“We have guests arriving,” said Sen as he landed.

“Guests?” asked Falling Leaf.

“Cultivators from Emperor’s Bay.”

“Why didn’t they just wait a few days?”

“More than likely because they think they’re in control,” said Misty Peak, stepping out of her concealment illusion. “I imagine that they imagine that they’re going to tell Lord Lu that they don’t answer to him. That the city belongs to them. Things of that nature.”

“Are they truly that stupid?” asked Falling Leaf, her gaze moving back and forth between Sen and the fox-woman.

“Well,” said Misty Peak. “They’re human, and they’re cultivators. So, yes.”

Sen cleared his throat. When Misty Peak looked at him, he tilted his head toward Yue Shui, who had a hand firmly clutching his robes. She was staring up at Misty Peak and Falling Leaf with big, curious eyes.

“Oh,” said Misty Peak.

She wore an expression of embarrassment. Sen found himself completely unable to tell if the expression was real or just another kind of illusion.

“Anyway,” said Sen in an attempt to change the subject, “I’m going to go prepare for their arrival. I suppose someone should go and fetch Song Lan.”

He looked around for someone he could send that the cultivators wouldn’t immediately stall just to make life difficult for a mortal. Sen was spared the effort when Xu Xiao Dan arrived at a leisurely pace on his own qi platform.

“We have visitors arriving?” he asked.

Sen was quite sure that the man knew the answer, but he supposed it was better to confirm than assume.

“We do. Cultivators from the city.”

Xu Xiao Dan frowned and said, “I take it you don’t expect the meeting to be friendly.”

“Odds are against it,” confirmed Sen.

“Should I go collect her?” asked the elder cultivator.

“I would appreciate that.”

Xu Xiao Dan didn’t wait before he flew away much faster than he’d arrived. Sen picked up Shui and walked toward the large tent the mortal generals used for their endless meetings. He saw Misty Peak and Falling Leaf following them in his spiritual sense.

“Are they bad people?” asked the girl.

Sen gave the child a startled look. She didn’t look frightened, but he got the feeling that fright wasn’t far off.

“What makes you think that?” he asked.

She answered by poking at the corner of his mouth. A mouth that was firmly set in a frown. He snorted.

“I hope they aren’t bad people,” answered Sen.

Shui’s face contorted in a way that reminded Sen of Ai when she was concentrating hard on something. He assumed that Shui was trying to figure out how to ask a question she didn’t have the knowledge or maybe just the right words to ask. It wasn’t a particular challenge for him to work out the question.

“If they are bad people,” he said softly, “I won’t let them hurt you.”

Some of the concern bled away from her expression, but not all of it. He supposed that was the best he was going to get for now. Ai had seen him fighting bad people. I wonder if she remembers that anymore, thought Sen. He would honestly prefer it if she didn’t. That had been a bloody day. Even so, witnessing that had seemed to build trust. Shui didn’t have that. The best he could figure was that she maybe felt safe around him, but didn’t know why. He supposed that a little doubt was probably in order. He stepped into the tent and looked around. Within moments, all of the previous activity had stopped, and everyone was staring at him.

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“There are cultivators arriving from Emperor’s Bay. I’ll be using this tent to meet with them.”

That was all he needed to say. The generals and soldiers might be somewhat less leery around the cultivators who had been traveling with the army. They were all still very wary of any other cultivators. Sen stepped farther inside, followed by Falling Leaf and Misty Peak. They all made room so the mortals could flee. Even with everyone else gone, the tent still felt cramped. Sen walked around and put everything into a storage ring. He summoned a large, ornate, uncomfortable chair that some noble had gifted to him. It wasn’t quite a throne, but it was close enough.

