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Maati started ahen Heshai-kvo&039;s hand touched his shoulder The poet drew back, his wide frog- up at the ends Maati sat up and pushed the netting aside His head felt stuffed with cotton
"I have to leave soon," Heshai-kvo said, his voice low and ah the whole day Waking at sundown only makes the next day worse"
Maati took a pose of query It didn&039;t specify a question, but Heshai-kvo took the sense of it
"It&039;s just past midday," he said
"Gods," Maati said and pulled hiize, Heshai-kvo I will be ready in "
Heshai-kvo lu his protests away He was already wearing the brown formal robes and his sandals were strapped on
"Don&039;t There&039;s nothing going on you need to know I just didn&039;t want you to feel ill longer than you needed to There&039;s fruit downstairs, and fresh bread Sausage if you can stomach it, but I&039;d start slow if I were you"
Maati took a pose of apology
"I have failed in my duties, Heshai-kvo I should not have stayed in the city so long nor slept so late"
Heshai-kvo clapped his hands inhand at Maati
"Are you the teacher here?"
"No, Heshai-kvo"
"Then I&039;ll decide when you&039;re failing your duties," he said and winked
When he was gone, Maati lay back on his cot and pressed his palm to his forehead With his eyes closed, he felt as if the cot wasdown some silent river He forced his eyes back open, aware as he did that he&039;d already fallen halfway back to sleep With a sigh, he forced himself up, stripped off his robes in trade for clean ones, and went down to the breakfast Heshai-kvo had promised
The afternoon stretched out hot and thick and sultry before his - so he hadn&039;t done in days When the servant cas, Maati asked that a pitcher of limed water be sent up
By the time it arrived, he&039;d found the book he wanted, and went out to sit under the shade of trees by the pond The world sed hi of insects and the occasional wet plop of koi striking the surface, Maati opened the brown leather book and read The first page began:
Not since the days of the First E in a lifetiality of those years with longing now, knowing as they did not that the andat unbound would likely not be recovered But the price of our frugality is this: we as poets have made our first work our last like a carpenter whose apprentice chair must also be the masterwork for which he is remembered As such it becoenerations ain from our subtle failures It is in this spirit that I, Heshai Antaburi, record the binding I perfor-The-Part-That-Would-Continue along with my notes on hoould have avoided error had I knownwas surprisingly beautiful, and the structure of the voluround of the andat and what he hoped to acco the thought,it for was told, Heshai-kvo turned back on it, showing the faults where an ancient grauity, where form clashed with intent Discords that Maati would never, he thought, have noticed were spread before hied to arrogance, strength that fed willfulness, confidence that was also contempt And with that, how each error had its root in Heshai&039;s own soul And while reading these confessions e respect for his teacher and the courage it took to put such things to paper
The sun had fallen behind the treetops and the cicadas begun their chorus when Maati reached the third section of the book, what Heshai called his corrected version Maati looked up and found the andat on the bridge, looking back at hience in his eyes Maati&039;s mind was still half within the work that had for formal and beautiful, and strode across the rest of the span towards hi studious," Seedless said as he drew near "Fascinating isn&039;t it? Useless, but fascinating"
"I don&039;t see why it would be useless"
"His corrected version is too near what he did before I can&039;t be bound the sa a variation on a co to someone you&039;ve just killed You don&039;t rass, his dark eyes turned to the south and the palaces and, invisible beyond therass
"It lets others see the mistakes he made," Maati said
"If it showed the, it would be useful," Seedless said "Some errors you can only see once you&039;ve coreement or rass toward the water
"Where&039;s Heshai-kvo?"
"Who knows? The soft quarter, most likely Or some teahouse that rents out roolee in his heart And what about you, my boy? You&039;ve turned out to be a better study than I&039;d have guessed You&039;ve alreadywith s It took Heshai years to really get the hang of that"
"Bitter?" Maati said Seedless laughed and shifted to look at him directly The beautiful face was rueful and a I&039;d lost, and it turned out not to have been worth finding And you? Feeling ready for the grand ceremony torinned, and then like a candleconflicted that Maati couldn&039;t entirely read The cicadas in their trees went silent suddenly as if they were a single voice A ain
"Is there " the andat said, and trailed off, taking a pose that asked for silence while Seedless reconsidered his words Then, "Maati-kya If there was so you wanted ofthat I ht do oror forbear Ask, and I&039;ll do it Whatever it is For you, I&039;ll do it"
Maati looked at the pale face, the skin that seeht
"Why?" Maati asked "Why would you offer that to me?"
Seedless srass
"To see what you&039;d ask," Seedless said
"What if I asked for soive me?"
"It would be worth it," Seedless said "It would tellthat would justify so you want to have started, or anything you want to stop"
Maati felt the beginning of a blush and shifted forward, considering the surface of the pond and the fish - pale and golden - beneath it When he spoke, his voice was low
"Tomorrohen the time comes for thewhen Heshai-kvo is set to finish the sad trade, don&039;t fight him I saw the two of you with the cotton when I first came, and I&039;ve seen you since You always le to acco Don&039;t do that to him tomorrow"
Seedless nodded, a sad smile on his perfect, soft lips
"You&039;re a sweet boy You deserve better than us," the andat said "I&039;ll do as you ask"
They sat in silence as the sunlight faded - the stars gli first a few, then a handful, then thousands upon thousands The palaces gloith lanterns, and soht a thread of distant ht candle," Maati said
"If you wish," Seedless said, but Maati found he wasn&039;t rising or returning to the house Instead, he was staring at the figure before hiht of the leather book in his sleeve and Seedless&039; strange, quiet expression mixed and shifted and ht ask you a question Nohile we&039;re still friends"
"Now you&039;re playing on my sentiments," the andat said, areement and Seedless replied with acceptance "Ask"
"You and Heshai-kvo are in a sense one thing, true?"
"Sometimes the hand pulls the puppet, so runs both ways Yes"
"And you hate him"