Anit Izuna returned to the Ekho Realm in a state of annoyance. The goddess of earth, Eren, left her with a bitter taste in her mouth. Eren’s words a pile of salt spread over her unhealed cuts. Tani’s predicament in the mortal realm always left Anit feeling incapable.
She stood in the back gardens at the fox clan’s log house and stared at the thousands of apple trees she had planted these last thousand years. Thinking of Tani stuck in the mortal realm, unable to visit the Ekho Realm, or discover the extent of his abilities ate at her. Yes, she was the reason he was in the mortal realm to begin with, but in time, she would have returned him here. He was the next Fox Lord. His latent power greater than hers, even greater than her father, Nua Izuna.
Tani was a nine-tailed fox at five hundred years of age. He was also blessed with Sunu’s gifts. In time, Tani would be capable of uniting the two clans and holding them together, becoming an everlasting Emperor. She hoped his reign would reduce the inequalities caused by the Immortal Clan’s absolute control of the Palladium Gates. Sahdrina was a just guardian, but she was still affiliated to the Immortal Clan.
Shaking her head, Anit moved to the worktable laden with tools and sat on the bench. She shifted a few tools aside and paused when her hand touched the pot holding an Elderwood sapling. Tani’s shining eyes filled her mind’s eye.
“You still can’t look at me.”
Anit shuddered at the memory of Tani’s accusation and frowned at the Elderwood plant.
Yes, Tani had inherited his father’s eyes, even his power presented in the same way as the Immortal Lord. She worried Tani would make a better Immortal Lord than a Fox Lord. Then his grudge against her grew, and she found a lot of herself in him. It was sad that she only managed to give him the bad parts of her soul.
Now all she could think about was the ending of his calamity. She would know what to do for him, if he moved back to the Ekho Realm.
She would have a chance to make it up to Tani.
Shaking her head again, she stared at the Elderwood plant. She could not look at Tani’s eyes because they reminded her of her impossible love for Sunu Ryuzo. The most powerful Ekho in their realm. The man who saved her from an unprecedented misfortune. The father of her son. The one who kept half her soul safe, while she kept his. They were mated and separate.
She let out a soft breath and closed her eyes when the constant pain of losing Sunu shifted in her heart, like an old friend. It should have eased in the two thousand years and change they had been apart. It should have, but the pain remained, grew and refined itself with every passing moment. She sometimes wished Sunu had not found her in the Zona Forest the night he saved her. They would have avoided this pain, but then…she opened her eyes and touched the petal of the small Elderwood plant. Without Sunu, she would never have gotten and loved their son, Tani.
The memory of her first meeting with Sunu filled her mind, her thoughts lingering on the thick branches that had wrapped around her promising to squeeze life out of her. Sunu saved her but she never stopped to think of why she would be in such a position. So blinded by her love for Sunu, she had ignored the matter for some time.
“Nela Bao,” Anit said.
Nela appeared behind Anit. She was her most illustrious and loyal defender. She was the strongest in the Bao Sentinel Branch. The one who protected the oldest and the head of the sentinel branch. Nela was Anit’s confidant.
“Lady Izuna, welcome back home,” Nela said in greeting.
The only way Nela would know she wasn’t in, was if she had come looking for Anit earlier.
“How is Gralia?” Anit asked, of the lands the Fox Clan called home.
“The clan lands are calm,” Nela said. “Our capital city, Taesi, is sufficiently managed. The Inter Clan Court is commencing tomorrow for a period of thirty days to handle matters brought forward by the many ministries. They asked me to seek your attendance.”
Anit nodded her agreement, caressing a delicate leaf on the Elderwood sapling before her.
“As you make arrangements for my attendance, know that Amu will come to you for assistance,” Anit said, thinking about her brother, her son’s keeper. She wished she could have half her brother’s sense of justice. “Afford him anything he asks.”
“Yes, Lady Izuna,” Nela said.
