The little clearing in which they pitched camp was barely large enough for the four tents and a central fire pit; the carts were left in a line on the trail they'd traveled, and those not assigned to a tent used the limbs of the trees of the surrounding forest to erect simple lean-tos out of their tent covers. Broon approached Melody after the tents were erected to inform her that sentries had been posted and scouts had been dispatched.

"And Kengetar?" she asked, knowing that her Captain was sensitive about the [i]barbarian[/i] having not only so much freedom but a weapon as well.

"He slipped off into the forest a few minutes ago," he said, showing no more concern that he already had been. "I believe he is looking for a way around the slide."

"Or making contact with some Sedent relatives who will sneak out of the trees in the night to slice our throats?" Melody asked wryly, raising a questioning eyebrow. When the officer only stared at his Lady, she told him, "Feel free to keep an eye on the Sedents, Kapiten. But you are forbidden to take any action against them without my expressed permission. Do you understand? You are [i]primed[/i] to not trust Kengetar, and I do not want that to lead to a misunderstanding that will deny me my revenge."

"Yes, m'lady," Broon said, saluting before being dismissed.

Melody's Captain hadn't been the only Yallan keeping a close eye on Kengetar, though, the reason for [i]this[/i] person's attention had nothing to do with whether or not the man might want to slip away or slit a throat. Frandy had done her part in setting up her Lady's tent before telling the more senior tent slave that she needed to tend to her [i]Moonblood[/i] issues. Haanya gave the younger servant a confused look; the two women worked so closely together that Haanya knew almost to the day when Frandy was next expected to [i]bleed[/i], and today was most definitely [i]not[/i] that day. Still, she said only, "Hurry back. There is still midday meal to prepare."

Frandy milled about the spontaneously erected camp, searching for the barbarian with the impressive [i]manhood[/i], only to learn from overhearing her Lady and the Captain's conversation that the man had slipped off into the woods to scout ... or run? She hurried back to the first cart, the last place anyone talking about Kengetar had seen him. Acting as if she was only searching the cart for goods until no one was looking her way, [url=https://i.imgur.com/qczU414.jpg?1]Frandy[/url] suddenly turned and sprinted into the undergrowth. She hesitated to look for prying eyes, saw none, and hurried off into the forest, following a deer trail she [i]hoped[/i] would get her to the man who made her so warm and tingly in all the right places.