We were still in the process of looking when Arian and Kean returned with our food. “What are you doing?” Kean asked us as he set the tray he had brought on the table. Two plates of food were on the tray.

“We’re looking for a frame for my pretty picture!” Lia announced as she bounced out of Arian’s bedroom. “But I don’t see one in here.”

“And I don’t see one in here, either,” I piped up as I exited my room.

Arian shook her head. “I cannot recall seeing any around here though I can ask around for one.”

“Oh, no need!” Lia replied as she dropped into her place at the table. “Grandpa will make me a very pretty one!”

“So your grandpa must be pretty important around here to be working with Lady Shian,” I mused as I took a seat at the head of the table.

She bobbed her head. “Oh, yes! He’s the god of carpers!”

I blinked at her but Arian laughed before she caught herself. She cleared her throat and began to dole out the plates from the trays. “Do you mean to say he is the god of carpenters?”

“That’s it!” Lia confirmed.

I lifted an eyebrow. “Specifically the god of carpenters?”

Arian nodded. “Of course. All the most powerful gods have a role which they excelled at the time of their creation or birth.”

Today was the day for confusing words. “Creation?”

She blinked at me. “Has no one told you? The eldest of the gods were created by eating a special fruit from the Diyedi Tree.”

My eyes lit up. “Oh! Yushir told me about that! He said it changed their appearance.”

“Uncle Yushir knows many things,” Prince Kean commented as he plucked a vegetable from his plate and took a bite of his food.

“Did your uncle eat the fruit, too?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “No. Uncle is not so old that he ate the fruit. Even Grandpa isn’t that old.”

“But your great-grandfather tasted the fruit,” Arian reminded him.

He frowned at her. “I was just about to say that.”

“But since your grandfather is the king your great-grandfather isn’t alive anymore?” I guessed.

He shook his head. “No. He died a long time ago.”

“The prince was not yet born before the first king of heaven passed away,” Arian informed me as she took up her seat. “There was a fierce battle between a mighty force and he was killed during the skirmish.”

My eyebrows shot up. “What kind of mighty force could kill a king?”

She shook her head. “There are very few who know the story first-hand. Lord Eastwei is one of them but I believe he does not speak of the battle. As I understand it, he was very close to the old king. His Majesty was the one who found him as a child and brought him to live in the heavens.”

I cocked my head to one side. “His Majesty found him in a foreign land, right?”

“Yes. He had been fending for himself for several millions of years and had just recovered from a terrible fight when His Majesty discovered him and brought him to finish his healing. Lord Eastwei showed his gratitude by fighting for him in many wars against the beasts who tried to attack the gate to the heavens. His prowess in those battles and his mercy toward the lower gods when they requested a truce is how he was elected the emperor.”

“He’s been through a lot, hasn’t he?” I mused.

“A lot of battles!” Kean piped up as he jumped to his feet and stretched his arm out as though he was holding a sword. “He cut threw countless monsters with his sword Diya and left their corpses to rot on the battlefield.”

I grabbed the back of his robes and yanked him down. “That’s enough of that talk while we’re eating. Anyway, I’m glad all of this is ancient history.”

Arian nodded. “Oh yes. There hasn’t been any sort of war for fifty thousand years, though Prince Yushir and Lord Eastwei do have to settle matters on the land when the clans come to a disagreement about their lands.”

I took a bite to eat and swallowed. “Why them?”

“They are His Majesty’s special envoys, being some of the oldest and wisest among the gods,” she explained. “And Lord Eastwei is still seen as a very respected leader among the clans.”

“You still have to take me to see your clan,” I reminded her.

She smiled and nodded. “Of course! I hoped we might go soon if you have nothing else planned.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I laughed. “I don’t think I do.”

“What about our treats?” Lia spoke up.

I patted her on the head. “Well, other than that.”

We laughed and dug into our food. The children ate and, seeing how sleepy Lia had become on an empty stomach, we bid them farewell. By this time it was the afternoon. I looked up at the sky and sighed.

“Is something the matter?” Arian asked me as we stood together in the garden.

I pursed my lips. “I was just thinking about the night sky.”

She followed my gaze and nodded. “I, too, miss the stars. My clan has a grand view of some of the most wonderful constellations.”

“That makes me want to go see your home even more,” I told her as I tucked my hands into my robes. “But I think I’ll go for a walk right now.”

“Would you like me to join you?” she offered.

I shook my head. “Not right now. I just feel like walking and thinking.”

She bowed her head. “Then be safe and return soon.”

I grinned and patted her on the shoulder. “Definitely.”

I sauntered out of the gardens and into the crowds that also had the same idea for an evening stroll. Couples walked arm in arm while women and men clustered together laughing and gossiping. It made me regret not bringing Arian along with me, but my thoughts were filled with the stories Kean and she had told about the enigmatic Lord Eastwei.

You’ve been thinking about him a lot lately.

My shoulders slumped and I sighed. “He’s been around a lot lately.”

I could almost hear my inner voice laughing at me. Are you sure that’s the reason?

I let out a growl that frightened a pair of older goddesses who quickly and eagerly skirted me. Maybe I needed someplace more secluded so I could shout as angrily as I wanted at my inner monologue. But where?

My wandering feet took me over hill and dale and past palaces grand and as simple as mine. Servants like Arian scurried hither and thither and even the higher tier gods hurried to appointments. I wondered if they were fulfilling their purpose, as Lia’s grandfather did.

I lifted my hands and studied my open palms. Lia had said that the older gods who had eaten the fruit all had their roles to play. I’d eaten a fruit, too, but where did I fit into this crazy magical world?

My fingertips twinkled and I started back. Thin wisps of magic floated out and wrapped around me. I froze and turned my head to try to follow the threads but they spun faster and faster. Their tails left behind faint trails that thickened the more times they flew and encircled me until I was trapped in a web.

Then the wisps darted forward and tightened the noose. Er, web.

My arms were pinned to my sides and I was yanked forward. I stumbled along down the empty streets with my magic floating to and fro in front of me but keeping to a straight path only it knew.

“Hey!” I shouted as I nearly tripped over my own feet. “I’m supposed to control you, not the other way around!”

I would have been filled with panic but the soft warmth of the threads was soothing. Somehow without words, I knew my magic wouldn’t harm me. Somebody else, maybe, but not me.

My magic tugged me through the city and to the outskirts far to the east. The carefully carved streets changed to rough stones and even those ceased, replaced with plain dirt and rocks. The houses fell away and trees took their place. Bushes and flowers bloomed in the chaotic way decreed by nature. The air smelled fresh and with a faint sweet smell of clear water.

I climbed a gentle incline to the top of a low hill and twisted my head around. The city and its hinterlands lay below us. A small grove of trees stood ahead.

And there was also the sheer drop off the island.

My heart pounded in my chest as the threads pulled me in that direction.

“Hey!” I shouted as I dug my heels into the dirt. That only slowed me down. “Hey! Look ahead! Danger! Danger!”

My magic didn’t heed my warnings but instead increased its speed. I twisted and thrashed in the webbing as my feet were dragged across the ground.

“Stop! Stopstopstopstopstopstop-”

I didn’t get to finish my protests before I was pulled to the abyss. I shut my eyes and waited for the doom wrought by my own magic.