The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - By N. K. Jemisin Page 0,97

hand from this distance. How can you tell?

They both refer to prior letters, Zhakkarn said, pointing here and there at certain pages.

And the pattern is broken in too many places, Sieh added, stepping lightly between the pages to crouch and peer more closely at the letters. Both of them were creatures of habit, your parents. Once a week they wrote, regular as clockwork, over the span of a year. But there are sixno, seven weeks missing. No apologies after the missing weeks, and that is where I see references to the prior letters. He glanced back at me over his shoulder. Did anyone besides you know this chest was there? Wait, no, its been twenty years; half the palace mightve known.

I shook my head, frowning. They were hidden. The place seemed undisturbed

That might only mean it happened so long ago that the dust had time to settle. Sieh straightened, turning to me. What is it you were expecting to find here?

Viraine I set my jaw. Viraine says he was my mothers lover.

Sieh raised his eyebrows and exchanged a look with Zhakkarn. Im not certain I would use any part of the word love in what she did to him.

In the face of such casual confirmation, I could not protest. I sat down heavily.

Sieh flopped down on his belly beside me, propping himself on his elbows. What? Half of Sky is in bed with the other half at any given time.

I shook my head. Nothing. Its just a bit much to take.

Hes not your father or anything like that, if youre worried.

I rolled my eyes and raised my brown Darre hand. Im not.

Pleasure is often used as a weapon, Zhakkarn said. Theres no love in that.

I frowned at her, surprised by this notion. I still did not like the idea of my mother lying with Viraine, but it helped to think of it as strategy. But what had she hoped to gain? What did Viraine know that no one else in Sky knew? Or rather, what would the younger, smitten Virainenew to Sky, overconfident, eager to pleasehave been more likely to say than any other Arameri?

Something about magic, I murmured to myself. That must be what she was trying to get out of him. Something about you? I glanced over at Zhakkarn.

Zhakkarn shrugged. If she learned any such secrets, she never used them.

Hmm. What else is Viraine in charge of, here?

Magic use, Sieh said, ticking off fingers. Everything from the routine to, well, us. Information disseminationhes Dekartas liaison to the Itempan Order. He oversees all important ceremonies and rituals

Sieh trailed off. I looked at him and saw surprise on his face. I glanced at Zhakkarn, who looked thoughtful.

Ceremonies and rituals. A flicker of excitement stirred in my belly as I realized what Sieh meant. I sat up straighter. When was the last succession?

Dekartas was about forty years ago, Zhakkarn said.

My mother had been forty-five at her death. She would have been too young to understand what was happening at the ceremony.

She wasnt at the ceremony, Sieh said. Dekarta ordered me to play with her that day, to keep her busy.

That was surprising. Why would Dekarta have kept my mother, his heir, away from the ceremony that she would one day have to undertake herself? A bright child could have been made to understand its purpose. Was it that they meant to kill a servant in the course of the ceremony? But this was Sky; servants died all the time. I couldnt imagine any Arameri, much less my grandfather, denying that harsh reality even to a child.

Did anything unusual happen at that ceremony? I asked. Did you make a play for the Stone that time?

No, we werent ready. It was a routine succession, like the hundred others that have occurred since our imprisonment. Sieh sighed. Or so Im told, since I wasnt there. None of us were, except Nahadoth. They always make him attend.

I frowned. Why just him?

Itempas attends the ceremony, said Zhakkarn. While I gaped at her, trying to shape my mind around the idea of the Skyfather here, right here, coming here, Zhakkarn went on. He makes his greetings personally to the new Arameri ruler. Then he offers Nahadoth freedom, though only if he serves Itempas. Thus far, Naha has refused, but Itempas knows it is in his nature to change his mind. He will keep asking.

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the lingering sense of reverence that a lifetime of training had inculcated in me. The