temple, and he made mental note to remember her warning about how it was easy to get lost in the enchanted space. 

"I'll take that warning to heart," he promised. 

He was looking around at everything around him when she requested that Iva be brought in, and he hurried to follow her into the throne room. He took a second to admire the stained glass windows and how they cast patterns of colored light upon the floors. 
"This is far more than I ever would have expected. You truly made something amazing here, Angela," he told her as he moved up to her side and slipped a hand about her waist. 

Angela gave him a smile and laughed. “She will love whatever you get her. She doesn't get many presents from outside people.” She was very much a sheltered child. A child of a deity could be considered a weakness and Angela wasn't about to have someone taking off with her child before she was trained. 

Once they were there Angela found herself laughed. “Take your time. The way the realm is it won't change on the outside only the side changes.” They got to the throne room Angela smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

---

“Get out Iva!” Her twin sisters were shrieking as her muddied body rolled across their linens. “You are getting dirt and gross stuff everywhere!”

“I'm going to tell mom you think she's yucky!” She spat out at them as she was shoved out of the twins' room.

“You know that's not what we meant!” The two yelled in unison before slamming the door in the young one's face. Her brown eyes looked down as she was covered head to toe in thick mud. She had managed to find a mud hole not far from the wheat fields. Mud was drying to her red curls as she walked leaving muddy footprints where she trekked. 

“Lady Iva your mother is home she is..” The clergy member said no more as Iva rushed to greet her mother. Once she got into the throne room she slipped on some mud that fell from her regal dress. She fell the ground but was quick to push herself up. 

“Mommy you're home I missed you,” Iva was yelling with excitement but the look on her mother's face made her look down at her own clothes. “I tripped and I fell.”

“You are lying. You know your nose will grow if you keep lying.” 

“That's a fairy tale that parents tell their children to make them shut up.” Iva put her hands on her hips. “I know so because I read it in a book.”

“Well do your books say what happens to little girls who anger a goddess?”

“They get crispy but mommies love their daughters and wouldn't think of making them crispy.” The five year old reached up and pulled some mud from her bright curls. “Who's he?” She pointed at Drae. "And why is he being so touchy." She made a face like children do when they think their mother or father are being disgusting.

Drae turned as he heard the sound of smallish footsteps running across the floor. His gaze fell onto the youngest daughter of Angela as she slipped on the mud that had fallen from her dress and slid across the floor a bit before she got up and brushed herself off. It took a bit of resolve for Drae to keep from laughing as he stood with his hand still holding Angela by the waist. He hid a smirk behind his hand as Iva and Angela exchanged words about fibs and what happens to children when they make a goddess angry. 

Oh, the sass was strong with this rambunctious little redhead. She was right, of course. Most mothers tended not to crispify their daughters, even when they were naughty. Not unless they were dragons, but even mother dragons tended not to harm their young if they could avoid it. 

Her bright brown gaze fell on him, and she demanded to know who he was and why he was being touchy. Instinctively, Drae withdrew his hand from around Angela and moved over and dropped to one knee before Iva. 
"I'm a friend of your mother's. My name is Adraejen, but you, little golem, can call me Drae," he told her. "And, next time I'll ask your permission before I start getting 'touchy'," he added with a wink. He stood up and looked thoughtfully at the little mud-covered girl. 

"You know, I brought a gift for a little lady… but I don't think he would like to get all muddy…" he said thoughtfully. He looked at Angela. "What should I do? He so desperately wanted a friend…"

She appeared appeased when this mysterious man named Drae took his hand off her mother. Tilting her head at him she giggled a bit. “Okay good because I am the one who rules this domain!” She threw her arms up and Angela let out a sigh. “Thank you for listening to my demands! You have earned my favor.”

“Iva, stop listening to me when I am in here. Please it scares me that you know how I talk to people who come here.”

The little girl was a box full of giggles as she moved her eyes back over to Drae. “You did?” She got excited and there was a light to her eyes. “I have to take a bath. MOMMY I HAVE TO TAKE A BATH.”

“Okay. Okay. I never thought I would hear you willingly say that.” Angela winked at Drae before Iva took off. There was commotion in the hall as the twins went down the hall yelling at Iva that they now had to wash their linens. Angela was chuckling now that the young one wasn't in the room. “Told you she was a handful.” 

Soon after Iva was done bathing she ran back into the throne room. Her wet red curls plastered to her head and a new nightgown on her body. It was cream in color and had flowers stitched at the bottom. Her skin was much like Angela's now that she was not covered in mud. Her smile was wide as she jumped up and down. “Do I get to meet my new friend now?”

He laughed out loud as Iva ran down the hall, eager to get cleaned up so she could earn the mysterious gift he had brought for her. She had impersonated Angela, apparently very well, and it was clear that the child was defintely the daughter of Earth.

"Yes, a handful indeed. But what child isn't?" he asked Angela with a chuckle of his own. He heard the shouts from the other girls as Iva ran down the hall. "I'm sure she was no different than you when you were that age," he added with a playful nudge in Angela's direction. He looked around the throne room, admiring the craftsmanship of the throne the woman who would sit upon it. He had a brief thought of the kinds of fun they could have on that throne, but he didn't dwell on it too long. He knew full well that Angela could know his deepest desires. 

"This place is as beautiful as the woman who created it," Drae said as he walked back over to Angela. "Though, what will be expected of me here?" he asked curiously. 

Not long after, Drae heard the pattering of feet down the hallway and he turned to see Iva returning, nice and clean and in a fresh nightgown, her damp red curls shining. Now that he could see what had been hiding beneath the mud, he could see that she had the same skin, the same twinkling eyes that Angela did. 

