“Ayt-jen,” he said, “I have the information we need. Everything will be arranged as we discussed.”
CHAPTER
61
Old Tigers
the twenty-sixth year, twelfth month
The secret meeting between the leaders of the No Peak and Mountain clans, the first such occurrence in twenty-five years, was held on a Seventhday morning in the headquarters of the Kekon Jade Alliance, in the perennially neutral Temple District.
The original KJA building had been a square, squat, utilitarian government building. Its replacement, built with national and joint clan funds after the Janloon bombing, was a far grander structure—ten defiant stories of steel and green marble, overshadowing even the ancient stone pillars and clay roof of the nearby Temple of Divine Return. An enduring fuck you to anyone who might imagine that the clans had been destroyed or diminished by the attacks against them.
When Hilo, Shae, and Niko arrived at the appointed time, Ayt Ato and his retinue were already in the room, as were four penitents from the Temple of Divine Return, standing against the back wall with their hands folded inside their long green robes.
The Mountain Green Bones stood, and Ayt Ato touched his forehead in wary salute. “Kaul-jen.”
“Ato-jen,” Hilo said, returning the informal gesture. “I hope you won’t take offense if I call you by your personal name. Ayt isn’t a name I’m able to say in a friendly way, so I’d prefer not to use it for you if we’re to start off on good terms.”
Ato said, “I don’t mind. It’s what most people call me anyway.”
Hilo had seen Ayt Ato’s image many times but had never directly faced the man in person before. Ato was indeed as handsome as he appeared on television, nearly as camera-worthy as the movie star Danny Sinjo. The distinctive rows of tiny jade studs in his eyebrows accentuated his large eyes, although a rigidity in his face spoke to the enormous pressure that the young Pillar had been under for the past two months. His jade aura felt closely held and tightly stretched, frayed at the edges.
Ato introduced a stout, bearded man as his Weather Man, Koben Opon, and a muscular Green Bone with a flat nose as his cousin and Horn, Sando Kin. “I was raised to fear and hate you, Kaul Hiloshudon,” Ato admitted. “And now I’m speaking to you as one Pillar to another. You’ve harmed the Mountain in so many ways over the years. You’ve also stood with us at times and fought fiercely against criminals and clanless and greedy foreigners. You brought down my aunt Mada as Pillar, but now you’re here, willing to discuss friendship. So in truth, I don’t know what to think of you, whether you’re an enemy or an ally.”
“I hope to be neither, Ato-jen.” Hilo was honestly not sure what to make of Ayt Ato either. It seemed incredible that a man could be in the public eye for so much of his life and still be so unknown when it came to whether he had any true capability. Hilo said, “You asked me here to discuss the future between our clans. I’m not the future of my clan. I’ve been Pillar of No Peak for twenty-seven years, and I intend to step down soon and hand the position to my nephew. I’ve asked him to sit at the table and lead this meeting for our side. That way, any agreement today will be made looking forward and not behind.”
Ato was surprised by this unexpected announcement, but he turned toward Niko with a cautious, pleased expression. “It’s been a long time since we last crossed paths, Kaul Niko-jen. We’ve both been through a lot since then, I think. I’m sorry if I came across as an insufferably arrogant buffoon in the past. But I did say I hoped we could work together and not have to follow the examples of our elders. I hope that’s still true.”
For the past several evenings, Niko had been sitting in long consultation with his aunts and uncles, preparing for what would be expected of him, being briefed on everything that might come up in the discussion with the Mountain. Now, he stepped forward next to Hilo and said, humbly but with assurance, “I’m not the Pillar yet, Ato-jen, and I still have to prove that I’m worthy of my family’s confidence. So my aunt and uncle will sit at the table with me and the final decisions are theirs. But I want to say that I don’t hold any grudge against you or the Koben family, not even over the death of my brother. I truly hope we can end this long war.”
Niko’s mention of Ru caught Hilo off guard. It caught Ayt Ato off guard as well; Hilo Perceived the beat of startled uncertainty in the other man’s jade aura. Shae darted a glance at both of them. Niko’s aura didn’t change. Hilo couldn’t tell if his inscrutable nephew had spoken sincerely about his hopes, or if he’d invoked Ru’s death as a way to gain the subtle mental advantage over Ato and the Kobens, as if to say: I could hate you. But I choose not to.