Wen said, “Ayt Ato’s the pretty face of his family, but I think he understands his position and is more shrewd than most people give him credit for. If he’s learned from his aunt Koben Bett, he’ll try diplomacy before blades. He married a woman in the Tem family to cement their support. Now he wants to secure a peace agreement with us so he has time to sort out his own house.”
Hilo’s mouth tilted ironically. “An alliance with the Koben family is what that old snake Yun Dorupon pushed for decades ago.”
“Back then, Ayt Mada was determined to annex No Peak and send us all to our graves,” Shae said. “Any alliance would’ve been on unequal footing with the threat of destruction hanging over us. The Kobens have grown in power since then, but we’ve grown more. They can’t conquer us.”
Anden nodded from the other end of the table. “We’ve changed a lot as a clan. Now, maybe for the first time, we’re in a stronger position than the Mountain. The question is whether friendship with the Kobens will keep it that way.”
Hilo could feel Shae’s eyes drilling into him. She was the one who’d gone to Ayt Mada’s mansion to convince their old enemy to yield. “I swore on behalf of the family that the grudges would end, Hilo,” she’d told him when she returned. “I promised we’d begin to bring the clans together, without bloodshed.”
Hilo cut one of the remaining sticky cakes in half. “Where’s Ayt Mada now?”
“She’s left the Ayt estate and moved into another of the Mountain’s properties, a townhouse in the Commons,” Lott said. “She hasn’t gone out or spoken to the media, but it seems she’s been cooperative in peacefully transitioning power to her nephew.”
“How many people does she have with her?” Hilo asked.
“A handful of Fists are guarding her. All of them are her own loyalists.” Lott paused, looking straight at the Pillar before answering the question that was truly being asked. “It wouldn’t be easy to get to her, but it can be done. The townhouse is far less secure than the Ayt estate.”
“Hilo,” Shae objected, “the Mountain is reaching out to make peace.”
“Ayt Mada is no longer the Pillar of the Mountain,” Hilo reminded her tersely. “Any peace we make with the Koben family doesn’t extend to that old bitch. As long as Ayt Mada breathes, she’s a threat to us. She’ll find a way to control the Mountain without being Pillar. We haven’t fought her for thirty years only to buy some act of her stepping down. She has to die, sooner or later. Better sooner.”
Wen agreed, “As long as Ayt Mada lives, we can’t trust in any alliance with the Mountain.”
A cheer and laughter broke out from somewhere outside. Hilo could hear raised voices and something that sounded like a relayball hitting the side of the house.
“Now isn’t the time,” Shae argued. “Ayt’s been judged in the court of public opinion and lost the support of her own clan. I agree with you that it would be just like her to try to come back, to exert power from behind the scenes, but she won’t be able to do that right away. She’ll let her nephew have his moment in the spotlight and allow everyone to believe she’s out of the picture. We should do the same. If we kill Ayt Mada now, the new Pillar will be honor bound to respond to us as enemies. It’ll sabotage all chance of a lasting peace.”
“Sparing Ayt Mada’s life has become a bad habit of yours, Shae.”
His sister gave him a scathing look. “Once Ayt Ato’s position as Pillar is secure and peace has been established between the clans, public attention will fade from Ayt Mada. Then, we can find a way to whisper her name quietly. But first, we have to get to that point.”
“The Weather Man’s made her opinion clear,” Hilo said, taking half of the divided fruit paste cake and putting the other half on Wen’s plate. “What about the rest of you?”
Lott looked down, his bow-shaped mouth curved into a pensive frown. “I’ve hated the Mountain clan for a long time, but in the years I’ve been First Fist and then Horn, we’ve had to work alongside them as much as we have against them. Even if we don’t see eye to eye with the new leaders, they’re not the same as Ayt Mada. They haven’t done anything that makes them our blood enemies. I don’t believe anyone—not even our foes—should be condemned because of their relatives, or forced down a path they had no say in.”
The rest of the table was silent. Lott Jin was the only one in the room who was not a Kaul, but no one could deny he’d been devoted to the clan for decades, overcoming a lot of struggle and doubt in his own life to become a capable Horn for the past seven years. “Sometimes, it seems like violence is a destiny that’s impossible to deny,” Lott added, “but once in a while, there are small windows of time when that can change. I agree with the Weather Man. With Ayt Mada gone, we should set aside our feud.”