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
baby! You should see the way it tries to get away. It
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
you'd tried to do would be destroyed."
"Everything I wanted to do has already been destroyed," Otah said.
"There isn't a solution to this. Not anymore. I'm reduced to looking for
the least painful way that it can end. I don't see how we take these
pieces and make a world worth living in."
Danat was silent and still, then took Otah's hand.
"I can," Danat said. "There's hope. There's still hope."
"This poet? Everything Ashti Beg says paints her as angry and petty and
cruel at heart. She hates the Galts and thinks little enough of me.
That's the woman we would be trying to reason with. And if she chooses,
there is more than Galt to lose."
Danat took a pose that accepted the stakes like a man at a betting
table. He would put the world and everything in it at risk for the
chance that remained to save Ana's home. Otah hesitated, and then
replied with a pose that stood witness to the decision. A feeling of
pride warmed him.
Kiyan-kya, he thought, we have raised a good man. Please all the gods
that we've also raised a wise one.
"I'll go tell the others," Danat said.
He rose and walked for the door, pausing only when Otah called after
him. Danat, at the doorway, looked back.
"It's the right choice," Otah said. "No matter how poorly this happens,
you made the right choice."
"There wasn't an option," Danat said.
It had been clear enough that no matter what the next step was, it
wouldn't involve staying at the school. Under Idaan's direction, the
armsmen were already refilling the water and coal stores for the