“I’ll give Lott instructions tomorrow, when no one else is around.” He cupped Wen’s chin and tilted it up toward him. Sternly, “You have to be careful not to let it slip to Shae. You might forget. I know how you two talk when I’m not around. Shae and Niko can’t know anything until it’s done. They can swear truthfully for everyone to Perceive that they had nothing to do with killing Ayt Mada, that I whispered her name to Lott alone.”
Wen pulled away in indignation. “I wouldn’t forget something so important,” she said. “Didn’t I agree with you at the table tonight? Shae says it’s risky to act right now, but it’s even more risky not to act. We can never be careless when it comes to Ayt Mada. She and her supporters have to die.”
Hilo nodded. “It’ll be a tricky thing, talking the new Pillar into friendship while sending his aunt to finally feed the worms.”
Wen leaned her cheek against her husband’s shoulder and traced the jade studs on his collarbone and chest with the tenderness of long familiarity. “Ayt Ato will have to make a fuss over it for the sake of appearances, but he won’t go to war over it,” she said. “Like I said, I think he’s smarter than people assume, and he has that cunning old widow Koben Tin Bett advising him. He knows Ayt Mada will be trouble to him so long as she remains in the wings of the clan. He’ll never have the full support of the Mountain if she’s still alive and pulling strings. She never favored him as the heir, and her terrible shadow will loom over him as long as she lives. The Kobens will be secretly grateful when we take the old Pillar out of their way.”
“Especially if I give them an easy way out of having to pretend to be angry,” Hilo said. “Which I will. As soon as this is over, I’ll step down as Pillar.”
Wen’s fingers stopped moving. She breathed out, her long exhalation warm against his skin. “Niko’s not ready.”
“It would be better if he had a few more years, that’s true, but this has to be the way it’s done. He’s about the same age I was when I became Pillar,” Hilo said. “And no one thought much of my chances, not even you, my kitten, if we’re going to be honest here.”
Wen said, “You were the Horn. You had the loyalty of the clan’s Fists and Fingers in a time of war. You knew how to lead people in a crisis because you care about them. Niko’s not like you.”
Hilo wrapped one of her hands in his own and sighed. “I know how hard it is to forgive someone when they don’t turn out the way you expect. I’m not very good at it myself. But you can see how Niko’s changed and how hard he’s been working. You should be nicer to him and show him some affection even when he doesn’t ask for it or seem to want it.”
Wen was quiet for a moment. “Of course I love him, but he’s like a closed book, even more so than when he was a boy. Can someone with a personality like that ever inspire others as a leader? I think he needs a girlfriend, but he doesn’t seem to want any of my suggestions.”
Hilo laughed. “Young people put romance off these days, you shouldn’t worry too much about that. And remember that I was different from Lan, and all the men who’ve been the Horn were different from me and from each other. As long as Niko knows himself, he’ll learn to be his own sort of Pillar. Also, these are better times, and he’ll have all of us standing behind him. I didn’t have any advantage like that, so I know how important it is. I won’t be like Grandda, dragging other people down because of his own regrets. I have you, and I’ll be glad that we can finally relax a little after all these years, won’t you?”
“Yes.” Wen turned his face toward her and kissed him.
“Whatever agreement we come to with the Mountain will be between Niko and the Kobens. I’ll abide by it happily, so long as I’ve avenged Lan and Kehn and all our Fists and Fingers that Ayt Mada put in the ground.” Hilo reached over to turn off the bedside lamp before settling down and pulling Wen close. “Shae’s right; our clans should put the blood feud in the past. The younger generation should start fresh with a real chance at peace. But our generation—we still have our debts to pay.”
_______
The phone rang in the home of Iwe Kalundo, where the former Weather Man of the Mountain had isolated himself ever since his disgraceful forced resignation. Iwe answered the call and listened in silence to the informer on the other end of the line. Then he hung up and placed a phone call of his own.