As they waited, Misty Peak disappeared behind a concealing illusion. Falling Leaf, who soon grew bored, summoned what looked like the roasted leg of some oversized bird and began eating it. Realizing that there was nothing for Shui to do, Sen constructed a floppy toy out of shadow and air qi that vaguely resembled a dog. She squealed in excitement, hugged the toy to her chest, and ran around the tent with it. Sen looked on in amusement as the girl tried to coax Falling Leaf into playing with her and the new toy. After another ten minutes or so, the cultivators arrived at the camp. He heard them making loud demands and shook his head. Not off to a good start, he thought. They were eventually directed to the correct tent. Sen just waited.

“Lu Sen, show yourself to your betters,” demanded one of the cultivators.

He heard one of the others try to caution him.

“That is an unwise thing to do.”

“I don’t care what stories they tell about him. That jumped up—” the man cut off as two nascent soul presences descended outside.

“The word you’re looking for,” said Song Lan in a bored tone, “is king.”

“Lord Lu does not come out to meet any half-trained fool that bellows his name,” added Xu Xiao Dan. “For which you should be immensely grateful.”

“That wandering cultivator sullied the honor of the Soaring Skies Sect. He will answer for his crimes.”

Oh, thought Sen. They’re crimes now, are they?

“Fool,” said Xu Xiao Dan and Song Lan in unison.

A moment later, Xu Xiao Dan stepped inside the tent and addressed Sen in a voice that dripped with disdain.

“Lord Lu, there are people here who wish an audience.”

“Very well. Let them enter.”

A small group of cultivators entered the tent. He was at least acquainted with three of them. There was Elder Deng from the Soaring Skies Sect. The man wore a stony expression, but that was nothing particularly new. The man didn’t particularly like Sen and had made no attempts to conceal that fact. Beside him stood Elder Gao Ah Cy of the Wandering Winds Sect. She gave him a pleasant smile. She did like Sen, mostly because he’d done so much damage to the Soaring Skies Sect on his last visit to the city. There was an elder from the Celestial Arch Sect. Sen recalled having had a fruitful conversation with him. The last man was someone Sen didn’t recognize, although he absolutely recognized the type. He’d killed enough overweening young masters that the warning signs were always clear. That one was wearing robes that had the Soaring Skies Sect emblem embroidered into them with silver thread.

“What is the meaning of this?” demanded the one Sen didn’t know. “How dare you meet us with a disgusting mortal whelp in the room? You damn wandering cultivators never learn how to act around your betters.”

It was only then that the man seemed to realize that everyone in the tent was staring at him with towering disapproval. Everyone except Sen, who was looking at Xu Xiao Dan and Song Lan.

“Would one of you please take Shui to get something to eat?”

Xu Xiao Dan looked from Sen to the girl and nodded. He walked over to the child, who looked confused and a little frightened. He gave her a positively grandfatherly smile and held out a hand to her.

“Would you like to get some food with me, little one?”

Shui gave Sen a questioning look. He smiled and nodded to her. Seeming to take this as a seal of approval, he put her little hand in the former Patriarch’s hand. They walked out of the tent, Shui still hugging the shadow dog toy to her chest with one arm. Sen turned his gaze to meet Elder Deng’s. The man gave him a pleading look that Sen ignored entirely. The other Soaring Skies Sect member sneered at Sen.

“Is the child some kind of pet?”

Sen held up a finger and said, “Wait.”

“Wait? What should I wait for?”

“I want to make sure she’s far enough away.”

“Lord Lu,” said Elder Deng, desperation in his words.

“I don’t want her to hear,” answered Sen

“Hear what? Your sniveling?” asked the Soaring Skies Sect idiot.

“Be silent, you fool!” shouted Elder Deng.

“Don’t talk to me that way. Your mind is slipping. I’m so tired of your warnings. This man is nothing but—"

Sen never discovered what the man meant to say next because he’d crossed the distance, seized the man by the back of the head, and slammed his face into the ground so hard it made a small crater. Sen was casual when he finally deigned to answer the most pertinent question.

“I wanted her to be far enough away that she couldn’t hear you screaming.”