Voices erupted from no fewer than eight directions simultaneously.
A woman who had barely spoken all day was suddenly fully upright and animated. Two of the younger bandits had physically moved to stand up from their logs, faces pink with competitive earnestness.
Even the older, matronly woman with the water jug from earlier was straightening her vest with a very deliberate sort of dignity, her heavy bosom rising.
Lira's expression went through approximately four stages in two seconds.
"You all—" Her voice came out a pitch higher than she intended. She stood up, the full authority of her frame and the veteran scar across her jaw reasserting itself. "Shut up! Every single one of you, shut up right now!"
The camp quieted, though the flush on several faces did not.
Lira pointed at Viktor with a directness that brooked no argument and seemed very much like a woman who had decided something with great rapidity. "You. You're sleeping with me."
