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Through the day, the skies had been clear, hot and e thunderheads towering into the sky, their flowing ropy trains tinted pink and gold and indigo by the failing light The gray veil of water higher thanits festival colors in the twilight, pushing gusts of unpredictable wind before it, and finally reaching the stone streets and thick tile roofs in darkness And in the darkness, it roared

Liat lay her head on Itani&039;s bare chest and listened to it: the angry hiss of falling rain, the lower ruh the streets Here, in her cell at the compound of House Wilsin, it wasn&039;t so bad The streets outside were safe to walk through Lower in the city - the soft quarter, the seafront, the warehouses - people would be trapped by it, staying in whatever shelter they had found until the rain slackened and the waters fell She listened to the sound of water and her lover&039;s heartbeat, smelled the cool scent of rain ht rain didn&039;t cool the air so much that she felt the need to cover her bare skin

"We need to find a stronger fra the knot of fallen cloth with his toe Liat re She smiled The sex had left her spent - her lione soft, as if she were an ocean creature

"I love you, &039;Tani," she said His hand caressed the nape of her neck He had rough hands - strong froently when he chose She looked up at hiht of the night candle, his skin seeht Stay here, with hed, his breath lifted her head and settled it gently back down "I can&039;t I&039;ll stay until the rain fades a little But Muhatia-cha&039;s been watching me ever since you sentfor an excuse to break me down"

"He&039;s just jealous," Liat said

"No, he&039;s jealous and he&039;s in control of es," Itani said, a wry amusement in his voice "That makes him more than just jealous"

"It isn&039;t fair You&039;re smarter than he is You know numbers and letters All the others like you better than him You should be the overseer"

"If I was the overseer, the others wouldn&039;t like ht I&039;d be docking their pay for being slow or arriving late, they&039;d say all the sas about me that they do about Muhatia It&039;s just the way it is Besides, I like what I do"

"But you&039;d be a better overseer than he is"

"Probably so," Itani agreed "The price is too high, though"

The pause was a different kind of silence than it had been before Liat could feel the change in Itani&039;s breathing He aiting for her to ask, waiting for her to push the issue She could feel hi away, distant even before she spoke Because he knew she would And he was right

"Did you ask Wilsin-cha about other opportunities?"

"Yes," he said

"And?"

"He didn&039;t know of any at the time, but he said he&039;d see what he could find"

"That&039;s good, then He liked you That&039;s very good," and again the pause, the distance "If he offered you a position, you&039;d take it, wouldn&039;t you?"

"It would depend on the offer," Itani said "I don&039;t want to do what I don&039;t want to do"

"Itani! Look past your nose, would you? You&039;d have to If the head of House Wilsin makes you an offer and you turn aould he everthings You have to accept thes you don&039;t want sos you do want later on"

Itani shifted out fro position Itani stretched, his back to her, and he ers, a pile of ink blocks, waxed paper sticking out froues A wardrobe where her robes hung, and Itani, the hts, I feel like I&039; to a statue You&039;re in your twentieth summer This is my seventeenth," she said severely "So how is it I&039;m older than you?"

"Maybe you sleep less," Itani said ently Hebetween his muscles and his skin that she felt she could see thehis head on his hands and looking up at her "We have this conversation over and over, sweet, and it&039;s never changed yet I know you want more from me than - "

"I want you to want "

He took a gentle pose asking permission

"I know you want ine I&039;ll do this forever But I&039; I like less so that so that they think I&039;, that will be different"

"And isn&039;t there anything you want that you don&039;t already have?"

He rose, cupping her breast in his hand and gently, carefully pressing his lips to hers His weight bore her back slowly to the labyrinth of cloth that had been her sheets and netting She pulled back a fraction of an inch, keeping so close that when she spoke, she could feel her lips brushing his

"What kind of answer is this?" she asked

"You asked s I want," hethe question"

"Aooseflesh rise as it passed

"Are you what?"

"A you?"

"Yes," she said

The knock at the door startled the on his face as he pawed the shadows, looking for the rough cloth of his pants Liat drew her sheet around her To the silent question in Itani&039;s eyes she shook her head in bewilderh to carry over the rain "Who&039;s there?"

"Epani Doru," the voice shouted from the other side of the thin door "Wilsin-cha sent ht have a ith you"

"Of course Yes Just give me a moment"

Itani, trousers located, tossed her robes to her She pulled on the inner robes, then grabbed a fresh outer robe from the wardrobe Itani helped her fasten it She felt her hands tre The voice of House Wilsin wanted to speak with her, and outside the normal hours of labor It had never happened before

"I should go back to my quarters," Itani said as she pulled her hair back to a formal bun

"No Please, &039;Tani Wait for me"

"You could be a quarter candle, love," he said "Listen The rain&039;s co softer noay It&039;s time"

It was true The hiss of the rain was less vicious And for all her complaints, she understood what it meant to have the unkind interest of an overseer She took a pose of acceptance, but broke it to kiss hiain

"I&039;ll find you to"

Itani ed at her robes one last time, stepped into her slippers and answered the door Epani, Marchat Wilsin&039;s house , his arms crossed, and his expression neutral Liat took a pose indicating preparedness, and without apparent irony, he replied with one expressing thanks for pro in the wreckage of her cot, the discarded robes on the stone floor, but he made no comment When he turned and strode away, she followed

They went down an open ay of gray stones raised far enough that the streams of rainwater hadn&039;t darkened the, the wide pool dancing with drops The tall bronze statue of the Galtic Tree - sylittering in the light of lanterns strung beneath the awnings and safe from the rain

The private apartments where Wilsin-cha lived were at the end of the courtyard farthest from the street Double doors of copper-bound ash stood open, though the view of the antecha uneasily in the breeze They glowed froestured Liat within as if she were a guest and not an apprentice overseer

The antechaloorked wood The air smelled rich with lemon candle and mint wine and lamp oil Lanterns lit the space Froht She"won&039;t affect" and "unlike the last girl," the other"won&039;t allow" and "street by street if needed" Epani, sweeping in behind her, took a pose that indicated she should wait She took a pose of acknowledg behind thick banners The conversation stopped suddenly as Epani&039;s rain-soft voice interrupted Then Marchat Wilsin hireen and black, strode into the room

"Liat Chokavi!"

