Jade War

Rohn looked up briefly from the travel guide he was flipping through. “My daughter is coming for a few days.” Anden had not been aware that Rohn had a daughter or any family at all; he’d known the man for as long as he’d known the Dauks but had instinctively treated him with a certain respectful distance and so knew little about him as a person. “She’s older than you. Lives in Evenfield, near her mother. I’d like to see her more, but that’s up to her, not me.” Evenfield was five hours away by train or bus. Rohn appeared pensive for a moment, then shrugged. “Maybe there was once a time I could’ve been a better family man, instead of what I am. But I owe the Dauks. They’re the closest thing I have to family now.”

The flight from Janloon arrived at last, and the passengers began to disembark. Hilo and Maik Tar were two of the first people off the plane. Anden stood up nervously and went to greet his cousin. They stopped ten paces from each other, as if struck by the same simultaneous hesitation. “Kaul-jen,” Anden said, lowering his gaze and touching his clasped hands to his forehead in salute. He raised his eyes again. Hilo looked slightly older than Anden remembered; his expansive energy seemed a little more contained, though perhaps that was because Anden was seeing him here, in the middle of a bustling airport in a foreign country, where he appeared like just another jet-lagged traveler. Hilo carried his jacket over one arm, and the buttons of his blue shirt were done up all the way, hiding the jade studs on his collarbone that Anden had always seen prominently displayed. He was not smiling, but as Anden watched, a reluctant softness came into Hilo’s eyes. His mouth moved in an indecisive way, as if torn between a painful grimace and a grin of pleasure. Hilo crossed the rest of the space between them and greeted Anden with an unrestrained embrace. “Andy,” he said, and kissed his cousin firmly, once on the cheek.

A wave of unexpectedly strong relief washed over Anden and weakened his knees. The smoothly humming intensity of Hilo’s jade aura so close to him was more blindingly familiar than even Hilo’s voice or the smell of his clothes—the faint odor of cigarette smoke mingled with the indescribable spicy fragrance of Janloon that made Anden feel instantly homesick. Anden began to stammer something in reply, then he remembered his role. He stepped back and greeted Maik Tar, who also embraced him warmly if less exuberantly, and then he turned slightly over his shoulder and said, “Kaul-jen, this is Rohn Toro. He’s the…” Anden realized he didn’t know if Rohn had an official title in the clan, indeed, if any Green Bones besides Dauk had titles. “Think of him as the Horn. Among Green Bones here in Port Massy, he’s second only to his good friend, Dauk Losunyin, whom we’re going to see.”

“We don’t stand much on ceremony here,” Rohn said, in his usual even, wary voice, “but I’m honored to welcome you to Espenia, Kaul-jen.” He began to bend into a salute, but Hilo surprised him by extending his hand and shaking Rohn’s in a firm and friendly way. The two men’s gazes met over their jade auras, and Anden saw Hilo immediately recognize Rohn Toro in the same way Anden had recognized him when he’d first walked into the room at the Dauks’ house after dinner—as a certain sort of man every clan must have.

“I’ve heard a lot about Espenia, but this is the first time I’ve been here myself,” Hilo said, smiling now, in a manner that was amiable and disarming yet subtly formal. “I’m a guest in this country, so I’m grateful to be welcomed and hosted by my cousin’s friends.” He nodded to Tar. “This is my Pillarman and brother-in-law, Maik Tar.” Rohn and Tar greeted each other with perfectly equal shallow salutes, like a meeting between two dogs of the same size.

“It’s good of you to come on nothing but Anden’s word,” Rohn said to Hilo.

The Pillar’s smile stayed stiffly in place as he said, without looking directly at his cousin, “Andy wouldn’t ask me here for no reason. Who can we trust, if not our family?” and Anden knew that even though Hilo was glad to see him, he was not entirely forgiven.

After Hilo and Tar claimed their baggage, Rohn Toro led the way out to the short-term parking area and a rented black town car. Rohn explained to the visitors that Dauk Losun had arranged for them to stay at the Crestwood Hotel in downtown Port Massy. Would they like to go directly there to rest for a while? Hilo was looking through the window with interest as Rohn drove the car out of the airport and onto the freeway. No, Hilo said, he’d slept on the plane and didn’t need to go to the hotel right away if it meant keeping another Pillar waiting; they ought to go meet with Dauk Losun now.