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"I only knohat I hear at the teahouses and around the kilns, lassblowers in Cetani; so fishing bulbs But I haven&039;t heard anyone taking it very seriously A, they say, to take trade from Yalakeht And the Khai Machi "
Maati stopped He realized nohy the two strangers seemed familiar; who they reminded him of The Dai-kvo pushed a fine cerarain of the table Maati fell into a pose of thanks without being aware of it, but did not take the bowl
"The Khai Machi is dying," the Dal-kvo said "I Iis belly&039;s gone rotten It&039;s a sad thing Not a good end And his eldest son is murdered Poisoned What do the teahouses and kilns say of that?"
"That it was poor form," Maati said "&039;t&039;hat no one has seen the Khaieo But neither of the brothers has appeared to accuse the other, so no oneGods! You two are "
"You see?" the Dai-kvo said to the thinas he spoke "No, not much to look at, but a decent steeen his ears Yes, Maati-cha Themy sill with his boots there is Danat Machi This is his eldest surviving brother, Kaiin And they have coainst each other because neither of them killed their elder brother Biitrah"
"So theyyou think it was Otah-kvo?"
"The Dai-kvo says you knowhis own seat at the only unoccupied side of the table "Tell me what you know of Otah"
"I haven&039;t seen him in years, Danat-cha," Maati said "He was in Saraykcht whenwhen the old poet there died He orking as a laborer But I haven&039;t seen him since"
"Do you think he was satisfied by that life?" the thin one-Kaiin- asked "A laborer at the docks of Saraykeht hardly seems like the fate a son of the Khaiem would embrace Especially one who refused the brand"
Maati picked up the bowl of tea, sipping it too quickly as he tried to gain hiue
"I never heard Otah speak of any ambitions for his father&039;s chair," Maati said
"And is there any reason to think he would have spoken of it to you?" Kaiin said, the faintest sneer in his voice Maati felt the blush creeping into his cheeks again, but it was the Dai-kvo who answered
""There is Otah Machi and Maati here were close for a time They fell out eventually over a woman, I believe Still, I hold that if Otah had been bent on taking part in the struggle for Machi at that time, he would have taken Maati into his confidence But that is hardly our concern As Maati here points out, it was years ago Otah may have become ambitious Or resentful There&039;s no way for us to know that-"
"But he refused the brand-" Danat began, and the Dai-kvo cut hiesture
"There were other reasons for that," the Dai-kvo said sharply "They aren&039;t your concern"
Danat Nlachi took a pose of apology and the Dai-kvo waved it away Maati sipped his tea again &039;t&039;his tiht, Kaiin Machi took a pose of query, looking directly at Maati for what seeain if you saw him?"
"Yes," Maati said "I would"
"You sound certain of it"
"I am, Kaiin-cha"
The thin man smiled All around the table a sense of satisfaction see The Daikvo poured hi into his bowl like a streaood library in Machi," the Dai-kvo said "One of the finest in the fourteen cities I understand there are records there fro to go there, perhaps, to ride out the war, and sent his hooks ahead I&039; those shelves that would be of use in binding the andat"
"Really?" Maati asked
"No, not really," the Dai-kvo said "I expect it&039;s a mess of poorly documented scraps overseen by a librarian who spends his copper on wine and whores, but I don&039;t care For our purposes, there are secrets hidden in those records i poet like yourself to sift though I have a letter to the Khai Machi that will explain why you are truly there IIc will explain your presence to the utkhaiem and Cehmai &039;Ivan, the poet who holds Stone-Made-Soft Let the instead is discovering whether Otah killed Biitrah Machi If so, who is hacking hian
"Wait for s to discuss with the sons of Machi"
The gardens, like the apartments, were small, well kept, beautiful, and sirant pine trees Maati sat, looking out From the side of mountain, the world spread out before hi, his heart in tur sound of footsteps on gravel, and he turned to see the Dai-kvohis way down the path toward him Maati stood He had not known the Dai-kvo had started walking with a cane A servant followed at a distance, carrying a chair, and did not approach until the Dai-kvo signaled Once the chair was in place, looking out over the sa, the servant retreated
"Interesting, isn&039;t it?" the Dai-kvo said
Maati, unsure whether he meant the view or the business with the sons of Machi, didn&039;t reply The Dai-kvo looked at hienial on his lips He drew forth two packets-letters sealed in wax and sewn shut Maati took the old You see that tree?" the Dai-kvo asked, pointing at one of the shaped pines with his cane
"Yes, h"
"There&039;s a fa I always mean to have soiven the order"
"You are h"
The oldHis lips were pressed thin, and the lines in his face were black as charcoal Maati stood waiting At length, the Dai-kvo turned away again with a sigh
"Will you be able to do it?" he asked
"I will do as the Dai-kvo coo there But will you be able to tell me that he&039;s there? You know if he is behind this, they&039;ll kill hio on to each other Are you able to bear that responsibility? Tell me now if you aren&039;t, and I&039;ll find soain"
"I won&039;t fail again, ood," the Dai-kvo said and went silent Maati waited so long for the pose that would disotten he was there, or had chosen to ignore him as an insult But the old man spoke, his voice low
"How old is your son, Maati-cha?"