“Is there anything else?” Anit asked, knowing Nela would not come looking for her for something as small as attending court. A note to the log house would have worked just fine.
“My uncle asked me to convey a message,” Nela said, her tone hesitant. “I do not agree with it, but he is the head of our Bao Sentinel Branch. I am obligated to bring the message in confidence.”
“What is his concern?” Anit asked, shifting so that she could look at Nela.
“The Anael Sentinel Branch has been making unusual moves,” Nela said. “Our Bao has noted that the branch has retained the same man as head of the branch for nearly one thousand years. It is unknown the reason why it should be so when your office has mandated sentinel heads change every three years. Of late, those opposed to the continued reign of the same Anael leader have gone missing in mysterious ways. Their disappearances are tied to illness and/or accidents. My uncle is concerned.”
“Why are you not concerned?” Anit asked, narrowing her gaze on Nela.
“I believe the five sentinel branches have a right to run their houses as they see fit,” Nela said. “Our House of Bao has had the same head depending on strength and wisdom as guidance. We cannot dictate how the others choose to live.”
“Hm,” Anit frowned and returned her attention to the Elderwood sapling.
Eren’s suspicions about Kara ot in the Mortal Realm filled her head, and she bit back a soft curse. Mention of a problem among her highest graded officers made her unsure. She hated strife within her ranks most.
“You are right but so is your uncle, Nela. A thousand years is too long for a Sentinel Branch Master. My father dictated a three-year term for each one. Someone has gone to great effort to keep the status of Anael’s current leader hidden from me. The Bao Sentinel Branch changes leaders depending on health and leadership capacity, even with your privilege of family. You house has had a hundred leaders in one thousand years. Your uncle is right to be suspicious of such unusual behavior. Your Bao branch shall investigate further. Tell your uncle he has my support.”
“Understood, Lady Izuna,” Nela said with a swift nod.
“Before you go, I have a task for you. The memory of the day I met Sunu is plaguing me,” Anit said, closing her eyes.
She could picture the moment very clearly, as though it happened last night.
“I was at a disadvantage three thousand and three hundred years ago. It was the first time it ever happened to me, but then I met Sunu and got distracted. I have always thought the goddess of fertility caused my misfortune in the Zona Forest. I thought it was the Immortal Clan weaving a plot for the sake of their future heir. Still, I cannot forget my misfortune.”
“What was your misfortune, Lady Izuna?” Nari asked.
“What was it indeed?” Anit sifted through her memories, searching for the moment when she felt Sunu’s power sing to hers for the first time. “It was triggered by a call for help from a desperate fox in the Zona Forest. Our fox clan lands share the forest with the immortal clan lands. The cry for help was unusual. You see, I felt the fox’s pain as though it were my own. When I arrived in the Zona Forest, all I remember is the strength of thick vines wrapping around me with a force I could not break. They were heavy with malice. I could not break them without Sunu’s help.”
“Are you saying it was an attack?” Nela asked her eyes wide with shock.
“Perhaps,” Anit said, with a frown. “Why have I not thought about this misfortune all these years? Perhaps being in Tani’s Elderwood triggered the memory. Seeing his pain or is it mine…”
Anit trailed off, thinking about Tani’s disappointed gaze when he looked at her. The tilt of his head when she moved away from him at the sight of his eyes. The way he left his home, his sanctuary, because she was there. All of it was too much to bear. The pain should have triggered the memory.
“It’s been a long time since I was in the Zona Forest,” Anit murmured. “I do not know what you will find, but I want to know what triggered those branches. The Immortal Lord bestowed good fortune upon them. They will have survived all this while. Trace the source of their malice.”
“I will, Lady Izuna.”
“Keep what you discover between us,” Anit said. “I will protect your mind from your uncle.”
Nela gave Anit a short bow and shimmered out of the apple garden.
