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"So has to be done," Torish Wite said "She went into the street yesterday If she&039;d beenhow she&039;d have responded And given the restraint she&039;sdown our throats We can&039;t have that"
Her rooms were dark, the s and wide doors covered with tapestries that held in the heat as well as blocking the light Downstairs, the girls and the children were all sleeping - even Mitat, even Maj Only not Amat or Torish She ached to rest, only not quite yet
"I&039;m aware of e can and cannot have," A, the uard shook his head His expression was grirand before The island girl&039;s trouble Another stern talking to isn&039;t going to do er filling her chest partly because she knehat he said was true She took a pose of query
"I had not known this was your house to run," she said
Torish shook his wide, bear-like head again, his eyes cast down in soret or shame
"It&039;s your house," he said "But they&039;reside of the watch, there isn&039;t enough silver in the soft quarter to keep them here I&039;m sorry"
"You&039;d break contracts?"
"No But I won&039;t renew Not on those terms This is one of the best contracts we&039;ve had, but I won&039;t take a fight I knoe can&039;t win You put that girl on a leash, or we can&039;t stay with you And - truly, with all respect - you need us"
"She lost a child last sus happen," Torish Wite said, his voice surprisingly gentle "You alling thing In his position, she would have done the same Amat took a pose of acceptance
"I understand your position, Torish-cha I&039;ll see to it that Maj doesn&039;t endanger your men or your contract with me Give me a day or so, and I&039;ll see it done"
He nodded, turned, left her roorace not to ask what it was she intended She wouldn&039;t have been able to say Amat rose, took her cane, and walked out the doors to her deck The rain had stopped, the whole great bowl of the sky white as bleached cotton Seagulls screa over the rooftops She took a deep breath and let herself weep The tears were as ht her no relief
Between the late hour of theand the rain that had fallen all the last day and through the night, the streets of the soft quarter were near deserted The two boys, then, who caht her attention The older was broad across the shoulders - a sailor or a laborer - with a long, northern face and a robe of forer boy at his side - smaller, softer - wore the brown robes of a poet Amat knew as they stepped into the street that there would even now be no rest for her She watched them until they ca over into the street, then went inside and coer than she&039;d expected for the guard to come and announce them Perhaps Torish-cha had seen how tired she felt
The older boy proved to be Itani Noyga, Liat&039;s vanished lover The younger, of course, was the young poet Maati Aestured to chairs she&039;d had brought in for the contrast, the pair or them Both were clearly in earnest, both wore expressions of perfect seriousness, but Itani&039;s eyes reminded her , it see The poet boy was like his , turned inward Like his master, or like Marchat Wilsin Aree forward
"And what business brings you young gentleave nothing away Her subtlety was lost on the to finesse an advantage
"Amat-cha," he said "I&039;h Council of Galt conspired with the andat Seedless when he killed the child out of the island girl last su the matter," Amat said, "and I&039;ve broken with House Wilsin, but I don&039;t know that it&039;s fair to say the Galtic Council must therefore be "
"Amat-cha," the poet boy, Maati, broke in "So it quiet, but I was there AndItani thinks it was so to do with you and House Wilsin"
Amat felt her breath catch Marchat, the old idiot, was panicking Liat Chokavi was his best defense, if he could trust her to say the right things before the Khai Except that he couldn&039;t She was too young, and too unskilled at these ga like nausea swept through her
"Itin the Khai&039;s palaces," Itani said "But she&039;s doing well She&039;ll be able to go back to her house tomorrow Wilsin-cha will expect her"
"No," Ao back there"
"It&039;s true, then," Itani said, his voice somber Perhaps he had a talent for finesse after all Aainst Maj fro, but yes House Wilsin knew of the deceit I believe that the Galtic Council did as well, though I can&039;t prove that as yet That I think it is hardly a great secret, though Anyoneitis more difficult"
"Protect Liat," Maati said, "and whatever we can do for you, ill"
"Itani-cha? Are those your ter before the Khai Telling hiht you acted as Wilsin-cha&039;s bodyguard"
Itani hesitated, then took a pose of acceptance
A ashe&039;d foreseen, but itpoet could influence Heshai or find sootiations that showed Marchat Wilsin knew that all wasn&039;t what it see more in this - she could feel it as sure as the tide One piece here didn&039;t fit
"Itani-cha&039;s presence I understand," Amat said "What is the poet&039;s interest in Liat Chokavi"
"She&039;s her than before His eyes seeht So that&039;s how it is She wondered how far that had gone and whether Itani knew Not that it made any difference to her or to as called for next
Liat It had always been a mess, of course, what to do with Liat On the one hand, she ht have been able to help A detail that would show Mar-chat had known of the translator Oshai&039;s duplicity On the other hand, pulling the girl into it was doing her no favors Aht about it since she&039;d co to any conclusions Now the decision was forced on her
Liat could rooe of disaster But she couldn&039;t put her out with the whores Perhaps a cot in her own roouard, of course
Later That could all co her here," she said "Tonight Don&039;t let Wilsin-cha knohat you&039;re doing Don&039;t tell her until you have to I&039;ll see her safe from there You can trust me to do it"
"Thank you, A to continueI don&039;t want to burden you with this if it&039;s soation o on for years, no?"
