I couldn’t stop thinking about that night and the expression on Lord Eastwei’s face as he stared at me. There had been something in his eyes that I’d never seen before. A kindling of some emotion that he was trying his best to tamp down.

“Anna? Lady Anna?”

I shook myself from my reverie and turned to my walking partner. Arian looked at me with concern as we strolled down the bright streets of the white city. It was a week after my ill-fated meeting with the godly lord and I was no longer wondering how somebody spent eternity entertaining themselves. As a god, the days seemed like hours and the weeks like days.

I smiled at her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to space out.”

She blinked at me. “Space. . .out?”

I laughed and shook my head. “It’s just a saying from my world. It means I was distracted.”

She nodded. “I was concerned you would run into something, so distracted were you.”

“There isn’t too much to run into in these wide streets,” I commented as I swept my eyes over the road. Entrances to luxurious palaces dotted both sides of the street and people strolled to and fro, paying visits to one another and chatting with friends as I did with mine.

“You might become so distracted you fall off the heavens,” she countered.

A little bit of color left my face as I recalled my harrowing entrance into Lord Eastwei’s private realm. “Then I really can fall over the side?”

She nodded. “Of course! And without the ability to fly you would fall to your death!”

Her comment brought a question to mind. “Are there shifters who can fly?”

“Oh yes. There are many who can transform into great birds large enough to carry even us on their backs.”

“Is that how you got up here? By flying?” I guessed.

She laughed and shook her head. “Oh no. The heavens are too high for mere flight. There is a gateway that leads from the land realms to heaven and anyone with permission may use it to travel between the realms.”

I thought about the request. “Permission from the king?”

“Oh, no, not only him. You may come as a guest of another or others may make requests for land gods to come, such as when I arrived at the behest of Lady Shian,” she revealed.

I lifted an eyebrow at her. “She requested you personally?”

Arian shook her head. “No. She advertised maids to assist with maintaining the heavens and I applied. I was accepted and allowed to pass through the portal with others.”

I swept my eyes over those who passed by us, maids and lords and ladies alike. “Are all the maids from the land realms?”

“No, but many are. The heavens are so great that it cannot be maintained by the heavenly gods alone.”

A great sigh escaped me and my shoulders sagged a little. “There’s so much to remember. . .”

She leaned forward to catch my eye with her soft smile. “You need not worry about memorizing every aspect of this life just yet. There are many years left for you to learn everything.”

I looked down at myself and laughed. “Millions, if Prince Yushir wasn’t teasing me.”

“Not at all,” she assured me as we strolled around a corner. “Many gods are as old as he.”

I studied my companion with a curious eye. “Are you that old?”

She laughed and shook her head. “No, I am of a younger generation and am only fifty thousand.”

“Only fifty thousand. . .” I murmured as we continued down the lane. “Is that all?”

A fervor some fifty yards down the way caught my attention. A crowd of men gathered outside the archway that led into Shian’s gardens. Many of them were dressed in worn leather jeans and rough woolen shirts, and some were even without shoes while others showed off thick, heavy boots. They wore their hair long and short, some tied in tails and others barely covering their head. Young and old gathered about the arch with eager eyes on the interior.

I stretched my neck to get a better view of the multitude. “What’s going on over there?”

“The workers from the land realms have come to help decorate the heavens for the Twilight Fair,” Arian explained as we stopped a few yards away.

One of the workers, a husky young man of twenty, turned at Arian’s voice. His eyes fell on her and lit up. “Arian!”

Her hand flew to her mouth and she gasped. “Jin!”

The young man squeezed out of the crowd and raced over to us. He was all smiles as he looked her over. “You are as pretty as ever, Arian.”

She put her hands on her hip and playfully glared at him. “And you are as bad a flatterer as the last time we met.”

A broad grin stretched across his face. “I would be better at it if you had stayed at home.”

“You’re one to talk about staying at home,” she countered as she nodded at the cluster of workers. “Have you come to help with the decorations?”

