Melody took Kengetar's hand, gripping it tightly and smiling, pleased that he'd decided they'd had enough. She reached her other hand up to her lip, then held her bloody fingers out before her. 

"That hurt," she said playfully to the man who'd caused the injury. Speaking about someone drawing her blood, Melody said, "Not the first time ... probably not the last." 

She released Kengetar's hand and looked toward the tent flap. "[I]Kapiten![/i]" 

Broon, who had been waiting anxiously nearby, hurried in; he held his sword in his hand, ready to avenge what ever harm had been done to his Lady. But instead of finding her signaling such an act on his part, Melody casually gestured him to remain calm. 

"Gather your best ten men, Kapiten," she told him. "Equip them for a hike overland ... through the forest to the Bay Road." 

She was speaking of the road that connected the fishing villages of the Southernmost Bay to the Capital City. It wasn't a road traveled much by Yallans anymore. It was patrolled by [i]barbarian[/i] tribes who had a tendency of kidnapping travelers, ransoming those who came from money, and selling into slavery those who didn't. 

She looked to Kengetar again. "We would have a better chance of surviving in these hostile woods if we were joined by those who knew them. And, of course, there is still the matter of the task you have agreed to complete ... [i]and[/i], of course, the payment I will make once you have completed it."