She was bouncing on her toes with eagerness and came and knelt before her. "Yes, indeed you do, little princess," he said as he pulled the parcel from his pack. The paper was a shimmery green with a pale pink bow that tied it. He handed it to the little girl, before glancing back at Angela and giving her a wink.

Angela nodded to him and laughed. “I was not much different than her. Wild and free.” A proud smile laid on her face as she smiled towards Drae. “Oh I don't know. We'll have to see what I can come up with. Every once in a while jobs come in that I could use a person of your talents.” The little girl's feet made her chuckle as Iva came back in like a roaring lioness. 

A loud gasp let her lips as she took hold of the parcel. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” She squealed and kissed his cheek before hugging it to her. “It's really soft and glittery!” Angela laughed out loud and motioned for her to open it. At first Iva was slow but as she realized what was inside she began to rip it apart and bounce around.

A high pitch squeal came out of her mouth as Angela stepped up and covered Drae's ears. Iva jumped around and hugged the black teddy bear to her. It looked well made but to the five year old it was the best gift ever. She ran over to Drae and jumped on him hugging him before giving him kisses to his cheek.

“I love him! I love him!” She hugged the bear more before panting and grinning. “His name is Winston and he is the best bear ever!”

Iva's reaction of sheer innocent joy was adorable, but Drae had not been expecting her to love the wrapping paper so much, as it had earned him a kiss on the cheek from the child he had just met. Despite himself, the warlock actually blushed, though he hid it with a smile as the little red-head hugged the package to her chest. Sure the wrapping paper was pretty, but surely the child had to realize that the gift was inside the wrapping? 

Her mother quickly set her on the right path, and though Drae noted a touch of reluctance to ruin the pretty paper, once she had opened a corner to expose the soft black fur of the plush foot, the paper became irrelevant to the child's joy. Immediately she was bouncing around again, overjoyed with the prospect of what was inside. 

Drae was grateful to Angela for clapping her hands over his ears as Iva shrieked with delight, quite resoundingly, as the item inside the paper was freed. The large plush teddy bear was the perfect size for a little girl like her to hold and hug, and was capable of sitting upright on its own on a shelf, floor, or even in small toy chairs. The fur was a soft, thick, shiny black, and its eyes were painted glass, with a black velvet nose. The half-elf found himself being jumped on, Iva hugging him tight before kissing his cheeks several times more. 

Blushing even more now, Drae stood up and stepped back to join Angela as Iva declared her love for the bear, now dubbed Winston, and that he was the best bear in the world. 

"And you two will have many fine adventures, I'm sure," Drae told her with a smile as he reached out and lightly tousled her slightly damp hair. He turned and looked at Angela.

"I don't think she likes him at all," he said, his voice low but playfully sarcastic.

Angela smiled over at Drae as Iva celebrated getting Winston. It was really a sight to see that a bear could bring a child so much joy. She put her head on his shoulder and took his hand as watched her youngest daughter fill the temple with joy. It didn't look like Iva was overly upset when she spotted the two but she said she permitted it as she ran out of the room to show everyone in the show Winston.

“I think you are absolutely right.” She whispered back as she kissed him. “Now lets get ourselves settled in because that little one is going to end up for a nap here soon. She might even sleep the entire night when she goes down!” Angela had her own laughter as she led Drae to her chambers.

The room was low lit. It had candles about the ceiling hovering. There was her golden cornucopia hovering in its fireflies. The waterfall that was in the back for bathing. In the center of her room was her large bed. It was fit for the goddess of the temple. She yawned and stretched. “It's been an exciting evening has it not?” Truthfully their day had just begun but Angela had weary eyes from transporting so many people from Pravpora. “You'll have to forgive me. Pravpora isn't overly eager to feel my magic.” She collasped on the shop bed and stared at the ceiling.

“You can have any space you want in the room. The dressers are yours to go through and place things in.” She pointed to her wine rack and what appeared to be a place to make it. “Don't drink that. It will kill you. Made from berries in Feeorin Forest. It's my gift to the other gods.” She smiled and pointed over to her work shop for making potions. “Some of those are poisons. We have a large library here not too far from my room. The girls all have rooms around here. Iva will have to show you hers. Me I'm laying right here and not taking any calls what so ever.”

Drae picked up his rucksack and followed alongside Angela as she guided him to her private rooms, Iva's laughter following them all the way down the halls. He was still smirking at how well his gift had been received when they entered her chambers. He whistled low as he looked around at the candle illuminated room, with the hovering cornucopia and waterfall bath. He had to admit, she definitely knew how to decorate. He looked around, clearly impressed and watched as Angela went and collapsed upon the bed. 

He came and sat beside her. "Don't worry. I think I can understand your fatigue," he said with a smile. He looked towards the dressers she had pointed to and decided to make the most of her offers and stood again. He moved over to the carved wood bureau and began meticulously placing his clothes and other belongings inside, while still listening. His eyes went to the wine rack and press, and he made a careful note not to mess with any of the bottles. 
"Duly noted. Wine rack is poison for mortals. Alchemy table, read labels carefully, and craft at your own risk," he said nodding, letting Angela know that he was indeed listening. "Library is not far off, and expect a tour from Iva," he added as he deposited his rucksack beside the bureau and moved back over to Angela. 

"You do look a bit haggard. You rest, and I'll go have a look around. I suppose I should ask about places that I am not allowed to venture? I'd rather not incur your wrath after we have started such a wonderful little partnership," he said as he put his hands into his pockets.