He nodded. “Yep. The king put out a request for some extra work to be done on some of the palaces and we’re here to report for duty. We also need to string up all the lights and the streamers before the big event, so that’s why some of the beak mouths are here.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Do they really need that much help?” I wondered as I studied the crowd. “I mean, can’t everyone here just use their magic to make all the decorations and things?”

Arian pursed her lips. “They could if they had more time but I believe Lady Shian has neglected her duties of late. Many of the palaces are sorely in need of repair and the magic needed to fix what is necessary would exhaust the residents.”

“Which is good business for the rest of us,” Jin chimed as he put his fisted hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. “We’ll put our good land realm magic to work helping the heaven folk and get a good bag of coins out of it, too.”

A lady of Shian’s palace stepped out and the crowd backed away. Her nose was slightly lifted as she studied the men with an air of moral superiority. “If you will all form a

“That’s my cue to get in there,” Jin told us as he sidestepped toward the crowd. He kept one hopeful eye on my companion. “I’ll see you later?”

Arian cast a questioning look at me and I laughed. “Of course we will. Come to my palace and we’ll have lunch.”

The man’s face lit up and he bobbed his head. “Thanks a bunch!” He shot off but spared some time to wave over his shoulder at us. “And see you later!”

Arian sighed and shook her head. “He has not changed a bit.”

“You haven’t seen him in a while?” I guessed as we continued our stroll around the long line.

“Since I arrived here two years ago,” she told me as her eyes took on a faraway look that wasn’t completely devoid of happiness. “Jin and I grew up together and you could say we were very close.”

My eyes twinkled as I nudged her arm with my elbow. “Really close?”

A warm blush on her cheeks was all the answer I needed, but she still stuttered out a few words. “I-I would not describe the relationship as such, but we were very good friends. He was very disappointed when he learned I was to leave home for the heavens.”

I furrowed my brow as I contemplated her words. “Was it really that important that you come up here?”

Arian sighed and stared at the long walk ahead of us. “My father thought so. He believed I would learn a great deal of good habits and magic from the gods and goddesses.”

“And have you?” I wondered.

She dropped her eyes to the ground and furrowed her brow. “I have learned that the gods and goddess above are as flawed as those below.”

Arian’s droopy face was a picture of disappointment and regret. My heart twinged at the dark lines on her pretty features. I threw my hand up against my forehead and feigned my own disappointment. “Surely you don’t include me in that list?” My friend had such an expression of terror that I burst into laughter.

“Of course not!” she insisted as she shook her head. “I would never think such a thing.”

I stopped and spun around to cup her chin in both my hands. “You don’t need to shake your head off. I believe you.”

She breathed out and a mountain of tension slid off her body. There was even a hint of a smile at the corners of her lips. “Though I may not have had such a wonderful beginning here, I am glad I am here now.”

I grinned and nodded. “That’s good to hear, but you haven’t said the words I really want to hear.”

Arian cocked her head to one side and blinked at me. “What words?”

I jerked my head in the direction of the crowd of men. “That you want some time off to see your old friend.”

Arian blushed and her fingers fidgeted together in front of her. “I. . .I would like to speak with him again.”

I spun on my heels to face the same direction as her and we strolled down the walk. “Then you’ll have as much time as you want. I don’t have anything better to do.” The mention of my free time brought a wonderful thought to the forefront of my mind. “Can anyone decorate their palaces or does Shian do all that?”

Arian shook her head. “Shian may offer her services but you are allowed to decorate your home as you please, and when the evening of the fair comes everyone is allowed into the grounds of all the palaces to view the decorations.”

My eyes lit up and I rubbed my hands together. “Then what do you say to us having a fun time decorating our home?”

“The palace belongs to you and you alone, Anna,” she gently reminded me.

I draped my arm over her shoulders and drew her close against my side. “Then as the mistress Fanshe Hall, I deem that the palace belongs to the two of us and we are both in charge of decorating it for the festival.”

Arian blushed a mighty red but I could see the deep joy in her eyes. This was going to be a lot of fun.