Liat took a pose of obeisance which the head of her house replied to with a curt formal pose, dropped as soon as taken He put a thick hand on her shoulder and drew her back to an inner chaues? Arrask or Nippu?"

"No, Wilsin-cha I know Galtic and so fro rooetic pose

"That&039;s too bad," Wilsin-cha said, though his tone was mild and his expression curiously relieved

"I think Ae that&039;s much used in trade, but she&039;s very well-studied"

Wilsin lowered hi to the cushion across from him Liat knelt as he poured out a bowl of tea for her

"You&039;ve been with my house, what? Three years now?"

"Ao I ithwithto be working four years ago? You&039;d have seen twelve summers?"

Liat felt herself blush She hadn&039;t ht into the conversation

"Thirteen, Wilsin-cha And there ays I could help, so I did what I could My brothers and I all helped where we could"

She silently willed the old Galt&039;s attention away fro she could say about her old life wouldThe small apartments by the smokehouse that had housed her and three brothers; her father&039;s little stand in thecured ined an overseer of a ranted Wilsin-cha cleared his throat and sat forward

"Aone for some weeks I have an audience before the Khai that I&039;ll need you to take over"

He said it in a low, conversational voice, but Liat felt herself flush like she&039;d drunk strong wine She sipped the tea to steady herself, then put the bon and took a pose appropriate to a confession

"Wilsin-cha, Amat has never taken me to the courts I wouldn&039;t knohat to do, and "

"You&039;ll be fine," Wilsin-cha said "It&039;s the sad trade Not complex, but I need it done with decorum, if you see Someone to see to it that the client has the appropriate robes and understands the process And with Aht be the best person for the role"

Liat looked down, hoping that the sense of vertigo would fade An audience with the Khai - even only a very brief one - was so she had expected to take only years later, if ever She took a pose of query, fighting to keep her fingers fro her permission to speak her question

"There are other overseers Soer than I have They have experience in the courts "

"They&039;re busy This is so to have Amat do herself, before she was called away I don&039;t want to pull anyone else away frootiations that are only half-done And Amat said it ithin your abilities, so "

"She did?"

"Of course Here&039;s what I&039;ll need of you "

THE RAIN had ended and the night candle burned to just past the halfwayfallen asleep on a reading couch, hen the door sla away half-formed dreams, he stood and took a pose of welcome Heshai snorted, but made no other reply Instead, he took a candle and touched it to the night candle&039;s fla every lantern and candle When the house was bright asand thick with the scent of hot wax, the teacher returned the dripping candle to its place and dragged a chair across the floor Maati sat on the couch as Heshai, groaning under his breath, lowered himself into the chair

Maati was silent as his teacher considered him Heshaikvo&039;s eyes were narrow, hislike a stillborn sh and took a pose of apology

"I&039;ve been an ass And I&039;m sorry," the teacher said "I meant to say so before, butwell, I didn&039;t, did I? What happened with the Khai was my fault, not yours Don&039;t carry it"

"Heshai-kvo, I rong to "

"Ah, you&039;re a decent boy You&039;re heart&039;s good But there&039;s no call to sweeten turds I was thoughtless Careless I let that bastard Seedless get the better of ain And you Gods, you must think I&039;m the silliest joke ever to wear a poet&039;s robe"

"Not at all," Maati said seriously "He isa credit to you, Heshai-kvo I have never seen anything to h

"And have you seen another andat?" he asked "Any of them at all?"

"I was present when Choti Dausadar of Aht But I never saw him use her powers"

"Yes, well, I&039;m sure he will as soon as anyone can think of a decent use for forcing ht where we can see them The Dai-kvo should have insisted that Choti wait until he had a binding poe was a better tool than that Hidden rees, but as he did so, it struck hireat poets of the E at the obscure thoughts and is sniffing for scraps We aren&039;t poets; we&039;re scholars"

Maati began to take a pose of agreement but paused, unsure Heshai-kvo raised an eyebrow and co was this what you meant? Then the teacher waved the pose away

"Seedless waswas the answer to a proble soft "I didn&039;t think it through Not far enough Have you heard of Miyani-kvo and Three-Bound-As-One? I studied that when I was your age Poured my heart into it And when the time came - when the Daikvo sent forto take over anotherof e She was in love with him, you know Three-Bound-As-One An andat in love with her poet There was an epic written about it"

"I&039;ve seen it perforet it Unlearn it It&039;ll only lead you astray I was too young and too foolish, and now I&039;m afraid I&039;ll never have the chance to be wise" The poet&039;s gaze was fixed on so in another place or time A sh, the poet blinked He seeain, and took a pose of cooing to sleep"

And without looking back, Heshai-kvo rose and tra the fla the room as he did so His mind churned with half-formed questions Above him, he heard Heshai-kvo&039;s footsteps, and then the clatter of shutters closing, and then silence The one to bed - likely already asleep Maati had snuffed the last flaht candle when the new voice spoke

"You didn&039;t accept lowing in the light of the single candle His robes were dark - blue or black or red so deep Maati couldn&039;t make it out The thin hands took a pose of query

"Is there a reason I should?"