Anit let out a soft sigh, and stood up, picking up the pot holding the Elderwood sapling. She headed toward the log house. She would find a place for it in the garden she kept in the middle of the log house. It was time to think of how she would heal the rift between her and Tani. She wanted him to return to his rightful place and learn how to smile without pain in his eyes.
****
The Anael Sentinel Branch was third on the rank of importance to the Fox Clan’s log house. They handled policing of Gralia, with their efforts concentrated on the capital city, Taesi.
The head of Anael was named Zal. His last name was not mentioned often, because it was similar to Lady Izuna, the Fox Goddess. No one wanted to call him Lord Izuna, it would seem as though he was married to Anit. No one wanted to bear the consequences of the insult. This was Zal’s greatest annoyance. Why? No one had ever stopped to wonder why his last name was Izuna too.
Zal Izuna stared at a painting of Anit, the most powerful fox in their clan, a mix of envy and awe swirling inside him.
Anit was three hundred and sixty thousand years old. He still could not believe she was ten thousand years his junior. She was the daughter of the previous Fox Lord, Nua Izuna. Nua gave her the right to succeed his leadership of the Fox Clan on the day Anit accumulated enough power to became a nine-tailed fox. She was one thousand years old. Already deemed remarkable and extraordinary by their clan’s elders.
Most foxes in the clan only gained four tails at the most through their long lifetime. The more tails a fox had, the stronger it was. It took most of them tens of thousands of years to gain each one. Unless they were Anit or Amu, who was Anit’s younger brother. Amu had seven tails.
Amu was three hundred and fifty-seven thousand years old, just three years younger than Anit.
Compared to his extraordinary half-siblings, Zal had only managed to gain three tails in his three hundred and seventy thousand years of life. He was older than Anit and Amu by ten thousand years. He still could not measure up to them. Their difference in power was too clear.
Anit and Amu were levels apart, which was probably why their father, Nua Izuna, had dismissed him as a mere servant of the people.
The Ekho Realm’s fox clan was old and filled with troublesome and powerful magik. Bloodlines determined the weight and size of the magik, so the trouble always started with a fox’s lineage.
Zal had spent tens of thousands of years studying why his power could never reach Anit’s level. It turns out his bloodline was his greatest weakness. To be Anit, he would need to be born of two powerful fox parents.
Anit was born of the previous Fox Lord, Nua Izuna, and his beloved, Meljean. Meljean’s bloodline was as old as Nua’s family. Her ancestors had ties to powerful fox lords and goddesses long lost to the Ekho Realm’s timeline. Nua and Meljean’s powerful bloodline created Anit.
There was no way to beat her strength. Thanks to her age, and her bloodline’s ability to accumulate power, she had joined the ranks of one of the most powerful Ekho in the realm, second only to the Immortal Lord, Sunu who was over four hundred thousand years old.
Zal had no information on Sunu Ryuzo’s real age. The Immortal Clan kept his secrets well hidden.
No one in the fox clan could beat Anit’s power. Well…perhaps there was one.
Anit’s son, Tani Ryuzo. Another Ekho blessed with luck and infinite good karma. He was prime pedigree.
What was it like to have the Immortal Lord as a father? Zal wondered with a wince.
Zal hated the envy burning inside him. It was constant, unwavering. There was nothing to do for it but tend to the fire. He could at least console himself with the fact that he could call Nua Izuna his father.
“Lord Zal.”
“Yes?”
Zal turned to look at the woman standing a few feet away. She was Tara, the vice head of the Anael Sentinel Branch. She rose up the ranks next to him. Now that he was the head, she worked right beside him as the vice. They had held same position for the past thousand years. With careful orchestration and iron will.
“The Inter Clan Court has noticed Shugo’s disappearance. I’m afraid we have not been able to keep our movements as quiet this time. Election season at Aniel is approaching. We will have a few eyes on us. The Inter Clan Court is expected to convene tomorrow. What should we do?” Tara said.
“Any word from the Mortal Realm?” Zal asked.
