realize he meant Maati as much as Sinja.
A servant emerged from the darkened arches at the pavilion's edge and
came forward. Otah knew the news he carried before he spoke. Idaan Machi
had answered his summons and awaited at his pleasure. Otah ordered that
she be brought to him. Her and more food.
Do what needs doing, Sinja said from his memory.
He heard her soft footsteps and didn't turn around. His belly was
knotted, and the fish before him smelled suddenly unpleasant. Idaan
walked past him and stood at the edge of the pavilion, looking down the
height of the tower. Her outer robe was dark, the hem fluttering as if
she were about to fall or take flight. When she turned back to him, her
expression was mild.
"Lovely view," she said. "But still nothing beside Machi. Do you miss
the towers?"
"No," Otah said. "Not really. They're too cold to use in the winter, too
hot in the summer, and the tracks they use to haul things up the side
have to be replaced every fifth year. They're the best example I know of
doing a thing just to show it's possible."
Idaan lowered herself to a cushion opposite him. The fading glow of
western clouds silhouetted her.
"True enough," she said. "Still. I miss them."
She considered the bowls of food before them, then took a scoop of rice
and fish on two curled fingers. Otah smiled. His sister chewed
appreciatively and took a pose that opened a negotiation.
"Yes," he agreed. "There's something I want from you."
Idaan nodded, but didn't speak. Otah squinted out into the wide air
above Saraykeht.
"There's too much," he said. "Even turning everything I can manage over
to Sinja and Danat and Ashua Radaani, there's too much."
"Too much to allow for what?" She knew, he thought, what was coming.
"Too much for me to leave," he said. "Being Emperor is like being the
most honored slave in the world. I can do anything, except that I can't.
I can go anywhere, except that I mustn't."
"It sounds awful."
"Don't laugh. I'm not saying I'd rather be lifting crates at the
seafront, but senior overseer of a courier service? Something with a few
dozen chests of silver lengths and a favorite teahouse."
"Fewer meetings like this one," Idaan suggested.
"That," Otah said. "Gods yes, that."
Idaan scooped up another mouthful of rice, chewed slowly, and let her
dark eyes play across his face. He didn't know what she saw there. After
a swallow of water and a small sigh, she spoke.
"You want me to find Eiah," she said.
"You know what Maati looks like," he said. "You have the experience of
living among low towns and hiding who you are. You understand poets as
well as anyone alive, I'd guess."
"And I know what I'm looking for," she said, her voice light and
conversational. "Anyone else, and you'd have to bring them into your
confidence. Explain what you wanted to know and why. Well, Sinja-cha