A Betrayal in Winter (lpq-2) Read Online Free PDF

away. Maati
    sipped his tea again. 't'his time it didn't burn. To his right, Kaiin
    Machi took a pose of query, looking directly at Maati for what seemed
    the first time.
     
    "Would you know him again if you saw him?"
     
    "Yes," Maati said. "I would."
     
    "You sound certain of it."
     
    "I am, Kaiin-cha."
     
    The thin man smiled. All around the table a sense of satisfaction seemed
    to come from his answer. Maati found it unnerving. The Daikvo poured
    himself more tea, the liquid clicking into his bowl like a stream over
    stones.
     
    "'T'here is a very good library in Machi," the Dai-kvo said. "One of the
    finest in the fourteen cities. I understand there are records there from
    the time of the Empire. One of the high lords was thinking to go there,
    perhaps, to ride out the war, and sent his hooks ahead. I'm sure there
    are treasures hidden among those shelves that would be of use in binding
    the andat."
     
    "Really?" Maati asked.
     
    "No, not really," the Dai-kvo said. "I expect it's a mess of poorly
    documented scraps overseen by a librarian who spends his copper on wine
    and whores, but I don't care. For our purposes, there are secrets hidden
    in those records important enough to send a low-ranking poet like
    yourself to sift though. I have a letter to the Khai Machi that will
    explain why you are truly there. IIc will explain your presence to the
    utkhaiem and Cehmai 'Ivan, the poet who holds Stone-Made-Soft. Let them
    think you've come on my errand. What you will be doing instead is
    discovering whether Otah killed Biitrah Machi. If so, who is hacking
    him. If not, who did, and why."
     
    "Most high-" Maati began.
     
    "Wait for me in the gardens," the Dal-kvo said. "I have a few more
    things to discuss with the sons of Machi."
     
    The gardens, like the apartments, were small, well kept, beautiful, and
    simple. A fountain murmured among carefully shaped, deeply fragrant pine
    trees. Maati sat, looking out. From the side of mountain, the world
    spread out before him like a map. He waited, his head buzzing, his heart
    in turmoil. Before long he heard the steady grinding sound of footsteps
    on gravel, and he turned to see the Dai-kvo making his way down the path
    toward him. Maati stood. He had not known the Dai-kvo had started
    walking with a cane. A servant followed at a distance, carrying a chair,
    and did not approach until the Dai-kvo signaled. Once the chair was in
    place, looking out over the same span that Maati had been considering,
    the servant retreated.
     
    "Interesting, isn't it?" the Dai-kvo said.
     
    Maati, unsure whether he meant the view or the business with the sons of
    Machi, didn't reply. The Dai-kvo looked at him, something part smile,
    part something less congenial on his lips. He drew forth two
    packets-letters sealed in wax and sewn shut. Maati took them and tucked
    them in his sleeve.
     
    "Gods. I'm getting old. You see that tree?" the Dai-kvo asked, pointing
    at one of the shaped pines with his cane.
     
    "Yes, most high."
     
    "There's a family of robins that lives in it. They wake me up every
    morning. I always mean to have someone break the nest, but I've never
    quite given the order."
     
    "You are merciful, most high."
     
    The old man looked up at him, squinting. His lips were pressed thin, and
    the lines in his face were black as charcoal. Maati stood waiting. At
    length, the Dai-kvo turned away again with a sigh.
     
    "Will you be able to do it?" he asked.
     
    "I will do as the Dai-kvo commands," Maati said.
     
    "Yes, I know you'll go there. But will you be able to tell me that he's
    there? You know if he is behind this, they'll kill him before they go on
    to each other. Are you able to bear that responsibility? Tell me now if
    you aren't, and I'll find some other way. You don't have to fail again."
     
    "I won't fail again, most high."
     
    "Good. That's good," the Dai-kvo said and went silent. Maati waited so
    long for the pose that would dismiss him that he wondered whether