Maati Vaupathai

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!!

Maati Vaupathi is a poet but holds no andat. He tries to bind Sterile and fails, leading to catastrophic consequences. He tries to amend his actions by training young poets to bind new andat which also leads to disastrous consequences.

A Shadow in Summer

Maati is first seen suffering humiliation at the hands of Otah Machi. Otah feels ashamed of his actions and tells Maati the secret of the poets school's test. Because of this, Maati is able to become a poet even though he did not solve the tests himself and will always view Otah as his teacher.

Maati appears again in Saraykeht, assigned to study under Heshai to one day take over the burden of The Part That Continues, or Seedless. Seedless tricks Maati into thinking he is Heshai on their first meeting and Maati reveals the depth of his relationship with Otah. He then meets the real Heshai and is greatly disappointed since his teacher seems like a drunk belligerent. Maati moves into Heshai's house and tries to fill his days by reading Heshai's analysis of his binding of Seedless. During this time, Maati and Seedless form a bond and become vaguely friendly.

Heshai is called upon by the Khai Saraykeht for a sad trade, something that distresses Heshai significantly and it turns out he once lost a child and a lover. During the negotiations for the sad trade Maati meets Otah in the Khai's palace and they reconnect. Maati agrees to keep Otah's identity a secret and they spend many nights together in teahouses talking. Heshai is delighted that Maati seems to be having fun in Saraykeht but Seedless is distressed.

When it is revealed that the sad trade was a trap on Seedless' part, it falls to Maati to take care of his teacher Heshai who has collapsed from doing something so abhorrent to him. At this point Maati has read enough of Heshai's work to know that Seedless did this maliciously, in an effort to destroy Heshai and thus free himself. Maati is worried when the Khai has Seedless locked in a torture box as punishment as he is unsure what this will do to Heshai.

As Heshai's condition does not improve Maati becomes increasingly worried and asks Otah to carry a message to the Dai-kvo asking for advice since Otah is the only person he can trust with the message. While Otah is gone Maati and Liat find comfort in each other and start a sexual relationship. As time passes they start to develop strong feelings for each other to the point where by the Otah returns after about a two months they are in love with each other. However, because of Maati's respect for Otah he instantly ends things with Liat.

At this point, Maati's relationship with Seedless is one of animosity on his part and friendly protectiveness on Seedless' part since Seedless still thinks Maati is innocent and does not deserve being invovled in his plots. This is evidenced when there is a murder attempt on Liat and a stray shingle also hits Maati and injures him. Seedless is seen threatening the perpetrator with violent death should Maati die or come to harm again. Eventually, Maati's guilt at his betrayal of Otah prompts him to reveal what he has done to Otah, who then leaves and Maati does not see him again for the rest of the book.

Maati is talking with Seedless about his nature and how Seedless is a reflection of a perfect Heshai and thus hates what Heshai is in reality when Seedless is freed by Heshai's death. In a panic, Maati starts to try rebinding Seedless based on Heshai's notes but Liat begs him to stop in case he fails and must pay the price. Maati realizes and accepts that the revised binding in Heshai's notes is only a refined version of Heshai's original binding and thus would be too close to the original to work. He stops and he and Liat leave Saraykeht and travel to the Dai-kvo's village together to start a new life.

A Betrayal in Winter

Maati has been living in the Dai-kvo's village and Liat has left with his son Nayiit many years ago since he could not support them. Once Maati returned to the Dai-kvo's village he is viewed as a failure and relegated to petty tasks. Liat begs him to leave but Maati refuses so Liat leaves instead. This leaves Maati heartbroken and he has sorely missed Liat and his son ever since and will continue to do so.

At the beginning of the book he is called in front of the Dai-kvo and is given the mission of finding out who has murdered Biitrah, first son of the Khai Machi, starting the succession process in Machi under the guise of exploring the Khai Machi's library. Maati goes and meets Cehmai, the poet of Machi who holds Stone Made Soft, who reminds him of himself when he first went to Saraykeht. Maati tells the Khai Machi that he will find Otah and starts tracing Biitrah's last steps. He finds that there was a significant amount of planning involved and starts spreading the word that he is looking for Itani Noygu, Otah's alias. Idaan, the actual perpetrator, is worried since Maati is digging into Biitrah's death and seems to be interested in the same thing the Galt's are, the library of the Khai Machi. She send Oshai to kill Maati but Oshai is unsuccessful due to Cehmai's intervention and is captured. Maati comes close to death but recovers. He is now convinced that Otah is not guilty and tells Cehmai this. Cehmai insists to be involved in the investigation and Maati reluctantly agrees.

Otah enters the city but then shortly flees when he learns that Maati is searching for him. Maati then starts digging into Otah's life the past ten years, causing Otah to come back and turn himself in to Maati. Maati brings him before the Khai Machi and convinces the Khai to wait until his guilt is proven before executing him. The Khai agrees but locks Otah into a tower with little food and water. Maati sees this as basically consigning Otah to death and asks the Khai is he can bring Otah some basic necessities to which the Khai agrees.

Maati goes to visit Otah with food, watered wine, and a thick cloak and talks to him about their shared past and apologizes. Otah forgives him and tries to convince him that Nayiit is truly Maati's son and not Otah's. Maati leaves at peace and continues his investigation. Otah escapes and Cehmai is convinced of Otah's guilt. The Dai-kvo orders Maati to return to the poet's village and congratulates him on finding Otah but Maati is still convinced of Otah's innocence and refuses to return, thus also relinquishing the Dai-kvo's renewed favor. Later, Maati is called to verify the fake corpse of Otah but realizes that it is a fake. He makes Cehmai promise not to tell anyone but Cehmai tells his lover Idaan. When Otah returns to Machi, Maati is taken into his confidence. Maati coordinates the support of House Radaani and the other houses of the utkhaiem and later supports Otah with Cehmai on the stage of the assembly to support his claim as Khai.