“No,” Tara said. “There has been no tragedy with the mortal. Perhaps Lua is late making the delivery of black weed. I’ve met the Dragon clan’s Aero. He always has news of the hybrid Ryuzo. There has been nothing to report on Ryuzo’s return to the Ekho Realm. The mortal is living in his family home with no indication of returning to the Americas.”
“Something’s shifted,” Zal said, with a frown. He had planned so carefully. Tani’s beloved always chose the mortal woman. If he refused to return to Viola, then the mortal would die at the hands of Lua. “Where is Lua?”
“Our people have not been able to reach him these days. It looks like he has gone into hiding. I will ask Aero to find him,” Tara said.
“Interesting,” Zal said, his frown fading. “Lua is quite shameless and hardly worries about being caught. Something must have happened if he is in hiding. Has someone noticed my plan?”
“There is no indication,” Tara said. “The first to respond to suspicion would be the House of Bao. They are running as usual. The Fox Goddess has made no mention, and no sentinels have come by order of the Inter Clan Court.”
“You are right,” Zal nodded, and let out a sigh. “I can’t wait for this to end. I was hoping a fight in the mortal realm for the mortal’s soul would occupy the clan for a time. Now, we must create a distraction of our own. Tell Aero to help find Lua. If he cannot find him, Aero will have to use the black weed spear himself if he wants to stay out of the Septum’s radar.”
“I’ll send him a message,” Tara said.
“Do it fast,” Zal said. “We need a commotion to distract them from our Anael House and what we’re working to achieve.”
“I’ll take care of it, Lord Zal.”
Zal watched Tara leave, and then turned to the portrait of Anit. His thoughts returning to the father he shared with Anit, and a past he wished was different.
The previous Fox Lord, Nua Izuna was no saint, though the fox clan would fight Zal on the mere thought. Nua was a powerful man with a wandering eye before he mated Meljean. He dallied with women from the lesser fox clans often.
One of those women was named Dran.
Dran had enough power to keep her beauty, and run a cheerful inn in the picturesque district of Waterside Cross. Waterside Cross was found in the lower lands of Gralia, near the beach. Dran never dreamed of entering the Fox Clan’s great Log House hidden in the mystical Yesserin Mountain. No, she was happy with her life at Waterside Cross.
When Nua spent two months at Dran’s family inn to fulfill a peacekeeping mission with the ocean folk in the lower lands, Dran grew infatuated with him. Though she knew Nua felt nothing for her, even as he spent time with her, her foolish heart could not resist his advances and she soon conceived.
Two months ended too fast, and Nua soon left Waterside Cross.
Dran asked nothing of him, though Nua presented her with a large chest filled with precious jewels to pave her way. They never met again. Nua returned to his life as the Fox Lord, and was soon after mated to Meljean, Anit and Amu’s mother.
Dran gave birth to her child, a fat son she loved with all her heart. She was happy that he was born from Nua, but that was the extent of her ambition. She named her boy Zal and raised him in the small district of Waterside Cross. When her parents passed on, she took over the family inn.
In time, Dran hoped Zal would do the same when it was her time to move on.
Zal frowned thinking of his mother.
Dran never understood his need for more. Not when he asked her if he could meet his father. Not even when Zal left Waterside Cross in search of his father. He could still picture her frown as she watched him board the magik coach to the capital city, Taesi.
Zal moved from his mother’s small town to Taesi at the age of five thousand years. Ambition gripped him tight, fueled by the need to find and meet his Fox Lord father.
Taesi was the capital city of Gralia, the Fox Clan Land.
It was where all foxes who wanted more in the realm gravitated. Where the Inter Clan Court stood, and souls from the lesser clans came to stay and find work. Taesi was both majestic and pitiful, depending on which end of the city one ended up. There was good and bad luck, good fortune and bad. There were wealthy families and poor families, and some in between. All living in the grand city ruled under the Inter Clan Court, governed by the Fox Lord, Nua Izuna at the time.
