Read Online Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan - Free Book Online

did so well so quickly that Laiyonea commented on how unusual that was, and I purposely reversed the lines on the seventh and eighth symbols just to give her something to correct.
    When we’d first entered the Adytum, I’d been nervous about how I would act when Mati arrived, but by the time he came at midmorning bells I was so enmeshed in my work that I’d forgotten to worry about him, about the Resistance, about anything but the curves and slopes of the symbols. His footsteps on the stairs set my heart pounding. I kept my eyes on my work, lest my expression betray me when I saw him.
    Laiyonea greeted him as he crossed the courtyard. He looked over my shoulder at my paper. “Finally started her on the higher order?” he said to Laiyonea.
    â€œYes,” said Laiyonea. “With things moving along as they are, it seemed prudent.” I wasn’t sure what she meant, but I glanced up in time to see Mati grimace and shrug as he sat down beside me.
    â€œI’m surprised you didn’t start torturing her with them sooner.” Mati’s eyes were on Laiyonea, but his hand found mine under the table and gave it a squeeze.
    â€œIt’s only torture for lazy boys who don’t pay attention,” Laiyonea shot back.
    â€œLaiyonea, you wound me!” said Mati, clutching his heart. I giggled, and even Laiyonea cracked a smile. After that she instructed Mati to review the first two tensets by showing them to me; the Trade Minister, Priasi Jin, wanted her to attend ameeting with the city’s largest supplier of kirit, the plant used to make green dye for Arnath clothing.
    As I watched her leave, I pondered how, even though people like Jonis might sneer at her qodal-dyed hair, Laiyonea had used her position as best she could. By staying on the good side of the king and most of the council, she probably did more to quietly help the Arnathim than the Resistance knew.
    Such thoughts evaporated as the gate clanged shut behind her and Mati pushed his paper away. Before I had a chance to grow awkward around him, he kissed me. It was so different, kissing him outdoors in the ocean air, from the way it had been in my dark bedroom. We were under the canopy, so no one could have seen us from the palace windows or the guard towers, and the walls hid us from the beach below. I thought I felt the statue of Gyotia watching us. I tried not to care.
    â€œI’ve been thinking of you all morning,” said Mati softly.
    â€œMe too.” I ducked my head. “I was so distracted that Laiyonea got cross with me.”
    â€œAnd still she throws your work ethic in my face,” said Mati. “I must do something to sidetrack you, to even the field.” He kissed my palm, and moved his lips up my arm. I shivered at his touch, both liking and fearing how quickly it had come to feel natural. “Luckily you already know the first few tensets,” he said conversationally, as he worked his way up my neck. “Gives us more time for other things.”
    A small noise of assent escaped my throat as I turned my head and met his lips.
    All the rest of the dry, hot season of Lilana, Mati and I spent languid afternoons in the Adytum. Whenever his father called Laiyonea away, Mati excused himself from the proceedings and came to find me. He assured me that the king was used to his lack of interest in negotiations, and that he wasn’t needed anyway.
    Days in the Adytum fell into a dreamlike pattern: we talked, we kissed, occasionally we even did our work. And whenever he could, he came to me at night, especially when Gyotia’s Lamp was veiled in the dark sky.
    Even when palace business or Scholar functions kept us apart, I would see the packets of treats he’d left whenever I slipped into the cavity under the stairs, reminders of his kindness and the secrets that bound us together.
    I’d thought my feelings for Mati would keep me from focusing on my work, but he knew how I felt about