Balram softened. ‘I’m sorry. That was harsh.’

‘No harm done,’ Krishna said. ‘But we must remember this is Mathura, not Goverdhun.’

Satyabhama walked up to Balram. ‘I am ready. Shall we?’

‘Will you two just wait?’ Krishna pleaded. They were ruining the fun. ‘Ah, what joy!’ he remarked sarcastically, looking up. ‘Another of your wolf pups is here.’

Untimely as ever, a soldier of Satyabhama’s personal squad marched in, wearing old grey armour and a greyer cloak. Her dusky blue skin marked her as a Balkhan. She wore a grey robe over her chainmail, and her hair was tied to ape Satyabhama’s. Two bodyguards flanked her, one short, the other grotesquely thin, both swathed in grey, hands hidden in sleeves, hoods shadowing their faces.

Silver Wolves.

The Silver Wolves carried no standard nor flew any banners. ‘A military wing of social rejects,’ Lord Akrur called them. ‘Scavenger wolves, loyal only to silver,’ he had remarked distastefully when Satyabhama had first unveiled before the Senate her plan of forming a squad picked from Mathura’s destitute. And now the Silver Wolves, named and marshalled by Satyabhama herself, had turned into an effective force. The fact that they were all women only made them more dangerous.

The Balkhan in the middle saluted Satyabhama. ‘War Mistress, your orders.’

Satyabhama is called War Mistress. Balram is called the Giant. Why do they not have such titles for me? Krishna thought sourly.

‘Rain,’ Satyabhama acknowledged the salute. Rain. A name chosen by Satyabhama, no doubt. Those who joined the Silver Wolves discarded their old names and roles and adopted strange alter egos. There was an Arms, a Piety, and even a One Eye, serving under Satyabhama. ‘Rush to Commander Kain at the Walls, and rotate the defence on the Sisters. Ask the Reserve Force to send a quarter of their strength to the Dreamstone Spire to retrieve Lord Kritavarman. Send Piety to prepare the Griffin.’

‘You’re taking Garud!’ Krishna exclaimed. The half-lion-half-eagle was his pet, his alone, but Satyabhama seemed to have assumed joint custody without notice.

‘Is that a problem?’ she asked in the most menacing way a woman could string those four words together. Something very much like a smile tugged at the corner of Balram’s mouth. He always did love to watch Krishna squirm.

‘Have you forgotten how badly injured he was in the third battle? He isn’t a fire-breathing lizard, you know. Just a fluffy lion with wings. No Satya, he is too young to be flown into battle.’

‘He is a hundred years old! Our line of vision is blocked by the smoke pillars. We need eyes in the sky.’ How many armies in the world could say that? he mused with pride for a moment before shaking it off. ‘Griffins live eight hundred years, so by that scale of measure, he is just entering his growth spurt. Besides, he is the last surviving male of his line. Stop, Satyabhama! I will make another wager with you.’ Krishna craned his neck to look at the sundial on top of the Senate House. ‘Within the next hour the battle will cease. Will you take the wager?’