"Good grief, good grief, Triss, you'll never guess what Lord Paine just said to me. He wants me to be his successor! It scared me half to death."
After the Lord left, Murphy stood alone at the entrance to the divine kingdom, which was about to close. He peered inside through the shattering, glasslike space, surveying the scorched earth. Then he opened his quantum communicator and complained to Triss:
"I suspect he was testing me, just like those old emperors always liked to test young people.
"If I'd lost my nerve and agreed, the Lord probably would've poked a dozen holes in me with his holy spear, just to announce to the other ambitious vampires what happened to anyone who tried to usurp his throne."
"Have you lost your mind? Are you sure you're talking about Lord Paine and not old Edward?"
Triss immediately relaxed when she heard that everything was fine. She had already confirmed the news of the Hunting Lord's death through the turbulence in the astral realm and Su's assurance, which left her feeling both relieved and anxious.
She whispered to Murphy in a furtive voice:
"Now that things are done over there, hurry back! The thing you gave me is way too hot to handle. I feel like everyone who comes near me is trying to steal this treasure, and I suspect old Su may have already noticed it's on me.
"He's looking at me strangely. I can't take much more of this.
"Come back right away and deal with the mess you dumped on me yourself."
"Yeah, I'll be back soon. I'm planning to take a look around the Hunting Lord's divine kingdom first, maybe snap a few pictures or something. It's going to collapse any minute, after all."
Murphy replied, then invited His Highness