An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows Page A

– certainly better than I did the first time. Zech’s with her now. As soon as she’s all cleaned up, we can hear about Kadeja’s latest heresy.”
    â€œAnd won’t that be exciting?” Pix said sarcastically.
    The three of them were seated around a table in Yasha’s wing of the compound, sipping warm cups of mege , a Vekshi tea brewed from sweet, caffeinated leaves and soup stock. It was a great favourite among traders and travellers alike, but though Gwen was far from being a convert, she’d gone long enough without a cigarette to appreciate its restorative properties. Beside her, Pix fidgeted in her seat like a miscreant schoolchild. The ex-courtier, for all her airs, felt partially responsible for Saffron’s fate, and as Gwen considered this to be a right and proper state of affairs, she was in no hurry to alleviate her guilt. Besides, she had bigger things to worry about. Though the same priest who’d healed Saffron had declared Trishka to be on the mend, she was still confined to bed, her usual chair disquietingly empty. As, indeed, was Matu’s. Though discussion of Kadeja’s crimes could certainly wait until after they’d heard Zech’s testimony, no such restriction applied to Matu’s mysterious absence.
    Turning to Pix, Gwen assumed a blank expression. “Speaking of excitement, it’s not like your brother to miss any. Where is he?”
    Pix made a noise that was half disgust, half anger. “Who knows? I certainly don’t. If Yasha deigns to tell me now, it’ll only be for your sake, never mind that I’ve been out of my skin with worry!”
    â€œEnough!” In lieu of thumping her staff, which was propped up against the far wall, Yasha settled for banging her megecup emphatically on the table, though without, of course, spilling so much as a single drop. “Am I allowed no peace in my own house?” She rolled her eyes, invoking her goddess as witness. “As though Ashasa didn’t make men to go wandering! It’s unnatural, the way you Kenan women cling to them. No wonder your palace is in such disarray!”
    Mercifully, Pix didn’t rise to the bait, being long since accustomed to Yasha’s outbursts on the subject. Like Gwen, she merely waited for the matriarch to take another sip of mege, smack her lips and then, finally, continue.
    â€œAs it so happens, he’s running an errand on my behalf.” Pix snorted in triumph. Yasha ignored her. “Just after you left, Gwen, one of my little friends–” this being a favourite euphemism for the matriarch’s spies, “–suggested I take a closer interest in the goings-on at Kena’s northern border. Well, it was vague enough advice that I paid it no mind, even with all that scandal over Kadeja’s expulsion. Still, it hardly seemed useful. Such obvious advice!” She waved a hand. “But once that died down, the friend came back to me. He said that someone on the border wanted to speak with Pixeva ore Pixeva, and was willing to try to reach her through me. So of course, I sent Matu instead. That was a month ago.”
    Pix looked murderous. “Someone on the border wanted to speak with me, and you said nothing? You sent my brother ?”
    â€œAnd what if it was a trap?” Yasha asked archly. “You’re good with a knife, girl, but Matu is better with many weapons, both sharp and blunt, and unlike you, he has no dependents.”
    â€œNo legal ones, anyway,” Pix muttered. “Honestly, I swear that boy should’ve been born Vekshi. He’s bad as a tomcat.”
    â€œHigh praise indeed!” chortled Yasha.
    Pix flushed. “I didn’t mean it as a compliment!”
    â€œHow sad for you, then, that I take it as one.”
    â€œThis friend,” said Gwen, interjecting before Pix could embarrass herself. “Can I meet them?”
    Yasha turned abruptly sombre. “Not unless