It's nice to be back on the horse.
Some WIPpery for you all:
"How long has it been since our goddess has appeared or spoken?" I whispered to Mother Vajpai.
"Months before we left here," she answered. The satisfaction in her voice was unmistakable. So was the slap to my head by the studded leather glove of the Street Guildsman behind me.
I could have snapped his neck for his troubles, or slit his throat right there, but I knew it was far more important that I hold both my temper and my fists for now. Instead I consoled myself with a backward glance, murder in my eye that even the most boorish pig of a guard could not mistake.
That smirk would be the first thing I would slice from his face.
Mother Srirani continued her invocation. She sounded tired. Even I could call upon the Lily Goddess with more success than this. Had She turned Her face away from Her temple here? The Blades certainly seemed to have been abandoned, bereft of the cloak of Her regard.