Jade War

CHAPTER 15 Rats in the Celestial Radiance

Once a week, Wen spent the afternoon in the Celestial Radiance Bath & Tea House, a women-only facility one block west of Twentieth Street in the Sogen district. This part of the city used to be Mountain territory; during the clan war, No Peak conquered the area, but nearly three months ago, Hilo had ceded it back to the Mountain as part of the truce negotiation between the clans. None of this seemed to affect those who worked at or frequented the Celestial Radiance. The owners had two lanterns—one white, one pale green—and they swapped out which one hung in the front window depending on the current jurisdiction. They paid token tribute as required, and the bathhouse had not incurred any damage during the periods of street violence. The Celestial Radiance was a social spot for wives, and a place sought out by tourists to relax after sightseeing in the nearby Monument District. It was not high value, and Green Bones would not suffer the disgrace of attacking a women’s bathhouse any more than they would be seen fighting over a daycare or a funeral home.

So even though Wen was technically three hundred meters inside enemy territory, she was not concerned. The bodyguard who’d driven her here held open the car door, and Wen stepped out of the green Lumezza 6C convertible that her husband had bought for her as a wedding gift. A beautiful car, if not very practical. She was sweating by the time she crossed the short walkway and tiled steps to the entryway; being seven months pregnant during summer in Janloon was an unpleasant ordeal. Once inside, she checked in at the front desk and was shown to a changing stall, where she undressed, stowed her belongings, and entered the adjoining private room where she settled herself onto the cushioned table for a full-body scrub and prenatal massage. Five years ago, working for secretary’s wages at a small law firm and living in a cramped apartment in Paw-Paw, she would never have indulged in such luxuries. There were perks to being the wife of the Pillar. It was not a position to which she’d ever aspired; she’d expected to remain the wife of the Horn—a place with status, but more anonymity, and requiring considerable emotional fortitude and self-sufficiency, as the Horn’s job was dangerous and unpredictable and called him away at all hours. Lina possessed such admirable qualities, which was why Wen had introduced her to Kehn.

Being the wife of the Pillar on the other hand, meant visibility. It required Wen to accompany her husband to high-profile events, host clan functions, and be photographed. Wen was well aware that every time she appeared at her husband’s side in public, judging eyes settled on her, the petty minds behind them thinking that surely Kaul Hiloshudon, second son of No Peak and Pillar of the clan, could’ve done better for himself than a stone-eye wife, a supposed bastard with a disreputable family name. Pretty enough, perhaps, but there were more beautiful women.

Wen would not allow herself to be Hilo’s weakness, to be exploited or used against the family by anyone inside or outside of No Peak. She took pains to know all the people in the upper echelons of the clan, particularly those who might be resentful of the Maiks’ rapid rise in status. She dressed impeccably; she took care of her body. Her health was very important. She hoped to eventually return to interior design work, but for the next few years, she had greater responsibilities as a wife and mother. The clan was not just people and jade and money. It was an idea, a legacy that connected the past with the present and the future. The family’s strength was a promise. Lan was dead and his son was far away (although Wen hoped that would soon change). Shae was not about to have children any time soon. Kehn and Lina were not yet married, and Wen was not sure what to do about Tar. The Teijes shared blood with the Kauls but were of no consideration. Knowing that her contribution to the clan was crucial and hers alone gave Wen a sense of anticipatory satisfaction even greater than the normal glow of an expectant mother. The baby kicked Wen in the ribs and rolled like a small mountain across her abdomen. The masseuse smiled and said, “Your child is already so athletic, Mrs. Kaul.”

Feeling refreshed after her spa treatments, Wen took a brief dip in the mineral pool, showered, and dressed in soft lounge pants, a tank top, and fleece robe. She went into the teahouse and sat cross-legged at a low table in one of the many screened nooks intended to create a sense of calm and retreat from the bustle of everyday life in the city. Lush potted ferns and broad-leafed plants created a modest indoor garden, and a stone water fountain burbled pleasantly in the background. Most of the other women in the teahouse were older than Wen; some stayed contentedly to themselves with a book or newspaper, others chatted with friends or played circle chess or cards. Wen ordered a sesame pastry and a glass of chilled spiced tea with lemon. The server, a plump, grandmotherly woman, smiled knowingly at Wen and brought her the entire lemon, cut into delicate wedges on a small white dish. Superstition held that sucking the juice of an entire lemon each day guaranteed a masculine child. So did taking daily walks at dawn (dusk for a female child), eating spicy food, and conceiving on designated lucky days (as determined by fortune charts cross-referencing the birthdates of the father and mother). Wen was not the superstitious sort—what was the point when one was already a stone-eye?—and she left praying to the gods to her sister-in-law, but she smiled and thanked the woman anyway, waiting until she was gone to dispose of the lemon in a nearby planter. The sex of the baby was already set; why sour her mouth for nothing?

