Dawn of Empire (15 page)

Trella studied him carefully. Not a hint of worry in the man. He seemed relaxed and assured, no trace of last night’s doubts. She realized how different he was from the merchants and traders she’d grown up with. A warrior, he needed only to know what to do. He would work out the how, and once begun, he would be like an arrow launched from a bowstring—no hesitation and no turning back.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

He smiled at her, a real smile full of warmth and caring. “Perhaps. I’ve been thinking about the meeting. I still need to talk to the men. But I think I will need your help.”

She smiled back and reached her hand out to his across the table. “Tell me what to do.”

5

–-

In two hours, I meet with Nicar and the Five Families,” Esk kar began, speaking to Gatus and the three men he’d selected as subcommanders.

They sat shoulder to shoulder at the small table in Esk kar’s quarters.

Gatus sat next to Esk kar. Bantor, Jalen, and Sisuthros faced their new captain across the table. A water jar and cups rested between them.

Bantor, a reliable man who could follow orders, was a little older than Esk kar. Jalen, about five years younger, had come to Orak from the west.

An excellent fighter and one of the few good horsemen in Orak, Jalen had quarreled with Ariamus and his toadies even more than Esk kar. Sisuthros had just reached his twentieth season, but had sharp wits to match his skill with a sword.

Except for Gatus, none had commanded any significant number of men before. Ariamus had kept them in the ranks, promoting his favorites who followed his orders without thinking. Esk kar had marked these three as men of courage and ability who could be relied on. Most of all, they’d dared to disagree with Ariamus.

“There’ll be much arguing at Nicar’s meeting, but most of the nobles will decide to stay and fight. Afterward, Nicar will go to the marketplace and speak to the people, as will I. You and the men will be there, to keep order. Follow my lead, and help sway the villagers. If any in the crowd get out of control, don’t be afraid to break a few heads. There will be plenty of blood shed before this is over, so we might as well start today.”

Esk kar studied them. They seemed steady enough. “Bantor, you’ll take charge of the gates. Assign three men to each. No one leaves the village without permission from Nicar or me. No one—and that includes any of the Five Families.”

Their faces showed disbelief, their doubts clearly visible. Breaking a few heads—that they could understand. But standing up to the Five Families and their armed guards clearly involved more danger.

Esk kar saw the question on the man’s face. “We cannot have men leave the village and take with them anything or any slave we’ll need to defend it,” he explained. “So if a man wants to leave and take, say, a craftsman or builder slave with him, we must not allow that. Our lives may depend on such men.”

“What about those going out to the fields?” Bantor cocked his head.

Better to question than not, Esk kar knew. “I don’t mean those just going for the day, Bantor, only those planning to leave the village permanently and taking their goods with them. If any want to leave on their own, fine.

But no men of property, taking either slaves or tools or baggage, leaves without our approval.”

“Noble Drigo’s men are in the streets and in the market, talking to everyone,” Bantor offered. “They’re acting as if they already rule the village.

Some are saying Drigo will take command of Orak and the soldiers.”

“Well, I have a surprise for Noble Drigo,” Esk kar said, thanking the gods for Trella’s warning, “but we’ll talk of that later.”

“Men won’t want to give up their slaves, Esk kar,” Gatus remarked.

“They’ll make trouble if you try to stop them.”

Esk kar nodded. “If they have something we want, we’ll pay them for it, be it slave or tool or weapon. Nicar and the Families will pay them, that is.”

The men exchanged glances but said nothing. He ignored the looks.

He needed them to believe in him, at least until after today, when they’d see for themselves how events played out.

“Starting tomorrow, we begin recruiting and training. In the next few months, hundreds of people will be pouring into the village, fleeing the barbarians. We must be ready to arm and train them.”

“You can’t train men to fight barbarians, not in a few months,” Jalen objected, his voice rising in protest.

“We’re not going to go out and fight them man - to - man. Instead, we’ll battle them from the wall we build around the village. We will fight them with archers. Any man can bend a bow. Gatus and I have discussed this and it can be done.” Esk kar turned toward Gatus, who nodded agreement.

“I’ve always wanted to train a large group of men to fight as one,” Gatus said. “Now I’ll have my chance.”

