10 – Aftermath by Asprin, Robert

And through it all Vanda sat attentive and blank, polite, and growing more reserved with each syllable the S’danzo uttered. Until Cha-bos, who had gotten infinitely bored very early in Illyra’s oration, inserted herself into their attention.

The child had unearthed one other ti-cosa, the miniature version of the Beysib court costume, padded and embroidered so it bulked as much as Cha-bos herself.

“Fix it!” she demanded as she began a run across the room.

Ribbons trailed from the robe’s seams and edges, imitating the poison- ous Beynit vipers that dwelt with the older female members of the Beysa’s intimate family-

“Cha-to-s-tu!” Vanda shouted the child’s full name as the impending catastrophe came closer.

Emerald and ruby silk serpentined around the child’s legs. Cha-bos lurched forward, unaware at first that she was no longer in control other unbalanced burden. She shrieked as she tumbled forward, becoming a confused mass of cloth and child. The nursery was frozen and quiet when her motion ceased. For a moment Illyra and Vanda believed no harm had been done, then a wail of heartrending terror erupted from the tangled embroidery.

Vanda reached her first, fairly shouting her reassurances as she sepa- rated Cha-bos from the cosa. A splinter as long as the child’s finger protruded from her forearm. (The floors, this high up in the palace, were constructed of wooden planking that had seen better days.) Chabostu, second daughter of Shupansea and witness to all that had driven her mother into exile in Sanctuary, was transfixed by the sight of her own blood. Her whole body stared in the rigid Beysib way; her only move- ment came during her spasmodic gasps between screams.