13. The Companions

  “Are you certain that you are willing to take on this task for me?” Little Bug asked the three dao companions. They sat in the private chambers that Di Tonilla had added on to her private compound for Little Bug, where Atla was playing with toy horses in one corner of the room.

  “We’ve spoken about it at length in private. We are honored that you trust us and are pleased to make this journey in your name,” Lahri said.

  “You have given us a great honor and we look forward to representing you to the court of Prince Yema,” Arjun agreed.

  “And we will bleed them for every opportunity or advantage we can squeeze out of them,” Farun said.

  Little Bug nodded, then presented them with the uncut diamond. “This will lead your way. Lilayla herself paved the way to the court when she arrived, and this should pull you back to her origin point. When you are ready to return to Atla, you will need the assistance of Prince Yema’s court to make the journey, so I suggest that you either be friendly so that they want to help, or so obnoxious that they cannot wait to get rid of you.”

  They laughed, and took the stone. With their Qi combined as one, they reached out and touched the hidden world inside the stone. They were sucked inside, then twisted sideways, kittywompus, and backwards as they were pulled through dimensions. Despite how sturdy they were as golden path cultivators, the journey was not one that was easy for them, and they emerged on the other side with with a queasy, nauseated feeling, but managed to keep their last meal in their stomachs.

  They stood in an archway, and the room was aglow with lit up runes and magical symbols of every color. They examined the scene for a moment before a servant appeared and bowed humbly. “Welcome of Prince Yema, honored emissaries. If you would come with me, I will show you to your quarters and make you comfortable. Do you have any luggage?”

  “Only a mountain or three,” Farun said, handing over the box where his personal mountain resided. “Tell me, have you arranged for one room or three for us?”

  “Three, of course.”

  “That will not do,” Arjun said. “For we will not be separated. Even in death, we are sworn to trod the road forward together.”

  The servant’s eyes shot up. “I see. We can knock the wall out and, yes, that will work. But it will take some time to arrange. In the mean time, perhaps you would wish to visit the garden?”

  “That sounds lovely,” Lahri agreed, and the servant led them deeper into the palace, while another one who had been listening ran off to begin the construction on their room. Mortal servants – for in the court of Prince Yama anyone below the Golden Path was considered mortal – worked with superhuman speed, endurance, and precision as they combined the three guest suites into one large one. The beds were pushed together, and the furniture rearranged for the increased space.

  It took mere hours while the dao companions sat on the edge of a pond, feeding the koi.

  “The Qi here feels strange,” Lahri commented.

  “It’s not Atla’s Qi, that’s all. We’ll get used to it,” Arjun predicted.

  “Is it strange that I’m already homesick?” Lahri asked.

  “Not at all,” Farun assured her. “But remember why we’re here. Lord Little Bug needs allies, and we are here to assist him in securing as many as possible. We owe him everything, including the love we bear for each other. If it were not his insight, perhaps we would never have set down this path together.”

  “I know,” Lahri said, rehearsing the skit they’d prepared for just this moment for the spies that were watching. The companions could sense the eyes upon them, and they gave a grand performance, idly enjoying themselves while discussing their hopes and motivations.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Or at least the ones that they chose to present to the court.

  ~~~~~~

  Yema was pleased. While a prince, she was very much a woman. The court simply used masculine names for its ranks due to an archaic system which nobody could agree to change, so it remained in place. And she was very happy that the new Xian Ascendant had chosen to send her not one, but three representatives before sending any to the other courts which had sent him an invitation.

  Ultimately it wasn’t exactly something that she could lord over the others, as she didn’t know the intricacies of Little Bug’s court and so she didn’t understand the motives behind the actions. It might have been a compliment to her, a slight, a way of getting rid of ambitious underlings, or a way of honoring loyal retainers. She simply didn’t know.

  Which was the most frustrating thing of the entire situation, but also the most delightful.

  That someone had daringly managed to create a Xian world inside of the stagnant universe that Duke Loshi held in his stranglehold was the gossip of the entire Emerald Court, and she couldn’t wait for the gossip that these three interlinked companions would bring spread to her ears.

  She wanted to call them to an audience at once, but there was a way of things. First a feast which would last three days, and then she would make an appearance, and then finally a formal introduction, in which she would invite them to a private audience.

  And then she would be able to speak candidly with them and fish for what she truly desired.

  Information.

  Gossip yes.

  But ultimately, she wanted to know how it was that Little Bug had done it. How he had managed to raise a world in the backwater, Qi starved wastelands that was Loshi’s domain. While she didn’t expect an answer, perhaps the emissaries would provide hints of how it was done.

  In the mean time, she had a feast to enjoy, she reflected, waiting patiently as the mechanisms of her palace began to turn and the servants prepared for the celebration. She could already smell the sweetmeats cooking, and she sneaked out of her throne room to pester the cook.

  ~~~~~~

  “Father, I can’t sense them anymore,” Atla said, standing nervously and holding the toy horse to his chest.

  “Yes, they are very far away from you,” I answered. “I didn’t expect your senses to stretch that far, so don’t—”

  “Bring them back,” Atla said.

  I paused. “Atla, have we not talked about this? They are representing me, representing us, to our potential allies elsewhere in another dimension. I—”

  “They’re my, their your friends. I don’t like it that they’re somewhere I can’t watch over them. What if they get in trouble? How will I help them if I can’t see them?” Atla demanded.

  I nodded, and put my hand on my son’s shoulder comfortingly. “We just have to have faith that they will see the path which leads them back home on their own, Atla. I am certain that they will be fine.”

  “You don’t know that though,” Atla said. “I see it when you look at fate, and there are fates where they die off world. You know it and I know it too. I don’t want that to happen.”

  “They knew that when they accepted the task, my son. But with danger comes opportunity for growth. I sent the companions to Prince Yema because I saw that they would have a chance for immense growth if planted in that soil. And besides, the future where the companions die together is very, very unlikely to happen, and you know that too.”

  Atla pouted at him, then looked at his toy horse. “I’m going to go look at real horses,” he declared, and he vanished. With his clothes this time, so that was an improvement, so long as he remembered to manifest them when he reappeared.

  Wherever that might happen. I shook my head, pleased at the world-child’s rapid growth. Hopefully I was doing a good job of guiding him.

  ?