Zal arrived in Taesi in time to see the grand celebration arranged by the Inter Clan Court for his father’s marriage to Meljean. It was soon clear that to meet Nua, Zal needed power, or a connection to a powerful lord who could enter the sacred Yesserin Mountain.
His grand wish looked impossible at the time.
Zal made use of the precious jewels from his father to buy a modest house in the capital, and enroll into one of Taesi’s prestigious academies. His goal was to become a scholar and gain a place working under one of the Inter Clan Court’s many ministries.
The Inter Clan Court ran Gralia’s main government. It handled finances, education, construction and works, medicine, magik registration and governance, and so forth. The court then answered to The Five Sentinel Branches.
These Five Sentinel Branches were responsible for keeping the peace and mediated issues in the Inter Clan Court. The Five Sentinels were the closest post to the Fox Clan’s Log House. They had legitimate access to Yesserin Mountain.
Ambitious foxes aspired to work in one of the Five Sentinel Branches. They were Sandu, Amyntas, Anael, Reima, and Bao. The Five Sentinels were considered guardians of the fox clan. They trained armies, policing sentinels, and managed border patrols. The sentinels provided relief when environmental events occurred. They fought wars when other clans challenged the fox clan boundaries.
The Fox Clan’s Log House used their forces to accomplish tasks, as needed.
The heads of these branches reported to the Fox Lord directly. Any capable fox could ascend to the leadership ranks in the Five Sentinel Branches. At some point before Zal, the Fox Lord insisted on three-year tenures for the top rank.
With the exception of the House of Bao. Bao leaned heavily on family tradition, and the head was the oldest member in the family, supported by the strongest member of the family.
Zal learned and memorized the hierarchy of power and forged a path to the Five Sentinel Branches. He studied hard and graduated with respectable scores. He made good friends with some of the plebes from elite families in his academy, so he managed a first placement into the Registry Department. From there, he worked his way up to the higher offices of the Inter Clan Court.
It took him five thousand years to find a position affiliated to the Anael Sentinel Branch. It was a branch tasked with creating policing agents in the city, investigating cases, collecting and archiving information, and passing forward concerns to the Fox Log House.
When Zal turned ten thousand years of age, Meljean gave birth to Anit.
Zal had just qualified as a sixth level government official. He joined the Anael Sentinel Branch and became an inspector tasked with investigating cases brought forward by the Inter Clan Court.
Days before Anit’s birth, Zal met Nua Izuna. It was the day he received his rank badge at the Fox Log House. The memory etched in his heart forever. His father might have left the leadership of the clan and moved on to traverse the realms ages ago, but Zal remembered him with clear memory.
Nua stood at almost seven feet tall. He was strong, his body forged of hard muscle. Nua was dressed in a black sleeveless long tunic, dark breeches, and his feet in heavy dark boots. He wore his red haircut short, save for a long braid at the back that reminded Zal of a tail. His arms were thick with muscle as he crossed them against his chest.
He stood on a short dais waiting to receive the new inspectors and hand them badges in preparation for work in the five sentinel branches. His sharp green gaze missed nothing.
Zal remembered Nua’s presence engulfing the large hall. His power felt large enough to suffocate a roomful of mortals. It was easy to see how this man had suppressed the dragon clan’s fire during their last boundary dispute. The dragon clan dared not start another fight against the Fox Clan. Gralia’s borders were now secure.
Each of the new inspectors stepped up to Nua, said their name and current rank. When it was Zal’s turn, he could barely get his name out as he faced his father.
“What is your name?” Nua asked.
“Z-zal.”
“Last name?” Nua asked.
“My mother did not dare give me my father’s last name,” Zal said, holding Nua’s green gaze with some trepidation.
