Dawn of Empire (39 page)

Gatus had a big grin on his face. “The training goes faster, now that we have so many veterans. By the time the barbarians arrive, we’ll have over four hundred and twenty well - drilled men ready to defend the walls.”

“Then there’s much to give thanks for,” Esk kar said. “And you are satisfied with our progress, Nicar?”

“Esk kar, I’m more than satisfied. Up to now, I’ve been hopeful we could fend off the barbarians. When we first spoke, you promised me no better than an even chance. Now I’m sure that we have at least that, especially now that you have returned. The whole village worried while you were gone.” Heads around the table nodded in agreement.

“But now that you are back, the people will have confidence again.

Permit us to give thanks to the gods and to honor your return with a celebration tomorrow.”

Esk kar felt surprised by the warmth in Nicar’s words, but the sight of Caldor clenching his jaw reminded him of what was to come. “I’m grateful to return, Nicar … honored Nobles. But now I would like to return home and get some rest.”

That ended the dinner. Everyone seemed excited by the prospect of a celebration. The village hadn’t relaxed for months, and the people could do with a reason to cheer. In the street outside Nicar’s, a few idlers lingered to shout greetings to Esk kar and, to his surprise, Trella as well.

They walked back to the house, Trella’s hand in his. He closed the door to their private chambers, slid the wooden bolt into the hole with a sigh of satisfaction.

“Don’t you want to eat more supper, Esk kar? You hardly ate anything at Nicar’s, and we have much to talk about.”

Her smile looked the same as he remembered it. “Yes, Trella, I’m still hungry.” He took her into his arms and ran his hands over her body.

Esk kar kissed her hungrily, and she returned his passion, rising up on her toes as she put her arms around his neck. When they finally paused for breath, she lifted up her arms and he drew her garment up over her head, then let it drop. He took her hands in his and stepped back to look at her, letting his eyes feast on the sight of her naked body in the lamp’s flickering light before picking her up and carrying her to the bed.

Two hours later Trella arose and called down to the servants for food.

Sitting at Esk kar’s work table, they ate another meal of bread and cold lamb, washed down with watered wine. For dessert, Trella peeled an apple while Esk kar savored a handful of fresh dates. She listened attentively as he described the trip and what he’d learned. When he finished, she shook her head.

“You leave too much out.” She put her hand on his. “I want to know everything about the battle: what you thought, what you saw, why you did what you did, even how your men reacted. I know nothing about such things, and if I’m to help you, I need to know what and how men think in such situations.”

Unlike most fighting men, Esk kar found it difficult to talk about battle.

It was too personal, too intense. He knew he’d dodged death too often to boast about his own skill, all too aware that luck or chance was as important as one’s prowess. The terror of it all, the horses screaming, the stink of fear in the air and on men’s bodies, the knots in your chest when a sword slashed at you, the trembling in your bowels, the weakness of limb and mind afterward.

Esk kar began again, this time taking her as best he could through the entire episode, starting from the hilltop when he first saw that the Ur Nammu would be trapped. He tried to explain to her what thoughts rushed into his head and why he decided to help them. He recalled the fear he saw in Mitrac’s face as Esk kar pushed him into the battle, the tenseness and doubts of Sisuthros, who had never been involved in such a close - fought battle, and even the struggles of those Esk kar fought and killed.

Words and emotions he didn’t know he possessed helped him describe something almost beyond description. When he finished, she took his hand and led him back to their bed, and this time she made love to him with such tenderness that she left him weak and trembling.

Afterward she bathed him again. They relaxed in each other’s arms, the light from the lamp almost gone, the wick already smoldering. But Trella had more questions. “Tell me more about Mesilim and his son.”

That led to the conversation with Sisuthros, the division of the spoils, the formation of the Hawk Clan, and eventually their return to Orak. Eskkar even repeated conversations with Tammuz and Maldar, surprised he could recall so many details. By the time he finished, the moon had risen high in the night.

