"OH, WILL YOU PLEASE stop that already? It wasn't that funny."
But of course such admonishment only made my disobedient handmaiden laugh even harder.
It was already half past one in the afternoon, and Mary Priscilla and I were back above ground to do some shopping...or so Hadrian thought.
I honestly hadn't wanted to lie to my husband, but I also knew I had no choice.
News of Persephone changing legal counsel had reached us shortly after breakfast, and her new lawyer turned out to be Nemesis of all deities. Like honestly, once a Disney villain, always a Disney villain, and even worse, Nemesis' first move had taken us completely by surprise.
Although the specifics of her dastardly complicated legal maneuver escaped me, the results of it were pretty clear cut: Eunomia had been forced to change the date of my next court appearance, and instead of having a month to prepare my defense, I now only had until tomorrow—-
The sound of Mary Priscilla's groan drew me out of my thoughts, and a sigh of relief escaped me when I saw what she was groaning about.
Thanks to Hades' inadvertent tip earlier, I knew exactly where to find last night's Chinatown portal, and just as Rhadamanthus reported, the magical town was located at the back of a foreclosed warehouse.
Knowing I hadn't a second to waste, I hurriedly floated towards its bright lights while Mary Priscilla unhappily kept pace."Please don't tell me this is what I think it is."
"Okay. I won't tell you."
"Saoirse!"
"You know I have less than 24 hours to figure out what my divine dominion is," I reminded her. "My guts tell me it has something to do with that coin trap—-"
"Can't you just ask Little Iron to do something for you instead?"
"Of course I tried asking for its help first," I said defensively, "but Little Iron is a tracker, and with the coin gone, there's nothing for it to track unless..."
Mary Priscilla's expression turned incredulous. "Don't tell me—-"
"Then I won't—-"
"Saoirse!"
"I just can't sit around and do nothing," I said helplessly. "I need to—-"
"Sssssh!"
Mary Priscilla and I jumped back as a familiar figure thrust itself between us. It was the same woman from yesterday, and I couldn't remember feeling so happy at having another person glare at me.
"Why do you two keep insisting on making such noise this close to sacred grounds?" she demanded.
"You remember us then?" I asked excitedly.
"How can I not? I have not heard such prattle from at least a thousand years! Not since...well, never mind. Just be quiet, you two, and be mindful of your surroundings!"
She floated off with an actual, audible harrumph, and Mary Priscilla and I slowly turned to each other.
"It's fate," I whispered to the little girl excitedly, but when I tried going after the old woman, my little handmaiden suddenly blocked my way and shook her head at me.
"Mary Priscilla, come on!"
"Whatever you're planning, don't do it!"
"Can't you see it isn't a coincidence that we've met her again?"
"What if it's not a coincidence," the little girl protested, "but another trap?"
"I just want to talk to her—-"
"Let's do that when your husband's around—-"
"As my handmaiden, you're obliged to follow me!"
"I don't think I'll be your handmaiden for long if you end up getting killed," Mary Priscilla said darkly.
"No one's getting killed," I assured her. "Or fired. Everyone knows how much I adore you—-"
Just as expected, the little girl started gagging, and I quickly took advantage of her distraction by circling around her and running after the old woman.
"Hello again," I greeted her just as a glowering Mary Priscilla caught up with me. "I'm Saoirse, by the way, and this little girl is Mary Priscilla." I smiled at the old woman hopefully. "And you are?"
"Bothered, now shoo! Go away!"
Mary Priscilla snickered, and I made a face at the brat before running after the woman again.
"I'm really sorry to be a bother, but I'm afraid I can't leave you in peace until I have a few questions answered—-"
The old woman stopped moving so suddenly that I nearly went through her.
"How do you know that?"
"Uh..." I shot a look at Mary Priscilla, but the girl only lifted her shoulders in an equally clueless shrug.
"Someone must have told you I was the Keeper of the Divine Jiao Bei."
"I have no idea what that means," I told her truthfully, "but if that can get my questions answered, I'm all for it."
"You lie!"
"I swear I'm not." I turned to Mary Priscilla, saying urgently, "Tell her I'm not lying!"
"If it means anything," my handmaiden said right away, "she's not smart enough to lie about such things."
"Mary Priscilla, you brat!"
But for some reason, the kid's answer actually made the old woman laugh, and I didn't know whether to thank my handmaiden or glare at both of them.
"You may call me Madam Xi," the older woman said then, "and as I can sense the truth in the child's words, it only means that fate must have brought you to me."