Jade War

“Lan wanted a lot of things that he didn’t get.” Hilo fell silent and stared out across the courtyard. The mornings were warm now, the springtime garden burgeoning with peonies and azaleas in pink and white. Shae waited; she and Hilo had sat out here many times over the past year—in discussion, fierce argument, or silence—and she’d come to recognize the particular feel of his jade aura when she’d finally said something to convince him. Pushing Hilo too hard with factual arguments would only make him irritable and defensive; he needed a genuine and personal reason to justify his choices.

“I have to discuss it with Kehn,” Hilo said at last. He ate the rest of his bread roll in two quick bites and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Tell Ree that we’ll talk. Set a time for after I get back from the Uwiwa Islands.”

CHAPTER 8 Family Matters

Kaul Maik Wen rushed to find her husband in their bedroom, packing up a few belongings for his trip. “Hilo,” she gasped. She hadn’t meant to sound alarmed, but he must’ve Perceived her agitation because he dropped his wallet and talon knife on the bedspread and took her by the arms. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Wen said. To tell the truth, she felt exhausted most of the time and had barely kept her breakfast down this morning, but that wasn’t why she’d come running up the stairs. The square envelope and the papers clutched in her hand shook as she held them out to Hilo. “I found this among the papers that you asked me to box up from the study.”

Hilo and Shae had left Lan’s bedroom and his study untouched for so long that upon moving into the main house, Wen had taken it upon herself to deal with the situation. She’d liked Lan a great deal and mourned that she would never know him as a brother-in-law, but the dead no longer had any needs. Better to take care of those who were still living. Wen had moved the furniture out of the bedroom and repainted it; she planned to turn it into a nursery. As part of her encouragement that Hilo change the study to his liking, she’d placed Lan’s belongings and papers into boxes and moved them out. At first Hilo had resisted. “Just leave it; I’m not going to use that room anyway,” he told her. Eventually, he’d seen the necessity and, being more than happy to let her handle it, had asked her to at least sort through the boxes and hang on to anything important before storing or discarding the rest. This morning, she’d been doing just that when she’d found the unopened envelope.

It was addressed to Lan, postmarked two weeks prior to his death. The return address was a postal box in Lybon, Stepenland. Wen handed her husband two pieces of folded paper, dense with handwriting, and a photograph of a six-month-old baby.

“What is this?” Hilo asked.

“Your nephew,” Wen said. “Eyni was pregnant when she left Kekon.” Wen pointed to the top of the letter, drawing his attention to the writing: I can’t think of any other way to tell you this: He’s yours. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but I wasn’t sure who the father was. It was obvious after he was born—he has your nose, your eyes, even your expressions… that Kaul look. You know what I mean. His name is Nikolas, and he’s a beautiful, healthy baby.

Wen watched Hilo’s eyes travel in disbelief down the rest of the letter. She’d already read through it and knew how it ended. I know this is a shock. I’m not sure what to do now. Even though things didn’t work out between us, I still want Niko to know his biological father. Maybe we should talk about me returning to Kekon. I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t want anything more to do with me, but I’ve never stopped caring about you. Please write back.

Hilo put down the letter and studied the photo. “I don’t really see the resemblance she’s talking about,” he said at last.

Wen snatched the picture from him. “You’re blind,” she exclaimed. True, the baby in the photo looked much as all babies did—round-faced, wide-eyed, sweet and soft—but he was so obviously Kaul Lan’s son that Wen wanted to splutter indignantly at her husband. “You have to write back to Eyni.”