Could I really kill somebody the Emperor targeted? I would be using my Death Spirit for good, doing work that no one else could to stop bad guys and help people. That had to be the right move.
Unless the Emperor was just feeding me a line. Thanks to Sanya-ketsu, he knew exactly what I wanted to hear. How hard would it be to pretend like he wanted me to do the right thing?
Maybe I’d been around the liars and manipulators on the prison planet too long, and I was just being paranoid. Takeshi had seemed sincere about everything he’d said. But I couldn’t get over the payment for each kill. The Emperor had called them bounties, like he’d pulled the idea of Wild West wanted posters straight out of my brain. No matter how I looked at it, taking money for killing people made my stomach squirm.
Surprise, surprise, I didn’t come to any genius conclusions in the two-minute walk across Soulhome’s lawn.
An Asian-style pagoda with the tiered stories and upward curving eaves had been built onto the corner of the estate. A set of massive wooden wind chimes hanging from the porch roof clacked and tocked.
We headed up the steps and the servant opened the sliding door for me.
“Your temporary lodgings,” he said, bowing.
“Thanks.” I said it a little awkwardly, because I wasn’t used to a world where people politely opened doors for you. More often, they tried to slam them when you were halfway through to get a laugh out of their buddies.
I stepped into a huge open room furnished with overstuffed seating cushions, blinking while my eyes adjusted to the shady interior. Rali and Warcry were in a sunken living room, playing some kind of checkers-looking game on a round board set into a low table. Directly across from the front door, another sliding door stood open, looking out onto a courtyard with a fountain spouting blue water into a tiled swimming pool. Kest lay on a cushioned lounge chair under a sunshade, scrolling through something on her HUD.
With both doors open, a decent breeze blew through the pagoda. The wind was hot, but the movement helped dry up the sweat, and the shade was a huge improvement on baking in the sun outside.
I whistled. “Pretty slick.”
“They go all out with the material luxuries when they’re trying to seduce you over to their side,” Rali said, without looking up from the checkerboard.
“Oi, big man, you’re already on their side,” Warcry growled as he moved one of his pieces. “You signed your life away to the Dragons as a joke; don’t forget it.”
Rali grinned. “A hilarious joke, made even funnier by the fact that they’re suffering severe buyer’s remorse now that I’m worthless.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets. That didn’t sound as funny as he was trying to make it out to be, especially now that I’d seen the crazy battle going on inside his head.
“Mr. Thompson?” The servant bowed. “The Emperor wishes to conduct your private meeting now.”
Warcry threw down the checker he’d been moving and stood up. “Bleedin’ losing anyway.”
“You’ll get me next time,” Rali called after him.
Warcry snorted. “Will I, yeah?”
Awkward silence filled in the empty space Warcry and the servant left behind. Rali opened a drawer on the side of the table and scooped the pieces into it. I shifted feet and stuck my hands in my back pockets.
I wasn’t sure how to get back to normal with Rali. With Kest, a six-pack of Coffee Drank would smooth things out. With Rali... What did you get the guy who shunned every material possession? The times we’d bashed heads before, Rali had said you didn’t have to see eye to eye to be friends. Maybe we just needed to clear the air.
“Hey, man, about earlier...” My stomach interrupted, snarling like a rabid pit bull. Ever since I’d gotten the Dragon’s healing script tattoo, that thing had been chewing through calories, trying to heal the mess in my side.
Rali popped to his feet. “I know, all those Beggar Clan guys with their amazing walking sticks? I shouldn’t be jealous of meaningless possessions from a dream world, but seeing that really made me feel the lack.” He jogged up the steps out of the sunken living room. “As fate would have it, though, I saw a dead branch in our esteemed Emperor’s tamed wilderness that would make an excellent replacement.”
No mention of how the one he was replacing was probably still buried under bodies in Heartchamber 2.
I followed him into the kitchen.
“I was actually talking about the battlefield,” I said.
“What battlefield?” Rali grabbed a couple pieces of fruit out of a basket on the counter. One he kept for himself and the other—a blueberry the size of a tennis ball—he tossed my way. It wasn’t a perfect shot. I had to lurch forward to snag it before it hit the floor.
“In the dream test thing, when Sanya-ketsu had us separated,” I said, scratching at a spot on the fruit.
“Separated?” Rali took a bite out of his giant blueberry and shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t remember ever being separated from you three. All I can remember is waking up being floated along by the fake Beggar Clan.”
“Really?”
“Dreams.” He shrugged. “Forgetfulness is the nature of the beast. Anyway, I’m off to find a good, sturdy walking stick.” He headed toward the sliding door that led out onto the lawn, waving the blueberry fruit over his shoulder. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” I said lamely. That went well.
I took my
