Pakriaa murmured, "I have never seen you fight."
Spearman laughed. Wright said, "You will, Abro Pakriaa. If you will accept one of us as commander, the army can strike as one soldier. There would be less confusion. And Lantis will not expect it."
That brought shrewdness to the little red face. "But you can do nothing hiding behind this pile of stones."
"A temporary shelter while we shoot. You know our fire sticks. This building commands the upper part of the lake and this end of the meadow. We will not be trapped here. There will be no siege. If it is necessary to retreat, we'll know the right moment to do it."
The oldest captain, Nisana, a wiry, quiet woman, said, "Abro Kamisiaa herself spoke of a thing like this."
Pakriaa murmured absently, "Did I give you leave to speak?" But she was not angry; she was considering it. "This is better, Tocwright, what you say now. I will send, learn if my sisters agree. But who will be the leader?"
"That should be decided now," Wright said, and Paul thought: Here it comes, Ed—you get what you want at last. And he remembered that obscure thing which might not have been in Spearman's mind at all: desertion—the thing was a dirty word, and the mind would not speak it. But Wright was staring at him—at him, not at Spearman. "There's only one of us," Wright said, "who ought to lead, in this trouble. That is my feeling, Abro Pakriaa, but I alone cannot decide it. All of us here should vote on it."
Pakriaa understood the nature of a vote. Under her iron monarchy, minor village matters were often decided by that method if her own attitude happened to be neutral. Once made, and approved by herself, a pygmy vote was binding as magic. Her gaze touched the giants with a sour smile. She was visibly counting; then she was studying Paul with new curiosity.
Of the giants, only the two new recruits were not in evidence. Paul glimpsed the red-furred boy peering from the doorway of Mijok's private room; Surok went in to soothe him. Pakriaa said, "I will consent. After the vote I will inform my sisters as quickly as I can."
Wright's fingers were frozen in his gray beard. "Then I ask that Paul Mason take command, his orders to be followed without question."