Tulu looked ten years older than when Blade had last seen him. His voice was brittle as he told his tale. «I will spare you the details of my father's death. They were as vile as you may imagine.»
«What was the charge?»
Tulu shrugged. «The Emperor had never much cared for my father's independent spirit. He had doubtless been accumulating grievances for many years. In the end, though, there was no charge at all. It was Kul-Nam's whim, and he made no effort to disguise it as anything else.»
Prince Durouman's eyebrows rose very high. «If he has reached that point, he is mad indeed. What is said of this is Saram?»
«Very little is said,» replied Tulu. «There is still too much fear of His Bloodiness's long arm. But little is done against those who wish to take themselves out of reach of that arm. That is how I was able to escape.»
«The galleys surrendered to you?»
«Yes. Still, I do not think they would have surrendered to me alone. But-Blade, this was your work. I remembered you and Tzimon and Dzhai and the ways of England. The lesson went home to me. Instead of fleeing alone, I gathered together all the fighting men and servants who would come with me, and we marched to the coast. There we found the galleys. Everywhere the men of Kul-Nam stood aside from us. The strength of my company gave them an excuse, but one man alone would not have given them that excuse. I owe you my life, Blade, and so do all those who came with me. I hope they will be welcome in your ranks.»
«They will be.»
«I thought so,» said Tulu, and smiled for the first time. «One of them should be even more welcome than the rest. Haleen is among those who fled with me.» Blade said nothing, only smiled in turn.
«This is welcome news indeed,» said Prince Durouman. «if there is so little enthusiasm for Kul-Nam among those who must fight for him, our task begins to look easy.»
«Easier,» corrected Tulu. «The Corps of Eunuchs will fight to the death. They know they are doomed if Kul-Nam falls. Everyone else will also fight as long as there is any chance that Kul-Nam will live to take vengeance.»
«Very well, then, easier,» said Prince Durouman. «But would it be fair to say that if we strike off the head-Kul-Nam-the body will submit without more fighting?»
«If you are proposing yourself as the new head, yes,» said Tulu.
«I am,» said the prince. He rose. «I think we have done and said all that is necessary before we strike. Let us prepare to sail. Blade, do you agree?»
Blade nodded. A hundred and forty galleys were assembled at Parine now, all as well manned and well equipped as they ever would be. Each had at least three of the exploding barrels stowed in her hold, apart from her other weapons. Nothing worthwhile would be accomplished by further delay. He also had to admit that he was impatient to strike.
«Very well,» said the prince. «I shall give no commands as Emperor of Saram until the Eagle Crown rests on my brow. But I shall make one request of you, Blade, as a friend and battle comrade.»
«That is?»
«If I am to ride into battle aboard Kukon once more, I would like to see her name changed.»
Blade opened his mouth to object. He had found here, as in practically every Dimension that had ships, a superstition against changing ships' names. It was bad luck, pure and simple.
Prince Durouman went on. «I should like Kukon to be renamed Avenger.»
Blade's mouth snapped shut, his objections suddenly meaningless. No one in his right mind could object to that name. Even the most superstitious would consider it a good omen.
There were so many to be avenged. Tzimon, Dzhai, Duke Boros and all of the House of Kudai who had not escaped with Tulu. Princess Tarassa and all the thousands of her people. Kukon's first captain. Prince Durouman's ancestors and those ancestors' supporters, a century ago. Hundreds of thousands of anonymous victims of Kul-Nam and those who had preceded him over an entire century and in half a dozen lands. Men tortured, women raped, children worked to death. A toll that it turned Blade's stomach to think about.
«Yes,» he said finally. «I think Avenger is a very good name for our flagship.»
That was the end of the conference. Blade went in search of Haleen. Somewhat to his surprise, he found that she did not need much consolation for Dzhai's death.
«He always knew that he would not live to grow gray,» she said with a sad smile. «That was his fate. Indeed, he was fortunate, for he died a warrior's death in a great battle for a good cause, and he never hoped for that much even in his dreams. I do mourn him, Blade. But-I would not care to be alone here, at least at night.»
Blade took care to see that Haleen was not left alone during the next three nights. On the fourth day, the fleet set sail from Parine.
Chapter 25
The fleet descended on the Sulphur Islands, off the southern coast of the Empire of Saram.
Blade and Prince Durouman chose the islands as the point of attack because of something Duke Tulu had said. As Blade put it at one conference:
«Somewhere there has to be something so important to Kul-Nam that an attack on it will bring him and his fleet down on us at once. We cannot afford a long campaign. It will exhaust our supplies and wear out our ships and crews. It will also give time to rebellion, other pretenders to the Eagle Throne, and to the Steppemen.»
So Duke Tulu suggested the Sulphur Islands. «From their mines comes nearly all of the sulphur used in making the Empire's gunpowder. Kul-Nam certainly cannot afford to lose them.»
«Is he short of powder?»
«He has far less than he needs. Much was used against Parine. If he has to fight another great battle, there will definitely not be much left.»
Then rebels could spread everywhere. The Steppemen could cross the borders with relative impunity. Even Kul-Nam's vast and expensive fortresses and castles would be far less formidable without powder for their artillery and muskets.
«We will move against the Sulphur Islands, then,» said Prince Durouman.
The islands fell without any resistance worthy of the name. Their garrison had been stripped of ships and men in order to reinforce the Imperial fleet after the losses at Parine. Four galleys and less than a thousand men remained to defend the islands against the attack of a hundred and forty galleys and twenty-five thousand men.
The galleys fled. A few of the men threw themselves off the cliffs or down the mine shafts. Most surrendered. A few of the bolder ones joined the attackers.
Along with the guns on the island, Blade found a number of old-fashioned non-explosive siege engines, designed for throwing large stones. He had them taken aboard the larger galleys, to be used for throwing barrels instead of stones. Some of the barrels would be filled with gunpowder and bits of iron, designed to explode murderously; others would be filled with sulphur, to spread flames, fumes, and ghastly smells across the decks of an enemy.
«With these coming down on their heads, I don't imagine even the best gunners will be able to shoot very well,» said Blade.
After they had loaded the siege engines and their ammunition, it was finally time to reveal the secret weapons. Blade called all the captains aboard Avenger to tell them what he had done and what the new weapons ought to accomplish in the coming battle.
The captains cheered him and they cheered Prince Durouman. They also stood silently for a moment in memory of the barrel-makers of Parine. They would gladly have drunk enough wine to float one of the largest galleys, but there was none aboard. So they cheered some more, then went back to their own ships.