Jade War

The red-haired man shook Hilo’s hand and then Tar’s. “I dare say I’m sorry we’ve never met before now. Eyni, you really should’ve told me they were coming.” In an aside to Hilo, “I don’t understand why she doesn’t keep in touch with relatives in Kekon. Seems to think they’ll judge us. Personally, during my two years in Janloon, I found all the people I met to be good-natured and pleasant. Nothing like the stereotypes.”

“I only want what’s best for both our families,” Hilo said.

They made arrangements to reconvene in three days’ time. Hilo and Tar left the house and walked back to the rental car. “What’re we going to do here for three days?” Tar asked.

Hilo glanced back at the house and lit a cigarette. “I want you to follow that man and find out everything there is to know about him. It could be useful.”

CHAPTER 20 Complications

"You’ve been quiet,” Maro said. They lay facing each other, Shae’s leg thrown over his thigh, his hand resting on her hip, their bodies sticky and languid. The pedestal fan in the corner of Maro’s bedroom oscillated back and forth, blowing cooled air over their bare skin. The Autumn Festival had recently passed, and typhoon season this year had been mild, but still the blanket of summer lingered damp and heavy over Janloon. Shae did not want to get up to go to work.

“Something on your mind?” Maro asked.

A lot of things were on her mind—too many to choose from, all of them No Peak matters that would be difficult to explain. She ran a hand over the curve of Maro’s bare shoulder. “Does it bother you?” she asked. “That I wear more jade? That I’m a Kaul?” She wondered if she sounded insecure, but with Maro she felt unguarded, removed from the day-to-day realities of the clan.

Maro hesitated. He drew his fingers up her arm and collarbone to the hollow of her throat, bringing them to rest lightly on the two-tier jade choker around her neck. “It does bother me a little,” he admitted. “Men are expected to be stronger and greener than women, and it’s hard not to be affected by what the world expects. People might assume I’m trying to climb to the top of the clan by being with you, when that’s not true. I like spending time with you for your personality, not your family name or your jade.”

Shae lowered her head and flicked her tongue over his nipple. “Just my personality?”

“And this.” He jiggled one of her breasts. “And this.” He squeezed her ass, and Shae gave a yelp of laughter. Maro’s smile faded. “I should be the one asking you. Are you ashamed of dating me? Is that why we always come to my place, because you don’t want to introduce me to your family?”

Shae was quiet for a moment. “You might not want to know my family.”

“I’m not naive,” Maro said. “I know Green Bones, and I know your brother’s reputation.”

“It’s not just Hilo. The realities of the clan, of being a Kaul… you might not want to be a part of that.” She traced his eyebrow with her thumb. For the past three months, whenever she made her usual weekly visit to the Temple of Divine Return and knelt to pray in the sanctum, she thought of Doru’s body flung back against the armchair. “I had to kill a man recently. Someone I knew well.”

Maro stiffened slightly. “I’m sure there were good reasons.”

“There were, but I couldn’t do it,” Shae said. “I’ve never had to kill someone I knew so personally. When the time came, I couldn’t draw my blade. Strangely enough, I’m sad that I failed him. And worse yet, I lost the respect of a person whose support I need.” She was still mulling on how she’d damaged her standing with Hami. The Master Luckbringer was a former Fist; he was unlikely to forgive such a stumble. A Green Bone leader couldn’t be soft or hesitant, especially if she was a woman and people were expecting her to fail. Ayt Mada had killed her father’s closest friends; she had ordered the death of her own brother. She would not have hesitated in that cabin.

Shae said to Maro, “You wear jade, but you’re an educated, accomplished professional and a world traveler. I wish there were more people like you. You’re the modern side of the country. But Kekon’s other side is all blood and steel. Somehow, as the Weather Man of No Peak, I have to be both of those things at the same time.”