that. I've left him to look after things until I've paid my debt to you.
Then I'll be going home."
"Is it working?" Otah said at length. "Idaan-cha, did Maati say anything
to suggest it was working?"
His sister took a pose of negation that held a sense of uncertainty.
"He came to Cehmai for help," Sinja said. "That means at least that he
thinks he needs help."
"And Cehmai didn't agree to it," Idaan said. "He isn't helping. But he
also doesn't want to see Maati hung. He cut Maati off before he told me
who was backing him."
"What makes you think he has backing?"
"He said as much. Strong backing and an ear in the palaces whenever he
wanted one," Idaan said. "Even if that overstates the truth, he isn't
out hunting rabbits or wading through a rice field. Someone's feeding
him. And how many people are there who might want the andat back in the
world?"
"No end of them," Otah said. "But how many would think the thing was
possible?"
Sinja opened a small wooden cabinet and took out a fluted bottle of
carved bone. When he lifted out the stopper, the scent of wine filled
the room. He asked with a gesture. Otah and Idaan accepted
simultaneously, and with the same pose.
"The books are all burned," Otah said. "The histories are gone, the
grammars are gone. I didn't think he could do this when he wrote to me
before, I don't see that he could manage it now."
Sinja, stunned, overfilled one of the wine bowls, the red pooling on his
table like spilled blood. Idaan hoisted a single eyebrow.
"He wrote to you before?" she said.
"It was years ago," Otah said. "I had a letter. A single letter. Maati
said he was looking for a way to recapture the andat. He wanted my help.
I sent a message back refusing."
"All apologies, Most High," Sinja said. He hadn't bothered to wipe up
the spilled wine. "Why is this the first I'm hearing of it?"
"It came at a bad time," Otah said. "Kiyan was dying. It was hopeless.
The andat are gone, and there's no force in the world that can bring
them safely back."
"You're sure of that?" Idaan asked. "Because Maati-cha didn't think it
was hopeless. The man is many things, but he isn't dim."
"It hardly matters," Sinja said. "Just the word that this is happening,
and that-may all the gods keep it from happening you knew he was
thinking of it. That you've known for years ..."
"It's a dream!" Otah shouted. "Maati was dreaming, that's all. He wants
something back that's gone beyond his reach. Well, so do I. Anyone who
has lived as long as we have knows that longing, and we know how useless
it is. What's gone is gone, and we can't have it back. So what would you
have had me do? Send the message back with an assassin? Announce to the
world that Maati Vaupathai was out, trying to bind the andat, so they
should all send invading armies at their first convenience?"
"Why didn't you?" Idaan asked. "Send the assassin, I mean. The invading