With a heavy heart, he set the receiver back into its cradle.
He would’ve thought that under the circumstances, he wouldn’t be able to relax enough to fall asleep, but the sheer exhaustion from worry and expending jade energy turned out to be too great. He dozed off in the armchair still wearing his jade and was jolted awake by the sudden Perception of two Green Bones approaching his apartment door. One of the jade auras belonged to Shae. The other was unfamiliar to him—a cool, even energy like the stare of a hawk. Anden opened the door before Shae knocked. Standing behind the Weather Man was a tall, elderly man, thin and grizzled, nearly bald, but with piercingly clear eyes and jade carried on weathered leather bands around his left wrist.
“I’m sorry I took so long getting back,” Shae said. “This is Nau Suen.”
Anden had never met the former Horn of the Mountain in person. Most of Nau’s time as the military leader of the enemy clan had occurred while Anden had been living abroad in Espenia, and then while he was ensconced in medical school. However, he knew of Nau’s reputation as a devious assassin with a frightening level of Perception, well trusted by Ayt Mada whenever she whispered names. Even though the old man in the hallway had retired from his post years ago and was not physically formidable, Anden swallowed and touched his forehead warily as he held open the door. “Nau-jen,” he said.
Nau stepped inside the apartment wordlessly and with barely a glance at Anden. He crouched down beside the sofa where Ayt Mada was now awake and weakly trying to push herself up into a sitting position. The former Horn put a gentle hand on Ayt Mada’s forehead, as if she were a child with a fever.
“Hello, old friend,” Ayt said with a rueful smile. “Come to bail me out again.”
“Kaul Shae was the one who came to me,” Nau admitted in a grumble. “Otherwise, I would’ve thought you were in that pile of rubble. That’s what people have been saying, even the Kobens.”
Ayt slid a look over her former Horn’s shoulder, glancing at Shae with an expression that Anden thought was not gratitude, exactly, but bemused acknowledgment. “How disappointed some people are going to be,” she said, implicitly including both clans in the statement.
Nau touched the thick bandages over Ayt’s neck. “How did this happen?”
“Ven’s daughter,” Ayt explained bitterly. “Disguised as a secretary, and striking at the right moment.”
Nau hissed a breath through his teeth. “Mada,” he sighed. “Do you remember that I told you not to leave any of that family alive? We’re both getting old, and our enemies are still young.”
“At least you’re retired, Suen-jen,” Ayt said, with a wry lightness in her voice that Anden would never have imagined coming from her. Ayt pulled the IV tube from her arm and put her feet down on the ground, pushing herself off the sofa in an attempt to stand. She swayed alarmingly and nearly fell. Nau caught her around the shoulders and supported her weight. She leaned against him, sweat breaking out on her face. The old Horn lifted her in his arms, his lined face tensing for a moment, but his Strength was still more than enough to handle the burden. Ayt put her jade-adorned arms around Nau’s neck and rested her head against his shoulder, breathing heavily. “Get me home,” she muttered.
Anden and Shae stood to the side as Nau walked toward the door. Before he reached it, Anden came out of his stunned state and said, “Wait.” He took a plastic grocery bag from the kitchen and filled it with the extra bandages and a pill bottle of antibiotics. The phone on the counter rang. Shae picked it up.
Anden handed the bag to Nau, who held it hanging awkwardly off one wrist as he carried Ayt. “Change the bandages every four hours, and take two pills each day.” He met Nau’s gaze. “Your Pillar needs a blood transfusion and should be in the hospital. At least have a Green Bone doctor treating and monitoring her.”
Nau did not take his eyes off Anden’s face. “May the gods shine favor on you for what you’ve done, Dr. Emery Anden,” he said. “Even though I know you’ve never saved a life more unwillingly.”
In that instant, Shae’s jade aura pulsed with emotion strong enough that both men turned toward the Weather Man. The phone receiver slid from Shae’s grasp, dangling on its cord as she steadied herself with both hands on the edge of the counter. Anden’s heart seemed to stop in his chest. One second elongated into an eternity.
Shae looked up at him, eyes damp with relief. “They’ve been found,” she breathed. “They’re alive.”