The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Chapter 182: Helping Piri

"You were right," Aurelia admitted, after Flicker had returned The Demon – no, she should stop thinking of her that way – after he had returned the soul that had once been The Demon to her archival box. "She has changed."

"As the system of Tiers and reincarnations was intended," Flicker droned with a mock severity that made her laugh, which then made him pucker up his face in a credible imitation of Superintendent Glitter, which made her laugh all the more.

The cherry trees spread clouds of blossoms over their bench, and the moonlight turned the garden into an ink-wash painting. The Garden of Eternal Spring had been Aurelia's idea, her first solo project at the Bureau of the Sky, and she remained convinced that her confirmation as Assistant Director had come thanks to its popularity among the gods. Even she had complimented it, albeit indirectly by remarking that Koh Lodia would like to embroider it.

Heaven and the Jade Emperor forbid that Piri ever pay anyone a direct, sincere compliment.

Why do I care what she thinks anyway? Aurelia asked herself, irritated that she'd let her old nemesis get under her skin again. Is it because I fear that her taste is superior to mine? Of course not. I know what I created here. All of Heaven knows what I created here. This is my masterpiece.

Unbidden, an image of Piri's pagoda rose before Aurelia's eyes, its hysterical opulence clashing with the stark elegance she had designed. Unbidden, too, came the thought, That was what Anthea chose to copy on her new estate? followed by the oddest wave of hurt.

But that was unreasonable and unfair and unworthy of a true friend. Anthea was homesick for a world that no longer existed, and in her desperate homesickness, she'd recreated it down to the details that heralded its destruction.

She's never seen the Garden of Eternal Spring, Aurelia soothed herself. She'd have copied this if she'd seen it.

" – you all right?"

Flicker's words filtered into her mind, and Aurelia returned to the present with a jolt. "Oh, yes, sorry. I was simply thinking."

Worry replaced the humor in his face, and he took her hand. "Was it too soon for the two of you to meet?"

"No, no, you were right to set up this meeting," she reassured him, even though she was asking herself the same question. Would it ever be not too soon for her and Piri to meet? "You were right. She's changed. I needed to speak to her in person to see that."

His relief was so palpable that it nearly awakened as a spirit in its own right.

"Out of curiosity, what did she say when you told her that she was banned from the Claymouth Barony?" Piri's reaction would be a further yardstick by which Aurelia could measure her transformation.

Flicker's throat worked. No sound came out.

"You didn't tell her, did you? You never told her that she wasn't allowed near Taila ever again."

Aurelia had to fight to keep her voice level, even as a wave of betrayal rose in her. Everyone who met Piri sided with her! Even Flicker! Why? What made that one fox demon so special? She wasn't any more beautiful or charismatic than any of the other fox demons. So what gave her that degree of hold over those around her?

"I was going to tell her if I thought there was a chance she'd try to return! I swear! But she hasn't tried. I don't think she has any plans to try. Her plans were all about South Serica, and then they were all about West Serica, which is in the opposite direction from Claymouth, and I thought, 'If I tell her she can't do something, she's going to want to do it, so I'd better not tell her'!"