I would have liked to supervise each [Ritual] personally, but I had pressing issues that I had to deal with that kept me from attending any but those concerning my family after the first week. Toi and Maeko would continue to oversee the process until we had trained Cultivators willing to take their place.

Ming was interested in learning the process, but only to enhance her knowledge of Arrays. She had made it clear she wouldn’t have time to oversee or conduct the number of [Rituals] I was planning. I would need to find a few people willing to dedicate themselves to the process.

Non-cultivators would work as long as they had formed a contract with a Spirit. One that either was familiar with the process or was evolved enough to learn.

Today I needed to deal with problems concerning politics. It was a discussion with the Hindel, so it was politics I didn’t mind.

The Hindel were refreshingly straightforward in their approach to how they dealt with me. They could be obsequious and cunning at times. They were certainly able to use their economic power when they felt justified. But unless pressed, they preferred to be open and honest. Proof of their ability to become intransient about issues they found important forced the Empire to adapt to recent changes. Changes the Hindel insisted on recently concerning where and how negotiations between the two polities occurred.

The Hindel embassy that we were meeting at was a blending of Hindel aesthetics and Elven craftsmanship. Unsurprising, the rooms transitioned together organically. There was an ebb and flow to them that paid homage to the ocean the Hindel made home while using the most advanced arrays we could provide. The result was a building that was as much an aquarium as it was an embassy.

The Alpha was waiting for me in a room that extended from the main building. A bubble of Qi that formed a barrier. A barrier that allowed for an almost 360-degree panoramic view of the surrounding seascape. Built near the coral reef, the movement of colorful fish as they darted to hunt or escape the hunter was mesmerizing.

The water that would normally fill the room had been pumped out to make conversation between our two people easier. The Alpha, her aide, and a Hindel male I’d never met were encased in a bubble of water that cycled around them and could afford them a degree of comfort the lack of water in the room presented. That layer of water was filled with just enough Qi to allow them to move around the room easily.

The control of Qi and the water that Qi controlled was hypnotic for those like me that had a water affinity and could see the almost dance-like movement. The gentle lapping of water contained and controlled by each individual resonated with my water affinity. The control they exhibited was impressive, considering they had just invented the technique barely half a year ago.

“Have a seat, child,” the Alpha said once I had entered the room.

There were a series of lounges placed to allow for ease of conversation. They had been crafted with patterns of seagrass that served as both a design feature and a replacement for stuffing and textiles.

The lounges reclined at a forty-five-degree angle, the perfect angle for the Hindel. It was a bit disconcerting for me as I first settled, but I had to admit that it was comfortable. The seagrass had enough give, allowing for a comfort that invited one to relax.

“Thank you, Alpha,” I replied once I had settled. “I apologize that the sudden opening of the Mystic Realm had forced a postponement of our initial meeting.”

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“Who can fight the vagaries of Fate,” Alpha replied with an indulgent smile. “I heard your excursion into that realm was fortuitous and that you managed to obtain new resources. The Hindel would be interested in testing these new resources.

“We would like to trade or buy a fraction of the bounty you gained to see if what you learned is possible for our people.”

I didn’t answer immediately. I was too furious to respond without giving offense. This was not the first time the Hindel learned information I had thought guarded. The last time I noticed this, I thought they must have suborned some of my people. People who were willing to sell my secrets for a price.

I hadn’t given it much thought at the time. I knew the Sect had their own people buying information. It had taken a convoluted amount of subterfuge to keep the secret of the communication devices from leaking.

But this was different.

I had thought the knowledge behind the spirit-summoning ritual was safely hidden. The esoteric nature of the [Ritual] and the need to form contracts and conduct rituals on the spiritual plane had led me to believe that what I was doing was unique enough that no one would know to delve into the secrets I was trying to keep.

That didn’t appear to be the case.

I must not have done as well a job hiding my emotions as I’d hoped. The Alpha watched as I processed her words before speaking to ease my worries. “The Hindel have developed a gestalt mind, a psychic entity that is real and tangible.

“That gestalt mind allows us to experience flashes of foretelling. Not often, and not always to our benefit. If it were easily controlled, we would not have suffered even for one day under the glaring inequities between our two people over these past millennia.

“And when it does give us a glimpse into the future, it is vague at best. We know you gained a major boon from your excursion into the Mystic Realm. We know you gained new knowledge, but not exactly what that knowledge is.

“I’ll be honest,” Alpha continued, “after you helped us realize how badly we were being treated, we contacted some of the agents we had in place throughout the Empire and the island to gather as much information about you as we could. People willing to spy for us when Lord Chon had been ruling remained willing to keep an eye on you.

“At least at the start. Now, you have proven to them that you have a character of spirit that Lord Chon could have never aspired toward. They have slowly stopped feeding us information because you have won their hearts and minds.

“We continued to support those people long past the time they were needed because we wanted to ensure you remained safe. And any complications you might meet because of the changes we demanded to how trades were conducted would have been treated with the trade sanctions. The communication devices you sell only made it easier to maintain that contact.

“But we do not have people inside spying on you and selling us your secrets. Their only purpose is to watch. To report if you come under attack.”

“I admit to a mix of emotions to this information,” I said, unsure if I should be offended or grateful. “I understand that your motives may have been to protect, but there have been discussions between us that suggest those people are supplying information other than safety concerns.

“I wouldn’t have asked you to stop dealing with these individuals, but I am glad to hear that they have decided for themselves that their interests align with mine. Having them working for you kept them from seeking employment with some other faction, one that might be hostile towards me.

“I won’t take any action against them. I understand that Lord Chon forced different people to act in different manners.

“That he acted so badly towards your people that he was willing to go to such lengths to deny you access to the land that you ruled during his reign required you to act. I only wish you had asserted your rights as an Empire that the town had a duty of fealty towards, to see him removed and the town’s people protected.”

I hadn’t meant to come across as so confrontational, but realizing they had gained intelligence that I had hoped to keep secret was infuriating. I had kept my opinion about what the Hindel had allowed Lord Chon to do, to myself, since the beginning. I had acknowledged that the Hindel had been treated poorly, but that didn’t excuse their own actions. They had failed this town. And if my words came across as insulting or confrontational, then so be it.

I wanted them to realize that they were not blameless about what had been allowed to happen here. And that they should consider what they owed the islanders as they had considered the insults the Empire had offered them.