The customs inspector returned twenty minutes later and handed Wen her passport, paperwork, and samples. “You’re free to go, miss.”
Wen took two nephrite rings from the case and pressed them upon the men. “Take them,” she urged. “They’re samples, I have plenty.” One of the guards started to reach for the ring but the other shook his head and said, “We’re not allowed to do that, miss.” Wen looked disappointed and said, “Have a keychain then,” and she gave them each a nephrite keychain with Divinity Gems etched on the side. Tucking her scarf once more around her neck, she picked up her case and followed the guard as he led her back out of the room and let her through the customs gate.
Anden was waiting for her at the baggage claim area along with a lean man in a black cap and gloves that Anden introduced as Rohn Toro. Wen was pleased to see Anden. For a while, she’d found it hard to think kindly of him. She would always be grateful for the part he’d played in killing Gont Asch and saving the clan as well as her husband’s life, but then he’d turned his back on the family and left—just like Shae once had. Hilo had been heartbroken about it; he never brought up the subject, but Wen could see that he still blamed himself, no matter what she said to gently remind him that he’d only ever done what was necessary.
Now, though, she was glad to see the young man. He’d become an anchor for No Peak in Espenia and was proving himself useful here. So Wen greeted him warmly and said, “You look well, little brother.” Anden smiled the same small, reserved smile he’d always had and asked how her flight had been. She assured him that it had been fine.
They drove to a hotel and Wen checked into a suite. Rohn left, saying he would be back in around an hour. Anden stayed with Wen in the hotel room, waiting in the separate sitting area while she refreshed herself and changed. This was Wen’s second trip to Espenia—the first, taken two months ago carrying a suitcase of nephrite but no real jade, had been a test run, to establish a travel history for her role as a sales representative of Divinity Gems and to familiarize herself with what to expect when going through customs. So she was still taken aback by how cold it was in Port Massy and was glad she’d packed sweaters and scarves. She went back out into the sitting room and pulled back the heavy drapes enough to peer outside. Port Massy, smoky and gray in winter twilight, sprawled below. She was charmed by it, by the majestic foreignness of the place, even by how much smaller the Mast Building looked in real life than it did on the postcards. She was looking forward to exploring the city and seeing some of the famous sights.
Anden muted the television show he’d been watching and asked if she needed anything. Wen shook her head and sat down beside him, smoothing her skirt over her knees. “Anden,” she said, putting a hand on his arm, “Hilo knows I’m here in Port Massy, working for the Weather Man on foreign real estate projects, but he doesn’t know the other part. You must never mention to him that I was the one who carried the jade into the country.”
Anden glanced at her, then down at his hands, clearly uncomfortable with being asked to keep a secret. Wen said, “He wouldn’t approve. You know how he feels about certain things. With Hilo, you’re either a Green Bone or you’re not.”
“I know,” Anden said. “He doesn’t want me back in Janloon so long as I’m not green.”
“That’s not true,” Wen said. “We all miss you at home. But your cousins have their reasons. Shae thinks it’ll be good for you to have an Espenian education, to speak a second language and have experience living abroad. You’ll be able to put those advantages to use for the clan even if you don’t wear green. Isn’t that worth the hardship of being away from home for a little while, now, while you’re young? Hilo… well.” Wen smiled, her expression a little resigned. “Anyone without jade is somewhat like a child to him, to be kept away from the realities and dangers we’re not a part of. Even me. I know he loves me and values my opinions, but I’m not in his world, not completely. If he seems distant or unforgiving toward you, it’s because he doesn’t know where you fit now, how to treat you when you return.”
Anden turned to her with a searching gaze, serious but hopeful. Wen thought that even though Anden was not a Kaul by blood, in that moment, he looked more like Lan than either Hilo or Shae ever did. “Will you talk to him, for me?” he asked. “And to Shae-jen? Of course, I’ll keep your secret no matter what,” he added quickly, “but I know they listen to you.”
“I will,” Wen promised, touched by his earnestness. She looped an arm around one of his. “It’s not so bad living here in Port Massy, is it? Shae tells me that you have a foster family here, there’s an entire Kekonese neighborhood, and even relayball. You’ve been here for almost three years; do you feel as if you have friends here now, things that make you happy, people who you care about?”
Anden said, “Yes. You’re right, it’s not so bad. Pretty good, actually. I’m done with classes, and I’m… seeing someone.” He flushed and seemed almost surprised at himself for the admission, but Wen only smiled; they were the two unlucky members of the family, each in their own way—who better to confide such things, if not to each other? “I would never have guessed I’d find someone in Espenia, and he’s very Espenian in a lot of ways. We don’t see each other as much as we used to, though.” Anden’s voice took a slightly troubled turn. “It’s not that I’m unhappy in Espenia. But I don’t think I could ever really feel at home here. And it’s hard being so far away from everything that’s happening in the family.” He turned to her and said, “When I heard about what happened to Kehn, I felt as if I should’ve been there. Even though I know there was nothing I could’ve done, no way that I could’ve helped, and I wasn’t even close enough to the Horn to know him very well, but… I still feel as if I should’ve been there.”
Wen smiled sadly and rubbed at her eyes. “I have every reason to stay at home. Hilo would prefer it, and the children are little. You should see Lina’s new baby—he looks so much like Kehn. I miss them all very much when I’m gone. But I feel as if I should be out here, doing something more. So it’s true that you can be happy but still not satisfied.”
There was a knock on the door. Anden got up to peer through the peephole, then opened the door to admit Rohn Toro and four other men who entered quickly and closed the door behind them. It was suddenly crowded in the room; Wen was thankful for Anden’s familiar presence among the strange men. All of the visitors were Green Bones who spoke to each other and to Anden in Espenian, but they greeted Wen in Kekonese, saluting her respectfully and saying they were honored to meet her.
There were only two chairs at the hotel room table; Wen and Anden sat down and the five Green Bones stood around. Wen laid out the jade choker, bracelets, and three other coils of jade beads that she’d smuggled in under her clothes. After arriving at the hotel, she’d soaked them in solvent in the bathroom sink, wiped them clean of their coating, and laid them out to dry. Now they gleamed like nothing else on earth—unmistakable as true Kekonese jade.
With everyone watching, she used a pair of wire clippers and carefully separated the jade pieces, piling them next to each other on a black cloth in the center of the table. When she was done, there were two hundred equally sized jade beads on the table—nearly as much jade as what one might expect on half a class of Kaul Du Academy graduates. A veritable fortune. A reverential hush fell over all the men in the room. None of them touched the jade—so much of it in one place would be unwise for anyone to handle. Anyone but a stone-eye.