The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Chapter 172: Special Permission to Revoke a Decree

Insultingly, the Star of Heavenly Joy arrived barely on time, which meant that he was late. Not a good look for someone begging a favor from her.

The Goddess of Life had not, of course, been waiting in the entry hall for him – way too many documents required stamping for that, plus whoever heard of a Bureau Director waiting for an Assistant Director? She had, however, been rehearsing variations of their conversation, and by the time her head clerk announced her guest's arrival, she was already sick of both it and him.

Make that "them," she decided as the star sprite prostrated himself before her desk.

"Don't grovel," she snapped. "Show him to the west balcony. Tell him I am held up by matters of critical import but will be there shortly."

While the clerk bowed himself out, she picked up the next scroll and skimmed it. One of the Commissioners of Pestilence was applying for permission to unleash a plague on North Serica.

Offerings from the north have dwindled as humans have forgotten their respect for us, he wrote. We request permission to remind them what they owe the Bureau of Human Lives and the great Lady who leads us.

About to stamp the bottom and toss it onto the "approved" heap, she paused. A plague in North Serica. A pesky soul who was even now re-coalescing in the Bureau of Reincarnation. She rolled the scroll back up and tucked it into her sleeve. Accompanied by only two attendants (this Bureau really did need more funding!), she swept onto the west balcony in a cloud of sweet lotus fragrance.

Most rudely, the Star of Heavenly Joy had his back to the doorway when she arrived. Relying on his horde of attendants to alert him to any backstabbing, he was sipping tea from a crude cup. He held it in the tips of his fingers, as if the clay might flake off and soil his smooth, white skin. It was a far cry from the porcelain tea sets that the other Bureaus brought out for formal events.

"Why did you use that set?" she hissed at her head clerk.

"Forgive me, Heavenly Lady, but I thought you would want us to use our most precious set," he babbled back. "These vessels were shaped by the hands of the earliest humans. They are treasures of the Bureau, so I thought – "

"You're not hired to think. Next time, use the modern porcelain."

"Yes, yes, I see now, these are far too fragile for everyday use. I do humbly beg forgiveness for – "

She swept across the balcony to join the Star of Heavenly Joy at the railing. The height afforded them a fine view across the rolling sea of clouds, dyed vermilion and scarlet and lotus pink by the Weaver Maidens.

"Assistant Director," she said in her most serene voice, "what a pleasure it is to speak with my successor in person. Welcome to the Bureau of Human Lives."

He bowed gracefully. "Director, thank you for making time in your impossibly busy schedule to mentor me." When his head came up again, a smile lit his eyes and softened his lips, the very picture of a schoolboy contemplating the object of his adoration.

Oh yes, she could see how this man had charmed the committee into approving his promotion to Assistant Director, how he had charmed those three Peaches of Immortality out of whoever was supposed to be guarding the orchard. She felt an answering smile lift her own lips and flattened their corners.

"Please, shall we sit?" She gestured at the table that had been re-set with modern porcelain while they conversed. After the obligatory remarks about the deliciousness of the teacakes and the skill of her pastry chef (singular), she brought the conversation around to business. "You mentioned that you are troubled by a case at the Bureau of Reincarnation?"