Hilo nodded in greeting to the leaders of the tributary Stone Cup and Jo Sun clans, who saluted him as he dropped into his seat. Shae lowered herself into the chair next to him and tried to look elsewhere, busying herself by taking out unnecessary papers, but her gaze was nevertheless drawn unwillingly across the table, to the disfigurement of Ayt Mada’s partially missing left ear. The old scar across Shae’s abdomen prickled. The Pillar of the Mountain glanced in Shae’s direction. Their eyes met for one wintry second. Then Ayt turned back to her conversation.
Ordinarily, the seat to Ayt’s left would be occupied by Iwe Kalundo, the Weather Man of the Mountain, but sitting in Iwe’s place today was a barrel-chested man with graying bushy hair combed back from a ruddy complexion. He wore jade around his left wrist and in his right ear, and his expansive jade aura felt thick and syrupy to Shae’s Perception. He seemed vaguely familiar; who was he? Why was he here instead of Iwe? If Ayt had replaced her Weather Man, she would’ve heard of it.
“He’s one of the Kobens,” Hilo said in an undertone, apparently noticing her confusion. “The kid’s uncle on his ma’s side.” He meant the uncle of Koben Ato, the fourteen-year-old ward and presumed heir to Ayt Mada. The boy had recently changed his name back to Ayt Ato, no doubt so his family could cement that presumption. Shae recalled now that she’d seen a recent magazine profile of the Koben family, but she was surprised Hilo would recognize them. Then she remembered that a few years ago, Hilo had stoked infighting within the Mountain clan by ordering one of the Kobens secretly assassinated, so of course he’d studied them.
Was Koben’s presence further evidence of Ayt elevating her nephew and his family? Perhaps, after years of being dogged by the question of succession, she wished to publicly signal that she was indeed planning for her clan’s future.
Hilo and Shae were among the last to arrive. In minutes, the seats were full and the heavy doors were shut. Floor-to-ceiling windows on one side of the room faced south, letting in ample sunlight, but the air in the room felt clogged with jade energy. KJA meetings were held every quarter, but most clan Pillars attended only the annual vote that determined the KJA budget and set quotas for jade production, export, and allocation. They left the other meetings to their Weather Men. It was only under unusual circumstances that all the clan leaders had gathered on such short notice.
Not everyone present at the table was a Green Bone. Although the clans were controlling stakeholders, the cartel was state run and managed, so there were always other directors and government officials in attendance, along with their aides. One of the jadeless officials, the chief operating officer of the KJA and current chair of the board, Canto Pan, stood up and spoke. “Thank you, everyone, for interrupting your holiday week to be here. May the gods shine favor on each of your clans.” That was patently impossible, Shae thought, since any divine favor shown to the Mountain would be disaster for No Peak and vice versa, but she kept the thought to herself.
“As you all know by now, the Royal Council has issued a statement that has been publicly supported by every Green Bone clan in the country,” Canto said.
The Kekonese government had strongly condemned Ygutan for sending spy planes over Euman Island, which it unequivocally reiterated was Kekonese territory despite the longstanding presence of foreign military “guests.” It urged a reduction in conflict between the two powers through diplomatic channels, but also promised that any attempt by either side to invade or control Kekon would be met with swift and overwhelming resistance. “While Kekon wishes for peace, we remain a nation of warriors unlike any other in the world,” Chancellor Guim, a Mountain clan loyalist, had declared on the floor of Wisdom Hall. “Throughout our long and proud history, we’ve shed rivers of blood for our independence. We are more than capable of doing so again.”
The Espenian government had not been pleased by the harsh tone of an official speech that was, as Hilo put it, “A long-winded, pretty way of saying fuck both of you.”
Chairman Canto said, “We all stand behind the chancellor’s words, but the fearful public reaction we’ve seen in the past few days proves that we have to do more than voice support. With that in mind, I turn the floor over to General Ronu Yasugon, senior military advisor to the Royal Council, who has asked to speak to you directly.”
Ronu stood and touched his clasped hands to his forehead in salute to all the Green Bone leaders. He wore gold general’s stripes on the sleeve of his uniform and jade stones in the steel band of his wristwatch. Shae had met the general before and thought he must be an honorable man with a difficult job, having long ago traded his status in the Mountain clan for a career in the small and underappreciated Kekonese army.