CHAPTER 47: Back to Work

Shae emerges only to attend Kehn’s funeral, moving through the rites in a daze. Hilo, shattered, keeps Wen and the children close, while Tar breaks down at his brother’s grave and briefly regards Shae with bitter blame for Maro’s painless death. The scant ashes underscore the senselessness of Kehn’s killing.

Back home, Shae collapses into isolation, unable to eat or work. She fixates on her role in Maro’s execution, reliving the moment and condemning herself as a murderer. Her grief hardens into hatred for Zapunyo and the barukan, whom she now recognizes as enemies outside Green Bone codes of aisho and restraint.

After over a week, Wen visits Shae’s bedroom and pointedly opens a window, then asks to return to work for the Weather Man once Jaya is older. Wen reveals she has arranged for Shae’s mother to move back to help with the children, signaling a plan to reengage in clan operations.

Shae challenges the timing, but Wen argues that Hilo stands alone: Kehn is dead, Tar is incapacitated, and Shae has withdrawn. Wen distinguishes Shae’s hard choice from culpability for Maro’s death and reframes the conflict as broader than Green Bone rules, with enemies willing to strike civilians anywhere.

Insisting that traditional protections will not keep the family safe, Wen urges Shae to put her to work and warns that absence invites weakness and loss. Leaving Shae clothes and a commitment to attend dinner with the nephews, Wen pushes Shae toward reentering leadership and accepting Wen’s expanded role in No Peak’s defense.