Uzfan looked troubled. “Have you seen Grethori?‘

“There are no bandits,” Draysinko said with a sneer before she could answer.  “They would have bothered us by now if they meant to. Alexeika has the weak mind of a woman. She must invent something to worry about if there is nothing there.” “It’s no good accusing me,” she told him furiously. “I’m no shirker. You’re too lazy to—” “Hold your tongue!” he shouted, his face bright red behind its beard. “You should be veiled and silent, like a proper woman.”

Kexis jumped between Draysinko and Alexeika and swung wildly at Draysinko. He missed, but the weaver ducked back just the same. “You will not insult her!” Kexis shouted.

“Kexis, no!” Alexeika said.

They ignored her. Draysinko narrowed his eyes and backhanded the boy. Kexis went reeling to the ground. At once he jumped up, clenching his fists, and tried to charge, but Alexeika gripped him by the back of his tunic and held him.  “No,” she said sharply.

He struggled in her hold. “That dirty—”

“Cease!” she snapped in her training voice.

He froze in place, red to the tips of his ears, and she shook him by his shoulder.

“No,” she repeated.

Kexis’s brown eyes, full of indignation, met hers. “He should not speak to you like that.”

“Thank you for your defense,” she said, “but there will be no violence in the camp. That is our rule, Kexis. Go tend to the pelts.”

The boy ducked his head, nodding obediently, then shot Draysinko a hateful glare before he walked away.

An awkward silence descended over them. Vlad and Willem stood round-eyed, and several other women and small children had appeared to goggle at them.  “Draysinko, you will speak to the princess with respect,” Uzfan said, breaking the silence.

The weaver was glaring at Alexeika. “You have a retinue of savage puppies.”

She glared back. “Did it give you satisfaction to knock down a boy?”