Elder Shadow was there one moment and simply gone the next. I had no idea what his movement skill was, but whatever it was, even with my expanded perception and eyes that had been honed, I couldn't track where or how he had left.

"Stand up," Umbra commanded Tibes, the poor man still kowtowing frantically before the Patriarch.

"If you plan on competing, you need to leave now," she reminded me.

"My offer stands," she continued as she handed me a jade token, "you can redeem this once you arrive at the new Sect. The token has a decay array inscribed on it, if you don't plan on accepting the Emperor's offer, my Qi signature will be wiped clean.

"Otherwise my Qi signature will last for six months," she informed me. "For six months, you can call upon me for one favor, and if it is within my power, I will grant it.

"This isn't a bribe.

"This is recompense.

"And I am not offering this because I think Elder Shadow's machinations were wrong or onerous, he has walked a fine line, balancing Karmic threads of fate. Our Clan takes cultivates Karmic techniques as assuredly as we do those that would reveal Truth. I believe that was what guided him to you in that merchant's shop so long ago.

"His hand was forced by the same threads of fate, those Karmic demands that he was forced to answer, as you believe your fate was influenced by him. He has answered Karma and maintained balance, with his gift of training.

"Any Karmic debt he may owe has been repaid in full, a year of training from him is no small matter, and you have become stronger and better than you would have if he'd never intervened.

"Take this token as payment, a way for my Clan to further balance the cosmic scale of Karma. The offer is made because you have reasoned well that as an adult you should have been consulted. You have proven that you have the maturity, wisdom, and intelligence to see past the obvious and that you could have been trusted.

"Your argument that Elder Shadow manipulated events could not stand the test of Truth that we have levied against others. You have demonstrated insight, enough to have been given information about what we were doing, if not why. We should have discussed our motives and plans for your future with you as soon as we realized that you were more than a uniquely promising talent," she admitted.

I accepted the token, for the barest of seconds before returning it to her. She looked at me in confusion as I did so, understandably. I was going to accept her offer. What she and Elder Shadow were asking seemed reasonable, especially after the training I had received. But I had one demand, something that should be within her power, and was of utmost importance.

"I would like to use that favor, Patriarch Umbra," I said clearing up the confusion I'd caused by returning the token. "I wish for my family, my parents, my brother, and my sister to be allowed to migrate. I want them to be able to join me on Delph and settle into the area I build my barony.

"I have enough funds to purchase a home and shop for them in the town I will be claiming, but as you know, movement between fiefs must be approved. I would like for you to expedite that approval so that they can follow me to Mount Seia as quickly as possible."

"Tibes," she said, reminding me that we were not alone. "Inform the judges that the candidate has decided to forfeit her match. She is satisfied with her ranking as one of the top one-hundred."

He moved to follow her orders, springing from his knees, and dashing out of the room as quickly as possible. His response and actions before the Patriarch had me considering who exactly she was, why was he so afraid? And how was her reputation known within Dragon Spire?

It was possible Tibes' actions were based on her position and cultivation Realm, but I didn't think so. I thought it more likely that she had a reputation that had proceeded her. It was probably the same reputation that had earned her the position as Patriarch in a newly founded high-tier Sect. What that reputation might be, and why it would instill such fear gave me pause.

She must have noticed my uncertainty as I watched Tibes run from the room but didn't comment on it. With nowhere I needed to be, I waited patiently with her. Elder Shadow hadn't returned, so whatever had happened while we were engaging in civil discourse was confounding.

Why would someone act now? If people were trying to hide their actions from the Emperor, acting now seemed remarkably stupid. If the Emperor wasn't aware of what was going on, he would soon.

If something had happened to Umbra's people, there were bound to be repercussions. I guessed that Tibes' actions, his rush to leave was also a reaction to events concerning the missing guards. I was certain he would inform Dragon Spire Sect what he had heard.

What bothered me was how the people she had guarding the tearoom could have been gone missing. We had felt no fluctuation in Qi, that had been no shouts or indignant outrage about being denied service. There had been no clashing of weapons or sounds of fighting, not even the whisper of a weapon being drawn. What did it mean that people could be made to vanish without leaving any warning? Or that people were emboldened enough to expose themselves for a chance at listening to our conversation?

