The Green Bone Saga, #1
Jade City
by Fonda Lee
Contents
CHAPTER 34: You Owe the Dead
Overview
Shae wakes after No Peak’s retaliatory violence and confronts the emotional, physical, and moral cost of reclaiming jade. Hilo, now Pillar after Lan’s death, reveals Grandda’s collapse and Doru’s humiliation, then admits that the Mountain’s revenge is inevitable.
The chapter turns Shae’s grief into commitment: instead of remaining detached, Shae accepts that No Peak needs Shae’s judgment to survive Hilo’s leadership and the coming war. Shae kneels and swears herself as Hilo’s Weather Man, binding Shae back to the clan.
Summary
Shae wakes in her childhood bedroom in the middle of the night, surrounded by bloodstained clothes and weapons. The memory of Lan’s death and the violent raid on Poor Man’s Road returns, and Shae breaks down, recognizing that reclaiming jade and taking part in vengeance has changed her life irreversibly.
After crying herself empty, Shae reflects on the seductive power of jade and the violence Shae embraced. Shae senses jade again as naturally as sight, which makes Lan’s absence feel newly and painfully permanent. Shae dresses in old clothes, sees her bruises and cuts, and understands the physical cost of fighting with jade after years away from it.
Shae goes downstairs and finds Hilo awake in the kitchen, still wearing the previous day’s stained clothes and eating calmly. Hilo tells Shae that Grandda had a breakdown after hearing of Lan’s death, confused the present with the war, ranted about the Shotarians, and blamed Hilo when Grandda recognized him.
Hilo explains that the clan is stretched thin: Kehn is managing the aftermath of the attacks, and Tar is checking the city’s defenses. When Shae asks about Doru, Hilo says Doru had already been taken before Lan disappeared, stripped of jade, and confined under guard at Doru’s house. Hilo refuses to execute Doru before Lan’s funeral but makes clear that Doru is no longer Weather Man.
Shae realizes fully that Hilo is now the Pillar, and the thought frightens Shae because Hilo is young, violent, and newly burdened by power. Hilo recognizes the danger ahead: after No Peak’s strike, the Mountain will retaliate without mercy. Hilo admits he needs Shae and asks Shae to become Hilo’s Weather Man, arguing that the clan, Grandda’s legacy, and Lan’s sacrifice depend on Shae’s help.
Shae thinks back on Shae’s earlier refusal to be involved in clan affairs and sees Lan’s death as the cruel answer to Shae’s prayer for direction. Believing that Hilo needs someone who can challenge and restrain him, and that Shae owes loyalty to the dead, Shae kneels and swears service to the Pillar as Weather Man.
Who Appears
- ShaeGrieving Kaul sibling; accepts jade, guilt, and duty by swearing to become Weather Man.
- HiloNew Pillar of No Peak; exhausted and dangerous, asks Shae to help lead the clan.
- LanDead former Pillar whose absence drives Shae’s grief and Hilo’s need for support.
- GranddaElderly Kaul patriarch; breaks down after Lan’s death and blames Hilo in confusion.
- DoruDisgraced former Weather Man; stripped of jade and confined for betraying No Peak.
- KehnHilo’s trusted Fist; left managing the aftermath of No Peak’s violent strike.
- TarNo Peak aide sent across the city to check and reinforce clan defenses.
- KyanlaHousehold caretaker; called a doctor when Grandda collapsed after Lan’s death.