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"I have some conversations I&039;ll have to conduct, Maati-cha," he said "You understand that I&039; this? Me and my family both"
"And I know that Otah-kvo will appreciate that," Maati said "In ood to his friends"
"TThat&039;s best," Radaani said "After this, I expect he&039;ll have about two of the as he remembers what he owes me"
"He will And so will the Kaine a fair nu less favorable terms from the Galts in the future"
"Yes That had occurred to me too"
Radaani s that ineluded the room and all three of theone, Maati went to theagain Radaani alking fast down the street, his servants half-skipping to keep the canopy over hione
Maati closed the shutters
"He&039;s agreed?" Cehmai asked
"As near as we can expect He smells profit in it for himself and disappointment for his rivals That&039;s the best we can offer, but I think he&039;s pleased enough to do the thing"
"That&039;s good"
Maati sat in the chair Radaani had used, sighing Cehainst the table, his arms folded His mouth was thin, his eyes dark He looked more than half ill The andat pulled out the chair beside him and sat with a mild, companionable expression
"What did the Dai-kvo say?" Cehmai asked "In the letter?"
"He said I was under no circumstances to take sides in the succession He repeated that I was to return to his village as soon as possible He seeue, Icole as the reason that the E," Cchmai said
"Well, perhaps not But it&039;s late to undo it"
"You can blame me if you&039;d like," Cehmai said
"I think not I chose what I&039;d do, and I don&039;t think I chose poorly If the Dai-kvo disagrees, we can have a conversation about it"
"He&039;ll throw you out," Cchht for a e, of the years spent in minor tasks at the will of the Dal-kvo and the poets se nior to himself Liat had asked him to leave it all a hundred tirace faced him now, and he heard her words, saw her face, and wondered why it had all seee perhaps Experience Some tiny sliver of wisdom that told him that in the balance between the world and a woht
"I&039;m sorry for all this, Cehmai About Idaan I kno hard this is for you"
"She picked it No one ainst her fa poet frowned now, then shrugged
"Less now than I did two days ago," he said "Ask again in a month I&039;m a poet, after all There&039;s only so much room in my life Yes, I loved her I&039;ll love someone else later Likely someone that hasn&039;t set herself to kill off her relations"
"It&039;s always like this," Stone-Made-Soft said "Every one of them The first love always comes closest I had hopes for this one I really did"
"You&039;ll live with the disappointment," Cehmai said
"Yes," the andat said ahed once, ah it was also unbearably sad The andat shifted to look at him quizzically Cehmai&039;s hands took a pose of query Maati tried to find words to fit his thoughts, surprised by the sense of peace that the prospect of his own failure brought him
"You&039;re who I was supposed to be, Cehmai-kvo, and you&039;re much better at it I never did very well"
IDAAN LEANED FORWARD, HER HANDS ON THE RAIL THE GALLERY BEHIND her was full but restless, the air thick with the scent of their bodies and perfumes People shifted in their seats and spoke in low tones, prepared for soreat fashion for veils that covered the heads and necks ofon a bed The wasps had done their work, and even if they were gone now, the feeling of uncertainty remained She took another deep breath and tried to play her role She was the last blood of herdown over the council, her part was to ree connected him to the old line of the Khaie so e that she didn&039;t have the range to voice It had been so recently that she&039;d stood here, inhabiting this space, owning the air and the hall around her Today, everything was the same-the families of the utkhaie fro of eyes turned toward her But it wasn&039;t working The air itself seein to say why
"The attack leveled against this council must not weaken us," Daaya, her father now, half-shouted His voice was hoarse and scratched "We will not be bullied! We will not be turned aside! When these vandals tried toto consider i, as the proper man to take the place of our lamented Khai And to that matter we must return"
Applause filled the air, and Idaan smiled sweetly She wondered how many of the people now present had heard her cry out Cehmai&039;s name in her panic Those that hadn&039;t had no doubt heard it from other lips She had kept clear of the poet&039;s house since then, but there hadn&039;t been a ed toward it He would understand, she told herself He would forgive her absence once this was all finished All would be well
And yet, when Adrah looked up to her, when their gaze er He was beautiful: his hair fresh cut, his robes of jeweled silk He was her husband, and she no longer knew hi, and Adaut Kaers had told, the wasps had been meant to keep old Ka alleries becae Even from across the hall, Idaan could see the red weal on his face where the sting had marked him
"I had intended," he said, "to speak in support of Ghiah Vaunani in his urging of caution and against hasty decision Since that tied, and I would like to invite my old, dear friend Porsha Radaani to address the council"
With nothing more than that, old Kareen and gray robes of the Radaani And there,toward the speaker&039;s dais Adrah and his father were bent together, speaking swiftly and softly Idaan strained to hear soht she was holding the rail until her fingers started to ache with it
Radaani rose up in the speaker&039;s pulpit, looking over the council and the galleries for the space of a half-dozen breaths His expression was considering, like athe freshest catch Idaan felt her belly tighten Below her and across the hall, Radaani lifted his arms to the crowd
"Brothers, we have come here in these solemn times to take the fate of our city into our hands," he intoned, and his voice was rich as creaedy and in the spirit of our ancestors, we rise to overcome it No one can doubt the nobility of our intentions And yet the time has come to dissolve this council There is no call to choose a new Khai Machi when a itimate claim to the chair still lives"
The noise was like a storm Voices rose and feet stamped On the council floor, half the fa with stunned expressions And yet it was as if it were happening in some other place Idaan felt the unreality of the htmare
"I have not stood down!" Radaani shouted "I have not finished! Yes, an heir lives! And he has the support ofyou will refuse the son of the Khai Machi his place? Who will side with the traitors and killers that slaughtered his father?"