A slight woman of about the same age as Wen approached and glanced around nervously before sitting down at the table. Wen said in a low voice of concern, “How have you been, Mila? How’s your daughter?” The woman looked away, tugging at her long sleeves. Wen was struck with pity for her.

Mila said in a mumble, “I’ve sent her to stay at a friend’s house for a few days.”

“That’s good,” Wen said gently. “You’re doing everything you can to keep her safe. That’s all a mother can do.” When Mila rubbed her eyes and nodded, Wen said, “What do you have?”

The woman removed a manila envelope from her handbag and passed it under the table to Wen, who tucked it into her own tote bag without looking at it. Mila twisted her hands together in her lap and said in a hurry, “The new Weather Man, Iwe Kalundo, took over the office last week. He’s been busy holding one-on-one meetings with all the top Lantern Men in the clan. I saw his schedule for the whole month lying open on his secretary’s desk and made a photocopy of it.”

“Thank you.” Wen slid Mila an unmarked envelope of cash, which vanished quickly into the woman’s purse. Akul Min Mila worked as a low-level department secretary in the Weather Man’s office of the Mountain clan, also located in the Financial District, five kilometers north of Kaul Shae’s office on Ship Street. She was married to a violent drunk who regularly beat her and their eight-year-old daughter. Her husband came from a well-connected family within the Mountain; Mila feared retribution if she told anyone within the clan. She was secretly saving up the money that No Peak paid her for the information she stole from the office so she could take her daughter and run away to her only relatives, who lived in Toshon, all the way in the south of the country.

As the rat stood up to go, Wen said, “Mila, don’t rush or take unnecessary risks. You’ve survived this long already; make sure that when you leave for good, there’s no suspicion.”

The woman hesitated, biting her lip and looking at Wen with a sort of cornered gratitude. Then she nodded, turned away, and left. Mila was not very knowledgeable about the Mountain’s business and did not always know what to look for, copying whatever she saw lying around when the opportunity arose. Some of what she gave to Wen was useful, much of it was not, but she was motivated. Wen was cautiously optimistic this time; the detailed meeting schedule of Ayt Mada’s new Weather Man would shed light on the Mountain’s business priorities and biggest constituents.

Wen sipped her spiced tea and rubbed her swollen feet. Over the past year, she and Kaul Shae had found and cultivated a handful of informers. It was as Hilo had said to Kehn and Tar at the dinner table: No Peak needed rats everywhere, not only on the street, and not only on the Horn’s side. The women’s bathhouse was perhaps the most invisible place in the city for Wen to meet spies; she rarely saw Green Bones here, and those she did see—stressed young women needing a break from keeping up with their male peers—had their facials or massages and left without lingering in the teahouse. The owners were well aware that they were located on a territorial border and had absolutely nothing to gain from betraying either clan and risking their advantageous status as a business of no disputable importance. And while the Weather Man of No Peak could not spend a suspiciously large number of hours receiving spa services, no one batted an eye at the indulgences of the Pillar’s wife.

Wen had considered telling Hilo what she was doing. Perhaps it would prove to him that she was serious and capable of being fully involved in the clan’s matters, and even if he did not approve on principle, he would have to see the enormous usefulness of her actions and come over to her thinking. Hilo was accepting of people as they were; he had never once made her feel shame for her parents’ well-known disgrace across both major clans, her rumored illegitimacy, or her condition as a stone-eye. For that, she loved him ferociously. She hated to keep secrets from him. But for Kaul Hilo, there was a stark division in the world that determined a person’s duties and destiny—a line drawn with jade.

When she became pregnant, Wen reluctantly came to the conclusion that her husband would not condone even the minimal risk she was taking by meeting informers in the Celestial Radiance. In addition, being honest with Hilo would mean exposing Shae’s orchestration, and the Weather Man was entitled to the secrecy of her methods and sources of information. As long as Hilo thought his wife’s bathhouse visits were simply innocuous pampering and good for her health and that of the baby, he would see no reason to prevent them. The potential value of what she and Shae might learn about the clan’s enemies was more important than Wen’s peace of mind, and the relationship between the Pillar and the Weather Man could not be risked. The family’s survival depended on it. The Pillar was the master of the clan, the spine of the body, but a spine that was not well supported would sag and break. Wen’s late brother-in-law, Kaul Lan, had been a good Pillar, but dragged down by a senile grandfather, a treacherous Weather Man, and a faithless wife. He’d tried too hard to carry the clan on his own, hadn’t claimed help when he should have, had kept his sister and his cousin out of the clan at the time he needed them the most. He’d made every effort to be strong, and it had made him weak. Wen would not let that happen to her own husband.

