answer such words. He punched the emissary
soundly in the stomach! The man went down to his knees, gasping. "I
meant," he explained, "no insult. It was simply a poor choice of words.
Among my
people, we have no other words to express such things. The only women
we have on the battlefield are whores that sometimes fight with their
men. They have only one other function between battles."
136 "I would suggest," announced Thundering Dove, "that from now on you
choose your words much more carefully. Many of these men here, have
fought with this lady in combat, and would cut your throat for such
statements. For they consider they owe her their lives!"
137 "I will be careful," the man promised.
138 "Now," inquired Thundering Dove, "do your people wish to surrender?"
139 "No," snapped the emissary, "we wish to stop the fighting. We will
NEVER surrender! But we are willing to forget the shame that you have
inflicted on us, if you are willing to be reasonable and give us back
those cities you have stolen. We will pay a high ransom. Also, we will
ransom our sons you have in captivity. Then, all of us can simply go
home and forget about this fighting. We can be at peace, one with the
other."
140 "Just like that," questioned Thundering Dove, "you say 'peace,' and
you think it will end. There will have to be far more to it than that.
All the golden-skinned people you have taken captive must be freed,
every man, woman and child, and their cities must be returned."
141 "Never," cried the emissary, "we had grievances with them from many
years passed. They forbade us to send missionaries into their land, and
they murdered those among their people who