"Twelve, h But I haven&039;t seen hiry with an to take a pose of denial, but checked himself and lowered his arms This wasn&039;t the time for court politics The Dai-kvo saw this and s wiser,In itself, that&039;s not such a bad thing Many ainst all correction That was the wrong path, and don&039;t think I&039;m unaware of how you&039;ve paid for it"
"As you say, h"
"I told you there was no place in a poet&039;s life for a family A lover here or there, certainly Most men are too weak to deny themselves that much But a wife? A child? No There isn&039;t room for both what they require and e do And I told you that You remember? I told you that, and you
The Dai-kvo shook his head, frowning in remembered frustration It was a ize He could repent his pride and say that the Dai-kvo had indeed known better all along He reht," the Dai-kvo said for him "And now you&039;ve done half a job as a poet and half a job as a man Your studies are weak, and the woman took your whelp and left You&039;ve failed both, just as I knew you would I&039; you for that, Maati No man could have taken on what you did and succeeded But this opportunity in Machi is ipe clean the slate Do this well and it will be what you&039;re remembered for"
"Certainly I will do my best"
"Fail at it, and there won&039;t be a third chance Few enough men have two"
Maati took a pose appropriate to a student receiving a lecture Considering him, the Dal-kvo responded with one that closed the lesson, then raised his hand
"Don&039;t destroy this chance in order to spitein this will do ry because I told you the truth, and because what I said would happen, did Consider while you go north, whether that&039;s really such a good reason to hate me"
THE OPEN WINDOW LET IN A COOT, BREEZE THAT SMELLED OF PINE AND RAIN Otah Mach], the sixth son of the Khai Machi, lay on the bed, listening to the sounds of water-rain pattering on the flagstones of the wayhouse&039;s courtyard and the tiles of its roof, the constant hushing of the river against its banks A fire danced and spat in the grate, but his bare skin was still stippled with cold The night candle had gone out, and he hadn&039;t bothered to relight it Morning would come when it came
The door slid open and then shut He didn&039;t turn to look
"You&039;re brooding, Itani," Kiyan said, calling him by the false name he&039;d chosen for himself, the only one he&039;d ever told her Her voice was low and rich and careful as a singer&039;s He shifted now, turning to his side She knelt by the grate-her skin smooth and brown, her robes the formal cut of a woman of business, one strand of her hair fallen free Her face was thin-she reminded him of a fox sometimes, when a s on the fire as she spoke "I half expected you&039;d be asleep already"
He sighed and sketched a pose of contrition with one hand
"Don&039;t apologize toyou in my rooms here as in the teahouse, but Old Mani wanted h to sing dirty songs with hi, being so loved"
"Don&039;t laugh at it It&039;s not a love to carry you through ages, but it&039;s row into one of those pinched old men ant free wine because they pity theht of Old Mani It&039;s just "
He sighed Kiyan closed theand relit the night candle
"It&039;s just that you&039;re brooding," she said "And you&039;re naked and not under the blankets, so you&039;re feeling that you&039;ve done so and deserve to suffer"
"Ah," Otah said "Is that why I do this?"
"Yes," she said, untying her robes "It is You can&039;t hide it froht as well coht in his u is the na, and brothers I can hardly recall have started killing each other, and I find it makes me sad He wondered what Kiyan would say to that She prided herself on knowing hi people and how theirshe&039;d already have guessed
Naked, she lay beside hi thick blankets up over them both
"Did you find another wo But only half "Soirl who stole your heart, or so over how to tellme?"
"I&039;m a courier," Otah said "I have a woman in every city I visit You know that"
"You don&039;t," she said "Some couriers do, but you don&039;t"
"No?"
"No It tookbare for you to notice h for a woh your reserve And you don&039;t have to push away the blankets You may want to be cold, but I don&039;t"
"Well Maybe I&039; old"
"A ripe thirty-three? Well, when you decide to stop running across the world, I&039;d always be pleased to hire you on We could stand another pair of hands around the place You could throw out the drunks and track down the cheats that try to slip aithout paying"