“Something must be going on there,” Eskkar said.
“There’s nothing happening in Akkad, Captain,” Sisuthros said. “Yesterday’s messenger said the city was quiet. And Bantor is due back any day.
He might even be back by now.”
Eskkar had talked to the messenger himself. It had been one of the regular couriers, carrying routine messages, even a personal message from Trella. “Sisuthros, make a head count. See if anyone is missing. Check the scribes and traders, too.”
The sons of Akkad’s merchants that accompanied them to keep the records might be involved in some scheme or another. Damn the gods that they hadn’t taken one of the attackers alive. Even one would have been enough.
Sisuthros got up. “I’ll take the count. Is there anything else we can do before daylight?”
Grond looked at Eskkar and shook his head.
“No, I can’t think of anything else,” Eskkar said. “We’ll know more in the morning.” He stood up as well. “I need to think about this. Wake me an hour before dawn.”
When he and Lani were alone in the bedroom, the door barred, Lani sat on the bed, trembling, and he saw the tears glistening in her eyes. “Don’t be afraid, Lani,” he said. “We’re safe enough. There are two men standing guard right outside the door.”
“I am not afraid, Eskkar. But now the fighting will start again. You will go off to kill your enemies.”
“That’s what I have to do.” He sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. “I’ll take care of whatever has happened in Akkad, then I’ll send for you. You saved my life tonight, Lani. I won’t forget that. Now, put out the lamp and lie beside me. I need to think, and I’ll do it better in the dark.”
Eskkar had already finished dressing when the guard knocked on the door. Lani had cried herself to sleep while Eskkar lay beside her, questions churning in his head. He hadn’t slept much, dozing and waking throughout the night. In the end, he couldn’t wait for the summons to arise.
In the outer room one lamp burned. Sisuthros sat at the table, talking to Grond and Hamati. Sisuthros looked weary, and Eskkar knew he’d stayed awake all night as well. One of Lani’s women had built a fire and heated water, so the men would have something warm with their day-old bread. Glancing out through the open door, Eskkar saw half a dozen soldiers gathered beneath a flickering torch, all of them alert and ready.
Taking a seat, Eskkar faced Sisuthros across the table. “Anything new?”
“Not much,” Sisuthros answered with a yawn. “We didn’t find any more horses, and there was no sign of a trail heading south. I had men walking patrols throughout the village. We’ll do another sweep at dawn, when we round up the villagers.”
“That should turn up something,” Eskkar said. “Whoever else wanted me dead might still be in Bisitun.”
“And if there are more outside the village, they might not know the attack failed.”
That news helped Eskkar breathe a little easier, and he forced himself to eat some bread. By the time he’d finished, the sun had risen. Taking a piece of bread with him, Eskkar walked out into the square. Grond and two soldiers stayed beside him as the first villagers arrived to view the bodies. Eskkar insisted they wait until the sun had cleared the horizon and the torches could be put out.
In the daylight, Eskkar stared at the dead men again, but neither he nor any of his soldiers recognized anyone. The village elders came next, and Eskkar and Sisuthros watched their faces carefully, looking for any indication of nervousness or recognition, but no one claimed to know the men. The first sign came from one of the innkeepers who identified the men as having stayed at his inn for the last two nights. The tavern owner had provided food and quarters for them, but he insisted he knew nothing else about either them or their business.
“That’s all I know,” the innkeeper repeated in a high-pitched voice,
“except for that one’s name.” He gave a kick to one of the bodies, the man who’d come straight at Eskkar. “He called himself Ziusudra. The four of them sat in my inn yesterday afternoon, and he was the one doing all the talking and complaining about having to sleep on the floor. They had plenty of silver for wine and food, but they said nothing about themselves or their business.” He shook his head. “They weren’t even interested in any of my girls.”
Sisuthros questioned the man further as Eskkar watched, looking for any hint the man might be lying. But the innkeeper had nothing else for them. The line of villagers passing the bodies moved forward again, trickling by the bodies until an old man, his grandson at his side for support, stopped and announced that these men had quartered their horses in his corral. But he, too, could divulge nothing, except that they’d possessed four good mounts. After a few more questions, Sisuthros sent him on his way.
By the time the last of the villagers left the square, Eskkar knew only that the men had arrived three days ago, spent two nights at an inn, then rode out of Bisitun just before sundown. They’d slipped back into the village somehow, but no one admitted either seeing or helping them.
The stable owner’s words gave Eskkar an idea, but he kept silent until all of the villagers disappeared. “Bring their horses around, Sisuthros, and let’s see if any of the soldiers recognize them.”
Good horseflesh required plenty of care, and such animals would be noticed. Two of Eskkar’s men thought one of the horses, marked with a stripe of white across its shoulders, came from Akkad, but didn’t know the owner. He grunted at the news, and went back into the house. Sisuthros, Grond, Hamati, and Drakis went with him, and they took seats at the table in the common room.
“There must be trouble in Akkad,” Eskkar began quietly. “I’ll take half the men and horses, and start back. I should have returned there ten days ago.”
“If those men came up from Akkad,” Sisuthros pointed out, “and they’ve been here three days, they must have left eight or nine days ago. If you’d been in the city, they might have had better luck.”
“Those men were determined,” Grond added. “They didn’t run after the first rush failed, not even after the alarm was raised.”
“Well, they had bad luck,” Eskkar said. “But it doesn’t matter. I’ll take the men and start back to Akkad today. If I push the pace, I can be there in four or five days.” He turned to Hamati. “Can we get half the men ready by noon?”
“Half the men?” Sisuthros looked surprised. “Why only half? If there’s fighting in Akkad, you’ll need all of us.”
“We just fought a major battle to capture this place and pacify the countryside,” Eskkar answered, a hint of anger in his voice. “I’m not going to walk away from this place and let some other bandit take it over again.” He shook his head. “Besides, the people here need to feel safe and to accept the authority of Akkad. If we abandon them at the fi rst sign of trouble, they’ll never trust us again.”
Sisuthros opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked around the table, but no one said anything. “Well, why don’t we leave just enough men here to keep order, say a dozen or so, and take the rest back with us?”
“You’re not going back, Sisuthros,” Eskkar said fi rmly. “You’re needed here. You’ve worked long and hard to get the villagers’ trust, and we’re not going to undo that. Besides, if there is an armed enemy in Akkad, we may need a secure base back here.”
“Captain,” Sisuthros began, his voice rising, “let me come back with you. Hamati can…”
A shout from the square interrupted him. On their feet in a moment, they pushed through the doorway just as one of the soldiers from the main gate reached them, wheeling his horse to stop its movements.
“Captain,” he called out, as soon as he caught his breath, “there’s a rider coming from the south, riding hard.”
“Bring him here as soon as he arrives,” Eskkar said. No sense in rushing down to the gate. They’d be surrounded by a crowd of excited villagers, and couldn’t talk privately there. Besides, the man would probably need food and water. The guard nodded, then rode off to meet the oncoming rider.