She was not being rude exactly, but Anden was a little surprised by the aloof tone and the switch back into Espenian. He reluctantly followed her into his second language, speaking more deliberately out of necessity. “I’m visiting Adamont Capita for other reasons, and while I’m here, I’m hoping to make some friendly connections in the Industry Department, on behalf of the Kaul family of No Peak.”
“Is that the name of the clan you work for?”
Anden hesitated, unsure if she was being serious, or feigning ignorance in order to test him for some reason. “The No Peak clan is one of the two major clans in Kekon,” he said slowly. “We control nearly half of the capital city, as well as jade mining, and businesses in many industries across the country. Roughly half of the seats in the Kekonese Royal Council are occupied by legislators who are loyal to us. The Pillar of No Peak is my cousin. My other cousin runs the business side as Weather Man. They’ve asked me to speak for the family.”
The deputy secretary replied, “Mr. Emery, my job here in the Industry Department is to work alongside Secretary Hughart on issues of domestic economic policy. Bioenergetic jade falls outside of our purview.”
“I understand,” Anden said, “but jade isn’t the clan’s only concern. We want to do business in Espenia and to build partnerships here, but there are barriers to us being able to do so. We would like to advocate our position with policymakers in the Espenian government. Of course, my family converses with the Espenian ambassador and the International Affairs Department, as well as the ROE military on Euman Island, but we also need friends here in Adamont Capita who have influence with the premier and the National Assembly.”
Anden paused. Perhaps it was Kelly Dauk’s persistently neutral expression, or the fact that he did not normally speak in Espenian at such length and in such complexity, but Anden felt as if the words were coming slower and with increasing difficulty. He wondered if he was muddling them, not making himself properly understood. “I greatly respect your family, and I consider your parents and your brother to be good personal friends.”
Cory’s sister regarded Anden for a long moment. “My parents,” she said at last, “are from an older generation of Kekonese immigrants who still uphold traditional honor culture values revering clans and jade. I’m sure that even in their old age, they’re still bossing around the neighbors in their little patch of Southtrap. They placed expectations on my brother ever since he was a little boy, to train to wear jade, to be ‘green,’ as they say.” Her polite smile grew but held no warmth. “I can see why they’ve taken such a liking to you, a young man from the old country.”
Anden searched for a response, but before he could find one, Kelly Dauk laced her hands and said, “My parents and their friends complain endlessly about the government. They think it’s the height of tyranny and racial prejudice that civilian ownership of jade is banned. Your clan associates in Kekon want to make money selling bioenergetic jade in this country, and wish to see that prohibition relaxed or overturned altogether. Am I understanding things correctly?”
Anden was taken aback and without thinking, he reverted back to speaking in Kekonese. “It’s not about selling jade,” he said. “Don’t you want to see such an unreasonable law, one that targets and harms Kekonese people, removed? Especially when you come from a Green Bone family yourself?”
“I don’t make the laws, Mr. Emery,” Ms. Dauk responded, still speaking in Espenian. “But unlike some people, I do abide by them.”
Anden protested, “My family would never expect or ask you to do anything difficult or inappropriate that might harm your own position. My only hope in coming here today was that you might be willing to speak to my cousins, to introduce them to Secretary Hughart and other top officials in your department, and maybe give us some valuable advice on how to go about lobbying the right people in government, since you have so much experience with how things work here in Adamont Capita. I would ask you for this favor, as a friend of your family, and as one Kekonese to another.”
“I’m Espenian, Mr. Emery,” said Kelly Dauk. “And an officeholder in the federal government.” She rose from her desk in polite but firm dismissal, and her secretary opened the door to show Anden out. “If you want to push your clan’s agenda, you’ll have to go through other channels.”
_______
Anden took the three-hour express bus from Adamont Capita to Port Massy the following afternoon. He stared out the window at the familiar skyline of the metropolis, nursing a sense of profound and uneasy nostalgia as the bus crossed the Iron Eye Bridge and passed under the shadow of the famous Mast Building. Mr. Hian met Anden at the bus station in Quince and welcomed him as if he were a returning son, embracing him and remarking that he was looking healthy.