Page 30 of Night's Reckoning
Elder Zhang said, “Welcome to the great hall, Miss Salvadori. Scholars and teachers are always welcome in Penglai.”
Fabia’s face was pleasantly flushed, and her voice was barely audible. “Thank you very much.”
Andrew bowed again. “I thank the elders for their attention and ask if there is any assistance I can offer at this time as a friend of the court.”
“There is not,” Lu Dongbin said. “Thank you, Mr. Leu.”
A subtle murmur rose in the Hall, and Ben saw attention had already drifted away from them. This was a busy place, and they were three humans who were guests. No one was going to halt their evening to make a fuss over them.
Andrew turned and motioned them toward the back of the room with raised eyebrows.
“That is all,” he whispered. “You are introduced. We must go.”
Ben looked over his shoulder one more time to see Zhang speaking to someone just beyond a screen to his right.
For a moment he saw her, and she saw him.
A flash of red silk, a pair of grey eyes, and a second later, Tenzin was gone.
* * *
Why hadhe brought the Italian girl?
A sour taste filled Tenzin’s mouth as she paced in Zhang’s antechamber. Her fangs nicked her bottom lip and she tasted blood. Why had Ben brought that woman? Zhang’s letter hadn’t asked for Ben to bring a team. It had asked him to come to Penglai. Him. No one else.
Zhang entered the room off the Hall of Elders where he met in private with petitioners or took breaks to meditate. The room had vaulted ceilings and windows to the outdoors, in respect of his element. When Zhang required her to be in the Hall, she most often remained here.
“Give him some time to settle in, then summon him to meet me,” he said.
“Send a servant.” She bit out the words.
“No.” Zhang looked at her. “I have allowed you to set the terms of this assignment and have coerced your human to the island. I have already agreed to pay him an additional fee to what I am paying Cheng and you. But I am not your intermediary. Whatever conflict you have with this man, it is yours to settle. If you want me to hire him, you can bring him to me. You, Tenzin. Not a servant.”
Tenzin’s eyes flashed. “So pronounces the Great Arbiter.”
Zhang’s gaze was steady. “Should I fear your rage? Your condemnation? You have given me both.” He spread his arms. “And yet I remain your sire. As I always will be. It would be wise of you to remember that.”
“It would be wise of you to remember that it is your alliances that suffer from the loss of the Laylat al Hisab, not mine.”
Zhang raised one eyebrow. “Do you have alliances? I thought your only loyalty was to yourself?”
Tenzin stepped toward her sire, spread her arms dramatically, and got down on her knees before she put her face to the ground. She pressed her forehead to the cold marble before she looked up with fire in her eyes.“Aabmen.”
My father.The words he always longed to hear, spoken in the most patronizing voice she could muster.
Zhang smirked. “Never before has a bow held so much defiance.”
She rose to her knees. “What other allegiance should I have, Father, but to myself and the few beings who please me? Have I not learned your lessons well?”
“I have learned to evolve,” Zhang said. “Have you?”
Tenzin straightened her garments. “That would imply that I need to change.” Like Ben and the Italian woman, she wore a traditional robe that wrapped around her body. Unlike theirs, hers had a square, notched collar like her father’s.
“Don’t you need to change?” Zhang’s eyes had never looked older. “Don’t we all?”
“I suppose that is a kind of wisdom, but it is not mine.” She rose to her feet. “I’ll fetch Benjamin. You want to meet with him here?”
“No, take him to my personal quarters. I want to put him at ease. I’ll tell the servants to prepare a meal.”
