Jade War

Anden muted the television show he’d been watching and asked if she needed anything. Wen shook her head and sat down beside him, smoothing her skirt over her knees. “Anden,” she said, putting a hand on his arm, “Hilo knows I’m here in Port Massy, working for the Weather Man on foreign real estate projects, but he doesn’t know the other part. You must never mention to him that I was the one who carried the jade into the country.”

Anden glanced at her, then down at his hands, clearly uncomfortable with being asked to keep a secret. Wen said, “He wouldn’t approve. You know how he feels about certain things. With Hilo, you’re either a Green Bone or you’re not.”

“I know,” Anden said. “He doesn’t want me back in Janloon so long as I’m not green.”

“That’s not true,” Wen said. “We all miss you at home. But your cousins have their reasons. Shae thinks it’ll be good for you to have an Espenian education, to speak a second language and have experience living abroad. You’ll be able to put those advantages to use for the clan even if you don’t wear green. Isn’t that worth the hardship of being away from home for a little while, now, while you’re young? Hilo… well.” Wen smiled, her expression a little resigned. “Anyone without jade is somewhat like a child to him, to be kept away from the realities and dangers we’re not a part of. Even me. I know he loves me and values my opinions, but I’m not in his world, not completely. If he seems distant or unforgiving toward you, it’s because he doesn’t know where you fit now, how to treat you when you return.”

Anden turned to her with a searching gaze, serious but hopeful. Wen thought that even though Anden was not a Kaul by blood, in that moment, he looked more like Lan than either Hilo or Shae ever did. “Will you talk to him, for me?” he asked. “And to Shae-jen? Of course, I’ll keep your secret no matter what,” he added quickly, “but I know they listen to you.”

“I will,” Wen promised, touched by his earnestness. She looped an arm around one of his. “It’s not so bad living here in Port Massy, is it? Shae tells me that you have a foster family here, there’s an entire Kekonese neighborhood, and even relayball. You’ve been here for almost three years; do you feel as if you have friends here now, things that make you happy, people who you care about?”

Anden said, “Yes. You’re right, it’s not so bad. Pretty good, actually. I’m done with classes, and I’m… seeing someone.” He flushed and seemed almost surprised at himself for the admission, but Wen only smiled; they were the two unlucky members of the family, each in their own way—who better to confide such things, if not to each other? “I would never have guessed I’d find someone in Espenia, and he’s very Espenian in a lot of ways. We don’t see each other as much as we used to, though.” Anden’s voice took a slightly troubled turn. “It’s not that I’m unhappy in Espenia. But I don’t think I could ever really feel at home here. And it’s hard being so far away from everything that’s happening in the family.” He turned to her and said, “When I heard about what happened to Kehn, I felt as if I should’ve been there. Even though I know there was nothing I could’ve done, no way that I could’ve helped, and I wasn’t even close enough to the Horn to know him very well, but… I still feel as if I should’ve been there.”

Wen smiled sadly and rubbed at her eyes. “I have every reason to stay at home. Hilo would prefer it, and the children are little. You should see Lina’s new baby—he looks so much like Kehn. I miss them all very much when I’m gone. But I feel as if I should be out here, doing something more. So it’s true that you can be happy but still not satisfied.”

There was a knock on the door. Anden got up to peer through the peephole, then opened the door to admit Rohn Toro and four other men who entered quickly and closed the door behind them. It was suddenly crowded in the room; Wen was thankful for Anden’s familiar presence among the strange men. All of the visitors were Green Bones who spoke to each other and to Anden in Espenian, but they greeted Wen in Kekonese, saluting her respectfully and saying they were honored to meet her.

There were only two chairs at the hotel room table; Wen and Anden sat down and the five Green Bones stood around. Wen laid out the jade choker, bracelets, and three other coils of jade beads that she’d smuggled in under her clothes. After arriving at the hotel, she’d soaked them in solvent in the bathroom sink, wiped them clean of their coating, and laid them out to dry. Now they gleamed like nothing else on earth—unmistakable as true Kekonese jade.