Chapter 37

Tren paused to pluck a small bag of fire-cherries from the ever-burning tree that was before him, enough for himself to have a small snack and enough to share with each of the children, who would all benefit from the powerful fire Qi within and it’s purifying properties. Won would benefit the most, of course, but even his sister with her opposing element could learn meaningful lessons from the consumption of the fruit and the delicate Qi within.

He grinned, popping one of the cherries into his mouth and enjoying the crunchy flavor, the sweet taste, and the slight burning heat that the fruit contained.

He was interrupted by his task when an air construct abruptly appeared, coalescing into the shape of a dove. He frowned, then activated it with a burst of his own Qi, wondering what it was that Zenith had to say.

“Your brother is here,” the construct said in Zenith’s voice, and then it vanished, puffing back into the wind.

Tren frowned. He quietly but urgently placed the sack of cherries into his storage ring and stepped off into the distance using the Titan’s Step movement technique.

He hadn’t spoken to his brother for thirty years, and their parting had not been amicable. While Tren wished to believe the best about his estranged brother, he would not take a chance with the children.

He’d been planning on lingering for a few more days to give them time with their new masters, but the situation had changed. He had a thousand miles to go.

He’d be in Mosanatas by evening.

Hopefully his brother wouldn’t do anything in the meantime that they would all come to regret.

~~~~~~

If there was one thing that Tan really enjoyed about not being on his family’s farm, it was the ability to sleep in. Even once he’d awoken, he decided to pull the covers back over himself and snuggle in to the warmth of his own body-heat, dozing lazily rather than rising to face the day.

He knew that he should go cultivate, or ponder the dao, or speak with Master Zenith or the other children about the insights that he was expected to gain. But screw it, that would require getting up and he wanted to be lazy for a change.

There was a knock on the door.

“Go away,” Tan said, annoyed at the disturbance.

“Young master, I’m sorry, but your uncle is coming. He’ll be here very soon, and you should be dressed when he arrives,” the servant said.

Tan sat up. “I don’t have an uncle,” he told the voice through the door.

“Zenith and the Tiger Emperor think that you do,” the servant informed him. “Regardless, he’ll be here soon. Unless you want to meet him in your smallclothes, you should get dressed.”

Tan pouted, but got up and followed the advice of the servant, dressing in the blue and yellow clothes that had been washed during the night and put back by the many servants who were very skilled at operating unseen. Tan sniffed the clothes. They didn’t smell of sweat or dirt, but of flowers. It had taken him an entire week to realize that the servants were doing his laundry for him each night.

“Thank you for cleaning my clothes,” he told the servant as he changed into fresh underwear and the clean outfit.

“It is a pleasure to serve the young master,” the voice said. “I believe I hear footsteps on the stairs, young master, so if you--”

“I’m almost dressed,” he assured her. “Just give me a minute.”

It took him five, but when he finished he looked at himself in the mirror for a moment to make sure he’d put everything on right. He grinned. The outfit had grown on him after a while. It made him look important, even though he was just a kid from a farm. The hat was still stupid, but it went with the outfit in a way that made it less stupid, so he decided to wear it for now.

He opened the door to the main chamber just as Renton Shen appeared in the antechamber of the bedroom. Tan stared at the man, squinting. He did kind of look like his dad.

“Who are you?” Tan asked.

“That is a complicate question. I could give you a thorough answer, but for now let’s just say that I’m your father’s younger brother, which makes me your uncle, and I’m very sorry that I haven’t had a presence in your life until now,” the man said. “My name is Renton. But you may just call me ‘Uncle,’ if you wish.”

Tan frowned. “Why didn’t my parents ever tell me about you then?”

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“I’m afraid that your parent’s decision to leave the main house was one that caused some contention between us. I said some words that I regret, and I hope that they regret the words they said in response. I am hoping to make amends for my past actions.”

Tan squinted at the man. He probed him with his spiritual senses and found that the man felt like his parents, except that he was very obviously a fire cultivator rather than earth or water. Which probably meant that he was absurdly strong, so maybe he was telling the truth?

“What do you want with me?” Tan asked.

“I was thinking we could take a walk and get to know each other for a while,” Renton answered.

Tan sighed. He’d been hoping for a lazy morning, but he supposed it wasn’t the worst idea. He walked over to the table and grabbed a kabob and a slice of melon. “I’m going to eat while we walk,” he declared.

“Of course,” Renton agreed. He motioned towards the stairs, but frowned when Tan went up instead of down. “Are we not going to--”

“You can take the stairs if you want to. I don’t have to,” Tan said, and he flew off.

Renton grinned. Cheeky little brat, he thought to himself, and he descended the stairs in a hurry to catch up to the flying boy who descended in a rather more direct manner.

