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“Have you considered the possibility, Sir Bili, that you might be dealing not with a proper, natural beast, but with a werewolf?” At Bili’s blank stare, he asked, “Does this wolf ever slay and eat other beasts?”

“No, Sir Djahn, and that has been an almighty puzzlement to us. The creature will pass directly in front of, leave spoor all around, a pen of helpless sheep or goats, then go into a house to kill and eat a grown man. Certain chambers back in the mountain, wherein we think he dens—for all that a thorough search failed to turn up trace of him—are all stacked high and hung with smoked flesh of all descriptions, yet he has never touched one flitch, that we could tell. He seems to crave only fresh-killed human flesh.”

“Just so, Sir Bili,” the elderly Skohshun nodded sagely. “When in his beast form, human flesh is all that a werewolf will ingest. And I find it understandable that you could not discover his lair, for he has none and needs none; in daylight hours, he passes freely and unsuspected among you, as one of you. Perhaps he even trod that dark warren beside you, or behind you, secretly laughing as he “aided” you in your search for that which he well knew did not exist.”

Bili did not try to repress or hide his shudder. “Then, Sir Djahn, is there no way to recognize, to detect, such a murderous monster in daylight?”

“A few,” answered Sir Djahn, “but they are not hard and fast or accurate in all cases, I have been informed; quite often, in fact, one or more of them will be possessed by men and women who are as normal as are you and I, so be most exceeding careful lest you make a hasty and erroneous judgment.

“When in their human guise, werewolves often are excessively hairy of body and limbs, with fast-sprouting beards and thick, coarse hair on their heads. More werewolves, it is said, have red or auburn hair than any other coloring. Their teeth are large and the upper cuspids are said to be noticeably longer than the other front teeth, and sometimes they are sharply pointed, as well. Often the two eyebrows of a werewolf will, when he is in his man form, grow thickly together above the nose, so that he appears to have but a single eyebrow. Men and women who are secret werewolves are exceeding strong and agile. The ears of these human monsters are said to be always small and laid flat against the skull, and sometimes they are pointed at the upper tip, as well. The third finger of their hands is right often as long or even longer than the middle one, whilst the nails of all the fingers are rounded rather than flat and very strong.

“Please understand, Sir Bili, I have never that I know of met or even seen a true werewolf. The knowledge that I pass on to you here is but a compendium of the ancient legends of my folk. The Skohshuns, long centuries agone, lived for a few years in a far northern land where real wolves were a constant menace and werewolves a hidden threat. But in my own life, I have known or at least met men and women bearing one or more of those supposed telltale traits who were no more werewolves than am I.

“I wish you luck, Sir Bili, whether you discover your manslayer to be natural or unnatural beast. But that discussion is not, you must know, the reason why my superior sent me back to enjoy your most generous hospitality.”

When the Skohshun herald had stated his case, he sat back and waited for what he was certain would ensue—probably polite refusal, possibly a refusal verging upon insult. He had been steeling himself for this latter possibility since he had ridden across the booming timbers of the bridge, for what he was here proposing was, indeed, ludicrous, all things considered. And so he was shocked to the innermost core of his being when his host answered.

Rolling the stem of his gold-washed silver goblet between his broad fingers, Bili regarded Sir Djahn for a longish moment, then nodded brusquely. “That which you suggest is not out of all reason, sir. Certain of my garrison, especially so the noblemen of New Kuhmbuhluhn, are become quite bored with the dragging aspects of siege warfare, and our sally the other night seemed rather to increase their thirsts than to slake them. What would you say to planning this set battle for next week?”

Old Sir Djahn felt as if the flat of a poleaxe had crashed upon his balding pate. But as it had been years in the forging, his steely self-control immediately asserted itself and his voice and outward demeanor rang calm and assured in tone and appearance.

“I believe that Sir Ahrthur was thinking more in terms of two weeks hence, Sir Bili, or perhaps even three.”

Bili shook his head. “Two weeks, Sir Djahn, no more. The autumn is short hereabouts, as well you should know, and the winter snows follow quickly upon autumn’s heels. Are my noble New Kuhmbuhluhn officers who are landholders to get back to their fiefs and properly prepare the earth for next spring’s planting, it must be done soon.”

Sir Djahn’s white eyebrows rose a careful half inch. “You assume that New Kuhmbuhluhn arms will triumph over somewhat superior numbers, then, Sir Bili?”

“Why not?” grinned Bili. “You obviously assume that your quantity will triumph over our superior quality. Expect you not a near rout of Kuhmbuhluhn arms such as you Skohshuns enjoyed when last we met at swords’ points, either, Sir Djahn. The late King Mahrtuhn in his dotage and senility deliberately crippled that field force, denying us the use of what are the most effective means of dealing with schiltrons and similar formations. Neither his present majesty nor I will be so foolish and deluded in our own choices of strategy and tactics, you may believe that. We will meet you armed with every advantage we may possess, expecting no less from you and your army.

“So, where shall we fight, Sir Djahn? On the plain between the base of the mountain and your camp, perhaps? I think me that that would be the logical place.”

Sir Djahn smiled fleetingly. “Logical, maybe, but not a safe place for Skohshun regiments to group, you must admit; not with the range of your engines to be considered or the weights they can throw for that range. No, let us meet on the other side of the camp.”

“I march my men into the jaws of no traps,” Bili stated flatly. “Nor do I commence a battle with foemen both before and behind, not if I have the ordering of it.

“But, too, I can empathize with you, so let us plan it in the following way. . . .”

“That was the very best that I could do, Ahrthur,” Sir Djahn told the brigadier immediately he returned to the Skohshun camp. “It is not the three weeks I know you would have preferred, but it is not either the bare single week that Duke Bili originally suggested; we compromised on that as well as on other matters.”

The brigadier just sat listening and fingering idly the small, blunt-ended dagger he used to ream out his pipes. When Sir Djahn was done, he said, “You seemed so certain when you departed that those New Kuhmbuhluhnburkers would refuse at the very least, might even laugh you out of the city, yet this so canny war leader of theirs apparently accepted our outrageous—patently outrageous, all things and conditions considered, and I’ll now be the first and the foremost to admit that fact-proposal. Now I want to know why, Djahn. Why did this man willingly toss away a brimful basket of real advantages and agree to meet our regiments openly, on the plain, where the clear advantages are ours?”

The herald shrugged. “It’s a true gamble to take for gospel what any opposing war leader says, especially if he happens to be a known professional, a mercenary with damnall ties to the troops he commands. You are not wrong to suspect that this mysterious Duke Bili of Morguhn may well be dicing with a tapered cup or may well have a double bushel of aces up his sleeves, but I, who have met and talked with him, am a bit more inclined to believe the explanations he gave for wishing to get it all over and done with now.

“For one thing, he is saddled, afflicted, with a gaggle of noble fire-eaters of Kuhmbuhluhn who are growing bored and dissatisfied with the inactivity of a siege. For another, even the steadier vassals of King Byruhn are all a-itch to get back to their lands and prepare them for the planting season, next year. For the last, Duke Bili gave me the impression that he would like nothing so well as to leave New Kuhmbuhluhn with his condotta and go on to a new contract elsewhere, which is, one supposes, understandable in a professional.