Jade War

“My da used to say that. But I don’t think there are gods in Espenia. Not our gods, anyway.” Rohn began walking purposefully away from the building, crossing the parking lot and entering one of the nearby alleys. Anden followed. The sound of another siren rose up—perhaps the police officer had circled back and discovered the bodies and the car by now.

Rohn Toro stopped and turned to the brick wall beside them. He felt around the surface with his gloved hands, then closed his fingers around a slightly protruding brick. He pulled and it came loose, revealing a small, hollowed-out space. Carefully, the Horn took off his black leather gloves, folded them neatly, almost reverently, and pushed them into the small crevice. He replaced the brick so that all that was visible was the slight unevenness between it and its neighbor.

Rohn grimaced and leaned heavily against the wall for several seconds, as if suddenly nauseous. Anden recognized the signs of discomfort for what they were: jade withdrawal. Rohn Toro’s jade was stitched into the lining of his leather gloves. When necessary, he could remove and hide them in a secret location until he had occasion to return and retrieve them. If he was stopped and questioned by the police later tonight, they could strip him naked and not find a bit of green on him.

Rohn straightened away from the wall. Hesitantly, Anden offered a hand to help the man; he had seen Rohn’s abilities tonight and knew it could not possibly be easy to live as a Green Bone in this way, putting on and taking off so much jade at an instant. Rohn was not young either, perhaps fifty already—how could his body handle it? But the Horn was steady now; he gazed at Anden and his mouth moved with wry embarrassment, as if the younger man had witnessed him in a moment of vulnerability, fly open and pissing against the wall.

They continued down the unlit alleyway.

CHAPTER 34

The Clan’s Friendship

The two months following the attack on the grudge hall were the worst that Anden had spent in Espenia, even worse than when he’d first arrived and been bereft with homesickness. Cory was gone; he’d called from the train station to say goodbye. He explained that he’d wanted to come over to see Anden in person, but it was too risky; not only were Kromner’s crewboys still about, the police had begun randomly stopping Kekonese residents on the street and searching them for jade. The Dauks were glad their son was getting out of the city.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen when you told me to stay downstairs,” Anden told Cory morosely over the phone. “I just wanted to help.”

Cory was silent for a few seconds, then he sighed. “You know, I worry about you, islander. For a guy who seems so responsible, you sure do manage to get into trouble.” An announcement came over the speakers at the train station, and Cory said, “I have to go, crumb. I’ll be back for Harvest’Eves break. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone, okay?”

After they hung up, Anden was not only despondent at Cory’s departure, but troubled by their conversation. After leaving the grudge hall that night, he and Rohn had walked three blocks away from the scene of destruction before Rohn hailed a taxi and instructed it to take them to the Hians’ house. Mr. and Mrs. Hian were relieved and dismayed when they opened the door. While Anden ran the burn on the back of his hand under cold water at the kitchen sink, Rohn explained what had happened.

“Why did you have to get involved?” Mrs. Hian berated Anden as she rummaged bandages and a tube of antibiotic cream from the drawer. “You’re a visiting student, why didn’t you stay in the basement with the others where it was safe? You should’ve let the Green Bones handle it. If you’d been hurt or killed, what would we tell your family?” She was near tears.

Anden was mute with guilt, but Rohn said, “Don’t be so hard on him; he couldn’t help it. He’s green in the soul, like Dauk-jen said. In fact, he was a great help.” Rohn told them about how Anden had diverted the police for long enough that Rohn could get all the people safely out of the grudge hall. The Hians reluctantly agreed that was indeed a good thing to have done. Rohn drank some hot tea and got up to leave, saying that he had to work the next morning. It was sometimes hard for Anden to remember that Rohn Toro was not actually a clan Fist, that he had to earn money in an ordinary job, running a small moving company with a couple of friends.

As soon as Rohn left, the Hians insisted, “Anden-se, what happened tonight is going to cause big problems. Don’t go anywhere near the grudge hall or the Dauks’ house from now on; just go to school and work and back home again right away. If the police recognize you as the person who misled them, they’ll want to question you.”