‘What happened to you, friend Kring?’ Tynian asked him.

‘There was some small dissatisfaction with Sir Bevier’s plan, I’m afraid,’ Kring replied ruefully. ‘One of the dissidents slipped up behind me.’

‘I would never have thought Peloi warriors would attack from the rear.’

‘Of course they wouldn’t, but my attacker wasn’t a man. A Peloi woman of high rank sneaked around behind me and banged me on the head with a cooking pot.’

‘I hope you had her suitably punished.’

‘I couldn’t really do that, friend Tynian. She’s my own sister. Our mother would never have forgiven me if I’d had the little brat flogged. None of the women liked Bevier’s idea at all, but my sister was the only one who dared to reprimand me about it.’

‘Are your womenfolk concerned about their own safety?’ Bevier asked him.

‘Of course not. They’re as brave as lionesses. What does concern them is the fact that one of them will be placed in charge of this women’s camp. Peloi women are very sensitive about status. All the menfolk thought your plan was a splendid idea, but the women –’ He spread his hands helplessly. ‘What man can ever understand a woman?’ He squared his shoulders then and got down to business. ‘I’ve put my sub-chiefs to work on organizing the camp here. We’ll leave a minimal force, and all the rest of us will make some show of riding towards the Zemoch border as if we planned to invade. From time to time at night we’ll detach forces to sneak back here and take up positions in the surrounding hills to wait for the Zemochs. You’ll all ride along and slip away when we get near the border.’

‘A very sound plan, friend Kring,’ Tynian approved.

‘I sort of thought so myself,’ Kring grinned. ‘Come along, my friends. I’ll take you to the tents of my clan. We’re roasting a span of oxen for supper. We’ll take salt together and talk of affairs.’ He seemed to think of something. ‘Friend Stragen,’ he said, ‘you know the Tamul woman Mirtai better than our other friends do. Is she at all gifted in the art of cooking?’

‘I’ve never eaten anything she prepared, Domi,’ Stragen admitted. ‘She once told us of a journey she made on foot when she was a girl, though. As I understand it, she subsisted primarily on wolf.’

‘Wolf? How do you cook a wolf?’

‘I don’t think she did. She was in a hurry, I guess, so she just ate the wolf as she went.’

Kring swallowed very hard. ‘She ate him raw?’ he asked in wonder. ‘How did she manage to catch one?’

Stragen shrugged. ‘Chased him down, more than likely,’ he replied. ‘Then she tore off some of the choicer parts and ate him as she ran.’