Death Answers to Me

There are dragon veins under the ground, and a family that cuts through one brings misfortune on itself. A year ago the head of the Ford family cut one during a construction job, and after that one misfortune followed another in his house. Nina Bale is an immortal who holds power over the life and death of all things. The Ford patriarch offered his own life and all the merit he had earned in exchange for her protection of the Fords for one year. The year is now up. In the southern province the head of the Cork family, the leading family there, coughs blood and collapses. Before he loses consciousness he says that only Miss Bale can save him. On the same day the Fords hold a banquet. They are tired of a lodger who lives in their house and does nothing, and they plan to put her out during the party. The Corks reach the banquet at that moment, kneel in front of Nina, and beg her to save their master, who has not regained consciousness.