"Wasps?"
"Yes, sir," said Marshal Benjamin. "Butterflies, wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, fire ants, wolves, bears, and a mysterious woman."
"What sorcery is this?" asked the king, staring off to the right. "Wait," he said, "What woman?"
"She told Captain Boaz to tell the 'dragons he serves' that the forest is alive and will defend itself."
"There was a lone woman out in the woods with the wasps and bears?"
"So he says," said the marshal.
The king stared at him. "This is trickery."
"The solders have the wounds to prove it. Wasp and ant stings all over their bodies and vicious bites from beasts of the field."
"Sorcery can do that," said the king. "Convince a man he’s being stung by a hundred wasps, and see if he doesn’t grow welts. That woman is enchanting our men somehow."
The marshal lowered his eyes. "If you say so, sir." He looked up at the king. "Either way, I don’t know how to fight it."
The king looked off to the east. "I do."
He turned back to Benjamin. "You said that captain of yours met a woman who claimed to live in those woods?"
"Yes, sir."
The king nodded, then looked away again. "Tell Zebulun Koh I want to see him."