”Solja’s lips pulled back in a snarl. “They still abuse her image! I can break him in half!”“Solja,” I said, putting my hand on his other ...rm, “you’ll get your chance to redress those wrongs, but when it’s the right time.”“Will I?” He stared down at me with such fury in his eyes.I nodded. “Kurtis will make sure of it. Let’s embarrass the empress and her champions in the arena.”“Yes, yes, she’s new,” said the warleader. “I found her in the middens, the filthy beast, but she has rare. But Eric, he was a horse of a completely different colour. He got up every morning at 5:30, no matter how late he came in the night before. He worked through the day, usually through lunch, and stayed late most of the week and most weekends. He really worked too hard. And when I saw him in the evening, he was too exhausted to do more than have a cursory conversation. He was distant most of the time. I think he didn't know how to treat me, or how to react to me. At night, we would do our marital. At first I was surprised, but then let her have her way. I was sitting in a big easy chair with high arms at the time. After she had my eyes completely covered with the clay, I reached up behind me and grabbed her, pulling her down over my shoulder. She was bent over the back of the chair and my shoulder with her head down toward my legs, and I was holding her in that position. As she is very petite, it wasn't hard to hold her. Although I couldn't see it, her long dark hair had to be hanging. ”I sighed. “Look, there are limits to what I can say here. I’m telling you there is a problem. There is ALREADY a problem!”“He’s telling me there isn’t.”“I know. I also know better.”“You can’t tell me...”“If I tell you everything, I’ll endanger my friendship with Red. It’s an ‘us against them’ situation -- and I can’t defect to your side. But you need to think this thing through.” I wasn’t getting anywhere, so I changed the subject. “How come you guys never had kids?”“What does that have to do.