Wen’s personal bodyguards flanked her closely as she approached the entrance to the hall. Hilo no longer permitted her off the Kaul estate without security. Wen did not object. Dudo and Tako were both former Fists, good men, polite, unobtrusive enough unless obtrusiveness was called for. Wen had come to find their presence reassuring, a reminder that she was never helpless, that she had the weight of her husband and the clan he ruled behind her. She wasn’t sure she would’ve had the confidence to step back into public life otherwise. And they were helpful to her in other ways. When she reached the front steps to the hall, Dudo handed Wen her cane, which she used to steady herself as she navigated the half dozen shallow steps to the door. She tried her best not to be seen hobbling, but falling would be even more painful and humiliating. When she reached the top step, she handed the cane back to Dudo, lifted her chin to gather her confidence again, and stepped through the main doors.
Soft natural sunlight bathed the hall from high windows. The wooden floor where Green Bone students trained was filled with round tables covered in green tablecloths and decorated with miniature rock garden centerpieces. Wen made her way to the head table at the front of the hall, stopping here and there to greet people—prominent Lantern Men of No Peak, the longtime KNB news anchor Toh Kita, a couple of sitting members of the Royal Council. She no longer possessed the nearly flawless memory she’d once been able to rely on. She had to make lists of names and use memory tricks to help her recollection in advance of situations like this.
When she reached the circular head table, she was greeted by the chairman of the Kekon Parks & Nature Foundation. “Mrs. Kaul,” he said, “you honor us with your willingness to attend and say a few words on behalf of the clan. I know it’ll make a big difference to our donors, to hear that the Pillar of No Peak supports the preservation of our country’s natural spaces.”
Wen doubted that Hilo had given much thought to the issue, if any at all, but she assured the chairman that it was her pleasure to be here to convey her husband’s sentiments. Wen took her seat as the final two guests arrived at the head table. Wen recognized the middle-aged man at once. Koben Yiro, one of the most prominent and outspoken Green Bones in the Mountain clan, head of the sprawling Koben family and uncle to Ayt Ato. The heavyset woman with permed hair must be his wife.
“Mrs. Kaul,” Koben Tin Bett exclaimed, smiling widely and seating herself next to Wen. She hung the oversized handbag she carried over the back of her chair. “What a delight to see you here. And looking so much healthier than I thought you would.” She tugged on her husband’s hand. “Sit down, Yiro-se, they’re about to serve the food.”
Koben Yiro unbuttoned his suit jacket and settled himself next to his wife, inclining his head toward Wen with a friendly but faintly condescending smile. “Mrs. Kaul.” Wen had not met the Kobens in person before, but she’d heard Yiro’s distinctive voice on the radio far more than she had any wish to, expounding on political and clan matters, usually with extreme bias toward the Mountain and scathing criticisms of No Peak. Ayt Mada seemed perfectly willing to let Koben shine in his own spotlight. Ayt was a polished orator and a fearsome Green Bone leader, but Koben Yiro was brash and relatable to ordinary Kekonese, making himself out to be everyone’s opinionated but well-meaning uncle.
“Koben-jen,” Wen said with a polite smile. “Mrs. Koben.”
“Bett is fine,” said the woman. She patted Wen’s hand. “We wives needn’t be standoffish with each other.”
A photographer from the Janloon Daily asked to take a photograph of the head table, with Wen and the Kobens in the foreground. Wen smiled for the camera. She could already imagine the headline in the Notable People section: Mountain and No Peak Clans Face Off Over Lunch in Support of Nature Conservation.
“Are you here on your own?” Mrs. Koben asked Wen, plucked eyebrows arched in admiration and mild concern. “How courageous of you. Not that anyone would be low enough to tug their earlobes at a classy event like this, surely.” She took out a hand-sanitizing wipe from her purse and cleaned her fingers before the meal, then put on reading glasses to study the luncheon’s program while continuing to talk to Wen. “Of course, I can understand wanting to get away and enjoy yourself now that you’ve done your part for the clan and your children are a bit older. I hear your nephew—Niko, is it?—is doing quite well at the Academy. And you have a daughter who’s normal and is there now as well, don’t you?”