After a long, tense moment, the eldest of them pointed at Hanako though his gaze remained fixed on his wife. His mouth worked soundlessly for a time, and then, in a strangled voice, he said, ‘You never once slashed any of us to bloody ribbons!’

Lasa Rook shot a look at Hanako, her brows raised. ‘Oh,’ she said as she turned back to her husbands, ‘that.’ She shrugged. ‘Many are the beasts lying in the grasses, each a habit unto itself. Some will ambush. Others yawn and doze till comes the night, when all manner of savagery is unleashed. Yet others flick their tails, watchful and opportunistic. I am a woman of appetites and curiosity, Garelko.’

‘But… another husband? How many do you need?’ Garelko pulled at his thin hair. ‘Oh, it’s never enough with you, Lasa Rook! No, you need to hunt down the finest warrior of all the mountain tribes! Slayer of more Thelomen than any of us can count!’ He pointed a shaking finger at Hanako. ‘And… you! You!’

‘Oh, be quiet – and you, Tathenal, not a word! Same for you, Ravast! I thought you all dead! Dragon-slain! Devoured, digested, shat out!’ Hands now on her hips, she shook her head and continued in a lower tone, ‘I grew doubtful of the three of you. How deep your love for me? In our home, ah, I caught a sniff of complacency.’

‘Complacency?’

‘Yes, Garelko! Was it mere contentment? Or love’s sordid decay? A challenge was needed. So I set out, on the slithery tail of a Jaghut’s raging grief. Would my husbands dare follow? Would they even notice my absence?’

Garelko pointed again at Hanako. ‘And this one? Was he too a test?’

‘Oh, who knows what set him on this trail. Such a young brave already weary of mundane challenges! But against that which cannot be defeated, ah, now there is a fate worthy of legend! Or,’ she added with a sigh, ‘some such thing.’

‘We heard your screams!’ Ravast suddenly blurted.

‘As you were meant to, were you indeed still alive – and what surer siren could I devise to bring you running?’ She waved a careless hand back towards Hanako. ‘Oh, he was fun I’ll grant you, a beast indeed, to now challenge your inventiveness in all the years of delight still to come!’

‘You’ll not stay with him?’ Garelko asked. ‘You’ll not claim him as another husband?’

‘Three are chore enough,’ she replied. ‘Besides, heed his destination! Do I seem a woman tired of life? Still, was not this journey an exciting one?’