The tent shook, an indicator of the approaching storm. If he lingered here, soon he would have no choice but to stay until the storm passed, unable to make it back to the network of caves where he had left supplies to stay the night. The other men sensed it too, these men who had pursued Aturdokht onto Ubaid land. Marwan had moved his tents deliberately close to Jamin's village, not close enough to provoke retaliation, but enough to signal to these strangers the tribe sought an alliance with his people.
"Come … eat!" Marwan ordered. As head of this tent, custom dictated no guest should eat until he took the first bite. He did so now, stabbing a portion of roast goat with his blade and carrying the charred delicacy to his mouth, the mouth which spoke, that is. The mouth which did not speak
