The big clans were getting bigger. We’re still two tigers, Shae thought grimly, eating all we can before we have to face each other again.
Icho was dressed in his best suit and tie, and his voice was resolute but sorrowful as he said, “Kaul-jen, I’ve been dreading this day ever since my brother-in-law’s death, but I’m also filled with relief and gratitude that it’s finally arrived.” He lowered himself to his knees and clasped his hands to his forehead. His Weather Man and Horn knelt behind him on either side, mirroring Shae’s and Juen’s positions next to Hilo. “The Jo Sun clan belongs to you now, Kaul Hiloshudon. Its jade is your jade. Its businesses will report to your Weather Man, its warriors will die for your Horn. Your enemies are my enemies, your friends are my friends. I surrender the title of Pillar and pledge allegiance solely to No Peak. The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master. On my honor, my life, and my jade.”
There were tears in Icho’s eyes as he touched his head to the carpet of the Kaul study. The other leaders of Jo Sun did the same, with dignity and resignation. When Icho straightened up, Hilo drew the man to his feet and embraced him warmly. “It’s a hard thing you’ve done, maybe the hardest thing a man can do, to sacrifice his own pride, even if it’s for all the right reasons, even when there’s no other choice. The Green Bones of the Jo Sun clan are now Green Bones of No Peak. I’ll treat them no differently than my own warriors. And the city of Toshon is now No Peak territory. We’ll make it prosperous and defend it as fiercely as any district here in Janloon.”
Shae could see that the poor man did not entirely believe Hilo’s words, but he nodded gratefully. “Thank you, Kaul-jen.”
“Now that the hard part’s over, let’s all have a good dinner together,” Hilo said, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Tomorrow when you wake up, maybe you’ll still be sad, but maybe you’ll also feel better, knowing you’re finally free from a difficult job you never asked for, and proud that you did all that your brother could’ve expected.”
CHAPTER
33
Truthbearers
Art Wyles, CEO of Anorco Global Resources, resided for two weeks of every second month in his house in Kekon. Wyles had six houses around the world. In Port Massy, he had the mansion on Jons Island where his wife and two children lived, and the penthouse apartment in downtown Quince where he kept his mistress. He owned a family cottage on the southern coast of Espenia outside of Resville, as well as a small but luxurious vacation condo in Marcucuo, and a country house and vineyard in the rolling green hills of Karandi. His residence on Euman Island was relatively modest in comparison—a two-story refurbished brick Shotarian colonial on a rocky ridge overlooking the Amaric Ocean—but it was where he preferred to spend his time these days.
There were two reasons for this. The first was his business, which he admired from his sunroom through a pair of binoculars. The sea was a chalky gray this morning and flat as a sheet, with not a cloud or wave in sight. Perfect conditions.
Offshore jade mining was poised to make Wyles a great deal of money, but it was a risky venture. The initial capital investment had been enormous, and the Kekonese—more specifically, the Janloon clans that held real power in the country—were touchy about bioenergetic jade being extracted or used by outsiders. Touchy was too mild a word, Wyles admitted. Murderous was more accurate.
The clans had repeatedly sabotaged his ships, causing serious delays and millions of thalirs’ worth of property damage. The Kekonese were a brutal race; Wyles did not rule out the possibility they might try to assassinate him. He was undeterred. One did not rise from a rough working-class neighborhood in Port Massy to the highest levels of the Espenian plutocracy without a stubborn determination and an unhealthy appetite for risk. He possessed vast wealth, powerful friends, and most importantly, an unwavering faith in God and the Truth. Together, those great weapons would not only protect him, but guarantee his eventual success.
Quality bioenergetic jade was so rare and valuable that even a modest amount could return on the high operating costs. After years of research and development, of failures and refinement, his ships were finally churning and sifting through enough seawater, sand, and gravel to extract a profitable yield. Anorco was the sole legitimate non-Kekonese processor of bioenergetic jade in the world. The thought made Wyles’s heart race.
There was another reason Wyles spent so much time in Kekon and it made his heart race in a very different way. Her name was Lula. As Wyles set down his binoculars and stepped away from the window, an even more lovely view came into his vision, drifting into the room in a lavender silk dressing gown tied loosely around her waist, leaving exposed the milky-pale skin of her breasts and stomach. She set a tray of brunch down on the table. A basket of freshly baked yellow buns, soft as pillows, steamed enticingly. The fruit on top of the bowls of egg custard was arranged into the shapes of flowers.