“Welcome home—husband.”
Simna ibn Sind woke up screaming.
The sounds of his yelling and thrashing about startled his companions to wakefulness. This included Hunkapa Aub, who, having never been relieved of his watch, had fallen asleep where he sat. Around the dying embers of the campfire the forest was silent, and night still held sway over the world.
Ehomba rushed to his friend’s side. “Simna, what is wrong? Is there anything I can do?” Nearby, Hunkapa Aub was still trying to shake the sleep webs from his brain while the black litah looked on unblinkingly.
“Anything you can … ?” The swordsman looked up at his rangy companion. “Yes, by Guquaquo. If you ever hear me making noises like that in my sleep ever again, wake me instantly.” Putting both hands to his head, he stared blankly at the corpse of the campfire. “Hoy, what a nightmare! I—I was domesticated!”
His expression twisting, Ehomba stood up and stepped back. “Is that all?”
Simna fixed the herdsman with a look of utmost seriousness. “Bruther, every man has his own fears. I do not mock yours. Grant me the same courtesy.”
Ehomba nodded soberly. “You are right, my friend. I apologize.” His expression tightened slightly. “I am curious, for I also had a most peculiar dream. I had four legs and the keenest imaginable senses, and was hunting.”
“And I,” Ahlitah put in with a reverberating growl, “walked on two legs like humans, and visited a place where intercourse was expected to be paid for with human money.”
It was left, unsurprisingly, for Ehomba to sort out what must have taken place.