An Autumn War 

Maati has been a permanent resident of Machi and has discovered a possible way to attempt multiple bindings of the andat without paying the price which he writes to the Dai-kvo about it. He is also close with Otah's daughter Eiah and acts as her teacher and confidante.

Liat comes to Machi with Nayiit, both of whom Maati has been missing sorely for the over 20 years. He eventually resumes a sexual relationship with Liat and tries to bond with Nayiit and help him with his decision of whether to leave his wife and child. When Otah has Nayiit join him to rescue the Dai-kvo Maati confronts Otah and questions his motives on sending Nayiit into danger but concedes that it is necessary and that Nayiit is no longer a boy who needs protection.

Maati works with Cehmai for most of the book to find a new binding. They realize that the only andat they could possibly rebind is Seedless given their time constraints. At first Maati struggles to find a binding different enough but because of a conversation with Eiah he has a realization which simplifies his task. He creates a binding for Corrupting the Generative, or Sterile, which includes a clause to protect him from the andat's price should he fail. Faced with the news that the Galts are invading, Maati presents the binding to Otah and his advisers and they agree that Maati should proceed with the binding in spite of the risks. The day the Galts attack Maachi, Maati attempts the binding and realizes that he has failed. Sterile, the andat, looks like a female version of Seedless, and takes her price from every woman of the Khaiem and every man in Galt. When asked why, she responds that she was made by Maati, a man who never had his own children and who was bitter about the fact. She tells him that he should never have been allowed to become a poet since he never passed the Dai-kvo's tests. The courage to stand on his own and the compassion in the face of cruelty were both violated when he summoned a weapon in fear.

The andat leaves and Maati is left with a deep guilt. Otah sends him and Cehmai away partly so they do not get killed by the angry victims and partly so he does not kill them himself for what has happened to Eiah and Kiyan. Maati and Cehmai flee to the bolthole Otah originally prepared for his family and Eiah finds them there and shows that she has forgiven Maati by leaving him a jar of peaches.

The Price of Spring

Maati has been living underground and training a few young women to become poets. Eiah finds him through his student's failed bindings and supports them with accommodations and food. He is working with Eiah to bind an andat called Healing and feels that they are very close. He goes to see Cehmai and his wife Idaan to ask for Cehmai's help but Cehmai refuses because he his happy with his life and cannot see that anything good would come of binding anther andat. Cehmai does however tell Maati that Eiah's current binding is self-contradicting because of the nature of the andat and instead should be called Wounded.

Maati works closely with Vanjit, a girl who lost her family in the sack of Udun to bind the andat Clarity of Sight, or Blindness, in order to develop a working women's grammar so that Eiah can safely attempt her binding. When Vanjit succeeds in binding Clarity of Sight, who looks like the baby she has been dreaming of, Maati and his pupils are initially overjoyed, however, petty differences soon arise between Vanjit and the other pupils, culminating in Vanjit blinding Ashti Beg. Maati is alarmed but not overly worried, dismissing Eiah's fears of Vanjit's behaviour as Vanjit adjusting to her new power. He sternly talks to Vanjit and convinces her to restore Ashti Beg's sight.

Vanjit takes away the sight of all the Galts and Eiah's fears are confirmed. Maati is horrified but at the same time he cannot help but feel like it is justice for what the Galt's have done. He talks to Vanjit and tries to make her reconsider her actions and their consequences but does not insist that she restore their sight, rather, leaving the decision up to her. Vanjit approaches Maati later and tells him that if Eiah should fail in her binding of Wounded Vanjit can trysince she already succeeded in binding an andat once. Soon after, they leave the cottage because of Eiah's concerns for Maati's health and he witnesses for the first time the tension between Vanjit and her andat when she shakes it hard and visibly strains to regain control.

Vanjit is pushing harder that she be the one, rather than Eiah, to attempt the binding of Wounded and Maati asks whether it is because Clarity of Sight is not all Vanjit hoped it would be and wants a second chance. Vanjit is outraged and feels betrayed that Maati would suggest such a thing and temporarily blinds him before returning his sight later. Maati is starting to feel the fear for Vanjit that the rest of the students feel for her and secretly talks with Eiah about memorizing her binding should Vanjit try to blind and kill her during the binding. After Eiah shows kindness to wandering, blinded Galts Vanjit starts to insist more strongly that Eiah not be allowed to attempt the binding in case she tries to help the Galts by removing their blindness. Maati says that he will not kill anyone unless he has no other choice, and Vanjit recoils saying she never said anything about killing anyone.

Things come to a head when Maati decides Vanjit must die and Eiah poisons her tea later that night. Vanjit notices because of her heightened eyesight and runs away after blinding all the students but not Maati. Maati realizes that they must go to Otah for help and they turn back. Maati and Otah are angry with each other but manage to be civil after much mediating by the other members of the group. Maati realizes where Vanjit has gone and leads the group to Udun. Vanjit says she will only speak to Maati and he overrules Otah when Otah tries to make him take Ana. Through this resistance Maati gains a measure of peace and goes to speak with Vanjit, hoping still to make her repent and take back what she's done. She only spirals further and blinds Maati and everyone in the world and every living creature. While she is distracted with Maati, Eiah completes Wounded's binding and kills Vanjit.