A Betrayal in Winter (lpq-2) (41 page)

never been trained as a fighter, and Sinja was happy to offer a day's

instruction. There was an easy camaraderie that Otah had enjoyed on the

way out. The work itself reminded him that Sinja had slaughtered his

last comrades, and the walk back was somehow much longer than the one

out had been.

"A little practice, and you'd be a decent soldier," Sinja said as they

walked. "You're too cautious. You'll lose a good strike in order to

protect yourself, and that's a vice. You'll need to be careful of it."

"I'm actually hoping for a life that doesn't require much blade work of me."

"I wasn't only talking about fighting."

When they reached the farmhouse, the stables had four unfamiliar horses

in them, hot from the road. An armsman of House Siyanti-one Otah

recognized, but whose name he'd never learned-was caring for them. Sinja

traded a knowing look with the man, then strode up the stairs to the

main rooms. Otah followed, his aches half-forgotten in the mingled

curiosity and dread.

Amiit Foss and Kiyan were sitting at the main table with two other men.

One-an older man with heavy, beetled brows and a hooked nose-wore robes

embroidered with the sun and stars of House Siyanti. The other, a young

man with round cheeks and a generous belly, wore a simple blue robe of

inexpensive cloth, but enough rings on his fingers to pay for a small

house. Their conversation stopped as Otah and Sinja entered the room.

Amiit smiled and gestured toward the benches.

"Well timed," Amiit said. "We've just been discussing the next step in

our little dance."

"What's the issue?" Sinja asked.

"The mourning's ending. Tomorrow, the heads of all the houses of the

utkhaiem meet. I expect it will take them a few days before the

assassinations start, but within the month it'll be decided who the new

Khai is to be."

"We'll have to act before that," Otah said.

"True enough, but that doesn't mean we'd be wise to act now," Amiit

said. "We know, or guess well enough, what power is behind all thisthe

Galts. But we don't know the mechanism. Who are they backing? Why? I

don't like the idea of moving forward without that in hand. And yet,

time's short."

Amiit held out his open hands, and Otah understood this choice was being

laid at his door. It was his life most at risk, and Amiit wasn't going

to demand anything of Otah that he wasn't prepared to do. Otah sat,

laced his fingers together, and frowned. It was Kiyan's voice that

interrupted his uncertainty.

"Either we stay here or we go to Machi. If we stay here, we're unlikely

to be discovered, but it takes half a day for us to get news, and half a

day at least to respond to it. Amiit-cha thinks the safety might be

worth it, but Lamara-cha," she gestured to the hook-nosed man, "has been

arguing that we'll want the speed we can only have by being present.

He's arranged a place for us to stay-in the tunnels below the palaces."

"I have an armsman of the Saya family in my employ," the hooknosed

Lamara said. His voice was a rough whisper, and Otah noticed for the

first time a long, deep, old scar across the man's throat. "The Saya are

a minor family, but they will be at the council. We can keep clear on

what's said and by whom."

"And if you're discovered, we'll all be killed," Sinja said. "As far as

the world's concerned, you've murdered a Khai. It's not a precedent

anyone wants set. Especially not the other Khaiem. Bad enough they have

to watch their brothers. If it's their sons, too...."

"I understand that," Otah said. Then, to Amiit, "Are we any closer to

knowing who the Galts are backing?"

"We don't know for certain that they're backing anyone," Amiit said.

"That's an assumption we've made. We can make some educated guesses, but

that's all. It may be that their schemes are about the poets, the way

you suggested, and not the succession at all."

"But you don't believe that," Otah said.

"And the poets don't either," the round-checked man said. "At least not

the new one."

"Shojen-cha is the man we set to follow Maati Vaupathai," Amiit said.

"He's been digging at all the major houses of the utkhaiem," Shojen

said, leaning forward, his rings glittering in the light. "In the last

week, he's had audiences with all the highest families and half the low

ones. And he's been asking questions about court politics and money and

power. He hasn't been looking to the Galts in particular, but it's clear

enough he thinks some family or families of the utkhaiem are involved in

the killings."

"What's he found out?" Otah asked,

"We don't know. I can't say what he's looking for or what he's found,

but there's no question he's conducting an investigation."

"He's the one who gave you over to the Khai in the first place, isn't

he, Otah-cha?" Lamara said in his ruined voice.

"He's also the one who took a knife in the gut," Sinja said.

"Can we say why he's looking?" Otah asked. "What would he do if he

discovered the truth? Report it to the utkhaiem? Or only the Daikvo?"

"I can't say," Shojen said. "I know what he's doing, not what he's

thinking."

"We can say this," Amiit said, his expression dour and serious. "As it

stands, there's no one in the city who'll think you innocent, Otah-cha.

If you're found in Machi, you'll be killed. And whoever sticks the first

knife in will use it as grounds that he should he Khai. The only

protection you'll have is obscurity."

"No armsmen?" Otah asked.

"Not enough," Amiit said. "First, they'd only draw attention to you, and

second, there aren't enough guards in the city to protect you if the

utkhaiem get your scent in their noses."

"But that's true wherever he is," Lamara said. "If they find out he's

alive on a desolate rock in the middle of the sea, they'll send men to

kill him. He's murdered the Khai!"

"Then best to keep him where he won't be found," Amiit said. There was

an impatience in his tone that told Otah this debate had been going on

long before he'd come in the room. Tempers were fraying, and even Amiit

Foss's deep patience was wearing thin. He felt Kiyan's eyes on him, and

looked up to meet her gaze. Her half-smile carried more meaning than

half a hand's debate. They will never agree and you may as we//practice

giving orders now-if itgoes well, you'll be doing it for the rest of

your life and I'm sorry, love.