"Gods, I hope not," Amat said "But I promise you, even if it does, I&039;ll see it finished Whatever it costs, I will bring this to light"
"I believe you," Itani said
Aht to the boy&039;s tone that made her think he&039;d expected to hear that She had confir he already suspected, and she wondered what precisely it had been She had no way to know
She called in Torish-cha, introduced the boys and let theirl would coht, just after sundown, to the rear of the house Two of Torish&039;s rounds to be sure nothing odd happened along the way Itani would go along as well, and explain the situation A herself into bed after they left, and letting her eyes close at last Any fear she had that the day&039;s troubles would keep her aas unfounded - sleep rolled over her like a wave She woke hours later, the falling sun shining into her eyes through a gap where one of her tapestries had slipped
She called Mitat up for the briefing that opened the day The red-haired wo a bowl of stewed beef and rice and a flask of good red wine Amat sat at her desk and ate while Mitat spoke - the tilescheated and should know for certain by the end of the night, Little Namya had a rash on his back that needed to be looked at by a physician but Chiyan was recovering well from her visit to the street of beads and would be back to ithin a few irls had apparently run off, and Mitat was preparing to hire on replace it into the vast complexity that her life had becoirl you discussed with hi," Mitat went on "They should be back soon"
"I&039;ll need a cot for her," Aainst the wall there"
Mitat took a pose of acknowledgh, a nuance that Aht as much from a hint of a smile as the pose itself And then she saw Mitat realize that she&039;d noticed sorin
"What?" Amat asked
"The other business," Mitat said "About Maj and the Galts? I had aif you were only paying for inforirl, or if you wanted to know about the other one too"
A
"The other one?" Aht in last year"
A back, as the words took time to make sense In the darkness of her exhaustion, hope flickered Hope and relief
"There was another one?"
"I thought you ," Mitat said
MAATI SAT on the wooden steps of the poet&039;s house, staring out at trees black and bare as sticks, at the dark water of the pond, at the ornate palaces of the Khai with lanterns glittering like fireflies Night had fallen, but the last rays of sunlight still lingered in the west His face and hands were cold, his body hunched forward, pulled into itself But he didn&039;t go into the warmth of the house behind him He had no use for coht, he supposed, be in the soft quarter by now He ih the narrow streets, Otah&039;s arm across her shoulder protectively Otah-kvo would be able to keep her safe Maati&039;s own presence would have been redundant, unneeded
Behind him, the small door scraped open Maati didn&039;t turn The slow, luh for him to knoas his teacher and not Seedless
"There&039;s chicken left," Heshai-kvo said "And the bread&039;s good"
"Thank you Perhaps later," Maati said
Grunting with the effort, the poet lowered hi out with him over the bare landscape as it fell into darkness Maati could hear the old poet&039;s wheezing breath over the calling of crows
"Is she doing well?" Heshai asked
"I suppose so"
"She&039;ll be going back to her house soon Wilsin-cha "
"She&039;s not going back to hi her up"
"So House Wilsin loses another good woed "Serves the old bastard right for not treating theuess"
"I suppose"
"I see your friend the laborer&039;s back"
Maati didn&039;t answer He was only cold, inside and out Heshai glanced over at hiered hand patted Maati&039;s knee the way his father&039;sother than it was Maati felt tears welling unbidden in his eyes
"Come inside, my boy," the poet said "I&039;ll warm us up a little wine"
