No one moved or left the square, and the time seemed to drag before three men arrived. Two soldiers from the gate, half-carrying a dirty and ragged man between them, reached the doorway before Eskkar recognized the one in the middle. He hadn’t seen Alexar in almost two months.
They brought him into the house, and Lani put a cup of watered wine into his hand. Alexar emptied it in one draught, then slumped back on the bench, resting his head and shoulders against the wall. His eyes drooped and he seemed to have trouble focusing. Lani took the cup, and refilled it for him. Alexar looked up at the fi ve men standing around him, but didn’t say anything until he had drained a second cup.
Eskkar sat down next to him on the bench and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Can you talk, Alexar?”
“Yes, Captain,” he answered, his voice hoarse. “I haven’t stopped for anything since noon yesterday. I’ve ridden five horses into the ground in three days to get here.”
“Three days!” Sisuthros exclaimed. “From Akkad?”
“From just south of Akkad. I was with Bantor. We were ambushed just a few hours from the city.”
“The Alur Meriki attacked you so close to Akkad?” Eskkar’s fear welled up at the thought of the barbarians’ return. “By the gods.. ”
“It wasn’t the Alur Meriki, Captain,” Alexar interrupted. “Bantor said it was someone named Ariamus. He said you’d know the name. We were surprised by sixty or seventy riders, and they killed half of us before we drove them away.”
No one said anything for a moment, thinking about friends who might be dead. Grond broke the silence. “Who’s Ariamus?”
Eskkar ignored the question. “And Bantor?”
“Bantor survived. He sent me and another rider, with extra horses, to find you here. I left the other man behind me on the road when I needed his horse. I was to tell you that Bantor would be at Rebba’s farmhouse, waiting for you.”
“How many men are with Bantor?”
“Sixteen. We sent a few wounded men south to hide, but that’s all that survived the ambush. We lost most of our horses, and gave the rest to the wounded, so Bantor, Klexor… everyone’s on foot.”
“What’s going on in Akkad?” Eskkar asked.
Alexar shook his head. “Don’t know, Captain. We thought everything was fine until the ambush. Bantor thinks Ariamus must have already seized control of the city. They headed that way after we drove them off. There must be more men in Akkad helping him.”
Akkad! Trella waited there, with a baby due any day. Eskkar’s fist clenched and he tapped it slowly on his leg. He’d wasted time here, and left Trella in danger. Not only Trella, but others as well; his men had kin and friends in the city, too. No one said anything, but the unsaid thought remained.
Lani returned with a plate of bread and cheese that she handed to Alexar. The man held it in his hand, but didn’t eat anything.
“Bantor was sure it was Ariamus?” Eskkar’s voice was grim. When Alexar nodded, he went on. “And he thought he could reach Rebba’s place in safety?”
“Yes. Bantor said he would march north, then cross the river and double back to Rebba’s farm. He expected to find a boat somewhere along the Tigris to take him there.”
“Bantor has done well,” Sisuthros said. “He’s kept his men together and brought them somewhere safe, at least for a time.”
“Yes, he has, unless they track him down,” Eskkar agreed. “Someone has tried to seize control of Akkad in our absence. That means there’s been fighting in the city as well. Trella must have… If anyone has injured Trella, they’ll pay for it.” He tightened his lips. “Well, we’ll just have to move faster when we march. Let’s start picking the men. We’ll leave at noon. We can still cover plenty of ground before it gets too dark.”
Sisuthros glanced up at the sun. “Captain, you don’t know what you’re facing down there. You may need every man. Let me go with you.”
“I need you here, Sisuthros. Besides, I’ll have Bantor and his men.
That should be enough to take care of Ariamus. If not, then what I said before is even more important now. We may need Bisitun as a secure place behind us, if we need a refuge.”
“No one will want to stay behind,” Grond said. “Most of the men have wives and families in Akkad.”
That started another argument. No one wanted to remain in Bisitun, but Eskkar wouldn’t change his mind. “Now let’s get the horses and men ready to go.”
They rose from the table, then stopped when Lani spoke up, her voice firm. “Lord Eskkar, may I say something?”
“Yes, Lani, what is it?” She’d sat quietly, away from the table, and Eskkar had forgotten her presence, all his thoughts turning to Trella.
“Have you thought about the river?”
“The river?” Eskkar answered, a touch of annoyance in his voice.
“What about the river?”
Sisuthros picked up her idea right away. “Of course! She’s right. You can be there in less than three days if you take the boats. And we have plenty of vessels here, more than enough to hold forty men.”
A horseman first and last, the thought of using the Tigris to transport soldiers had never occurred to Eskkar. “Rebba’s farm has its own jetty,” he mused as he thought about the idea. “Can we put the men and arms on the boats?”
“Yes, but you won’t be able to bring the horses. Still, if you reach Akkad, you won’t need them. What you’ll need is a way to get into the city.
Maybe Rebba and Bantor will have figured out something
“We don’t know how to sail the boats,” Eskkar said, still not sure about this new mode of travel. He had journeyed on a boat for a day once before, and hadn’t liked the experience. He knew the small craft, built mostly of reeds, capsized easily. Cargoes got lost, and men drowned often enough.
“For gold, the boat captains will take you anywhere,” Sisuthros said, his voice rising in excitement. “With extra boatmen along, the boats could go day and night. You’d travel much faster than by horseback.”
The thought of being on the river at night made Eskkar nervous. But if it would get him and his men there in two or three days, instead of five
… He made up his mind. “You know the rivermen, Sisuthros. Get them here, and arrange for use of their boats.” He thought of something else.
“And make sure no boat has left since last night. I don’t want word of the attack, or our coming downriver, to get ahead of us.”
“You’ll need to pack the weapons, the bows, the arrows, and food,”
Sisuthros went on, expanding on the idea. “You’ll probably want men who can swim, just in case. And you’ll need a way to keep the bowstrings dry.
Mitrac will know about that.”
Eskkar looked around the table. Grond nodded, but Hamati said, “I can’t swim.”
“I can,” said Alexar, “but even if I couldn’t, I’m going back to help Bantor, even if I have to walk the whole distance.”
Eskkar put both hands down on the table. “Then we’ll leave as soon as possible. Sisuthros, start with the boats, and get some men on the docks to guard them. Hamati, line up the men and find out who can swim. Grond, figure out what we’ll have to carry. Ask Mitrac what else the archers will need. Make sure we have everything. We won’t be stopping along the way.”
20
Eskkar strode out of the house and into the market, his subcommanders trailing behind him. The rest of his men waited there, all regular duties forgotten. One glance at their leaders’ grim faces warned them that bad news was coming.
“Sisuthros. Are all the men here? Everyone?”
“Except for those posted at the gates.”
“Get them. I want everyone to hear the news.” Better they should hear it from him, rather than picking it up in bits and pieces from each other.
It took only moments. The men guarding the gates arrived at a run, bunching up along with the rest of the troop that had marched here from Akkad. Even the scribes and merchants waited to hear Eskkar’s words.