“Your wife is thoughtful.” I had always been eager to pick at the scab before it healed, to yank despair into the open.

“Wife?” he repeated, tilting his head to one side. “She is my sister.”

“Sister!” Relief flooded me. This sister was preferable by far to his wretch of an immortal brother. “She is thoughtful to think of your well-being. Most kind and gracious and—” I bit down on my tongue, conscious of my rambling.

“Minister.” The attendant bowed again, adding urgently, “The council is expecting you.”

“I must go,” he told me.

I nodded, though I did not want him to leave. This brief interlude was a drop of water to a parched throat, a star in a solitary night.

“May I see you again?” His words came out tinged with disbelief, as though he could not believe he was asking such a thing.

My smile was both inviting and warm. “If you want to.”

He shook his head as though trying to clear it, and how I wished I could read his thoughts. “I do. Yet I do not want to impose upon you.” He tensed, before adding, “You are welcome to refuse. I would take no offense though I would be disappointed.”

“Do you make a habit of inviting strangers out?” I asked lightly, even as a thrill coursed through my veins.

“This is my first time. Yet you do not feel like a stranger.” He spoke slowly as though trying to unpick his own thoughts. “If it would put you at ease, I could invite my sister to join us, though she will interrogate you mercilessly.” Even now he was quick to sense an opening, to secure victory.

“There is no need,” I told him. “Just you will be enough.”

“Thank you for your trust.” His expression was grave as he glanced around the quiet neighborhood. “You might be new here, but much danger lurks in this city. Be careful whom you accept an invitation from. If there is any trouble, just—”

“I can look after myself,” I assured him.

A warmth spread through me that even now, he still watched out for me. Of course, he did not know who I was, what he had been—that no mortal danger could threaten me. Yet the perils of this realm were great for him and if he let me, I would stay by his side and watch over him, until we were together again in the skies above.

A slow smile broke across his face. “I am certain you can.” He was silent for a while, before saying, “If you wish, my attendant can accompany you back.”

I shook my head to decline. “I live far from here, up north. Though I come here often.” I hoped Liwei would not mind the transgression.