“The Mountain controls six more seats in the Royal Council than we do right now,” Hilo had pointed out. She’d been surprised that he remembered this fact.
“So we’ll need at least that many independents and councilmen from minor clans to side with us,” Shae had said. “And they will.”
She was correct. Within hours of Woon’s statement on behalf of No Peak, Shae’s people reported that the bill was meeting with favorable press coverage, strong public support, and even commitment from some Mountain-affiliated legislators. The country was hungry for policies and bold actions that safeguarded Kekon against the Slow War threats that seemed to surround it.
Shae allowed herself a smile as she propped her leg onto a chair and massaged the soreness that radiated down into her calf. Not even the Mountain could stop a train running on the momentum of the current zeitgeist. No Peak’s loyalists in the government would push the bill into law in short order, along with Hilo’s plan to reform the military. The clan had vastly improved its public standing, and Ayt Mada could hardly oppose them without appearing hypocritical and angering her own supporters.
Shae’s improved mood lasted only until the final hour of the workday, when she received an unexpected visitor. The photo of Kiya that Woon kept on his desk showed a young bride with a radiant smile, long hair trailing out from under a stylish wide-brimmed red hat. The woman who walked into Shae’s office and sat down across from her wore a plain black turtleneck sweater and a balefully rigid expression that made apparent the shadows under her eyes and the paleness of her stiffly held lips.
“Kiya,” Shae said, uncomfortably surprised. “What brings—”
“I’m leaving my husband,” Kiya interrupted. “He’s too much of a noble coward to ask for a divorce, so it’s up to me to do it. I want you to know it was my decision. You didn’t take him from me; I gave him up.”
Shae had no answer for an entire minute. “That’s not what I wanted,” she said at last. Her voice came out flat, concealing waves of guilty relief and defensive remorse. “Believe me, I would never try to break up your marriage.”
“Then you are even crueler than I thought,” Kiya replied. “I could understand if you were choosing to take something from someone in a weaker position. I can accept losing to a better woman. But you’re saying you never even thought of what you were doing, that it was all done carelessly.”
Kiya’s chin trembled for a second, but she lifted it and stared Shae in the face. “Everyone knows my husband spends nearly all his time with another woman, and not simply because he works for her. They all look the other way. When I was a little girl, my father and my brothers would never let anyone hurt me. They chased off one of my first boyfriends after he stood me up at the movie theater. Now I’m unhappy and humiliated, but they told me not to get on the bad side of the clan by confronting the Weather Man. They tried to talk me out of leaving, too, because Woon Papi is so high up in No Peak, and it’s good for our family.”
Angry tears were forming in Kiya’s eyes. “My birthday was on Firstday this week. Papi left work early, and we were supposed to spend the evening together. The minute you phoned, he left without a word. He didn’t tell me where he was going or when he would be back. He hardly even looked at me. Now he comes home to sleep and shower and leave again. He says only that it’s clan business.”
Shae’s face was growing hot. “I’m sorry. It was an emergency. I rely on your husband to do important work for No Peak; there’s no one more trustworthy or dependable. I needed him. I still do.”
“I needed him more,” Kiya shot back. “I’m not a Green Bone like you, yet I’ve been forced to give four years of my life for the clan, years that I’ll never get back.” She got to her feet and turned to leave.
“Kiya.” Shae despised the sound of her own voice. “Is there anything you need? Anything I can do for you?”
Woon’s wife paused and turned back around slowly, as if the question surprised her. “Kaul Shaelinsan, Weather Man of No Peak,” she said, “you can fuck off and die.”
CHAPTER
12
A New Job
Bero was arrested and thrown into jail. It was bad luck, of course; always bad luck. A newly installed security camera outside of a sporting goods store in Little Hammer captured an image of him the same week that the Janloon police happened to be out in force, maintaining order during a public rally protesting the planned expansion of the Espenian naval base. Bero was caught with cans of spray paint and a crowbar in his backpack. Tadino was sick with stomach flu, so Bero didn’t even have anyone to take the fall with him when he was driven to the police station.