Chapter 21
Damiskos was woken by a shriek. He bolted upright in the sand to find that it was fully light, and their stronghold was under siege again.
“Don’t you tell me what to do, you—you—you harpy!” one of the women wailed behind him.
Another gave an outraged gasp. “What did you just call me?”
“Girls, girls!” Nione cried, literally wringing her hands. “Please, you mustn’t fight like this.”
Damiskos suppressed a grin as he realized what was going on. They were putting into practice his strategy to make the enemy think they were on the verge of mutiny. They were doing it beautifully.
He got to his feet, looking out at the besieging force, which consisted of most of the fishermen, some of the porters, and the broken-nosed student. They were armed with clubs and kitchen knives, but the
