Page 80 of Night's Reckoning
You were.
You are.
You will be.
The whispers at the back of her mind were quiet, but they grew louder the more she thought about the past, which was why she did not think about the past. She thought about the future. She had made plans that included Benjamin. For now, those plans would be put on hold.
Don’t think of it.
For now, she would focus on the job at hand, finding the Laylat al Hisab. Bringing peace to Arosh and Zhang and staving off a conflict she could feel brewing across the Old World.
She landed in the courtyard of her house and saw her sire sitting at a table, talking with Jinpa and drinking tea. He looked up and smiled when she approached.
“Min zuvu.” Zhang called her his little bird. “What brings you home?”
It was an endearment Tenzin had once used with her daughter, who had died from a fever before the age of three. She both hated and loved the term.
“A progress report.” She wiped the pain of memory from her mind and sat cross-legged on the cushion across from Zhang. She waited while Jinpa fetched her a pot of tea. “And wondering why you are here.”
“I feel I am needed.”
“For?”
Zhang took a drink of tea while Jinpa poured Tenzin’s.
“The Laylat al Hisab,” he said, “was only ever a symbol.”
“Symbols are important.” Tenzin sipped her tea and nodded to Jinpa, who left for the kitchen.
“They are.” He waited for Tenzin to set her cup down. “Who sent the earth vampire?”
Tenzin wasn’t surprised he knew about Johari; she was surprised he didn’t know who sent her. “Saba.”
“Do you trust her?”
“No.”
“Good.” Zhang sat completely motionless. “She won’t give you reason to distrust her until it is too late.”
“It could be that Saba has relented.”
“No. She never approved of Arosh’s peace agreement with me. She believes too much peace is dangerous.”
“Is she correct?” Tenzin thought about the lawless areas of Central Asia where there were constant turf wars between immortals jockeying for power, resources, and influence over human governments. “When you ruled in Kashgar, it was peaceful.”
“Then there was war and Arosh ruled there.”
Tenzin took another sip of tea. “Yet between those wars, there was extended peace, and both you and Arosh kept a watchful eye on those territories. Now no one pays attention to them and there is corruption, violence, and a constant immortal struggle for power.”
Zhang sat motionless for a long time. “I will think about what you have said.”
“You should,” she said. “Progress on the shipwreck is going well. We have found the ship, and the humans have documented it. It will bring honor to the scholars at the university.”
“That is excellent news.” Zhang smiled. “I am pleased they will receive recognition for their work.”
“So far there is nothing that would alert them to anything being out of the ordinary. We do not have to worry. And Benjamin…” She surprised herself by stopping.
“What about young Vecchio?”
