It quickly became clear to Wulfram that Alastar was significantly stronger than he was. The man swung an axe like it was nothing, each swing taking off huge chunks of wood before it fell with a mighty thud that shook the ground. It took nearly twice as long for Wulfram to cut down his own tree, muscles complaining as he pushed himself in an attempt to match Alastar’s strength. But the man was simply bigger and stronger. Perhaps there was truth in the rumors that the people of Hesiodos were descended from a mating of dragons and humans.

Alastar had a slight smirk on his face as their groups started to strip the trees of their branches. It would be far more than they needed for the night, but they weren’t just leaving the border undefended. The camps on either side could both use the wood.

Still, he didn’t have to look so smug. Wulfram wiped sweat off his brow and leaned on his axe as he looked at Alastar. “I see the rumors of your strength aren’t exaggerated.”

“I see yours are.” Alastar grinned toothily at Wulfram.

Wulfram’s smile froze on his face for a moment, and he could feel one of his eyes twitch slightly. The smug bastard. “Well, not all of us can spend our time cutting down trees. There are other skills that must be honed just as much as strength.”

“Oh? And what skills are as important as being strong?”

“Diplomacy, for one.” Wulfram straightened, lifting his axe and setting it on his shoulders. “It keeps us from doing things like insulting a man's strength. Or mentioning the rumors that one's ancestors laid with beasts.”

Alastar’s smile faded slightly, twisting into a snarl. “Are you implying something, little prince?”

“Not at all. I was merely providing examples of what a good education in diplomacy would help a person avoid.” Wulfram gave Alastar his own toothy grin.

The larger man scowled down at Wulfram, blue eyes narrowing slightly. But the scowl slowly relaxed into a more assessing look. Alastar nodded slightly, letting out a snort. “Examples.” He shouldered his own axe and headed to help the men cut the tree into firewood and kindling.

Wulfram remained where he stood for another moment. He let out a slow breath, urging his heart to beat a little slower and the tension to ease from his muscles. He had half expected Alastar to swing at him, he had danced dangerously close to the line with the comment about laying with beasts. But he had to wonder if it was true, given the size and strength of the man. He looked over the Hesiodos group, men and women. They were all strong, but that wasn’t unexpected given the way their people lived. But many of them were larger than normal, head and shoulders above the tallest of Wulfram’s men. Even some of their women were large. He watched as one swung her axe, cleaving a branch off in one solid stroke.

How much truth was there to those rumors? And how could he find out without getting himself killed or causing a war? Wulfram shook his head and strode over to the tree to help. There were bigger concerns than whether they were really descended from humans and dragons.

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But he couldn’t help being curious.

By the time they were done cutting up the trees, someone had already started a warm fire and set a boar over it to roast. Wulfram looked around the camp, sensing the underlying tension in his men. They had been at odds with Hesiodos for a long time, and that was going to take time to fix.

How could he speed the process along? Wulfram frowned in thought and then smirked. How else? A bit of liquor and song could go a long way towards making friends. He caught Ben’s eye and waved him over.

“Ben, see about getting us some whiskey, would you? And if anyone plays an instrument. We’re going to have a little bit of a party tonight before we get on the road.”

Ben’s face broke into a grin, and he nodded. “I know there’s some that play instruments, I’ll see what I can do about gathering them up. Perhaps our guests will have some that can play as well?”

“I’ll ask. Nothing brings people together quite as well as music and drink.”

“And sex.” Ben laughed and headed off towards the main camp.

Wulfram shook his head, smirking faintly. He had to admit that some of the Hesiodos women were beautiful, but he had his eyes set on someone a little scrawnier and less likely to break him in half.

“Damn.” He whispered, lightly touching the bracelet that was their shared connection. How could he be such a fool?

With another shake of his head, he resolutely turned his mind from Dani, focusing on more immediate concerns.

Alastar wasn’t hard to find, large even to his own people’s standards. He stood bent over the woman with grey eyes, and a man with long blonde hair braided with bones and crystals. They were looking at some kind of scroll, a compass of deep red magic floating above it with two arrows, a large one, and a faint one.

Blood magic. His stomach turned, and he hesitated a moment before striding forward with a smile plastered on his face.

Blood magic, necromancy, desecration of the dead, they all turned his stomach. And there were still issues in the Tangle that needed to be addressed along those lines. Hopefully progress was being made already. For now, he had to face the blood magic of the Hesiodos with a smiling face and a gesture of peace and friendship.

“King Alastar, may I have a moment of your time?”

Alastar looked up at Wulfram, a thoughtful expression on his face. The shaman cut his hand through the compass, and it fell in droplets of blood back onto the skin they held between them.

Wulfram felt a chill run up his spine, but he cleared his throat. “We are preparing drink and music for this evening. I was wondering if you had some musically inclined people in your party that may wish to contribute their talents to the entertainment.”

Alastar straightened to his full height, rolling up the skin and tucking it into his belt. “There are many who are musical in the clans of Hesiodos. We will add our skills to that of your people. Was musical training part of the skills you focused on that was not strength?”

“It was, but I am not ashamed to admit I have no talent for making music myself. Was it part of your education?” Wulfram had to fight to keep his smile in place at the admission. He would like to beat the Hesiodos man in something, but knew full well music would not be it. There wasn’t even a point in pretending.

“One of my Mothers taught me to drum. I will teach you.” Alastar grinned, blue eyes sparkling with mirth.

Gods above he couldn’t be serious. Drumming like some primitive? He shook the bias away and nodded. “I would be pleased to learn, thank you. We do not often drum on things in Cresenvasht.”

“Then this will be a good thing for you to experience.” Alastar clapped Wulfram on the back, nearly knocking the wind out of him.

“I can hardly wait.” Wulfram tried to channel some sincerity into his voice, forcing a smile.