Maati let himself be coaxed back in With Heshai-kvo recovered, the house was slipping back into the mess it had been when he&039;d first come Books and scrolls lay open on the tables and the floor beside the couches An inkblock holloith use stained the desk where it sat directly on the wood Maati squatted by the fire, looking into the flames as he had the darkness, and to h the house, and soon the rich scent of wine and an to fill the place Maati&039;s belly ru over to the table where the rereasy drumstick from the chicken carcass and considered it Heshai sat across from him and handed hiratitude Heshai filled a thick earthenware cup ine and passed it to him The wine, when he drank it, was clean and rich and war," Heshai-kvo said "There&039;s a dinner with the envoys of Cetani and Udun toious scholar&039;s talking down at the temple the day after that If you wanted to "
"If you&039;d like, Heshai-kvo," Maati said
"I wouldn&039;t really," the poet said "I&039;ve always thought religious scholars were idiots"
The old poet&039;s face was touched by hted with his own irreverence Maati could see just a hint of what Heshai-kvo had looked like as a young htly Heshaikvo clapped a hand on the table
"There!" he said "I knew you weren&039;t beyond reach"
Maati shook his head, taking a pose of thanks more intimate and sincere than he&039;d used to accept the offered food Heshai-kvo replied with one that an uncle ood a time as any, and likely better than most
"Is Seedless here?" Maati asked
"What? No No, I suppose he&039;s out so everyone how clever he is," Heshai-kvo said bitterly "I know I ought to keep hiood There was so I needed to speak with you about, but I didn&039;t want him nearby"
The poet frowned, but nodded Maati on
"It&039;s about the island girl and what happened to her I thinkHeshai, that wasn&039;t only what it seeed it because the Galtic High Council told hione to stay with - she&039;s getting the proof of it together to take before the Khai"
The poet&039;s face hite and then flushed red The wide frog-lips pursed, and he shook his wide head He seened
"That&039;s what she says?" he asked "This overseer?"
"Not only her," Maati said
"Well, she&039;s wrong," the poet said "That isn&039;t how it happened"
"Heshai-kvo, I think it is"
"It&039;s not," the poet said and stood His expression was closed He walked to the fire, war wood crackled and spat Maati, putting down the still-uneaten bread, turned to him
"A, then Think about it for a h Council of Galt behind the blasted thing, ould happen? If the Khai saw it proved? He&039;d punish them And how&039;d you think he&039;d do it?"
"The Khai would use you and Seedless against theood would come of that?"
Maati took a pose of query, but Heshai didn&039;t turn to see it After a ht danced and flickered,the poet seem almost as if he were part of the flame Maati walked toward him
"It&039;s the truth," he said
"Doesn&039;t matter if it is," Heshai-kvo said "There are punishments worse than the criotten by holding onto it now"
"You don&039;t believe that," Maati said, and his voice was harder than he&039;d expected it to be Heshai-kvo shifted, turned His eyes were dry and cal that will put life back into that child," Heshai-kvo said "What could possibly be gained by trying?"
"There&039;s justice," Maati said, and Heshai laughed It was a disturbing sound, er thanMaati stepped back
"Justice? Gods, boy, you want justice? We have larger probleh another year without one of these s the world on fire That&039;s i court politics so that the Khaiem never decide to take each other&039;s toys and women by force And you want to add justice to all that? I&039;ve sacrificed my life to a world that wouldn&039;t care less about me as a man if you paid it You and I, both of us were cut off from our brothers and sisters That boy frohtered by his own brother and we all applauded hi it Am I supposed to punish hiht," Maati said
Heshai-kvo took a dis," he said "If the Dai-kvo didn&039;t make that clear to you, consider it your best lesson from me"
"I can&039;t think that," Maati said "If we don&039;t push for justice "
Heshai-kvo&039;s expression darkened He took a pose appropriate to asking guidance from the holy, his stance a sarcasround