slipped into my lap last night after the Great Poet had gone
to sleep and curled up like a kitten.
They've almost finished loading the cart. I'm going to sneak
back in once we're almost under way so that she won't find
it. You have to come back! Meet us in Utani as soon as you can.
The letter was signed Irit Laatani. Otah folded the paper and tapped it
against his lips, thinking. It was plausible. It could be a trick to
send them off to Utani, but that would mean that they knew where Otah
and his party were, and the errand they were on. If that was the case,
there was no reason for misleading them. Vanjit and her little Blindness
could stop any pursuit if she wanted it. Danat coughed expectantly.
"Utani," Otah said. "They're going north, just the way you'd planned.
This is where you tell me how clever you were for heading there at the
first?"
Danat laughed, shaking his head.
"You were right, Papa-kya. Coming here was the right thing. If Maati
wasn't ill, they'd have been here."
"Still. It does mean they've stopped hiding. That's a risk if they've
only got one poet."
Danat took a questioning pose.
"This poet," Otah said. "She's their protection and their power. As long
as she has the andat in her control, they think that they're safe. In
truth, though, she can only defend against things she knows. As long as
there is only one poet, a well-placed man with a bow could end her
before she could blind him. And then none of them are defended."
"Unless there's a second binding. Another andat," Danat said, and Otah
took a confirming pose. Danat frowned. "But if there had been, then Irit
would have said so, wouldn't she? If Eiah had managed to capture Wounded?"
"I'd expect her to, yes," Otah said.
"Then why would they go?"
Otah tapped the letter.
"Just what the woman said. Because Maati's ill," he said. "And because
Eiah decided that caring for him was worth the risk. If he's bad enough
to need other physicians' help, they may well be going slowly. Keeping
him rested."
"So we go," Danat said. "We go now, and as fast as we can manage. And
attack the poet before she can blind us."
"Yes," Otah said. "Burn the books, stop them from binding the andat. Go
back, and try to put the world back together again."
"Only ... only then how do we fix the people in Galt? How do we cure Ana?"
"There's a decision to make," Otah said. "Doing this quickly and well
means letting Galt remain sightless."
"Then we can't kill the poet," Danat said.
Otah took a long breath.
"Think about that before you say it," he said. "This is likely the only
chance we'll have to take them by surprise. The Galts in Saraykeht are
safe enough. The ones in their own cities are likely dead already. The
others could be sacrificed, and it would keep us alive."
"And childless, so what would the advantage be?" Danat said. "Everything