Nine Gates by Jane Lindskold Read Free Book Online Page B

looked no more relaxed. He sat on the edge of his chair, leaning slightly forward, fingertips steepled.
    “Yes. Both Shen and Deborah need to be updated, and we certainly cannot mention most of this over the telephone or even in an e-mail. Moreover, although they have verbally agreed to the treaty, I want their signatures on it as soon as possible—as we noted earlier, the conflicting duties imposed on Waking Lizard may have diluted the force of the attack. I want them protected as well.”
    “What about the others?” Nissa asked. “All of us here have signed, as has Brenda’s father. You’ve mentioned Deborah Van Bergenstein, the Pig, and Shen Kung, the Dragon. What about the other five members of the Thirteen Orphans? Don’t they have to sign as well?”
    Albert’s expression became very unhappy, but Brenda didn’t think the unhappiness was directed toward Nissa.
    “The situation with those five—our Ox, Snake, Horse, Ram, and Monkey—is complex.”
    “I know they’re among the lineages that were lost or have lapsed or whatever,” Nissa said, “but still, shouldn’t they sign? Don’t we need them?”
    Albert held up a hand in an eloquent gesture that begged for forbearance. “Please. You’re absolutely right, but first we must deal with the complications resulting from this morning’s attack.”
    Nissa did not look pleased, but she nodded. “All right. What’s first?”
    “Well,” Albert said, “Pearl has already mentioned getting Shen and Deborah to sign the treaty. Pearl, if you’re willing to make the trip to New York, I’ll go to Michigan and see Deborah.”
    He looked at the four from the Lands. “Deborah lives near Ann Arbor. As you may recall, that is not precisely near New York City.”
    Honey Dream and Flying Claw looked blank with the blankness that indicates an unwillingness to show embarrassment. Righteous Drum, however, nodded without any discomfort—even though the reason for his knowing where Deborah lived was that he had gone there to attack her.
    “Both states are more part of what you call East than West, but, yes, they are not close. Still, you should be able to reach there easily.”
    “That is not the difficulty,” Albert said. “The treaty is. Currently, we have one copy. I would prefer we not ship that, but neither do I wish Pearl and myself to add to our travels. In your magical tradition, is it the document, or the sense of the document that counts?”
    Righteous Dream answered promptly. “In the case of a treaty, the sense of the document. Ideally, everyone would sign the same piece of paper, but when this cannot be done, multiple copies are made and linked.”
    “Good,” Albert said. “We might as well leave the original safely here. I recall Honey Dream is an excellent calligrapher. Perhaps she would…”
    The Snake gave a graceful inclination of her head. “I would be pleased to make copies.”
    “Another problem,” Riprap said into the pause that followed, “is the prisoners. We can’t bury them like we can the corpses.”
    And we don’t dare leave them here
, Brenda thought,
in the custody of the four from the Lands. The prisoners aren’t protected by any treaty, and I wouldn’t trust Honey Dream not to poison them. Or seduce them into a new alliance.
    Brenda was certain at least a few of the others shared her thoughts, but no one voiced them.
    Instead, Pearl said, “While I don’t want the prisoners in my house, I suppose we could put them in the garage apartment. It isn’t large, but it is covered by my general wards, and we could put up other spells. Hastings said he would be moving his things out today.”
    “He already has,” Nissa clarified. “That’s why Wong thought Lani could take her nap there.”
    “Sounds like a plan to me,” Riprap agreed. “We’ll put them where we can keep an eye on them, but not where we’ll have them underfoot.”
    Everyone else agreed. Some further discussion refined that the prisoners would be moved