hands, every smile. Three empty bowls lay beside them, evidence of Ana's
appetite. Their voices betrayed nothing, but their faces and their
bodies were eloquent.
As the sun set, the cold grew. It seemed to radiate from the walls,
sucking away the life and heat like a restless ghost. That night, they
slept in the shelter of the school. Otah took the wide, comfortable room
that had once belonged to Tahi-kvo, his first and least-loved teacher.
The wool blankets were heavy and thick. The night wind sang empty,
mindless songs against the shutters. In the dim flickering light from
the fire grate, he let his mind wander.
It was uncomfortable to think of Eiah in this place. It wasn't only that
she was angry with him, that she had chosen this path and not the one he
preferred. All that was true, but it was also that this place was one
part of his life and that she was another. The two didn't belong
together. He tried to imagine what he would have said to her, had she
and Maati and the other students in Maati's little school still been
encamped there.
The truth he could not admit to anyone was that he was relieved to have
failed.
The shadows at the fire grate seemed to grow solid, a figure crouching
there. He knew it was an illusion. It wasn't the first time his mind had
tricked itself into imagining Kiyan after her death. He smiled at the
vision of his wife, but the dream of her had already faded. It was a
sign, and since it was both intended for him and created by his mind, it
was perfectly explicable. If killing his daughter was the price it took
to save the world, then the world could die. He took little comfort in
the knowledge.
In the morning, Danat woke him, grinning. A piece of paper flapped in
the boy's hand like a moth as Danat threw open the shutters and let the
morning light spill in. Otah blinked, yawned, and frowned. Dreams
already half-remembered were fading quickly. Danat dropped onto the foot
of Otah's cot.
"I've found them," Danat said.
Otah sat up, taking a pose that asked explanation. Danat held out the
paper. The handwriting was unfamiliar to him, the characters wider than
standard and softly drawn. He took the page and rubbed his eyes as if to
clear them.
"I was sleeping in one of the side rooms," Danat said. "When I woke up
this morning, I saw that. It was in a corner, not even hidden. I don't
know how I missed it last night, except it was dark and I was tired."
Otah's eyes able now to focus, his mind more fully awake, he turned his
attention to the letter.
Ashti-cha-
Me have decided to leave. Eiah says that Maati-kvo isn't
well, so we're all going to Utani so that she can get help
caring for him. Please, if you get this, you have to come
back! Uanjit is just as bad as ever, and I'm afraid without
you here to put her in her place, she'll only get worse.
Small Kae has started having nightmares about her. And the