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heard enough.” The Queen’s voice rang out. Tevi’s head jerked in its direction, also hearing movement at the rear of the barn, behind the hay. Bewildered, Tevi turned back just in time to see Brec’s fist. The blow knocked her sprawling on the floor. A foot swung into her stomach, driving the air from her lungs.
    “Stop that,” the Queen said sharply.
    Gasping for breath, Tevi was vaguely aware of the presence of more people in the barn—walking around, standing over her.
    Brec’s voice sounded over the others. “Goddess! Did you hear her? I don’t know how I managed to—”
    The Queen interrupted. “We heard her. You played your part well. Don’t overplay it. Now bring her over here.”
    Still fighting to suck air into her lungs, Tevi was hauled to her knees. The sound of striking flint was followed by the gentle light of a lantern springing into life. Tevi’s head cleared as her breath returned.
    She found herself kneeling in the centre of the floor. Both arms were twisted behind her, sufficient to hurt and prevent her from moving but not enough to cause injury. Tevi twisted her neck. Brec was holding one arm; Laff, the other. In front of her, Lizard and the Queen sat on barrels. Red adjusted the lantern before limping over and joining the two older women. A cold fist clenched Tevi’s stomach: three judges and herself as prisoner. The hay barn was empty apart from the six of them.
    The Queen spoke. “I take it you accept the authority of this court. Or would you prefer a public hearing?”
    Tevi shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.
    “I thought as much.” Her grandmother leaned forward. “So what are we going to do with you? You really do present quite a problem.”
    “She always has. I blame myself for bearing her,” Red interjected.
    “Blame isn’t the issue. As I said, Tevi presents us with a problem. We have to decide what to do about it.”
    Tevi was swamped with the bitter knowledge that her mother would be unmoved to see her provide the village with an afternoon’s entertainment in the quarry. “You’re going to have me executed.” She found her voice.
    The Queen shook her head. “That’s an option, but not a very good one. I’d have to tell people why, and I’m afraid it would have a damaging effect on our family’s reputation. With war imminent, we cannot afford that sort of scandal.”
    “So why have you engineered this?”
    “Because you were all set to cause a scandal whether I acted or not. Knowing you, you’d set it off at the worst possible moment. That’s why I pre-empted things. Always meet trouble halfway. It lets you pick the battleground. I learnt that years ago. Right now, we’re in an awkward situation. Executing you will only make it worse.” The Queen paused while she brushed loose straw from her knees. “So I’m going to give you a choice.”
    Tevi raised her chin. A pulse leapt erratically in her throat. “You want me to kill myself.” It would spare her the humiliation of public execution, but before she could weigh up the option, her grandmother shook her head.
    “That would be a better way out, but not the best. If you commit suicide, people will talk. The gossip might even make things worse than they actually are. You can bet Queen Fearless-warrior will encourage the rumours. Even if you make your death look like an accident, it will be seen as bad luck. Coming on top of your mother’s injury and losing the chalice, we’d be seen as a very unlucky family. People would say the Goddess had turned her back on us, which won’t help in gaining allies.”
    “What do you want me to do?”
    “I want you to go,” the Queen said firmly.
    “Where?”
    “Anywhere. The farther, the better.”
    “You’re exiling me.”
    “In effect, yes. To do it officially would give free rein to the rumourmongers, so I want you to appear to go of your own accord. The feast tonight will provide a suitable audience. I want you to put on an act, like Brec did