“She is a wise woman. I feel your blood calling to mine,” Nua said, stepping closer to Zal. He dropped his arms to his sides and leaned in closer to look into Zal’s blue eyes. “The blood is there, but not the power. I remember your mother. She is Dran. She remains a kind and sweet soul. I’m glad she has you to keep her company and look after her. Be good to her.”
Nua stepped back.
“You shall be Zal Izuna,” Nua said. “A son given to the clan, to work with them and live among them. Dran has raised you well if you have chosen to serve in the Five Sentinel Branches. May you find fulfillment among your equals.”
Zal started to protest his father’s swift conclusion. He had hoped Nua would see more in him, but his father had already moved on to the next inspector.
Zal scoffed at the memory of Nua smiling at the next inspector on the same line. Having dismissed Zal and moved on with a single nod. The encounter remained etched in his brain. It was the first and last time he met Nua Izuna. He never got another chance. Nua abdicated his position to Anit when she was ten thousand years old, and went on a pilgrimage with his dear mate Meljean. Zal did not know where he was now.
Nua looked at him once and deemed him unworthy of entering the Fox Clan’s mystic Log House. Instead, he was only good enough to join ranks with those in the Five Sentinel Branch.
Zal let out a soft sigh as he studied Anit’s portrait now.
The painting on the high wall was one of the many found in the capital city, Taesi. They were in memorial halls, in the Inter Clan Court halls, in small shops and large ones. Every fox in the realm knew what Anit Izuna looked like, gave her respect at the mention of her name. They thought her a deity, placed in Gralia to guard the fox clan with her life. They expected her son to take over when he was old enough.
Zal hoped to change that expectation in time. He bit his bottom lip to stop his smile at the thought of his coming triumph.
The only weakness Anit had was in the mortal realm and named Tani Ryuzo. The son she could not control. A son Zal helped her abandon for nearly three thousand years now. His plans were developed quite well thanks to Anit’s unique flaw of holding a lasting grudge.
If his plan were to play out right, Tani Ryuzo would end up in the Citadel in the Immortal Clan, or in the god of calamity’s domain. He would be too broken with loss to think of his birthright for centuries, and Anit would have no heir to take on the fox clan.
Amu had long abandoned the ruling of the clan. Zal would be the only option left to take over from Anit. Anit would have no choice but to turn to him to take over leadership. He dreamed every night of entering the Fox Clan’s Log House as its master.
Zal could not stop his smile as he looked up at Anit.
“You’ll have no choice but to reach out to me, Fox Goddess,” Zal said with a small chuckle. “I will be the only relative you can turn to. Wait for me.”
****
Sunu Ryuzo stood at the largest waterfall in the Citadel thinking about the night he met Anit. The memory lingered in his thoughts. Triggered by his strained bond to Anit. She had to be thinking about the past too.
When Sunu first met Anit, he had thought the incident a machination of the Fertility Goddess. Helia was known to encourage love matches among those in the Septum. To ensure stability of their court, and make sure the Immortal Lord had an heir.
Yet, the sinister way he found Anit would not have been Helia’s style.
Sunu saved Anit’s life. He should not have needed to; she was strong enough on her own, that he had needed to save her made him pause. Closing his eyes, his memory returned to three thousand and three hundred years ago, on a moonlit night.
Sunu walked in the Zona Forest after a grueling day of subduing disagreements between the god of air, Mizian, and Rianon of the water. Their fight had caused a major flooding event in a village in the mortal world. Sunu was not looking forward to Cale’s report on casualties in the Mortal Realm. It would be long and tedious trying to restore balance and push out misfortune in the village.
Sunu walked through thick vibrant bushes, hidden under tall canopies. Birds chirped in their nests, the forest alive in the afternoon light. Sunu loved the rhythm of life pulsing in the thick wilderness. A thick vine slithered on the forest ground, brushing over Sunu’s dark boots. He glanced down, and the leaves of the thick bushes around him shifted away to show him the branches path.
His long dark tunic caught on pine needles. He swept his hand to free the pine needles and a chameleon jumped on his dark sleeve.
