“And we are friends, Ziha?” Xiala asked. “Is that what you came to say?”
“I think we could be friends,” she said, her face sincere.
Xiala did not believe for a moment that they could be friends, but she had no doubt that Ziha believed it. Iktan had warned her that Ziha would be looking for a proxy to punish for her cousin’s death, and her relationship to Serapio made her a prime choice. But Xiala wondered if Iktan had the wrong of it and it was that Ziha was looking for a replacement for her cousin herself.
“I wish to tell you something, as a friend. About Iktan. You heard xir speak of having a man in the Carrion Crow Shield, but it is more than that. Xe conspired with this man to kill their matron.”
Xiala remembered Aishe telling her the Carrion Crow matron had died and that there were rumors that it was not an accident, but she hadn’t thought of it again since then.
Ziha continued excitedly. “The way I hear it, there was an attempt on the Sun Priest’s life. Some foolish attempt by an outspoken contingent in the Odohaa that failed before it was begun, but it alarmed Iktan’s Crow conspirator—”
“Do you know his name?” Xiala interrupted.
“I do not. Only that he took it to his matron, who refused to act. Said the Odohaa were harmless and did not see the danger such actions posed for her clan. This Crow was so distraught that he reached out to Iktan as the Priest of Knives to beseech leniency, worried at what the tsiyo would rain down on them should the Watchers decide to retaliate. I do not know what transpired between them, but the decision was made that the matron must go. She was known to indulge the Odohaa, but her daughter, the one who would inherit her place, was less tolerant. She is known to have a pragmatic nature.”
“And so Iktan killed her.”
“Not before xe brought it to some of the other priests, my cousin included. I think that is where the idea came from for the second attempt on the Sun Priest’s life.”
“The Odohaa tried again?”
“No, the second attempt was not the Odohaa.” She worried her thumb. “It was my mother.”
“The Golden Eagle matron?”
“It was an opportunity she could not pass up. The pressure from Cuecola has been increasing, willing us to action against the Watchers. But the merchant lords are far away on the other side of the sea. They do not understand the delicate balance between the Sky Made. They would have us act outright, not understanding how Winged Serpent and Water Strider would turn against us. No, it was best to frame Carrion Crow. But then that failed, too. Mother had kept the second assassin secret, thinking the less people knew, the better.”
Mother waters, these people! Xiala thought. She had always considered Teek politics an entanglement, but Tova and her Sky Made clans were raveled in their own nets.
“It was after the second attempt that Iktan killed the matron and the Watchers began to plan their retaliation after all. Which also gave Golden Eagle the perfect excuse to take over leadership. We were so close, Xiala, so close!” Ziha had sat forward, face flushed with excitement and eyes shining. She leaned back abruptly, as if remembering to whom she was speaking.
“Why do you think I need to know all this?” Xiala asked carefully. It felt like dangerous knowledge to her, something that made her a liability should someone not want this information made public. Ziha had to know Xiala would pass it on to Serapio. Unless she didn’t think Xiala would ever see Serapio again. A thought that made her shiver even in the fire’s heat.
“To prove to you that we are friends,” the girl said, voice plaintive. “To show you that Iktan is a schemer and will lie to your face. As xe lied to xir precious Naranpa. I know xe is charming and funny and—”
“Attractive.” A voice came from outside the tent flap. “Don’t forget shockingly attractive.”
Ziha scrambled to her feet as Iktan slid through the entrance, steps as light as cat’s paws. Ziha fumbled at her belt, pulled forth a knife, and brandished it in front of her. “Guards!” she called, at first just a frantic whisper and then louder. “Guards!”
“I gave them the night off,” Iktan said. “Also started a game of patol and lost enough cacao to keep everyone interested and betting for a few hours. No one’s coming to save you, Ziha.”
The girl was sweating, eyes wide with fright, but Iktan hadn’t drawn the blade from xir sleeve, and xe didn’t have that uncanny calm about xir as xe had when Xiala thought things might come to violence before.