The Indians’ horses were worth keeping, but nothing else they had was of any value to us. Their bodies were thrown to one side for the scavengers to... dine on tonight. One of the men who knew identified these as Kiowa, so we knew who we had to look out for. We really knew that anyway because we were in their territory, but it somehow made us feel better to put a positive name on our enemy.Nina stepped up the pace a little so that we had no trouble making up the time lost by the little skirmish,. That he’d kill Helena once he got her to do what he wanted was obvious. But Maria was still unharmed, which was more than she could say for the tribal girl screaming in ecstasy down below. Why not send Maria to the Rape Basement he’d had planned for Umiwama if Helena hadn’t made her happy with being a prostitute? If war with San Finzione was his ultimate goal, why not just execute Maria at the same time that he killed her?Her thoughts answered the question for her: Because Maria was someone. "Apparently there is a way to pick up onthe bonding of the Amazon scepter with the new queen. We know roughlywhere -- within a half-mile, anyway, and almost exactly when, ithappened, but we can't track it afterward. That was why everyone wasgoing crazy reviewing video tape and tracking down everyone theycould find who'd gone through that area at the time." He sighed. "Wefound nothing, and no one, to give us a clue. We still have teamsreviewing the list of people who went through Minneapolis at. Only a third of the castle could be approached by land, and was therefore easily defensible. Another lightning flash caused the king to flinch. He cursed again. His thoughts returned to the problem he faced. Custom dictated he choose a wife from the pool of approved candidates, none of whom appealed to him. The time he could wait had passed and a decision must be made. He decided to give up his tour and return to his bedchamber. As he reached the next portal he noticed the guard standing.