doorway and into the room.
"What list?" he asked.
There was a moment's silence, and then uproar. The circle of chairs was
abandoned, and Maati found himself the subject of a half-dozen embraces.
The dread and anger and despair that had dogged his steps lightened if
it didn't vanish. He let Vanjit lead him to an empty chair, and the
others gathered around him, their eyes bright, their smiles genuine. It
was like coming home. When Eiah returned to his question, he had
forgotten it. It took a moment to understand what she was saying.
"It's a list of questions for you," she said. "After we came and put the
place more or less to rights, we started ... well, we started holding
class without you."
"It wasn't really the same," Small Kae said with an apologetic pose. "We
only didn't want to forget what we'd learned. We were only talking about
it."
"After a few nights it became clear we were going to need some way to
keep track of the parts that needed clarifying. It's become rather a
long list. And some of the questions ..."
Maati took a pose that dismissed her concerns, somewhat hampered by the
bowl of curried rice in his hand.
"It's a good thought," he said. "I would have recommended it myself, if
I'd been thinking clearly. Bring me the list tonight, and perhaps we can
start going over it in the morning. If you are all prepared to begin
working in earnest?"
The roar of agreement drowned out his laughter. Only Eiah didn't join
in. Her smile was soft, almost sad, and she took no pose to explain it.
Instead, she poured a bowl of water for him.
"Is Cehmai-kvo here?" Large Kae asked.
Maati took a bite of the rice, chewing slowly, letting the spices burn
his tongue a little before answering.
"I didn't find him," Maati said. "There was a message, but it was
outof-date. I searched as long as there seemed some chance of finding
him, but there was no sign. I left word where I could, and it may very
well reach him. He might join us at any time. My job is to have you all
prepared in case he does."
It was kinder than the truth. If Maati's failure had been only that he
hadn't found help, it left them the hope that help might still arrive.
It was no great lie to give them an image of the future in which
something good might come. And it was easier for him if he didn't have
to say he'd been refused. Only Eiah knew; he could hear it in her
silence. She would follow his lead.
Maati's mule was seen to, his things hauled into the room they had
prepared for him, and a bath drawn in a wide copper tub set before a
fire grate. It reminded him of nothing so much as his days living in
court, servants available at any moment to cater to his needs. It was
strange to recall that he had lived that way once. It seemed both very
recent and very long ago. And also, the slaves and servants that had
driven the life in the palaces of Machi hadn't been women he knew and
cared for. Slipping into the warm water, feeling his travel-abused