Otah felt a warmth in his chest, felt the panic and distress relax like

a stiff muscle rubbed in hot oils. Lamara and Amiit were talking over

each other, each making points and suggestions it was clear they'd made

before. Otah coughed, but they paid him no attention. He looked from

one, flushed, grim face to the other, sighed, and slapped his palm on

the table hard enough to make the wine bowls rattle. The room went

silent, surprised eyes turning to him.

"I believe, gentlemen, that I understand the issues at hand," Utah said.

"I appreciate Amiit-cha's concern for my safety, but the time for

caution has passed."

"It's a vice," Sinja agreed, grinning.

"Next time, you can give me your advice without cracking my ribs," Utah

said. "Lamara-cha, I thank you for the offer of the tunnels to work

from, and I accept it. We'll leave tonight."

"Otah-cha, I don't think you've...," Amiit began, his hands held out in

an appeal, but Otah only shook his head. Amiit frowned deeply, and then,

to Otah's surprise, smiled and took a pose of acceptance.

"Shojen-cha," Utah said. "I need to know what Maati is thinking. What

he's found, what he intends, whether he's hoping to save me or destroy

me. Both arc possible, and everything we do will he different depending

on his stance."

"I appreciate that," Shojen said, "but I don't know how I'd discover it.

It isn't as though he confides in me. Or in anyone else that I can tell."

Utah rubbed his fingertips across the rough wood of the table,

considering that. He felt their eyes on him, pressing him for a

decision. This one, at least, was simple enough. He knew what had to be

done.

"Bring him to me," he said. "Once we've set ourselves up and we're sure

of the place, bring him there. I'll speak with him."

"That's a mistake," Sinja said.

"Then it's the mistake I'm making," Otah said. "How long before we can

be ready to leave?"

"We can have all the things we need on a cart by sundown," Amiit said.

"That would put us in Machi just after the half-candle. We could be in

the tunnels and tucked as safely away as we're likely to manage by dawn.

But there are going to be some people in the streets, even then."

"Get flowers. Decorate the cart as if we're preparing for the wedding,"

Otah said. "Then even if they think it odd to see us, they'll have a

story to tell themselves."

"I'll collect the poet whenever you like," Shojen said, his confident

voice undermined by the nervous way he fingered his rings.

"Also tomorrow. And Lamara-cha, I'll want reports from your man at the

council as soon as there's word to be had."

"As you say," Lamara said.

Otah moved his hands into a pose of thanks, then stood.

"Unless there's more to be said, I'm going to sleep now. I'm not sure

when I'll have the chance again. Any of you who aren't involved in

preparations for the move might consider doing the same."

They murmured their agreement, and the meeting ended, but when later

Otah lay in the cot, one arm thrown over his eyes to blot out the light,

he was certain he could no more sleep than fly. He was wrong. Sleep came

easily, and he didn't hear the old leather hinges creak when Kiyan

entered the room. It was her voice that pulled him into awareness.

"It's a mistake I'm making?'That's quite the way to lead men."

He stretched. His ribs still hurt, and worse, they'd stiffened.

"Was it too harsh, do you think?"

Kiyan pushed the netting aside and sat next to him, her hand seeking his.

"If Sinja-eha's that delicate, he's in the wrong line of work," she

said. "He may think you're wrong, but if you'd turned back because he

told you to, you'd have lost part of his respect. You did fine, love.

Better than fine. I think you've made Amiit a very happy man."

"How so?"

"You've become the Khai Machi. Oh, I know, it's not done yet, but out

there just then? You weren't speaking like a junior courier or an east

islands fisherman."

Otah sighed. Her face was calm and smooth. He brought her hand to his

lips and kissed her wrist.

"I suppose not," he said. "I didn't want this, you know. The wayhouse

would have been enough."

"I'm sure the gods will take that into consideration," she said.

"They're usually so good about giving us the lives we expect."

Otah chuckled. Kiyan let herself be pulled down slowly, until she lay

beside him, her body against his own. Otah's hand strayed to her belly,

caressing the tiny life growing inside her. Kiyan raised her eyebrows

and tilted her head.

"You look sad," she said. "Are you sad, "Tani?"

"No, love," Otah said. "Not sad. Only frightened."

"About going back to the city?"

"About being discovered," he said. And a moment later, "About what I'm

going to have to say to Maati."

Cehmai sat hack on a cushion, his hack aching and his mind askew.

Stone-Made-Soft sat beside him, its stillness unbroken even by breath.

At the front of the temple, on a dais where the witnesses could see her,

sat Idaan. Her eyes were cast down, her robe the vibrant rose and blue

of a new bride. The distance between them seemed longer than the space

within the walls, as if a year's journey had been fit into the empty air.

The crowd was not as great as the occasion deserved: women and the

second sons of the utkhaiem. Elsewhere, the council was meeting, and

those who had a place in it were there. Given the choice of spectacle,

many others would choose the men, their speeches and arguments, the

debates and politics and subtle drama, to the simple marrying off of an

orphan girl of the best lineage and the least influence to the son of a

good, solid family.

Cehmai stared at her, willing the kohl-dark eyes to look up, the painted

lips to smile at him. Cymbals chimed, and the priests dressed in gold

and silver robes with the symbols of order and chaos embroidered in