The old soldier had many strange ideas about how to train men, and nothing gave him more pleasure than sweating recruits into shape.

“They’ll surround us and rush the village from all sides,” Jalen insisted.

“Even bowmen cannot stop that kind of attack.”

“Not so fast, Jalen.” Esk kar gave a short laugh. “We’ll make sure they can come at us in force from only one direction, against our strongest point. We’ll wait behind our wall, wait until they run out of food, wait until they must move on. We don’t have to defeat them or drive them off.

We just have to make them grow tired of attacking us. I know we can do that.”

Esk kar rapped his cup on the table. “And every time they attack our wall, we’ll slaughter them. We’ll force them from their horses and kill them with arrows.” He saw the skepticism in their faces. They’d seen action against barbarians at one time or another. They knew how tough they were.

“You know once a man is off his horse,” Esk kar went on, “he’s easy to kill, and barbarians are even easier. From childhood, they fight from their horses. Their swords and lances are meant to strike from the horse, their bows to fire while racing at the enemy. Once dismounted, they’ll be poor fighters and easy targets for archers standing behind a wall.”

“The barbarians are archers, too, Esk kar.” Sisuthros had encountered the barbarians before and still carried the scar. “They can shoot our men off the walls just as easily.”

“Perhaps not as easily as you think, Sisuthros, but I’m glad all of you are thinking of these things. Barbarians use short, curved bows. We’ll use hunting bows, longer and more powerful, with a heavier arrow. We’ll start killing them before they can get into range, and the wall will protect our men from their arrows.”

“You really think a wall can stop them, Captain?” Sisuthros asked.

“Yes. They’ve never faced one before, a wall full of well - armed and well - trained men.”

Gatus pulled at his beard. “Can a wall strong enough and high enough be built in time? I mean, how high must it be?”

Esk kar shrugged. “Now you’re ahead of me. That’s one of the things I need to find out, and it will take several days of working with the artisans and builders. That’s why none of them can be allowed to leave.”

He looked at each of them in turn. “The hardest part of this battle against the barbarians is going to happen in the next few hours,” he said, glancing at the window. He didn’t have much time.

“If the Five Families accept our plan, the village can be held. That’s why it’s important that you all be in the market and that you follow my lead. Nicar and I will sway the Five Families. You must help us convince the crowd.”

“You’re asking us to risk our lives, Esk kar, as well as our families,”

Sisuthros said. “If we stay and fight … if we fail …”

“Nicar and I will risk as much. Or would you rather take your families and start roaming the countryside, looking for a safe place to live? When we drive the barbarians off, your places here will be secure. Besides, I’ve doubled your pay. That should stiffen your backbones. When the barbarians are driven off, you’ll each receive twenty gold coins, plus a double share of any loot taken from the barbarians.”

The mention of gold had the desired effect.

“But that’s not enough to keep men fighting. I’ve fought them many times, and even when I’ve killed them, I’ve always had to give ground. I’m tired of giving way to them, and I’m tired of being told what great fighters they are. It’s time to make them afraid of us.”

Esk kar’s words hung in the air for a long moment before Jalen spoke up. “I have not spoken to anyone of this, but seven years ago, barbarians overran my village, murdered my father, and took my mother and sister as slaves. I’ve killed many of them since, and I want only the opportunity to kill more. I’ll follow your orders, Esk kar, as long as you stand and fight them. I’m not afraid of them, even on their horses.”

Esk kar nodded, understanding the man’s pain. The village held many more like him. And now he knew why Jalen had often looked at him with anger in his eyes, seeing only a man from a barbarian clan, not the soldier Esk kar had become.

“We’re all fi ghting men, and our fi ght against the barbarians begins today. The first step will be to stop Drigo from taking control of Orak. Even with Nicar’s backing, I expect we’ll see some blood spilled before dark.

What I’m asking won’t be easy. It will likely be the most danger you’ve ever faced. But if we win, the rewards will be great. So I ask you: will you follow me down this road, to win gold for ourselves and to save Orak? Or must I look to other men to join me?”

One by one, they looked at each other, and slowly nodded assent.

Esk kar smiled in satisfaction. He’d gotten them this far. Now he’d fi nd out just how much they were willing to risk. He glanced up at the sun.

“Good. Now there’s one more thing we have to plan, and cursed little time to do it.”