“You have done well, husband, better than well. My father said that few men have the ability to command large numbers of fighting men. You’re such a man, Esk kar. You saw your opportunity and you took your chance.

Luck is the favor of the gods, and it’s sometimes better to be lucky than skillful. All your decisions were sound, and you’ve prepared for the future by turning Sisuthros back to your side and by establishing the Hawk Clan.

That will bind many fighting men to you. You’ve established a family clan overnight.”

“Seven men and a boy are not a large number,” he pointed out, though pleased at her words. “But you’re right, we were lucky.”

“Yes, you were lucky you weren’t killed, that you didn’t lose all your men, that the Ur Nammu didn’t turn on you after the battle and kill you.

But tell me, who else in Orak would those men have followed into battle against seventy barbarians? I can think of no man. And you’ve proven yourself and your men in combat, and now a thousand will follow wherever you lead as easily as did ten.”

He thought about that for a few moments. The men wouldn’t have followed any one else into that canyon, certainly no one in Orak. The more he thought about it, it seemed unbelievable they had followed him at all.

But perhaps what she said might be possible, perhaps he could command five hundred men, or maybe even a thousand.

She interrupted his thoughts. “But you must not risk your life again.

Never take such a chance. You’ve proven your bravery. You say you plan to take the soldiers against the barbarians on the other side of the river?

Go if you must, but do not fight in the front lines. You cannot risk your life so carelessly. You’ll be needed to defend Orak and for what will come afterward.”

“A fi ghting man needs to fi ght, Trella, or the men lose respect for him.

The battle across the river will be easier, but I must be there to make sure it’s successful. After that, I will stay in the rear.” He let his fingers drift across her breasts, his hands still delighted by her body. “And now, perhaps you will reward me one more time.”

She leaned down in the darkness and kissed him, then dug her elbow sharply into his side, making him gasp with surprise. “Just like a man, to think only of himself. Don’t you want to hear what I’ve been doing while you were gone, or do you think nothing happens without you?”

He felt glad the darkness hid the guilty look that crossed his face. Indeed, he hadn’t thought much about her or her plans. “Couldn’t we talk of that tomorrow?” he ventured, unable to keep the plaintive tone out of his voice.

“No, we cannot wait until tomorrow. There is much that you need to know, and you’ve had enough lovemaking for one night! Now, would it not please you to know that the villagers panicked completely when they thought you were dead?”

“Dead? What made them think I was dead?”

“I spread the rumor you’d been killed. That is, Annok - sur and I spread it. The whole of Orak had it in less than an hour, and there was panic in the marketplace. The villagers were afraid and people were getting ready to flee the village. People shouted that we were lost without you to protect us.”

“And those people …”

“More friends of Annok - sur.” Trella’s voice held a satisfi ed tone. “Nicar had to speak to the crowd and tell them it was merely a rumor, that no news had as yet returned. He spoke just in time and even I was brought to the marketplace to agree with him. In a few more hours, half the village would have been on the move. Many had already begun to pack their belongings.”

“And you did this to … ?”

“To make sure that Nicar and the other Families know how much they need you, and to make sure the villagers understand that as well. Remember, when the battle is over, we’ll need many friends to make sure you’re accepted into the Families. Now everyone knows you’re favored by the gods.”

So she had been busy. He didn’t bother to ask what she would have done if he’d gotten himself killed. She would have considered that possibility as well. “What else did you do while I was gone?”

Another hour passed as he listened to all she had to say, the weariness gone from his eyes. At last the talking ended, and she curled up in his arms and held his hands against her body until they fell asleep.

15

–-

Esk kar was up before dawn the next morning. The day’s activities started at the breakfast table with his subcommanders. Afterward he and Sisuthros spent several hours with Corio inspecting the wall.

By now both the soldiers and the laborers understood their roles, and the work proceeded steadily. Corio needed only thirty soldiers to keep everyone at their tasks.

Esk kar spent more hours inspecting the soldiers still in training. That necessitated one more retelling of the battle in the hills. He didn’t mind.

