Not a long time after Pax and Kyae were wed and named, it becomes known that the Goddess is with child. Sram desires a great celebration to be held after the child is born, and implores Eternity, his lord, to bless the babe. The great God agrees, and when the child, who is a son, is born, he is named Ara, which means 'holy day'. The great celebration is arranged, with every God invited—however, strife still runs amok through the ranks of the Gods, so not all is to go as planned.

Though every God is invited, not all of them receive their invitation: whether this is by fate or mishap is yet to be decided. The God who had previously argued with Sram, who will soon become known as Shishi, was jealous of Sram and the love he shared with his wife, and now the final straw was his rival having a peaceful babe, happy and newborn! The God could not give this to anything but Eternity's favour. He might have simply quietly fumed, but he soon finds out that he is without invitation to the party in honour of the child's birth. Outraged, he plans revenge. Eternity, though He is aware of Shishi's wrath and wicked intentions, does not intervene just yet. There are some disputes, He knows, that the Gods must learn to settle for themselves.

Just one day before the celebration is due, Ara is snatched from his basket while still asleep, when Rialle is speaking peacefully to her husband. Shishi is clever, and muffles the child by casting it asleep, and when Rialle returns to fine in horror that her babe is gone and there are few clues to point at Shishi, for even as he lifted Ara from where he lay he took the shape of the God with dark eyes, who will become known as Cyllan. Eortha of Earth has seen this, and mistakenly informs Rialle of that God's evildoing.

Both Sram and Rialle are equally horrified, though the accused God seeks an alibi, for he knows that the guilt is not his. He cries out to Eternity:

"Lord, I pray you defend me, for was I not in your garden when this trickery did occur?"

Eternity does not answer, and so the other Gods take this only as testimony to the dark-eyed God's guilt. Sram demands to know what has happened to his child, and his missing eyes glow red as they seek all of Tealita for his beloved Ara. Even Rialle, usually strong and calm, is weeping, imploring the God to speak up. He cannot, and continues to pray to Eternity.

Meanwhile, the devious trickster god who stole away Ara congratulates himself on his cleverness. Even as the sun turns red he hides the child—but nowhere on Tealita's fertile soil. He places the child in the one place Sram's gaze cannot pierce: behind the glare of the sun. He stays there also, knowing that in the chaos, his absence will not be noted.

Eternity knows that it is time to step in and help Kyae, who has almost come to blows with Sram. His voice echoes through the land, quiet but loud, angry but calm, powerful but full of love

"Where is Shishi?" Eternity asks, and all the Gods instinctively know who Shishi is and what his name means—'changing trickster'. Also, each God or Goddess suddenly notices that this God is missing. Sram, sensing that he has been tricked, cries Shishi's new name out to the Havens, louder than any mortal can imagine—so loudly that the mountains shook and the sea boiled and the desert roared with the rage of the War God. But Pax lets her spirit calm Sram, so that the echoes of his outraged cry die away quickly, even as the sun begins to sink in the sky, weighed down by Shishi and the stolen babe.

"Shishi," says Eternity, tone reprimanding, "Come down."

Like a child caught with his hands in the cook's cream, Shishi drifts down from his hiding place on the wings one of the unnamed Goddesses wears, bearing Sram's child, just as the red light of the dying sun disappears under the horizon. Upon seeing Shishi, Sram's rage boils once more, but Eternity immobilises the God of War.

"At peace, Sram," He says, but Sram protests.

"How can I be at peace? My son is missing by the tricks of Shishi, and I have falsely accused my brother of these wrongdoings! Let me cleave Shishi in two with the lightning of the Havens, Lord Eternity!"

Rialle, however, is of more merciful mind that Sram, and Eternity speaks for her only to hear. At this point, the babe Ara awakens in Shishi's arms and begins to cry. Calmly, Rialle, tears gone by this time, steps towards Shishi, who has tears of remorse prickling his eyes, and takes Ara from him. She speaks softly in his ear, without fury:

"You were to be invited to Ara's Nameday, Lord Shishi."

With this, she steps away with her child, but then she turns to face the other Gods, as though shielding Shishi from their wrath. Sram is stricken: is his love on the side of his enemy? But hark; she speaks, shattering Sram's assumptions.

"A wrong has been done here, and sin does not go without punishment. Here; Lord Shishi stands accused. Through divine envy he has shown himself to be a criminal by snatching my child and blaming another. Motives unquestioned, this is an unforgivable crime. And yet I forgive him. All of us must learn this virtue, and cherish it well, for only with it can we live together in peace, as we must."

At these words, the anger fads from the hearts of the Gods, even that of Sram. Shishi shakes his head and places his hand on Rialle's shoulder so that she turns on the spot. To the surprise of all the Gods but Eternity, Shishi falls to his knees.

"Please, Lady Rialle! I have wrong you, and I find my deed is done without provocation. I bid you, take seven Ages of my loyalty, so that I might repay you?"

Now, though the fire has faded from Sram's heart, he can not bear the thought of his beloved served by the trickster God. He steps forward, hand on Rialle's waist in a possessive sort of embrace. The look at one another and it takes them a single second to understand the other. The War God speaks for them both.

"Your servitude is not something that may be promised, Lord Shishi, until you prove yourself trustworthy. If you seek repentance, consider this: for you manner you will serve not one God, but all of us, carrying messages between the Gods so as to avoid another misinterpretation such as this. For is the Messenger not the most neutral of all, my Lord?"

Shishi's face twists for a second at the barb, but he quickly recovers his grace, painfully aware that he is the one being reproached here. "I accept this punishment," he says, "if Eternity permits it." Shishi hopes that He did not, for he does not wish to be punished so humiliatingly. Unfortunately:

"It shall be done," says Eternity, words thudding onto Shishi's shoulders, heavier than Sram's thunder bolts could ever be.

Behind Rialle and Sram, hovering at the back of all the other Gods, Kyae of Chaos smiles a twisted smile. Shishi's invitation had not been misplaced—oh, no. Chaos was responsible. And Chaos had reigned, if only for a short while.

Remember that things are rarely what they seem, and learn, Tealitians, from the mistakes of the Gods: learn to forgive and forget, but also learn to give punishment where it is due, and remember—a problem does not always end where it appears to end.