She relaxed on the cushions and read a book for fifteen minutes until she saw her second informer pad into the teahouse in slippers, smelling of bath salts. A woman in her late fifties, Mrs. Lonto was a hairdresser who had owned and run her salon in the wealthy, Mountain-controlled district of High Ground for thirty years. Over the decades, she’d heard all manner of stories, rumors, and gossip circulate among her clientele, which consisted primarily of the wives, mothers, and other female relatives of the Mountain’s highest-rank Fists, Luckbringers, and Lantern Men. Not only were Mrs. Lonto’s clients keenly, jealously aware of the social standing, fortunes, and alliances of the various powerful families in the Mountain, more than a few of them whispered harshly about Ayt Mada, the one woman who controlled the lives of their men more than they did.

Mrs. Lonto had come to the Celestial Radiance regularly for years, and she had approached Wen instead of the other way around. One day, she’d seen the Pillar’s wife coming out of the mineral soaking pool and said, “Mrs. Kaul, I’m very sorry to disturb you, but…” The woman’s face trembled in desperation. “My son has caused offense against your clan, and I don’t know who to turn to for mercy.” The salon owner’s troubled eldest son had robbed a store at gunpoint in No Peak territory for money to buy drugs. In the process, he shot and wounded two innocent bystanders, including the uncle of one of No Peak’s senior Fingers. Fortunately for Mrs. Lonto’s son, he was apprehended by the Janloon police and thrown into jail before the clan got to him, but the offended Finger in No Peak had every intention of seeking out the robber upon his release, and if not killing him, at least handing him such a savage beating that he would beg to be returned to prison.

Mrs. Lonto was taking out a loan against her hair salon to pay for her incarcerated son’s addiction treatment, but despite knowing many people in the Mountain, she refused to ask for financial help or protection for her son from anyone in the clan. Her grandson by her daughter was nine years old and applying for entry to Wie Lon; as he was a borderline case, Mrs. Lonto was afraid to draw any attention to the taint of drug use and criminality in the immediate family, as it would completely destroy his chances. After hearing Mrs. Lonto’s story, Wen spoke to Kehn, who spoke to the Finger in No Peak, who was persuaded to renounce his grievance in exchange for a formal apology and the offender’s ear in a box. (Luckily for everyone, the uncle had made a complete recovery.) Now, Mrs. Lonto looked to be in a heartened mood as she sat down across from Wen and told her that her son’s rehab was going well and he been clean for four months. Wen congratulated her; it was nice to know the money No Peak paid to secure the woman’s eyes and ears in High Ground went to some charitable use. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Kaul,” Mrs. Lonto said. “I don’t have much to say this week. There hasn’t been much news, and business has been quiet. People have gone to the coast because of the heat.”

“That’s all right,” Wen replied. “I still want to speak with you about some events that happened in the past, that I think you might know about.” When the older woman nodded warily, Wen folded her hands on top of her rounded belly and said, “Tell me everything you know about the Koben family.”

Wen made three further visits to the Celestial Radiance Bath & Tea House over the following two weeks to meet with additional informers who could corroborate and expand upon what she heard from Mrs. Lonto. She had a few casual conversations with the most gossipy relatives in Lina’s large and well-connected family, and she made a visit to the national library and archives in Wisdom Hall to examine some public records. Wen conveyed everything she learned to Shae, who combined it with other information she possessed of the Mountain’s business dealings to gain a better understanding of their enemy’s situation.

According to Mrs. Lonto and others, when Ayt Eodo, second adopted son of the clan patriarch, Ayt Yugontin, was murdered on the orders of his sister, Ayt Madashi, he left behind a wife who did not grieve him. Eodo’s marriage had not been a happy one, for several reasons including the fact that he was a hopeless philanderer. His widow might’ve found it in herself to feel some more sadness if he hadn’t been assassinated naked in his mistress’s apartment—insulting to her even in death. She returned to her parents, dropped her married name, and raised her then four-year-old son under her family name: Koben.

