Jade War

Hilo grimaced; he could’ve guessed as much. He turned over his shoulder to consult briefly with Shae, then turned back to Ayt. “We keep Poor Man’s Road and the rest of the Armpit.” The city’s largest gambling houses were not merely the clan’s most profitable and symbolic conquest, they were a strategic complement to No Peak’s companies in the hospitality sector.

“Then we reclaim Spearpoint south of Patriot Street and take Sogen,” Ayt answered smoothly and at once, having clearly anticipated her rival’s priorities.

“Three-quarters of Sogen,” Hilo countered. “Everything west of Twentieth Street.” That would preserve a No Peak zone on both sides of Haino Boulevard and create a buffer for Old Town. It was still a major concession, especially since Tar and his men had fought so hard to win that district last year. Behind him, Hilo could Perceive his Pillarman’s unhappiness, but they’d come in expecting to lose something. Hilo said, “Both of our Weather Men will have to do the math and agree.”

“Of course,” Ayt said.

Hilo said, “And you hand over Yun Dorupon.”

“He’s living unguarded in the town of Opia,” Ayt said, without blinking an eye, as if she were telling him the time of day. “You can have your spies confirm.” Hilo felt Shae’s aura shift slightly, but he himself did not react.

“One last thing,” Hilo said. “My cousin Anden. You know he isn’t wearing jade. So long as that’s the case, no matter where he is, no one from the Mountain goes anywhere near him. He’s studying abroad now, but the world’s getting to be a smaller place every day. Anything suspicious happens to him, I’m going to blame the people in this room. We shouldn’t have to spell out aisho as if it’s for preschoolers, but that’s the way things seem to be these days.”

Ayt seemed amused. “So long as I’m Pillar and Emery Anden remains jadeless, we won’t interfere with him, or take vengeance for the death of Gont Asch.” Ayt’s expression was icy, but the corner of her mouth twitched upward. “Do we have an agreement, Kaul Hiloshudon?”

Hilo had never imagined he would be in this position. Dead, yes, he had imagined that countless times—but not this, sitting within arm’s reach of his enemy and calmly negotiating for peace. He was not a true Deitist believer in the afterlife, but he imagined the spirits of everyone who had died on the clan’s behalf hovering accusingly behind him: his brother Lan, his many Fists—Satto, Goun, Lott, to name just a few—and dozens of Fingers who’d sworn their loyalty to him, most of them young warriors cut down in the prime of their lives.

For a second, Hilo felt almost physically sick with self-loathing. How had Shae convinced him to agree to this? She was always pushing him to make calculated, sensible decisions—but sensible was not always right. He knew Ayt could Perceive the flare of emotion in his jade aura, just as he could sense easily enough that behind her composed expression, her hatred for him had not diminished in the least. She was acting as much out of necessity as he was.

“Yes,” Hilo said. “Under Heaven and on jade.”

“Under Heaven and on jade,” Ayt agreed, repeating the words, lifted in shorthand from the traditional closing of the longer Green Bone oaths. They sealed the decisions reached in the meeting, making them the official word of the Pillar, the will of the clan. With the intent of the pact in place, it would be up to the clans’ Weather Men to negotiate all the specific details.

Ayt turned slightly over her shoulder to address her Horn and her Weather Man. “Before we go, I’d like to speak to Kaul Hilo-jen alone for a few minutes,” she said. Ayt turned back around to face Hilo, her expression even more inscrutable than usual. “As one Pillar to another.”

Nau Suen and Ree Tura rose from their seats and left the room, taking their aides with them. After a moment of hesitation, Hilo glanced at Kehn and Shae and nodded that they were to leave as well. Both their jade auras buzzed warily at the unusual request, but they stood and exited, the rest of the No Peak men following. None of the Green Bones went far; Hilo could Perceive them all standing just outside, ready to return at a second’s notice from their Pillars.

Ayt’s demeanor shifted, turned almost casual. She leaned onto the table with one elbow and placed a few slices of fruit and a meat cake onto a small plate, the sleeve of her blouse falling to her elbow and revealing silver-mounted coils of jade stones. “Let’s speak frankly, Kaul-jen,” she said. “You don’t want to be Pillar. You’re not suited to the role like your grandfather and your brother.”

Hilo said in a very cold voice, “I haven’t forgotten you’re the reason I’m in this job.”