"Porsha-cha!" one of the h to carry over the clamor "Explain yourself or step down! You&039;ve lost your ive my place before you to the son of the Khai and his one surviving heir!"
Had she thought the hall loud before? It was deafening No one was left seated Bodies pressed at her hack, jostling her against the railing as they craned and stretched for a gliht, his dark robes with their high collar looking almost priestly Otah Machi, the upstart, strode into the hall, with the grace and calm of a man ned it and every ht He&039;s gone mad to come here They&039;ll tear him apart with their hands And then she saw behind him the brown robes of a poet-Maati Vaupathai, the envoy of the Dal-kvo And behind hian to tremble She shrieked, she screamed, but no one could hear her over the crowd She couldn&039;t even hear herself And yet, walking at Maati&039;s side, Cehriether behind the upstart And then the armsmen of Radaani and Vaunani, Kaman and Daikani and Saya Hardly a tenth of the families of the utkhaicm, but still a show of power The poets alone would have been enough
She didn&039;t think, couldn&039;t recall pushing back the people around her, she only knew her own intentions when she was over the rail and falling It wasn&039;t so far to the ground-no ht of two men, and yet in the roar and chaos, the drop seemed to last forever When she struck the floor at last, it jarred her to the hone Her ankle bloomed with pain She put it aside and ran as best she could through the stunned men of the utkhaiem Men all about her, unable to act, unable to move They were like statues, frozen by their uncertainty and confusion She knew that she was screa-shc could feel it in her throat, could hear it in her cars She sounded crazed, but that was unie that possessed her, that lifted her up and sped her steps by its power alone, was only for the upstart, Otah Machi, who had taken her lover from her
She saw Adrah and Daaya already on the floor, an ar on each back "There was a blade still in Adrah&039;s hand And then there before her like a fish rising to the surface of a pond was Otah Machi, her brother She launched herself at hi for him like claws She didn&039;t see how the andatfor her Its wide, cold body appeared, and she collided with it Huge hands wrapped her own, and the wide, inhuman face bent close to hers
"Stop this," it said "It won&039;t help"
"&039;t&039;his isn&039;t right!" she shouted, aware now that the pandemonium had quieted, that her voice could be heard, but she could no more stop herself now than learn to fly "He swore he&039;d protectis," the andat agreed, as it pulled her aside, lifted her as if she was still a child, and pressed her against the wall She felt herself sinking into it, the stone giving way to her like ht, but the wide hands were implacable She shrieked and kicked, sure that the stone would close over her like water, and then she stopped fighting Let it kill her, let her die
Let it end
The hands went away, and Idaan found herself iain She could breathe, she could see, she could hear She opened herStone-Made-Soft put a single finger to her lips
"It won&039;t help," the andat said again, then turned and lumbered up beside the speaker&039;s pulpit where Ceh for it She didn&039;t look at her brother as he took the pulpit, only Cehmai He didn&039;t look back at her When Utah spoke, his words cut through the air, clean and strong as wine
"I am Otah 1MIachi, sixth son of the Khai Machi I have never renounced my claim to this place; I have never killed or plotted to kill my brothers or my father But I knoho has, and I have come here before this council to show you what has been done, and by whoht"
Idaan closed her eyes and wept, surprised to find her desolation complicated by relief
"I NOTICE YOU NEVER MENTIONED THE MALTS," AM1IIT SAID
The waiting area to which the protocol servant had led the vines A silver hoater cooling fresh peaches sat on a low table A He looked calm, but Otah could see the white at the corners of his mouth and the small movements of his hands; Amiit&039;s belly was as much in knots as his own
"There was no call," Utah said "The fa used, and if they only suspect that I know it, that&039;s al to have to wait?"
"Until they&039;ve finished deciding whether to kill you as a murderer or raise you up as the Khai Maehi," Aood out there"
"You could sound more sure of all this"
"We&039;ll be fine," A We have the poets"
"And yet?"
Amiit forced a chuckle
"This is why I don&039;t play tiles Just before the tiles man turns the last chit, I convinceI&039;ve overlooked"
"I hope you aren&039;t right this time"
"If I am, I won&039;t have to worry about next They&039;ll kill me as dead as you
Otah picked up a peach and hit into it The fuzz made his lips itch, but the taste eet and rich and coarden wall rose the towers, and beyond them the blue of the sky
"If in, you will have to have them killed, you know," Amiit said "Adrah and his father Your sister, Idaan"
"Not her"