These men needed to know as much about the enemy as possible, and the more confidence they had in their leaders the better. Esk kar answered many questions regarding Alur Meriki fighting techniques.

The sun had passed its high point when Trella rejoined him, wearing a scarf to shield her head from the sun. They walked through the village, greeting the people and talking to them, reassuring the villagers by their presence. But Esk kar had to grit his teeth and force a smile to his face when they visited the temple of Ishtar and knelt in the shadows before the gloomy image of the goddess, Trella at his side.

Esk kar gave thanks in a loud voice to Ishtar for his victory, repeating the words Trella had suggested that morning. He had never been in Ishtar’s temple, or any temple in Orak for that matter. Since his family’s death, Eskkar had no use for priests and their outstretched palms. He stood there stoically, hiding his impatience, while the priest offered his interminable prayers to the deity for Esk kar’s safe return.

At last the ceremonies ended. When Esk kar returned to the sunlight he felt as if he had escaped the demon’s dark underworld. His smile returned as he took Trella’s hand, and turned toward their home.

“Master, have you forgotten our visit with Rebba this afternoon?” she asked. “We’re already late, and there may be much to see before the sun goes down.”

Esk kar’s feeling of contentment vanished. He had forgotten about the meeting with Rebba. That was natural enough, because he really didn’t want to spend three or four hours with the noble responsible for the farms surrounding Orak, listening to him explain how to grow wheat or herd goats. Esk kar thought about postponing the meeting, but he’d done that several times before he departed on his scouting mission. He knew Trella considered it important, important enough to arrange the visit as soon as possible on his return.

With no convenient excuse, he forced another smile and changed his direction. Together they walked to the river gate, then turned north, two guards accompanying them.

Once outside the village, they increased their pace, and Esk kar’s muscles soon found the walk a good challenge after the weeks of hard riding. The sun shone brightly and the air off the river smelled clean and fresh. Within Orak a background smell of people and animals living too close together permeated the air. After a few days you didn’t notice it as much, but Esk kar had been breathing fresh air for several weeks.

Finally they crossed the last of the innumerable irrigation ditches and entered the grounds of Rebba’s farm. Esk kar had never gone there before, and unlike most of the farms he’d seen, this one had nearly a dozen huts scattered about. Rebba’s dwelling didn’t look much larger than any of the others. Grain storage places, built higher than the average hut and rec-ognizable by their high entrances reached only by ladders, accounted for several of the structures.

Attached to almost every building were corrals that held goats, sheep, or cattle. Esk kar and Trella passed a few pigs that wandered by, picking at anything on the ground and fighting with dozens of chickens for anything that crawled beneath them. Close to the main house several willow trees provided shade. Esk kar noted four good - sized dogs taking their naps under the trees. Tame enough by day, at night the dogs would guard the property from petty thieves.

The smell of animals hung in the air, and Trella wrinkled her nose as they passed the corrals, though to Esk kar the odor seemed more pleasant than the village air.

Rebba greeted them at the door. At home he didn’t bother with the fine clothes he wore when business called him into Orak. Today he wore a tunic as well worn as that of any field hand. “Welcome to my home, Esk kar.”

Rebba offered his hand to Esk kar as they arrived. “A spring day like this is too pleasant to spend indoors.”

They sat on benches beneath a willow tree, at a table whose surface was gouged and pitted, no doubt from numberless days of chopping and cutting vegetables. A young girl of nine or ten seasons, one of Rebba’s grandchildren, brought cool water for them to drink.

Rebba waited until they drank before speaking. “I offer my congratulations again on your victory, Captain. Trella tells me that you wish to learn more about farming. Where would you begin?”

Esk kar knew nothing about farming and wished to know even less.

Farmers were the least important people in Orak. In fact those that actually farmed the land rarely visited the village, except for those few, mostly wives, that came each morning to sell their goods in the market, or the men who visited the smith’s to have some tool repaired. Nevertheless Trella had insisted he learn something about farming, so he put another smile on his face.