Yushir and Pampir stumbled out of the shadows of Gastdao with gleeful hearts and haggard faces. The filthy lord was glad for the first bench and dropped himself onto its top. Yushir joined him and the two breathed the fresh, bright sunny air of the heavenly kingdom.

“If I return there within a million years it will be too soon,” Pampir muttered.

Yushir was in silent agreement but kept his comments to himself as Dadan materialized out of the mist. He stood and brushed off his robes before he hurried over to his friend. “Well? What did she have to say to you?”

“Nothing important,” Yushir commented as he strolled past the prince.

Yushir scurried to catch up to his side. “Then you are off to my uncle?”

“Yes.”

“Then I shall go with you to help explain matters,” Yushir offered.

“I will catch up to you later,” Pampir called from his bench seat.

The pair didn’t acknowledge his promise but Pampir didn’t look for any return. He was too beaten and worn from the frantic trip through the mist. The lord was so muddled in his mind that he didn’t notice the two shadows that loomed over him until one of them spoke.

“Lord Pampir, what in the world has happened to you?”

He tilted his head back and blinked against the harsh light of the sun. One of the figures leaned over and their shadow revealed their face.

“Why, Lady Bidao!” Pampir exclaimed as he scrambled to his feet and bowed low to the woman. “My apologies for not greeting you properly!”

She smiled and pointed down at his clothes. “I am afraid your attire would prevent that.”

A blush accented his cheeks and he sought to cover himself with his towel. He pulled it off his shoulder and bits of leaves and dried twigs clattered to the ground.

Lady Bidao jumped back to avoid being impaled in the foot by the many branches. “My goodness, but where have you been?”

Pampir nodded at the grotesquely decorated bridge. “On the Gastdao.”

The other companion stepped forward. “Why were you there, Lord Pampir?” Lady Shian questioned him.

A little bit of color drained from the lord’s face but he lifted his chin. “I am afraid I cannot tell you, Lady Shian. It is of a sensitive nature.”

Bidao laughed and tickled his chin. “Surely nothing is so serious that you cannot gift us with some juicy gossip about it.”

Pampir blushed and stepped back out of her reach. “I am afraid not, My Lady. My sincerest apologies, but I cannot say a word about it.”

“Then perhaps you might tell us where you have been of late,” Bidao mused as she sauntered around the lord. “I have hardly seen you around this last week and am feeling lonely for our long talks.” She leaned her shoulder against his back and the man stiffened. The woman leaned her head forward and her whispered lips wafted her breath over his ear. “Now you will tell me where you have been then, won’t you?”

Pampir gulped so loudly it almost echoed around them. “I-I do not know, Lady Bidao-”

“Oh, come come!” she pleaded as she whisked around to face him. She tapped a finger against his tomato-red nose. “Surely you can at least tell us about your adventures these last few days. One of the guards at the gate told me you left through there and returned the next day. Where did you go that kept you overnight in that dismal place?”

The lord now visibly shook and he balled his hands into fists at his side. “I. . .I was on an escort mission.”

Bidao’s eyebrows shot up as she stepped back. “You were? How fascinating!” Lady Shian yanked on her friend’s sleeve but Bidao swatted her hand away before sweetly smiling at the lord. “Where did it take you?”

“Well, we-”

“We?” Bidao repeated as she cocked her head to one side and wagged her eyebrows at him. “Did you take a lady sightseeing, my lord?”

“No, but I had a cat with me. One of the spiritual ones,” he revealed.

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The disclosure made Shian freeze. She grasped the front of her robes and twisted them into knots.

Bidao set her hand over those of her friend and continued her adoration of the lord. “My goodness! Why ever did you take such a creature along with you?”

“I had no choice. She followed me through the gate,” Pampir revealed. “Fortunately, she proved most invaluable in tracking-” He stopped himself and cleared his throat again. “That is, in finding our way through the realm. I sought to confer with Lord Leiren on some matters regarding, um, his goods at the fair and we reached his abode with some difficulty as the turtle clan had taken offense at being excluded from the vendors. Fortunately, I was able to fend them off with my great strength and battle tactics.”

“My, what a tale!” Bidao complimented as she leaned back and looked him over. “But perhaps you should stay the story for another time. You will begin to attract attention with such attire.”

Pampir looked down at himself and his mouth fell open. “My goodness, but I am a fright! If you ladies will excuse me!”

“Gladly. . .” Bidao muttered as she kept her smile plastered on her lips. “Thank you for the wonderful story!”

“Good day to you both,” Pampir replied before he bowed his head and hurried away.

“You took quite an interest in his disappearance these last few days,” Shian commented after the man had disappeared.

Bidao winked at her. “All part of my plan for your benefit, my dear.”

Shian lifted an eyebrow. “Why my benefit?”

Bidao nodded in the direction Pampier had scurried. “Why else would Pampir go down to the land realms if not to follow Lord Eastwei? Everyone knows he adores him more than anything else and Eastwei was missing at the same time. We might assume that what Pampir told us was also experienced by Lord Eastwei.”

Some of the color drained from Shian’s face and her hand flew to her mouth. “By all the realms! Dadan was in such trouble!”

She tried to rush off but Bidao clapped a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Wait a moment, my eager friend. Your worry is admirable but short-sighted.”

Shian whipped her head about and glared at the other woman. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that you must take advantage of the situation,” Bidao suggested as she kicked at some of the branches on the ground left by their late friend. “He may need some comforting after such a trying couple of days. You might go and offer to cook him a meal or two to comfort him.”

Shian’s eyes widened and a smile brightened her face. “Yes! What a brilliant idea!”

Bidao laughed. “Of course it is, my dear. I thought of it. Now then-” She looped her arm through that of her friend and together they sauntered down the street. “Let us see how we might convince him to partake of our kindness. Perhaps your best dish?”

A hard and sharp glint slipped into Shian’s eyes. “Or perhaps something more special than that.”

Bidao lifted an eyebrow. “Such as what?”

Shian shook herself from her thoughts and hurried forward, tugging her friend along. “Nothing you need worry about, now let us see about that dinner!”

An icy chill ran down Bidao’s back and some of her good humor fell away. The last time her friend had told her that she had partaken in a terrible deed.

Stop it, Bidao! she scolded herself. You have to forget that ever happened!

“Is something the matter?” Shian’s voice startled Bidao from her internal scolding. She looked at her worried friend with a sharp eye. “Is something bothering you?”

Bidao bit her lower lip. “Does. . .does the. . .the trip to the land realm not bother you?”

Shian lifted her nose and scoffed. “Of course not. She did not belong here and now she is not here. All is balanced. Now stop thinking such foolish thoughts and let us go eat.”

Sound advice and Bidao’s mind could go along with it. Her heart, however, was another story.