The Euman Deal.
In the dance studio, the class ended. The girls saluted their teacher and began to mill about, chatting as they gathered their bags and shoes. Tia stayed behind with another student to practice a section of their routine, leaping with such height and elegance that she seemed on the verge of Lightness. She had all the natural athleticism of a Green Bone’s daughter, channeled toward warmth and imagination.
Normally, Shae would get up and gather Tia’s belongings, waving from the window to remind her that they had to get home for dinner, but she remained on the bench, a slow panic beginning to crawl over her as all the pieces fell into place.
The “private Kekonese investment firm” cited in the article was the Mountain clan. The proceeds from the sale of Ygutanian assets, combined with money from the Matyos, would be used to conduct the Mountain’s largest-ever acquisition. Ayt Mada would take over Anorco and become the owner of her own jade mining company, with technology and assets completely separate from the Kekon Jade Alliance and beholden to no one. She could supply jade to military forces and other organizations around the world with no oversight from other clans. She would also gain control of GSI, which had jade-wearing soldiers, training campuses, helicopters, weapons, and gods knew what other military assets. Anorco and GSI had offices, personnel, and assets in Espenia, so in one swoop, the Mountain would leapfrog No Peak’s presence in the ROE. The passage of the bill repealing the ban on jade, which Shae had pursued doggedly for so many years, would now, ironically, benefit the Mountain clan more than anyone else.
In exchange for their financial partnership in the Euman Deal, Ayt Mada would give the Matyos enough jade and military power to assert complete dominance over the Shotarian underworld, especially in East Oortoko, which was rife with organized crime in the wake of Ygutan’s diminishing control. She would not only make peace but cement the loyalty of the barukan factions in her clan alienated by the Kobens.
Tia came out of the studio. “I’m starved,” she exclaimed as she put on her shoes. “What’s Da going to make for dinner?” When Shae stood without answering, her daughter looked up at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Tia-se,” Shae murmured. “Just . . . thinking about work.”
They walked out to the car, one of Shae’s bodyguards following and opening the door for them. Ever since she’d stopped wearing jade, she had to put up with having personal security at all times. On the drive home, Tia talked about rehearsals for the school play, her upcoming math test, brand-name jeans she wanted to buy. Shae wasn’t able to hear any of it. She was thinking that Ayt’s acquisition of Anorco would be lauded as a great national victory, a repatriation of Kekonese resources from the hated foreign offshore mining company that thousands of people were protesting against at this very moment.
Public support for the Mountain clan would surge during a year of Royal Council elections. Assuming that all the newly districted seats in Lukang went to politicians loyal to the tributary Six Hands Unity clan, the Mountain was poised to control a commanding majority of the Royal Council, something neither clan had been able to accomplish for years. With so much power—military, financial, political—Ayt would install the successor she preferred. She would no longer need the Koben family’s numbers or popularity. Iwe Kalundo’s grand accomplishment as Weather Man would provide ample justification for her to bypass her nephew and name her loyal second-in-command the next Pillar of the Mountain, ensuring her will continued to prevail.
How had she done it? Shae wanted to scream the question. How had Ayt coerced the Espenian business tycoon Art Wyles to sell his multibillion-thalir conglomerate? What leverage did she have that would force Wyles to surrender his business empire, his claim to Kekonese jade, his Truthbearer’s commitment to Operation Firebreak? It could not be anything so simple as the threat of death. She had clearly been planning this for years.
Shae was rendered speechless with awe. She should’ve read the clouds. Ayt Mada was simply a better Weather Man than she was, a master strategist on a level she couldn’t hope to match. Where others sought honor or vengeance, Ayt sought only control.
“Ma? Ma, are you listening? Are you sure you’re okay? You look like something’s bothering you.” Tia was looking at her with pouting concern.
Shae felt an ache in her chest, the opening of a chasm. This was what it meant, to not send her daughter to the Academy, to not raise her as a Green Bone. Tia lived in a bubble of ordinary preteen concerns. Even when she was older, she would never fully understand her own parents, or the rest of her family.