Maati smiled and sipped the water.
"Otah Machi may well wish me dead. I would understand it if he did. And
he's in the city, or was four days ago. But he didn't send the assassin."
"You think he isn't hoping for the Khai's chair?"
"I don't know. But I suppose that's something worth finding out. Along
with who it was that killed his brother and started this whole thing
rolling."
He took another mouthful of rice and fish, but his mind was elsewhere.
"Will you let me help you?"
Maati looked up, half surprised. The young poet's face was serious, his
hands in a pose of formal supplication. It was as if they were back in
the school and Cehmai was a boy asking a boon of the teachers. The andat
had its hands folded in its lap, but it seemed mildly amused. Before
Maati could think of a reply, Cehmai went on.
"You aren't well yet, Maati-kvo. You're the center of all the court
gossip now, and anything you do will be examined from eight different
views before you've finished doing it. I know the city. I know the
court. I can ask questions without arousing suspicion. The Dai-kvo
didn't choose to take me into his confidence, but now that I know what's
happening-"
"It's too much of a risk," Maati said. "The Dal-kvo sent me because I
know Otah-kvo, but he also sent me because my loss would mean nothing.
You hold the andat-"
"It's fine with me," Stone-Made-Soft said. "Really, don't let me stop you.
"If I ask questions without you, I run the same risks, and without the
benefits of shared information," Cehmai said. "And expecting me not to
wonder would be unrealistic."
"The Khai Machi would expel me from his city if he thought I was
endangering his poet," Maati said. "And then I wouldn't be of use to
anyone.
Cehmai's dark eyes were both deadly serious and also, Maati thought,
amused. "This wouldn't be the first thing I've kept from him," the young
poet said. "Please, Maati-kvo. I want to help."
Maati closed his eyes. Having someone to talk with, even if it was only
a way to explore what he thought himself, wouldn't be so had a thing.
The Dai-kvo hadn't expressly forbidden that Cehmai know, and even if he
had, the secret investigation had already sent Otah-kvo to flight, so
any further subterfuge seemed pointless. And the fact was, he likely
couldn't find the answers alone.
"You have saved my life once already."
"I thought it would be unfair to point that out," Cehmai said.
Maati laughed, then stopped when the pain in his belly bloomed. He lay
back, blowing air until he could think again. The pillows felt better
than they should have. He'd done so little, and he was already tired. He
glanced mistrustfully at the andat, then took a pose of acceptance.
"Come back tonight, when I've rested," Maati said. "We'll plan our
strategy. I have to get my strength hack, but there isn't much time."
"May I ask one other thing, Maati-kvo?"
Maati nodded, but his belly seemed to have grown more sensitive for the