The Kobens were a large family of moderate status in the Mountain clan. They counted among their ranks nearly two dozen Green Bones, including several Fists, many more Fingers, a few teachers, a doctor, and a penitent. Other members of the family were midlevel Luckbringers or small business Lantern Men, or held other respectable jobs connected to the clan. Although they were generally dependable people, they were no superlative leaders or talents. Some described them as stingy and stubborn, with more guts than brains. At one time, it seemed their star had been on the rise, when one of their own married into the great Ayt family, but upon Eodo’s death, they counted themselves lucky the marriage had been a disaster and were quick to make it clear to the new Pillar that they had never liked the man anyway.

Koben Atosho, born Ayt Ato, was Ayt Mada’s only nephew. He had few memories of his late father and had been raised with no love for him. He was now nine years old; in the coming year he would finish primary school and be admitted to Wie Lon Temple School to begin his martial education. With this milestone, the Koben family hoped the Pillar would recognize the boy as Ayt Yu’s grandson and her potential heir, and consequently, that the Koben family’s prestige would rise within the clan.

The two main obstacles to their aspirations were named Ven and Iwe. The Ven family was smaller than the Koben family but one of the wealthiest in Kekon. The patriarch, Ven Sandolan, owned the largest freight shipping company in the country. He had three sons and two daughters; the eldest son was a respected, high-rank Fist. Ven Sando was an influential man in the business world, and also not afraid to be critical of his own clan when he believed criticism was called for.

The Iwe family was not as numerous as the Kobens or as wealthy as the Vens, but Iwe Kalundo had just become Weather Man of the Mountain. Iwe was thirty-six years old and a longtime friend and colleague of the Pillar; he had worked under Ayt Mada back when she had been Weather Man herself. The Iwes were pleased by speculation that Ayt saw her Weather Man as her most likely successor. It would go a long way toward removing their poor reputation. They were less gifted in jade ability but as prone to the Itches as the infamous Aun family, and were suspected of being shine addicts.

Shae explained the situation at the family table after dinner the following Seventhday. “Ayt faces pressure to clarify the line of succession in her clan, but she’s understandably avoiding the issue. The Koben boy’s only nine—too early for anyone to judge his abilities, and Ayt’s had no part in his upbringing. Iwe Kalundo’s brand-new in his job. Ayt surely plans to be Pillar for a long time and wants to keep her options for a successor open; naming an heir now would only undercut her authority by raising the status of some other family.”

Hilo rolled an unlit cigarette between his fingers, eyes narrowed in thought. “You say Doru thought the Kobens had the strongest claim.”

“The others seem like long shots,” the Weather Man replied. “The Vens have wealth and influence but no legitimate claim, and they’re outside of Ayt’s favor; they were slow to declare their allegiance after Ayt became Pillar, initially supporting her brother until that wasn’t an option anymore. She might want to hang on to the Ven family’s money and support, but she’s unlikely to let them anywhere near the leadership.”

Shae took a sip of tea and pushed the rest of her dessert toward Wen. “The Iwes, on the other hand, are completely loyal to Ayt and wouldn’t talk to us if we approached them. Iwe Kalundo’s personal reputation is entirely solid, but his father died of the Itches and there’s been shine addiction in his family. There are a lot of people in the Mountain who wouldn’t support the leadership of the clan going to that bloodline.”

Kehn scratched his eyebrow and frowned. “It’s what the Pillar thinks that matters,” he pointed out. “If Ayt trusts Iwe enough to make him the Weather Man and he does a good job, maybe she won’t care what the other families say.”

“Maybe,” Shae replied slowly, “but the Kobens have far more people and the Ayt family connection.” Succession in a Green Bone clan was not strictly hereditary, but there was a strong historical and cultural bias in favor of keeping it within family.

“The boy doesn’t have any blood in common with Ayt Yu or Ayt Mada,” Tar said, throwing up his hands. “If that’s the strongest claim, it still seems pretty fucking weak.”

“Which is why it’s not a foregone conclusion,” Shae said. “I can see why Doru would suggest forming an alliance. If we were on friendly terms with the Koben family, it could strengthen their position by suggesting to both clans that peace would continue under their leadership. And with the Kobens on our side, Ayt might think twice about openly coming after us.” The Weather Man made a grudging noise. “It makes sense, as a defensive move.”

Wen looked around the table. Then she spoke to her husband, in a mild but meaningful way. “Doru was a good strategist. He obviously thought a great deal about how to bring the clans together.” She touched Hilo’s knee. “That was what he wanted, what he tried to arrange behind Lan’s back: unification. So now we know what not to do, if we want something different.”

Kehn and Tar and even Shae seemed surprised at Wen asserting herself in the discussion, but Hilo smiled at her approvingly. “It seems that old weasel Doru was a help to us in the end after all.” He turned to Shae. “Find a way for me to meet with Ven Sandolan.”