Sunu chuckled and touched the chameleon’s head. It changed colors from a muted green to match his dark tunic. Sunu changed the color of his tunic to a dark green and grinned when the chameleon stared at him with its large eyes and promptly turned back to its green color. Sunu returned the chameleon to a sturdier branch, his attention returning to the slithering branches on the forest floor.
The branches were fast crawling in the thick foliage.
Sunu followed them out of curiosity and found a thick cocoon made of thick vines wrapped around a body. All he could see between the branches was deep red hair. Surprised, Sunu reached for the closest branch, even as the rest tightened, strangling the person wrapped deep inside.
Sunu frowned when the branches ignored his touch, and did not stop their task. It was rare. It meant the branches were under someone else’s command. Someone with deep malice.
“Unwrap your prize, break the malice,” Sunu murmured. “I, Sunu, will gift you good fortune.”
The branches tensed, tightened one last time, and then unwrapped their prize.
Sunu traced his fingers on the bark of the branches as they retreated. Gold specks sinking into the branches as he made good on his promise. When the branches were gone, Sunu stared at the beautiful woman lying on a patch of stinging nettle, her soft skin mottled with red rashes. She wore nothing but her long thick red hair. The branches had ripped at her dress and torn it to pieces. Tears filled her green eyes when she looked at him, frustration and pain clear on her face.
Relief flooded her when she could breathe again.
Sunu fell in love.
He never stopped to wonder why his beloved was wrapped in an air-robbing cocoon or why she was hidden in a thick forest to die. All he knew was that her name was Anit Izuna. She was a nine-tailed fox, and she made him happy. Their love was obsessive and intense. It grew fast and Sunu soon discovered that he had a great weakness when it came to Anit. He gave her part of his soul, as she gave him his, then…they made a life together.
Everything else faded away and their child became all that mattered.
Tani became their greatest joy, and their mightiest failure.
Sunu sighed and focused on the moment in the Zona Forest. The thick branches heavy with malice wrapping Anit in a tight cocoon. The magik in the crawling branches felt dark, similar to the kind found in black weed. He had touched the branches, broken the malice and infused the crawling branches with good luck. Perhaps the malice clung to him, and fell on his child, tainting Tani’s future.
The thought made him sick to the stomach. Cale was looking into Sahdrina’s concerns, which might help release Tani from his calamity. Still, the Zona Forest needed a deeper look. He needed to know who had placed Anit at a disadvantage.
“Kinon.”
“Lord Sunu,” Kinon said, coming to stand right next to Sunu.
“The night I met Anit, there was malice in the Zona Forest. I cannot appear in the forest, as it will hide from me. You do well with tracking what darkness has touched. Do you think you can trace it? The tracks should still be there. I have never directed anyone to the spot where I found Anit. I need answers.”
“Understood. I will go right away, Lord Sunu.”
“Let’s keep this between us,” Sunu said, meeting Kinon’s gaze, he gave in to curiosity. “How is Artri House?”
Kinon smiled.
“Happy for now.”
Sunu returned the smile.
“I’m glad.”
“Lord Tani is almost returning home,” Kinon said.
“Cale thinks he won’t want to stay at the Citadel,” Sunu said on a soft sigh. “I gave it some thought, and perhaps my brother is right. I have decided to grant Tani a home of his own. If we clean the Zona Forest, I’ll build him a house there. It will be at the boundary of both the Immortal Clan and the Fox Clan. Anit won’t have reasons to complain. I will let Tani stay there as long as he wants. What do you think of this?”
“It is a fair plan, Lord Sunu,” Kinon said. “I will get the members of the Septum to help.”
“Tani’s house will be auspicious. He has only faced calamity, and I want him to heal. I hope they only bring good fortune befitting my son.”
“I will make it clear,” Kinon said. “I’ll visit the Zona Forest now.”
“Thank you, Kinon.”
****
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