Several observers in the room began to applaud, but Sonnen held up a hand. “Dr. Emery, before I declare you free to go, I want to thank you for your hard work, patience, and advocacy. It’s inspiring to see an accomplished biracial individual such as yourself showcasing the best of your heritage. The number of patients you’ve helped in the last two weeks is a testament to your dedication as a physician, and to the extent you’ve faced insensitive or prejudiced comments, I hope they pale in comparison to the many people who are eager to embrace what other cultures have to offer.”
Anden thanked Assemblyman Sonnen and left the room amid appreciative applause. He stayed just long enough to accept relieved handshakes from Dr. Martgen and several members of his research group, and pleased backslaps from Rigly Hollin and his team. Anden returned to his hotel room and packed his bags. The following morning, after two hours of debate, the National Assembly voted, by a slim majority, to legalize the medical use of bioenergetic jade. By then, Anden was on a flight to Resville, on the orders of the Pillar, to see to the destruction of the clan’s enemies.
CHAPTER
16
All Business
The address provided by his cousins led Anden into an industrial part of Resville, to a converted warehouse with no sign above the door. It was much warmer here than it had been in Adamont Capita. The stucco walls were sun-bleached and the surrounding concrete gleamed almost white in the dry heat. The inside of the building was dim in comparison to the stark midday sun outside and smelled strongly of stale sweat. Anden had expected something like the grudge hall he’d known in Port Massy—a secret training hall for Green Bones, converted into a social gathering spot in the evening—but the space he stepped into now bore little resemblance to the basement of the Kekonese community center in Southtrap. Most of the warehouse floor was taken up by what appeared to be a fighting ring with battered blue mats covering the concrete floor, cordoned off with thick floor-to-ceiling mesh barriers. The ring was not empty; scattered throughout the space were stacked wooden crates, metal oil drums, and cement blocks. Ropes dangled from the girders, and horizontal steel beams hung from above, suspended at either end by thick chains.
Inside the enclosed space, two Green Bones were sparring in dramatic fashion—leaping Light off the obstacles, hurling Deflections that sent ropes swinging and metal drums tumbling and rolling, clashing Strength against Strength, and Steeling against blows that sent them careening into splintered wooden crates. The men were not trying to truly hurt each other, but it was impressive to watch such a thrilling display of jade abilities—and in Espenia, of all places, where Green Bones had to practice in secret. Kaul Du Academy had some large, elaborate training fields and on certain occasions such as Heroes Day, the school would open its doors to the public and senior students would put on showy public demonstrations. This struck Anden as a low-budget version of that display, in an illicit, somewhat sordid environment.
A man was standing outside of the mesh barrier, watching the fighters and shouting at them. Most of his exclamations were expletives of encouragement or disappointment, like a spectator standing in front of a televised sporting match. “Fuck, yeah!” he bellowed, then, “Seer’s balls, you’re gonna let him do that to you? Move, goddamnit!” Anden walked up beside the man, who noticed him and gave him a brief, unwelcoming glance, but didn’t turn his attention away from the action. The man was young, Anden noticed, in his midtwenties, and handsome in a brutish way, with sharp shoulders and elbows, dark lips and a strong brow. He wore faded jeans and an untucked black T-shirt. Elaborate tattoos wound up both his forearms. Anden could not see any jade on him—the Kekonese in Espenia did not wear jade openly—but Anden knew this man was a Green Bone, not only because he’d been told beforehand, but because even without his own jade, standing near the stranger, Anden could sense the edges of his aura, bright and cutting.
A loud bell went off, presumably to end the match. Breathing heavily and wiping their brows, the two fighters inside the ring stopped their contest and met in the center of the floor to slap hands and digress into their own conversation. Anden spoke to the man next to him. “Are you Jon Remi?”
“Who’s asking?” said the man, eyeing Anden.
Anden turned and touched his head in abbreviated salute. “I’m Emery Anden of the No Peak clan,” he said in Kekonese. “My cousins send their regards from Janloon. As does Dauk Losunyin in Port Massy.”
Remi Jonjunin, better known as Jon Remi, did not entirely lose his standoffish manner, but he gave Anden his full attention now and said, in a more amicable voice, “So you’re the man sent by the Kauls. I’ve heard about you. You were friends with Rohn Toro, back in the day.”