### 232

Silently you dismount and approach the charred tower door. Through the split timbers you see a man crouching beside a smouldering fire, cooking a bird that is skewered on the point of his dagger. He wears clothes cut from supple leather dyed deep crimson, and coiled on his hip you notice a Bullwhip, its braids studded with nuggets of copper.

‘Join me!’ he says suddenly, without raising his eyes from the glowing charcoal fire. ‘There’s enough meat on this fledgling for the two o’ us.’

If you wish to accept the stranger’s offer, turn to 129.

If you decide to remount your horse and hurry away, turn to 75.