Zeus wouldn't have seen anyone on his casual stroll through the gardens, but he would've sensed them close and heard them as voices and whispers carried on the wind. He wouldn't hear the rustling through the leaves as they abandoned the paths to spread the news that Lan Bao had a visitor for their feet were as stealthy as their powers.
Lan Bao sent one of her clan to greet Zeus formally and to let him know that she was in one of the small rooms nestled near the wall in the back of the gardens, away from the temple. After Qui Min left to inform Zeus to follow the signposts marked 'Tearooms' (Zeus would recognise her as the woman who'd bade him greeting the first night he'd come), Bao turned to the man on his knees, with his forehead pressed to the floor before her.
"The man who comes will give me good news," she told him in Mandarin. "Be thankful for this interruption, for it has put me in a more merciful mood. Go home and do not fail me again."
"Thank you, Lady of Light, Queen of Herons," he blathered, compliments gushing out of him like a broken toilet. That was the worth of his words to her. She disliked dealing with humans - this one, leaking out of his nose and eyes, was no different. If he lingered, she would change her mind and take his worthless life, but he was smart enough to make a hasty exit.
Taking in a long, calming breath and smelling the pungent scent of fear in the air, Bao's nostrils flared and she walked with a smooth glide to the exiting door. She was aware that the human would thrash past Zeus as he came to see her, but she was content with the amount of separation between them. Slowly, she headed for the room beside the one she'd just vacated, so that the air would be fresh as she sat with Chtahzus'aak.
She had expected him to come soon after the announcement from the young one at the Academy.
"It is a pleasure to see you," she told the garden path an instant before Zeus stepped onto it. Her smile curved at the sight of him. Powerful yet reasonable, he'd conceded to her instruction the first time but she wouldn't push him twice. She respected him for respecting her. "Come sit with me," she invited, moving into the second tea room that was not as traditional as the first. This one had a table and couches. They were low and long, but she and her new ally would not be on the floor.