I wasn't important enough for them to risk exposure. There was something else in play here, I wondered if the Patriarch was about to find out that there was more going on behind the scenes than even; she was aware of.

"I know you must still have questions," she said once she was certain Tibes was gone. I felt an expenditure of energy as she released a Dharmic spell creating an area of isolation. No sound could get in or out without first destroying that construct. It did make me wonder why she or Elder Shadow hadn't taken that precaution earlier.

"I will agree to expedite your family's move, but we have yet to touch upon why the location of this town is so important. Why our plans included you establishing your baronetcy in that area.

"As we mentioned the inlet is well protected and has access to a waterway that leads almost directly to the volcano we plan on using to build the Sect. What we discovered over the past year as we were constructing the new Sect was that the river and easy access to the harbor the village is built near is already being used as a base of operation for smuggling.

"We still haven't figured out what is so important, what they are smuggling, but we know something is being shipped off-island. The amount of ship traffic that docks in this out of the way part of the island has no other explanation than to be related to a smuggling operation.

"Your family should be safe if they settle in the village. But I wanted to make sure you were aware of our concerns about that location. We will not make the same mistake and make decisions for you.

"Something is going on there, and this is where we want you to focus your attention, for the most part. Investigate the area, inspect those ships for tax purposes, and try to find out what is so valuable.

"My gut is telling me that if we can find out what is so valuable, we can find out why the other major Sects are maneuvering behind the scenes. Make your decision about immigration for your family fully informed. If you want my help to get them permission to immigrate, I will make sure they have it. But you need to weigh the risks that they might find in this village.

"Dangers exist. Dangers other than the surrounding beasts," she warned. "Beasts that still test themselves against the village's defenses."

"Have they ever breached the protection arrays?" I asked.

"Those types of arrays have yet to be built," Umbra admitted. "The town has defended itself from the wildlife using earthen fortifications, water traps that are created by diverting the river, and leaving enough trees in place to act as a barrier from flying creatures."

"Why?" I gasped in surprise. "Defensive arrays are easily purchased."

"They are, but when you are so far away from a Sect, a Clan, or a powerful House, it is almost impossible to find someone to do maintenance and repairs. The village barely has a population of twenty thousand, and most of those people are focused on fishing, the oyster beds, and hunting.

"I wouldn't say the people are poor, but by the standards of Flowing Water City, their priorities for how they allocate their funds vastly differ."

"How can they have survived long enough to build as much as they have?" I lamented. I found it hard not to allow my sympathy to influence my decision once I realized how much help I might provide. I wasn't well versed in arrays or formations. But there had to be a solution. Perhaps a few people living there could be nurtured, taught enough about arrays to do basic maintenance and upkeep.

"The same way Elves have managed to eke out a living wherever they have put down roots. Hard work, pain, and sacrifice," Umbra confided.

"As a Sect member, you can expect some support. At least you will have the ability to commission talented Array apprentices and journeymen to create and maintain any formations you decide on.

"For anyone else just establishing their fief, that would be ruinous, but we both know that you have a large pool of contribution points that will be exchanged between Flowing Water and Four Elements Sect. As well as income from a spirit mine," she reminded me.

She was right, and her knowledge of my circumstance may have been impressive if I wasn't certain Elder Shadow had supplied her with that information.

"Can I delay my family's immigration for a few months? I would like time to get those defensive arrays in place," I reasoned.

"You can," she assured me, "but the concessions I will be able to claim will not last long. I would suggest you allow me to request their expatriation. That will still give you almost a year to prepare.

"Remember, you will be given transport using Four Element's resources. Your parents will have to sell their property, pack, and hire movers and purchase their own transportation to the new location.

"The ocean voyage alone is going to take almost two months," she explained.

The problem as I saw it was that the safe thing to do and the smart thing might not be the same. The smart thing to do would be to use that token I'd returned and get my family resettled. The safe thing to do was to wait for a different opportunity, to leave them in Flowing Water Sect where they were reasonably protected.

I'm not sure why I felt constrained to decide at this moment. But something, some sense of doom was tugging at my perception, demanding I decide, while I had the chance.

I decided to go with my gut and cash in that token. I wanted a guarantee my family could emigrate.