Ben and Cheng had chosen their weapons, taken their positions, and now began the duel. It started with swords laid flat across their arms as they bowed to each other. Then they backed up and the fight began.
The first strike of steel against steel answered any question Tenzin had about the lethality of the weapons. They were hewn to a very sharp edge.
Jonathan’s voice brought her back to the conversation. “If it’s the son I’m thinking of, her sire’s mate won’t like it, but it won’t be a bad turn for our shipping agreement. We’ve cultivated relationships beyond the obvious, and both of Mahina’s children are very competent leaders.”
Meaning Cheng had allies with all the factions in Sina’s court. A smart plan for a pirate and not an unexpected turn. Which made their motive even less than Jae had anticipated. Tenzin looked to the human to see if he understood, but his eyes were transfixed on Ben and Cheng’s duel.
Jonathan turned to the dueling vampires. “Speaking of interesting.”
Tenzin couldn’t take her eyes off her mate. “Isn’t it?”
“Do you think he realizes—?”
“Impossible to say.” She leaned forward. “For him, it is as natural as breathing.”
Though Ben wasn’t flying, his feet only glanced across the ground. He moved with a fluid grace, almost like he was swimming in the air. His movements were faster; his sword moved with preternatural speed, as if the air itself were fighting his opponent.
He had a slash across one arm and it was dripping; his blood suffused the ocean air and made Tenzin’s fangs grow longer in her mouth.
They circled each other, Cheng a master with his favorite weapon, and Ben a preternaturally gifted beginner.
The water in the air drew to the pirate’s skin, and his long hair was tied back, whipping in the breeze that grew stronger with each passing minute. Ben might not realize it, but the wind had picked up and the waves were rising.
Jonathan stopped all pretense of discussion, his attention riveted on the fight.
Jae breathed out. “Incredible.”
Both vampires bled from glancing wounds on their arms and chests. They spun with whip-fast speed around the clearing, faster than any human could move. Behind them, the ocean and the wind were locked in similar combat, the waves reaching up to grab at a whirlwind that had formed over the water.
Ben’s arms were longer and his reach was impressive, but Cheng was fast, ducking under Ben’s outstretched arm, sliding to the side and hitting the curved edge of his dao against Ben’s thigh.
The wound seemed to have no effect on Benjamin at all. He turned, his shoulders rippling with lean muscle and his body twisting as he dodged a piercing thrust from Cheng’s saber.
He lifted his arm and slashed down, pulling back at the last moment before he would have taken Cheng’s left forearm.
Cheng’s eyes darted to Ben’s face, his eyes narrowing when he realized how close he’d come to losing a hand.
He backed away, spinning with a flourish and bringing his sword to meet Ben’s blade in midair. “Draw!”
Both vampires froze, though the waves and the wind behind them had whipped up a squall. Water crashed along the dock as if a storm had descended on the harbor despite the crystal clear night sky.
A fine mist sprayed the entire veranda, the air whirling around Ben and lifting his hair, inching under his feet to cradle him.
“Magnificent,” Jae whispered.
Truly, in that moment, with the air whipping the ocean into a churning mass, the mist spreading behind him, and his element holding him in its embrace, Ben appeared like the prince he was. His hair blew wild in the wind, his lips were parted, his element held him—it was him—and as he blew out a simple breath between his lips, the mist fled from the veranda, the air calmed, and he settled again on the ground.
Jonathan turned to her, his face an indifferent mask, though she could see a slight tremble in the water vampire’s hand. “I do hate when you’re right about things, Tenzin.”
Tenzin watched her mate as he bowed to Cheng and exchanged the usual pleasantries she’d taught him when he was younger. It was a friendly duel. Nothing had been won or lost.
Except that it had.
Cheng joined them wearing a fresh shirt and dry pants that hadn’t been soaked by a violent ocean wind. He, Jonathan, Ben, Tenzin, and Jae sat in a more private study where a feast had been spread out, blood-wine had been opened, and a fire had been lit.
“Sina’s mate has made aggressive overtures to those of us in the south, and I’ve been receptive,” Cheng said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m cutting ties with Mahina’s people. Frankly, Ayal is a pain in the ass, impressed with his own cunning.”
“And Mahina’s son?”
“Kamaka has the tact of a shark, which means he has none.” Cheng grinned. “I like him. He’s forthright and he’s not a schemer. He’s predictable only because he serves his grandsire and their people. If he takes over from Mahina’s careful leadership, that can only be a benefit to us.”
Jonathan said dryly, “I’ll take rude and honest over scheming and friendly any day. We entertain Ayal and his people, but if it comes to it, Sina’s power will be behind those of her line, and her mate is not in her line.”
“So you have no reason to try to sabotage the announcement of Mahina and Elder Han’s reorganization?” Jae asked. “I ask only for clarity for my master.”
“This theft you told us about?” Cheng’s expression lost its amusement. “The island is a sacred place, as are any of the gifts and relics given to it. I may be a pirate, but I don’t tempt the gods.”
Ben asked, “Any ideas?”
Cheng frowned but said nothing, and Tenzin was happy to see that any animosity between the two seemed to have dissipated.
“I’d suspect Ayal’s camp,” Jonathan said, “but that would be a direct challenge to Mahina, and I don’t think he’d take that route. He knows that if he pushes Sina, she will not side with him. He is her companion, not her blood.”
Ben reached over, his fingers trailing down Tenzin’s forearm until they danced around her ring, twisting it between his thumb and his middle finger. He stroked the soft flesh between her knuckles as he spoke.
“We may be looking too far afield.”
Jae and Tenzin both turned to him.
“You know what I said from the beginning,” Ben said. “This may be less complicated than we think. The motives might be much simpler and have nothing to do with politics.”
Cheng nodded at him. “I agree with Vecchio. I’m a scheming thief by nature, but I truly can’t see a political outcome from this that would benefit the perpetrator. No good can come from the theft of the Pearl Seal unless all one wanted was for the elders to lose face.”
“And that,” Tenzin said, “could be a very dangerous thing.”
“Volatile,” Cheng added. “I may tweak those who seek to bind me too tightly, but I would never presume that the combined power of the elders is something I could take on directly. I’m not a fool.”
“If I may?” Jonathan turned his attention to Tenzin.
She nodded.
“I deeply respect the elders and their society,” he said carefully. “The peace they have brought in the past few centuries has no equal in immortal history.”