“Name them, God of Death, and I will do my best to honor them.”
“I need you to right a wrong one of your ancestors did.” I shot a glance at Yumo before returning my focus to the Emperor. “They confiscated property and lands from the ancestor of one of my friends; this woman here, Yumo. I want you to admit to your ancestors’ wrongdoing and restore to her family what was wrongfully taken.”
The Emperor looked at Yumo, who was glaring at him with icy wrath.
“My venerated ancestors were good rulers, but they were by no means perfect,” he said to Yumo. “I humbly ask forgiveness on behalf of them, and I swear to you that I will restore what was wrongfully taken from your family.”
“You lying—” Yumo hissed, balling her hands into tight fists.
“Yumo,” I said sternly, “the Glorious Emperor of Yeng is apologizing to you, and he’s going to restore everything that was taken from your family. Swallow your pride and bury the hatchet, for the sake of this mission. That’s an order.”
Still fuming, she gritted her teeth and nodded. It was killing her to have to do this and give up her dream of vengeance, but to her credit, she obeyed me. She even got down on her hands and knees and pressed her forehead to the ground in the Yengish way.
“Glorious Emperor,” she said, “I thank you for your esteemed kindness in this matter, and on behalf of my family, I forgive and absolve you of all wrongs done to us by your ancestors.”
The Emperor nodded, satisfied.
“Another thing, Glorious Emperor,” I continued. “I need you to end your feud with the Order of Blind Monks. The Dragon Goddess will be resurrected, whether you like it or not, but I promise you, she’ll be no threat to your rule. There’s no reason for any enmity between you and the Blind Monks.”
“Very well,” the Emperor said, although I could tell that this request was granted with far more reluctance than the previous ones. “I will no longer publicly criticize the Order of Blind Monks. They are free to follow their beliefs in Yeng.”
Ji-Ko now bowed and pressed his forehead to the floor.
“Thank you, Glorious Emperor,” he too said. “I assure you, we are your loyal subjects and we work only for the good of Yeng and mankind.”
“Now that that’s taken care of,” I said, “I need that Dragon Gauntlet.”
“And you shall have it. Come, let us go to my reliquary.”
The Emperor took me through a door behind the throne that led to a spiral staircase. We headed down a few levels, until eventually we came to a large stone chamber that ended with two heavy steel doors. The doors were covered in Yengish pictographic symbols, etched into the steel, and I sensed that there was a potent magic here keeping the doors locked.
The Emperor touched a few of the symbols in a specific sequence, and they lit up, burning with an orange glow. The magic holding the doors shut was released, but there was still a physical lock in place. The Emperor reached into his robes and pulled out a golden key. After he slipped it into the lock and turned it, the doors creaked open.
The sight within was astounding; I’d never seen a chamber filled with such an immense hoard of treasure. Gold coins were piled in mounds bigger than houses, and all sorts of stunning ancient artefacts were stacked up on shelves. The chamber itself was enormous, and scarcely a cubic inch was unoccupied with some sort of treasure.
On a plinth in the center of the chamber, though, was the object I’d come all this way for: the lost Dragon Gauntlet.
Ignoring every other item, I headed straight for it.
“Take it, God of Death,” the Emperor said from behind me. “It is yours now.”
I slipped the Dragon Gauntlet onto my left hand and felt its power surge through me. It was identical to the one I already had, except this one fit on the other hand. It was fashioned in a rich blue metal, ornate symbols worked into its surfaces.
I had found the missing gauntlet, but I still had a Warlock to contend with.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
After giving me the Dragon Gantlet, the Emperor insisted on throwing us a celebratory feast. We didn’t exactly have a lot of time to spare, but it would have been disrespectful to refuse, and my party members could use some good food in them, so we accepted the invitation.
The dining hall of the Forbidden Palace was just as impressive architecturally as the rest of the place. In more prosperous times, the palace and its halls would have been bustling with servants, now there were only a scattered handful of tired and overworked servants. Consequently, when dinner was served at the hundred-yard-long dining table, it was hardly a feast. In fact, most minor knights of Prand could have done better. It was understandable, though; after the chaos in the Forbidden Palace over the past year only one cook remained in the kitchen. Thus, we ate the sparse, simple fare and pretended it was a delicious smorgasbord of tastes and flavors to help the Emperor rebuild his dignity. Besides, the wine was actually quite good.
“You have such beautiful women in your harem,” the Emperor said to me after a few goblets, his eyes glossy. “Surely you could sell me just one of them, God of Death? You said you have more than just these two beauties. Perhaps I could purchase one of the others? I would pay most handsomely, of course.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Sorry, Glorious Emperor, but they’re not my
