“I’m going out for a walk.” He stood and abruptly left their chamber. “I’ll be back before dawn.”
Chapter Ten
They met with Zhang at dusk the following night. Tenzin appeared nonplussed about seeing her sire, but there was a low hum of tension through their shared amnis that she couldn’t hide.
They hadn’t spoken much that morning. In the predawn light, Ben had watched the monks in the garden moving silently about their chores, sweeping pathways, trimming bushes, and clearing a dusting of snow from the steps around the great hall.
They all seemed content, but how would he know if they weren’t? Their order existed to serve the Eight Immortals, who were venerated almost as gods to the devout on the islands.
Or so he’d been told.
“Benjamin.” Zhang greeted Ben warmly when they arrived in his personal lounge. Low couches were propped up along the walls of a small room with an open section in the center of the roof. Below the opening, a fire glowed in a brass brazier that heated the sitting area to a comfortable temperature. Before they sat, a monk silently stole into the room and added several pieces of glowing charcoal, then slipped away without a word from either Zhang or the monk.
“Please.” Zhang motioned to the seats across from him. “Join me. Tai is bringing blood.”
Tenzin slid in first; then Ben followed.
His mate stared at Zhang from across the glowing brazier. “I don’t like that you roped us into this. There’s some kind of subterfuge going on with the Pearl Seal, and you haven’t told us what it is yet.”
Zhang said nothing, just waited as Tai entered the room, set out three goblets, and poured fresh blood into them.
Ben couldn’t help thinking of whatever poor island resident had bled into his cup. Was it a man? A woman? Maybe even one of the teenagers he’d seen working alongside the adults? Had the person ever met a vampire? Did they know what their blood was helping to sustain? Were they happy or were the islands a prison the donor wanted to escape?
“Thanks to those who sacrificed for this sustenance,” Zhang muttered before he drained his goblet in one long draft. “Ben, aren’t you hungry?”
Ben took his blood and finished it quickly, but Tenzin only sat and watched her sire with narrowed eyes.
“The Pearl Seal,” she said. “What is going on?”
Zhang’s eyebrows rose in silent amusement. “Would you believe that I don’t know?”
“No,” Tenzin said.
“Yes.” Ben looked at her. “I keep telling you this isn’t some grand conspiracy. I think someone stole it for the gold.”
Zhang lifted one finger. “There I disagree with you, Benjamin. Anyone who stole the seal to make money would need a buyer in the outside world or a broker to sell it for him or her. Most people here on the island don’t know how to use a telephone, much less engineer a sophisticated art heist. Remember who you’re dealing with.”
The answer should have satisfied Ben because it made sense, but there was something that didn’t sit right with him.
“Does this have to do with a shift in power?” Tenzin asked. “Will Mahina’s arrival throw off the current balance? Is that why someone doesn’t want her to settle here?”
Zhang didn’t answer immediately, which led Ben to think Tenzin was onto something.
“Mahina is a regent,” Ben said. “Jae was very clear about that, which means that Elder Han has been clear with his household that they are to treat her as his equal.”
“She’s also the daughter of an ancient,” Tenzin said. “Sina is your elder by how many years? No one knows. She could be as Saba in the sea, and Mahina is her most beloved child.”
“But not her only,” Zhang said. “Sina had many children.”
“Still,” Ben said. “Could one of the elders here resent the idea of that concentration of power in Han’s camp?”
“Lu Dongbin,” Tenzin said.
“No.” Zhang shook his head firmly.
“Just because he’s your oldest friend and ally doesn’t mean he’s incapable of political machinations,” Tenzin said. “In fact, it makes him far more likely to protect his power as the other water vampire on the council.”
“Elder Han represents the southern territories, and Elder Lu the north,” Ben said. “Isn’t that right?”
“Now a powerful vampire of the south sea is joining her mate in Penglai,” Tenzin said.
Zhang held up a hand. “I understand your reasoning, but it is false.” He leaned closer and dropped his voice to barely over a whisper. “Privately, Elder Lu is in favor of a reinforcement of our southern waters. Between Cheng and Sina’s mate, an extra southern ballast is welcome.” Zhang turned his attention to Ben. “I understand you put on quite the display for Cheng’s people.”
Ben blinked. “How did you know—?”
“I have my sources in his company,” Zhang said. “They were impressed. Well done. It was subtle but a formidable display of power.”
So that was another pat on the back for a gross display of jealousy and power. Ben was really batting a thousand with the neolithic-justice crowd on this trip.
“We’ll keep working on it,” Tenzin said. “Ben toured the islands last night. He’s worried about the children going to school.”
“The island children go to school,” Zhang said. “I believe it is mandatory for both girls and boys though grade six.”
“What about college?”
Zhang shrugged. “They don’t need college to do their work. Reading, writing, mathematics, and simple history of the islands is enough for the work they do.”
“But what if they want to do other work? What if they want to be a… scientist? Or an artist?”
“We have an artists’ guild,” Zhang said. “Who do you think paints the murals that decorate our rooms here? Who carves the screens or works the metal?” Zhang appeared amused. “You have a very modern perspective, Benjamin, which is expected. But education can come in many forms. Not everyone needs a Western university degree to excel in life.”
Ben hardly thought any of the islanders were given the chance to excel, but he kept his mouth shut. This wasn’t his home. These weren’t his people. He’d only be feeding into stereotypes about Western superiority if he criticized Penglai’s way of life.
“I give in.” He raised his hands. “Life on the islands is idyllic, and the humans here want for nothing.”
Zhang smiled. “Life can be hard everywhere,” he said. “This year we were informed the wheat crop was low. Luckily, we can bring in wheat from the outside world. If we did not, many of our residents might go hungry this winter.”
“Huh.” Ben was impressed. “If that was a small wheat crop, I should come back in a good year and see a big one. The farming islands are incredibly lush even in winter. I enjoyed my tour with Jae.”
Tenzin and Zhang exchanged a look but said nothing, leaving Ben with the feeling, once again, that he’d been left out of something important.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”