CONTENTS:
Introduction Robert Lynn Asprin
What Women Do Best Chris and Janet Morris
Daughter of the Sun Robin W. Bailey
A Breath of Power Diana L. Paxson
The Hand That Feeds You Diane Duane
Witching Hour C. J. Cherryh
Rebels Aren’t Born in Palaces Andrew J. Offutt
Gyskouras Lynn Abbey
A Fish With Feathers Is Out of His Depth Robert Lynn Asprin
A Special Note From the Editors
INTRODUCTION
by Robert Lynn Asprin
The birds of Sanctuary are black. From the hawklike predators to the small
seedeaters the native birds are black as the heart of a thief.
Hakiem, once the town’s leading storyteller, had never paused to reflect on the
coloration of the birds before. At moments like this, however, when the business
of the Bey-sa’s court was between members of the Beysib clans and conducted in
their own incomprehensible tongue, there was little for the Empress’s native
adviser to do but fidget and reflect. Habits evolved during long years drinking
at the Vulgar Unicorn had positioned him with his back to a wall and a clear
path to the doors-coincidentally he had gotten himself an equally clear view out
a window into the courtyard below. The movement of the birds caught his eye; he
found himself watching their antics closely.
When the Beysib arrived in Sanctuary they brought, along with their gold and
their snakes, a substantial flock of non-migratory seabirds they called the bey
art-as they called their snakes beynit, their flowers beyosa and their goddess
Mother Bey. Every day they threw bread and tablescraps into the courtyard to