The Royal Council, fearing all the Green Bone Pillars to be dead and the clans in disarray, had called three thousand national military troops into Janloon, including the jade-equipped Golden Spider Company. Juen said, “I hate to admit it, but we’re lucky that the government ordered soldiers into the city and bought us time to get our shit together. No one expected the CFM to be so well armed. We suspected they were relying on foreign support, but not to this extent.”
“At least all the money and resources we gave to General Ronu turned out to be of some use.” Hilo glowered and leaned his head back against the pillows for a moment, clearly fatigued even from being awake and doing simple things. “This is even worse than the time I was in here after getting the shit beaten out of me by Gont Asch. At least, that time, I woke up in the hospital to good news.”
“Everyone suspects Ygutan was involved,” Shae said. “Euman Naval Base is on high alert, which suggests the ROE thinks so too.”
Hilo grimaced and closed his eyes. “A note was delivered to me during the KJA meeting, warning me to get out. There was no sign of who sent it, but now I’m guessing it came from the Espenians.”
Wen squeezed her husband’s hand. “Why didn’t you listen?”
“As soon as I stood up, everyone in the room knew something was wrong. I sent Woon ahead of me, making an excuse about a family emergency. I thought the threat was from inside, that maybe Ayt had something to do with it.” Hilo opened his eyes again. They glittered with fury. “If the Espenians sent that note, then they knew the bombing would happen. They could’ve saved everyone in the building, but they didn’t.”
Juen spat a curse. “Those two-faced foreign dogs likely wanted the anarchists to start a rebellion. It would’ve given them the perfect excuse to take control of Kekon by sending in their own troops to restore order.”
Shae said, with a pensive frown, “I’m sure they were prepared to do so, but I don’t think that was their goal. Considering the conflicts over the naval base, jade exports, and offshore mining, it’s no surprise the Espenians have no love for the clans, especially the Mountain. But if they warned Hilo, then they hoped to keep him and No Peak alive.” She shifted Tia to her other arm, holding her sleeping daughter close. “Remember, the Espenians tackle problems with money before violence. Given a choice, they would prefer to control Kekon without risking their own soldiers. Placing the only surviving clan in their debt and dependent on their support, they could’ve pressured us into capitulating on the issues they want resolved in their favor.”
Hilo’s lips lifted in a snarl. “Besides me and Woon and the three of you, no one knows I got that godsdamned note. We don’t owe the spennies a sack of shit.” He picked at a bandage on his chest; some of his jade had been temporarily removed and his aura was uncharacteristically scratchy and uneven. He kept touching the bare spots where his jade was missing, like a man compulsively trying to locate an amputated limb.
Wen caught hold of his hand and stopped him from undoing the dressings. “We all wish Ayt had died,” she said, “but the Weather Man has a good point. A country with two large clans is less likely to be controlled, manipulated, or destabilized right now.”
“Fuck all those self-serving, scheming foreigners with sharp sticks,” Hilo growled, “but not right now. We’ve got a mess to clean up first. The clanless fanatics wanted an uprising so badly, they let their movement get hijacked by outsiders. Now they’ve fucked themselves. The government, the press, the public—they’ll all be baying for us to spill blood.”
Juen nodded as he paced back and forth near the foot of the bed. “There were only two new attacks yesterday. Killing you and Ayt was the one thing the anarchists most needed, and finding out that you were both still alive was a terrible blow. Some of them are already giving up and trying to disappear. After we get the streets back under control, we’ll need to act fast to wipe out as much of that organization as we can before it scurries underground again.”
The Horn stopped his pacing and turned to the Pillar with grim shame and regret on his face. “We didn’t treat the clanless as a serious enough threat before. No one did. I’ve been talking to Aben Soro about coordinating our actions against them from now on. I don’t think he’s Ayt’s man in quite the same way Nau and Gont were. We can work with him.”
“Pull in the minor clans as well, whichever ones are still able to function.” Hilo took a minute to gather his breath and regain his energy. He pointed to the glass of water and package of painkillers on the bedside table, which Wen handed to him. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but get some journalists in here too. The Kobens already put out a statement and I keep seeing Koben Yiro’s weepy widow on TV, holding that old gasbag up as a martyr. The sooner people see proof that I’m not dead or in a coma, the better.”