The crowds thronged the narrow lanes. Esk kar had never seen so many in the marketplace. Every man wanted to stop and question him as he pushed through on the way to Nicar’s house. Gatus, Sisuthros, Adad, and two others accompanied Esk kar. Dressed in his new tunic and sandals, Esk kar moved confidently, taking long, purposeful strides that parted the crowd ahead of him. His short sword hung from his belt, freshly oiled to stay loose in its scabbard.

Behind him walked Trella, head properly downcast, wearing her new dress. The garment hadn’t been woven from the fancy cloth worn by rich merchants or wealthy farmers, but it fitted her new station and looked much better than the cast - off garment she’d worn as Nicar’s slave. Esk kar hadn’t thought to tell her what to buy or how much to spend, but it didn’t surprise him that she had sense enough to buy something practical.

Turning into the lane where Nicar lived, Esk kar found what he’d been told to expect. Almost twenty men lounged about, the hired bodyguards of the Families. Using the authority of their masters, they lorded it over both the villagers and the soldiers for at least as long as Esk kar had lived in Orak. When they saw him approach, most of them straightened up and a rough line formed across the lane, a dozen paces from Nicar’s gate. Most of those blocking the way wore Drigo’s emblem on their tunics.

Naxos, Noble Drigo’s chief bodyguard, had broad shoulders and a coarse red beard that failed to cover a poxed face and a missing tooth. He stood in the center of the lane, directly in Esk kar’s path.

“The meeting of the Five Families is closed to soldiers,” Naxos said in a loud voice, as Esk kar’s party approached, making sure everyone heard his authority. Naxos hooked his thumbs on the thick leather of his sword belt.

“I’ve been summoned by Nicar,” Esk kar answered reasonably, stopping about five paces from the line. “Am I forbidden to enter as well?”

Naxos, one of the few men in the village as tall as Esk kar, stared him in the eyes and took his time before replying. “You may enter,” he answered, still speaking in a forceful tone that carried the length of the lane, as if deciding the matter himself, “but the rest of your men must return to their shit - hole of a barracks. There’s no need for play soldiers here.”

So they wanted him alone. No doubt Drigo didn’t want too much bloodshed either. Then they’d jump him as he passed through their line.

Esk kar mentally thanked the man for his offensive words. Nothing could have provoked his men or stiffened their resolve more. They’d all been bullied and ridiculed by Naxos and the other guards. Esk kar looked at the men standing boldly beside Naxos, hands on their swords, smiles on their faces, confident in their authority. Esk kar could hear the crowd behind him begin to melt away.

“My men go where I tell them, Naxos,” Esk kar said firmly. “Stand aside and let us pass.”

Naxos’s laugh boomed across the alleyway. “You’re a pig of a barbarian, Esk kar, and should have been taught a lesson long ago. I’ll have your head on a plate if your men aren’t on their way.”

The man standing next to Naxos, burly and young, drew his sword, eyes wide with excitement. “Let me kill him for you, Naxos,” he said eagerly.

Esk kar didn’t reply. Instead, he slowly raised his left hand above his shoulder, palm outward, as if to appease the man. But instead of saying anything, Esk kar simply pointed his finger at the troublemaker. There was a hiss in the air and a soft thud, and the man looked down to see a long arrow buried in the center of his chest.

No one moved as the dying man first gasped a long breath, then looked up, the sword slipping from his hand and falling to the ground. Then he was on his knees, pitching facedown into the dust. Nobody moved. All of Naxos’s men looked up, open - mouthed, at the rooftops along the alleyway where ten archers rose up, five on each side of the street. Jalen commanded them and they stood ready, bows drawn to the nock, targets selected, waiting for Esk kar’s next signal.

The rest of the bodyguards made no movement, their eyes locked on the archers, as Gatus shouted an order. Bantor and a half - dozen men, raced up to stand on either side of Esk kar and Gatus. They carried shields and drawn swords as they quickly fanned out in a line, facing Naxos and his men.

The bodyguards’ bravado had changed to fear in an instant, and now they were paralyzed with indecision. No one attempted to draw a weapon, and most took their hands off their hilts. A few, especially those serving the other nobles, stepped back a little, as if to distance themselves from Naxos and Drigo’s men.