The weak banded together can be pretty despicable, but it dawned on the duchess that an alliance of the strong can be more of an immediate problem. There was total silence for a few seconds, broken only by a faint panting, and then the duchess grinned, raised her knife, and charged the lot of them. The front ranks of the massed creatures opened to let her pass, and then closed in again. Even the rabbits. The kingdom exhaled.
