Vanjit appeared not to notice.
"Eiah-cha is doing well, isn't she?" Vanjit asked.
"I think so," Maati said. "She's taken a wide concept, and that's always
difficult. She's very serious, though. There are a few flaws. Structures
that work against each other instead of in concert."
"How long?" Vanjit asked. Maati rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.
"Until she's ready? If she finds a form that resolves the conflict, I
suppose she could start the last phase tomorrow. Two weeks. Three at the
earliest. Or months more. I don't know."
Vanjit nodded to herself, not looking up at him. The andat tugged at his
robe again. Maati looked down into the black, eager eyes. The andat gave
its wide, toothless grin.
"We've been talking," Vanjit said. "Clarity-of-Sight and I have been
talking about Eiah and what she's doing. He pointed something out that I
hadn't considered."
That was possible, but only in a fashion. The andat was a part of her,
as all of them reflected the poets who had bound them. Whatever thought
it had presented in the deep, intimate battle it waged with Vanjit, it
had to have originated with her. Still, she was as capable of surprising
herself as any of them. Maati took a pose that invited her to continue.
"We can't know how Eiah-cha's binding will go," Vanjit said. "I know
that we were first as a test of the grammar. That Clarity-of-Sight
exists is proof that the bindings can work. It isn't proof that Eiah-cha
... Don't misunderstand, Maati-kvo. I know as well as anyone that
Eiah-cha is brilliant. Without her, I would never have managed my
binding. But until she makes the attempt, we can't be sure that she's
the right sort of mind to be a poet. Even with all our work, she might
still fail."
"That's true," Maati said, trying to turn away from the thought even as
he spoke.
"It would all end, wouldn't it? What I can do, what we can do. It
wouldn't mean anything without Eiah-cha. She's the one who can undo what
Sterile did, and unless she can do that ..."
"She's our best hope," Maati said.
"Yes," Vanjit said, and turned to look up at Maati. Her face was bright.
"Yes, our best hope. But not the only one."
The andat at her hip clucked and giggled to itself, clapping tiny hands.
Maati took a pose of query.
"We know for certain that we have one person who could bind an andat,
because I already have. I want Eiah-cha to win through as badly as
anyone, but if her binding does fail, I could take it up."
Maati smiled because he could think of nothing else to do. Dread knotted
in his chest. His breath had grown suddenly short, and the
warehouse-wide walls of the sleeping quarters had narrowed. Vanjit
stood, her hand on his sleeve. Maati took a moment, shook his head.
"Are you well, Maati-kvo?" Vanjit asked.
"I'm old," he said. "It's nothing. Vanjit-kya, you can't hold another
andat. You of all of us know how much of your attention Clarity-of-Sight
requires.