Ayt showed no surprise. The clans had kept a close watch on each other’s activities for so long that by now the Mountain surely knew something was amiss in No Peak. “I had nothing to do with it,” Ayt replied. “Your Weather Man took a risk by going into Shotar and making enemies of the barukan. What did you expect? Although, I hear your wife is already safely back in Janloon. You must’ve paid dearly for her return, but surely you have even more jade and money to offer to the Faltas, to secure the release of your Weather Man.”
Hilo said, “Their demands are a ploy. They let Wen go to make me believe they’re sincere, but they’re not. They’ve already killed one of my Fists. After they get everything they want, they have no reason to return Shae alive.”
“Because you will surely slaughter them, regardless of whether they return her or not,” Ayt pointed out. “Not that I disagree. I would do the same in your situation.”
Hilo paced slowly toward his old enemy. “I have to ask myself,” he said thoughtfully, “why would these barukan pig fuckers take such a big risk? Why aren’t they afraid of what I’m going to do to them? They must have some reason for believing that they’ll be protected. That reason, Ayt-jen, has to be you.”
“I’ve already told you I had nothing to do with it,” Ayt said impatiently. Her glare warned Hilo to remain where he was. “You can Perceive I’m not lying to you.”
“You may not have planned or ordered it,” Hilo said, coming to a halt, “but you’re still the reason. The Faltas gang works for your allies, the Matyos, but I’m guessing they’re tired of being in second place and want to move up. If they get valuable information out of Shae that benefits all the barukan, they can count on the Matyos to keep them safe.” Hilo’s back teeth came together, flexing the line of his jaw. “They’ll mail you Shae’s head in a box, expecting your approval and protection as well. So when I peel back everything, you’re still the reason why my sister will be dead in a few days.”
Ayt blew out a soft chuckle, as if she’d solved a simple puzzle. “So you’ve come here to tell me that if your Weather Man dies at the hands of some opportunistic barukan criminals in Leyolo City, you’ll blame me and wage war against the Mountain?”
“No,” Hilo said. “I’ve come to ask for your help.”
For the first time in Hilo’s memory, Ayt Mada was too surprised to give an immediate reply. She stared at him for some time. “Why on earth and under Heaven,” she asked with the slow, deliberate rasp of drawing a rusted blade, “would I help the man who stood by when I had a knife in my neck, happily watching me die?”
“You would’ve gladly done the same if it were me,” Hilo said. “I should have you killed where you stand right now,” Ayt declared.
“After you’re dead, the barukan will kill your sister, and that will be the end of the Kauls. The end of this long and hateful war between the clans, with the Mountain victorious.”
“You could do that,” Hilo admitted. “At least, you could try. Let’s face it, neither of us is the warrior we used to be, Ayt-jen, but we could still have a good go at it. I’m in your house, unarmed and surrounded by your Fists and Fingers, so it wouldn’t be much of a fight, but I like to think I could still do some damage going out.”
Hilo’s voice did not rise or fall, but it hardened to a sharp point. “After I fail to come out of your house, my cousin Anden, who’s sitting outside in the car, will leave here and walk into the offices of the Janloon Daily and in front of KNB cameras to explain exactly what happened on the day of the Janloon bombing. The entire country will know that Kaul Shaelinsan saved your life when no one else would—and you repaid her by murdering me and letting her die in a foreign country at the hands of barukan scum.”
“Ah yes, I’ll be lambasted and condemned in the press,” Ayt scoffed. “They’ll call me vile names. I’ll suffer poor public relations for a while. All things I’ve endured before, and a small price to pay for the immeasurable satisfaction of your death.”
“Even now?” Hilo asked quietly. “When people can look to the Koben family?”
Ayt’s expression lost only a touch of its confident scorn, but her jade aura swelled and bristled—evidence enough that what he said had struck a nerve of truth. It had become well known in Green Bone circles that Ayt Mada and her adoptive nephew’s family were not always in alignment. Right now, Councilwoman Koben Tin Bett was cosponsoring a bill in the Royal Council that would ban further immigration from Shotar, even though her Pillar had remained silent on the issue, so as not to jeopardize the Mountain’s alliance with the Matyos.