Wen had always been graceful and well-spoken, confident in a gentle way, with a perceptive and determined will. He’d loved her more than anything in the world. Now he did not know how he felt. Sometimes when he looked at his wife he felt a surge of the feverish, all-consuming desire to hold her and make love to her and protect her at all costs. More often, however, he felt a numb aching anger, a cold disbelief and unforgiving rage. She had disobeyed him, kept so many of her activities secret from him, put herself in harm’s way, nearly leaving him a widower and their children motherless. He’d done all he could to keep her safe and give her everything she could want, to be good to her, and she had brought all this pain on them.
“Is Shae . . . coming over . . . this evening?” Wen asked.
“No,” he said.
“You should. . . . in-in-in—” He could see her grasping for the word, trying to push it out of her throat like a bit of stuck food. “Ask her . . . to come over more often.”
Hilo stood up to go without answering. Wen reached out to him, but he stepped away from her. He saw the hurt in her eyes. She must be used to this by now—the indecision of his affection. At times, he hated himself for it, but another part of him wanted to punish her, to hurt her as she had so badly hurt him.
“Dinner’s ready,” Hilo said over his shoulder as he left the room. “If you don’t feel like coming down, I’ll have Kyanla bring a plate up to the room.”
CHAPTER
3
Unreadable Clouds
After her brother left the room, Shae sat down hard in one of the chairs farthest away from Fuyin Kan’s body, and rested her forehead in her hands. It wasn’t her fault the lunch meeting had ended with drawn knives and bloodshed. She told herself this, but the shallow self-reassurance was not convincing.
She was the Weather Man; it was her job to be one step ahead of everyone. The Weather Man reads the clouds, so the saying went. Today, Hilo’s instincts had been sharper than her judgment. The fact stung badly. And it was true that she’d pursued trade with Espenia in ways that benefited No Peak but opened up Kekonese industries to more foreign competition. She’d contributed to Fuyin’s troubles and couldn’t blame the man for his hatred. It was her responsibility to maintain the loyalty of No Peak’s Lantern Men so that her brother did not have to execute them.
Woon crouched down next to her seat and put a hand on her knee. Thank the gods he hadn’t been injured in the mayhem. Her chief of staff rarely acted without thinking, but the moment Fuyin had drawn the gun, he’d instinctively tried to shield her even though she wore more jade than he did. She wasn’t sure whether to thank or admonish him.
“Shaejen, you did the right thing, trying to broker a compromise,” the Weather Man’s Shadow said quietly. “Fuyin was the one who provoked violence, probably for a considerable reward.”
“It’s the sort of trap Ayt Mada would set,” Shae agreed glumly. If No Peak gave in to the Lantern Men’s demands, it would invite financial ruin. If it let businesses leave without consequence, it would fail even faster. Shae lifted her head. At least now, with Fuyin dead and his treachery revealed, they had other options. “We can still get something out of this mess if we move quickly to make sure Fuyin’s assets stay within the clan.”
Her chief of staff nodded at once. “Fortunately, the Pillar didn’t agree to a duel.” The victor of a clean-bladed duel could claim his opponent’s jade but couldn’t touch his family or assets. “We can buy out Fuyin’s heirs and sell his company piecemeal at a discount to our other Lantern Men in the retail sector who’ve been asking for relief. That should more than mollify them. I’ll go to the most important ones and speak to them in person this week.” That would ensure the message was clear and delivered straight from the Weather Man’s office: The traitor was dead and everything his family had built would go to those who were loyal.
“Thank you, Papi-jen.” Shae put her hand on top of his. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” A little of the strain in her shoulders loosened, although Hilo’s harsh words were still a weight on her chest. She was no stranger to her brother’s opprobrium, but the last time they’d been on such bad terms, she’d been able to escape to another country for two years. Now, she had to work with Hilo to manage the clan while putting up with his avoidance and recrimination. She couldn’t even claim it was undeserved. She’d kept secrets from the Pillar, disobeyed him, sent Anden and Wen to carry out an assassination plan in Port Massy that had nearly gotten them killed.