A month after returning from the Dragon Spine Mountains, Wang Ben followed his grandfather toward the clan's main hall. The envoy they had been expecting had arrived that morning and was waiting inside.
He still remembered the journey down. Yucheng, who had guided them up the mountain, had taken them down by a harder path than the one they had climbed, burning a handful of grade-six concealment talismans to keep the beasts off them. The attendant had said nothing. Ben and his grandfather, exhausted after the nights at the sanctuary, had followed in silence.
The pressure Ben had felt on the ascent had been absent. He had thought it might be Shen Wuyan watching them then, but he had never learned whether he was right.
Since their return, they had waited for word from the Crimson Bastion. The City Lord's inquiry had carried the matter beyond Redstone. Now a man had come up the valley road ahead of the delegation.
Wang Tian met them at the inner door.
"He asked for you, Father. He has said nothing about his business to anyone else."
Beyond him, the envoy waited beside a cup of tea. His formal robes were unlike those Ben saw in Redstone, and his cultivation was held close. He rose as Tiexin entered.
His grandfather took the head seat. "What word does the domain capital send?"
"Domain Lord Tie Wushan has taken an interest in your clan, Patriarch Wang," the envoy said. "Its rise since the clan war has been remarkable."
Ben stood beside his father and listened.
The envoy spoke of the demonic attack and the strength the Wangs had shown in surviving it, far beyond what the capital had expected of them. Then he turned to the Xue survivors, who had fallen to the demonic path so soon after their defeat. He dwelt on how fortunate the timing had been for the Wang Clan.
"A delegation from the Crimson Bastion will arrive within days to discuss matters of mutual interest," he said. "Your cooperation will be noted favorably."
Ben glanced at his grandfather. They had defended themselves, and the capital had found reason for suspicion in their survival. He wondered what cooperation would cost them.
Tiexin began to ask his questions. Ben kept his own to himself. His grandfather had received the message without haste or protest, and Ben would not interrupt him to dispute an accusation the envoy had taken care not to make plainly.
When Tiexin had finished, he returned the envoy's courtesies and saw him out. Ben waited in the hall with his father until the patriarch came back to them.
"Sit," Tiexin said. "We have watched this gather for a month. I want to hear what you think before they arrive."
Grand Elder Wang Feng entered through the side door. Word had already reached him. Tian took the long bench, and Ben sat on the second, in the place kept for the clan's juniors. His grandfather returned to the head seat.
"The reasons they give us will matter," Tiexin said. "We will have to answer them. But I do not think an inquiry is all they want."
Feng folded his arms and waited.
"Our formation work has drawn attention," Tiexin said. "So has our place at the mouth of the Blackwood. A clan willing to do as it was told could hold that same place. I believe they mean to remove us and put such a clan here."
"Then we refuse," Feng said. "We are within our rights."
"And too weak to enforce them." Tiexin spoke without raising his voice. "We cannot simply refuse and expect that to end the matter. We must give them a reason to leave us here."
Ben looked toward his father. Tian was listening to the patriarch, his hands resting on his knees.
"Prince Huo Zhanlong has remained in Redstone," Tiexin continued. "He is waiting for something. I cannot tell you what he will do when the delegation arrives, but the kingdom has a use for what we make. That gives us a choice beyond submitting to everything the Bastion asks."
"The kingdom already knows our work," Ben said. "If the Bastion breaks the clan, the kingdom loses that too. The Prince has reason to help us."
His grandfather nodded. "He does. We must make it worth his while."
"And if both decide they want us?" Feng asked. "A valuable clan can become a prize worth fighting over."
"Yes," Tiexin said. "That is why we must be careful about what we offer. Enough that the kingdom wants to keep us, without making us worth a fight to the Bastion. We will have to judge what each is willing to accept."
Feng unfolded his arms, but said nothing more. Ben considered the few days they had. The delegation would come with demands, and they would have to decide which ones the clan could bear. He had no wish to trust their survival to the Prince's generosity.
Tiexin turned to him.
"Your father and I will handle the negotiations, Ben. You have given us something worth considering. You need not carry the rest yourself."
His voice had softened. Tian met Ben's eyes from the other bench, and Ben bowed his head to them both.
He had expected to leave the hall worrying over every answer the clan might give. Instead, he felt relief. His grandfather had heard him, and would decide what to do with it.
...
That evening, Ben sat with his mother in the sitting room where he had spent so much of his childhood. Li Mei had her hands folded in her lap, cloth still wrapped around her fingers.
He had caught her watching him throughout the month, over meals and when they passed in the courtyard. She had not asked what occupied him. He thought she worried about the array work, or the powerful people who had begun taking an interest in him. After the clan war and what had happened to Xue Feng, she had reason enough. He did not know how much she guessed of his fear.
Tonight she had him to herself, and he found it difficult to look away from her hands.
He had been watching her too. The cold had been there for years, along with the still, even flow of qi he could never explain. Over the past month her body had begun to strain against the stagnation. Whatever was wrong with her was growing worse. He had noticed the change without learning what caused it.
Ben had helped restore his father's meridians when that had seemed beyond hope. He had understood old writing that Shen Wuyan could not read. With what he had learned over the winter, and his father working beside him, he believed he could find a way to help her.
"Mother, I haven't forgotten what I promised you."
Li Mei looked down at her hands, then back at him.
Ben said, "When the delegation has come and gone, and things are steady here, I want to examine your meridians with Father. Properly, this time. I understand more than I did when I first looked."
"You have looked before. Your father has looked for years, Ben."
Ben leaned forward. "I know. I'm not asking you to believe I can cure you. I don't know that I can. But I want to understand what is happening. I've spent the winter learning to read things I could only guess at before. Let me do that with Father."
She held his eyes. He let her take her time.
"That is what I can promise," he said. "To look properly, until I understand what I'm seeing. Then we can decide what to do."
For a moment her face lost the composure he was used to. She reached across and pressed his hand once. Even through the cloth, her fingers were cool.
"After the delegation," she said. "I will hold you to it, Ben."