Baarath said. "The most glorious party of a generation. Wine flowing in
the gutters, and food and dancing, and I'll jump off a tower if we don't
see a crop of babes next spring that look nothing like their fathers.
And where do we go, you and I? Here."
Baarath turned and made a sweeping gesture that took in the books and
scrolls and codices, the shelves and alcoves and chests. He shook his
head and seemed for a moment on the verge of tears. Maati patted him on
the back and led him to a wooden bench at the side of the room. Baarath
sat back, his head against the stone, and smiled like a baby.
"I'm not as drunk as I look," Baarath said.
"I'm sure you aren't," Maati agreed.
Baarath pounded the board beside him and gestured for Maati to sit.
There was no graceful way to refuse, and at the moment, he could think
of no reason. Going back to stand, frustrated, over the table had no
appeal. He sat.
"What is bothering you, Maati-kya? You're still searching for some way
to keep the upstart alive?"
"Is that an option? I don't see Danat-cha letting him walk free. No, I
suppose I'm just hoping to see him killed for the right reasons. Except
... I don't know. I can't find anyone else with reason to do the things
that have been done."
"Perhaps there's more than one thing going on then?" Baarath suggested.
Maati took a pose of surrender.
"I can't comprehend one. The gods will have to lead me by the hand if
there's two. Can you think of any other reason to kill Biitrah? The man
seems to have moved through the world without making an enemy."
"He was the best of us," Baarath agreed and wiped his eyes with the end
of his sleeve. "He was a good man."
"So it had to be one of his brothers. Gods, I wish the assassin hadn't
been killed. He could have told us if there was a connection between
Biitrah and what happened to me. Then at least I'd know if I were
solving one puzzle or two."
"Doesn't have to," Baarath said.
Maati took a pose that asked for clarification. Baarath rolled his eyes
and took on an expression of superiority that Maati had seen beneath his
politeness for weeks now.
"It doesn't have to be one of his brothers," Baarath said. "You say it's
not the upstart. Fine, that's what you choose. But then you say you
can't find anything that I)anat or Kaiin's done that makes you think
they've done it. And why would they hide it, anyway? It's not shameful
for them to kill their brother."
"But no one else has a reason," Maati said.
"No one? Or only no one you've found?"
"If it isn't about the succession, I can't find any call to kill
Biitrah. If it isn't about my search for Otah, I can't think of any
reason to want me dead. The only killing that makes sense at all was
poking the assassin full of holes, and that only because he might have
answered my questions."
"Why couldn't it have been the succession?"