~~~~~~

“So what was the fight about anyway?” Tan asked abruptly, changing the topic from the boy’s insights into the nature of his element.

Renton paused. He had been attempting to explain to Tan how his insight into how using his abilities to impact the wind in one area that he didn’t care about could amplify the effects of something he was attempting to do in another was a keen and important realization. It was, in fact, a realization that Renton made use of most often in his daily life. He wanted the boy to understand just how important giving into something you don’t care about could make the things you care about that much closer to your grasp.

But he didn’t want to be the boring uncle who lectured endlessly, so he decided to answer the question.

“It’s a complicated matter. You might not understand.”

“I’m not stupid,” Tan protested.

“I know that. You are very clever and insightful. But you were raised differently than your father and I, and I am loathe to interfere with my brother’s experiments in child rearing. Let’s just say that your father was supposed to inherit the family business, but he met a girl and walked away from it without looking back. He was annoyed that I was happy to see him go.”

Tan looked at his uncle in confusion. “What business was my grandfather in?”

“A little bit of everything,” Renton answered. “Mostly he just told people how things should be, and they listened to him because your grandfather was a very wise man.”

“So my father didn’t want to be stuck bossing people around, so he put you in charge of the family business?” Tan asked.

“Yeah, that’s about what happened,” Renton agreed. He kicked a stone and looked off into the distance, sighing. “I was so happy to learn that I would inherit. I still am happy to be in charge of the family business, Tan. But I said some things in my pride which I have come to regret. Especially now that I understand how rare what your mother and father have truly is.”

“What do you mean?”

“They love each other very much. I cannot find a woman who sees me the way that your mother sees your father, and it drives me green with envy. I can have any woman I desire, including many who are already taken, yet I cannot have their hearts the way that Tren holds Wensho’s heart,” Renton explained to his nephew. “If you ever find a love like that, do not let it go, Tan.”

Tan frowned. “Girls are stupid.”

Renton laughed. “Well, you are only, what are you again? Eight or nine?”

“I’m almost eleven,” Tan answered.

“Right. Well, anyway, you won’t think that way forever. Tell me, is Ko stupid?”

“Ko’s not a girl. Not really. I mean, she is, but she’s also one of us,” Tan explained.

“One of us?”

“You know,” Tan said, struggling to explain himself. “Me, Pao, Won and Ko. We’re … us.”

“I think I do understand,” Renton agreed. “Your father was very clever to help you form a quartet while you were so young. Let me tell you a secret, Tan. It’s something that I wish I understood better while I was younger.”

“Okay,” Tan said, listening.

“There is only one,” Renton said.

Abruptly, the Qi in the courtyard changed. A warm wind blew, causing Tan to look around in confusion.

Renton was doing that, he realized.

“You’re a fire cultivator,” Tan argued.

“There is only one,” Renton repeated. “Your father said those words to me when I was younger and I am only just coming to understand them in the way that he meant. I thought what he could do was impossible, but there is only one.”

“You’re not making sense,” Tan objected. Then he frowned, sensing a burst of excitement from Zephyr. He abruptly sat down to think.

Renton, recognizing that the boy was weighing his words very carefully, sat down next to him. He waited patiently, watching as the boy pondered the dao.

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