Chapter One
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If we have Fate, no distance shall separate us.
Celestial Palace of the Jade Emperor.
“Oh for Heaven’s sake! Mortals and their petty obsessions!”
Rui was on her way to the Celestial Palace, an opulent gold-roofed palace surrounded by smaller gold-roofed palaces that sat on the highest peak of the tallest mountain in the Heavens, when the muttered exclamation from the Jade Emperor’s seventh daughter drifted to her ears.
It had been ages since she’d been summoned to the palace. Her home was deep beneath the Four Seas, where she hunted, dreamed, and in general enjoyed her unencumbered freedom in the vast mysteries and bounties of the ocean.
Once in a while, she was called upon to aid mortals who rode the waves in their wooden conveyances, now made of steel or other modern, manmade materials. Or to bring food to island dwellers who suffered the lack with storms that swept the gifts of the ocean into their clever nets. Humans prayed to her sometimes, especially on the Asian continent, for luck and fortune.
For Rui was aFu-cang Long, a treasure dragon.
Even amongst her brothers and sisters, she was famous for adeptness at finding treasure, as well as infamous for her propensity to hoard it.
She had other duties as well, and took pride in being the best of the best. If she hoarded treasures, it was because of her role as the underworld guardian of precious metals and jewels. She watched over volcanoes as well, making sure they burbled with peace and contentment beneath the seas. If they grew wrathful, she tried to warn and protect the mortals on land.
They didn’t always listen to her, however. But that was not her problem.
She executed her duties diligently, but she could not make simple, selfish, myopic humans see reason if they willfully remained blind. Rui did not have a high opinion of the two-legged land-walkers, even though she was instructed to take humanoid form for this particular summons.
Which was why she paused in her strides to empathize with Seventh Sister, who was one of her favorites among the Jade Emperor’s daughters.
“Greetings, Miss Seventh,” she said with respectful formality.
Her more playful sisters and brothers often teased her for her “icy demeanor.”
She did not have close friends or confidantes. She liked aloneness and was never lonely. It was not because she didn’t want to make friends, but because she was content as she was. And she related much better to the creatures of the sea than to humanoids of any Kind.
“What troubles you this fine day?”
Normally, Rui would not engage in idle banter with anyone, especially while she was on duty. But on this occasion, she’d arrived quite a bit too early. The Jade Emperor required punctuality, not earliness or tardiness, so she had some time to while away before she must present herself to the Ruler of Heavens.
Also normally, Rui would have found a secluded corner of the sumptuous Palace gardens to lose herself in daydreams, which often included the searching and amassing of more treasure. Most of it was for the endlessly deep coffers of the Heavens and Underworld. But once in a while, she found something uniquely hers.
As to her departure from routine today…well, Miss Seventhwasone of her favorites, after all.
“Human women,” the Jade Emperor’s daughter complained, the delicate scowl on her unlined, porcelain complexion expressing her utter frustration where words didn’t suffice.
“They could do so much more with the gifts they were blessed with if they didn’t waste so much energy onmen.”
Rui nodded in complete accord.
Verily, she didn’t understand the dynamics of the sexes amongst the humanoids. So much more complicated, convoluted and combustible than the simple bonds amongst animals.
As for beings like herself, which were created by magic rather than born, she really didn’t understand humanoids’ need for companionship, sometimes to the point of permanency. These pairings occurred in the animal world as well, but it was a thing of nature, not of will.
Apparently, Rui’s commiserating nod was all Miss Seventh needed to pull her, literally, into her confidence.
She grasped Rui’s arm and half led, half dragged her along as she trudged through the garden.
“Come with me. I’ll show you what I mean.”
Rui stifled a sigh of reluctant acquiescence.