The Induna's Wife

The narrator, encamped beside a field of recent battle, is joined by an aged warrior who recounts past exploits: fierce campaigns that won him honor and a White Shield, marriage to a powerful sorceress, and service to a wary king who fears both external enemies and internal conspiracies. Through linked reminiscences and returned journeys the story traces raids, rituals, and the uneasy peace that gives way to darker troubles, including a mysterious epidemic called the Red Death and supernatural practices at an ironworkers' kraal. Themes of loyalty, political suspicion, and the clash between martial life and occult power run through the episodic, adventure-driven narrative.