chest felt tight. He thought for a moment how sad it would be to have
come this far and collapse now from a had heart.
"I remember when I was at the village the second time," Nlaati said.
"After Saraykeht. After Liat left me. 't'here was a teahouse at the edge
of the village. Tanam Choyan's place."
"high walls," Cehmai said. "And a red lacquer door to the back room. I
remember the place. They always undercooked the rice."
"I ie did," Nlaati said. "I'd forgotten that. 'T'here was a standing
game of tiles there. I remember once a boy came to play and didn't know
any of the rules. Not even what season led, or when two winds made a
trump. lie bet everything he had at the first tile. He knew he was in
over his head, so he risked it all at once. lie thought if he kept
playing, then the men at the table who knew better than he did would
strip him of every length of copper he had. If he put everything on one
handwell, someone had to win, and it might he him as well as anyone
else. I understand now how he felt."
"l)id he win?"
"No," \laati said. "But 1 respected the strategy."
A trumpet blared out above them-Otah sending some signal among his men.
Answering horns came from around the city. MIaati could no more tell
where they originated than guess how many snowflakes were in the wide
air. Cehmai's surprised breath caught his attention like a hook pulling
at a fish. lie turned to the man, and then followed his gaze to the
stairway leading down to the tunnels. Eiah stood there, her ribs pumping
hard, as if she'd run to reach them. Her hair was pulled hack in a messy
knot at the back. I Ier robes were bright green shot with gold.
"1?iah-cha," Cehmai said, stepping toward her. "What are you doing here?"
The girl looked up at Cehmai, stepping away from him as if she might
run. Her gaze darted to Nlaati. lie smiled and took a pose that was
welcome and inquiry both. 1- iah's hands fluttered between half a dozen
poses, settling on none of them.
""They need physicians," she said. "People are going to get hurt. I
don't want to be useless. And ... and I want to he here when you stop
them. I helped with the binding as much as Cehmai did."
't'hat was a gross untruth, but the girl delivered it with such
conviction that Nlaati felt himself half-believing. He smiled.
"You were supposed to go with Nayiit-cha and your brother," Maati said.
I ter mouth went small, her face pale.
"I know," she said. \laati waved her closer, and she came to him,
skirting around Cehmai as if she feared he would grab her and haul her
away to where she was supposed to be. Maati sat on the cold stone floor
and she sat with him.
"It isn't safe here," he said.
"It's safe enough that you can be here. And Papa-kya. And you're the two
most important men in the world."
"I don't know that-"
"He's the Emperor. Even the Khai Cetani says so. And you're going to
kill all the Galts. There can't be any place safer than with both of
you. Besides, what if something happens and you need a physician?"
"I'll find one of the armsmen or a servant they can spare," Cehmai said.
"We can at least have her safely-"
"No," Maati said. "Let her stay. She reminds me why we're doing this."
Eiah's grin was the image of relief and joy. Of all the terrors and
dangers arrayed before them, hers had been that she might he sent away.
He took her hand and kissed it.
"Go sit by the stairs," he said. "Don't interrupt me, and if Cehmai- cha
tells you to do something, you do it. No asking why, no arguing him out
of it. You understand me?"
Eiah flung her hands into a pose of acceptance.
"And Eiah-kya. Understand what I'm doing has risks to it. If I die
here-hush, now, let me finish. If I fail the binding and my little
protection doesn't do what we think it will, I'll pay the price. If that
happens, you have to remember that I love you very deeply, and I've done
this because it was worth the risk if it meant keeping you safe."
Eiah swallowed and her eyes shone with tears. Maati smiled at her, stood
again, and waved her back toward the stairs. Cehmai came close, frowning.
"I'm not sure that was a kind thing to tell her," he said, but a sudden
outburst of trumpet calls sounded before Maati could reply. Maati
thought could hear the distant tattoo of drums echoing against the city
walls. He gestured to Cehmai.
"Come on. "['here isn't time. Finish drawing those, then light the
candles and close that blasted door. We'll all freeze to death before
the andat can have its crack at us."
"Or we'll have it all in place just in time for the Galts to take it."
Maati scribbled out the rest of the binding. He'd wanted time to think
on each word, each phrase; if he'd had time to paint each word like the
portrait of a thought, it would have been better. "There wasn't time. He
finished just as Cehmai lit the final lantern and walked up the stone
steps to the snow door. Before he closed it, the younger poet looked
out, peering into the city.
"What do you see?"
"Smoke," Cehmai said. 't'hen, "Nothing."
"Come back down,,, \laati said. "\V'here are the robes for it?"
"In the back corner," Cehmai said, pulling the wide wooden doors shut.
"I'll get them."
Nlaati went to the cushion in the middle of the room, lowered himself
with a grunt, and considered. The wall before him looked more like the
scrihhlings of low-town vandals than a poet's lifework. But the words
and phrases, the images and metaphors all shone brighter in his mind
than the lanterns could account for. Cehmai passed before him briefly,
laying robes of blue shot with black on the floor where, with luck, the
next hands to hold them wouldn't be human.
\laati glanced over his shoulder. Eiah was sitting against the back
wall, her hands held in fists even with her heart. I Ic smiled at her.
Reassuringly, he hoped. And then he turned to the words he had written,
took five deep breaths to clear his mind, and began to chant.
O'EMI STOOD ON T11E 1.11' OF"17IF. ROOF AND LOOKE1) DOWN XI' 1NIACIII AS
IF IT were a map. The great streets were marked by the lines of
rooftops. Only those streets that led directly to I louse Siyanti's
warehouses were at an angle that permitted him to see the black cobbles
turning white beneath the snow. To the south, the army of the Galts was