Chapter 22
Blade waited until the ship dropped anchor for the night in the lee of a small island before talking with Gursun. He started off by revealing his true identity. As he had expected, this was no great surprise to the Nessiri warrior. «But if you help me, there will be a nasty surprise for Amadora and Iscaros.»
Gursun spread his massive hands. «Without your aid I would still be a slave. You may ask of me anything that the gods of my people do not forbid.»
«Good. Then I ask that you and the other slaves help me bring this ship to where I can take this message to Duke Pardes. What say you to that?»
«You think he will reward you?»
«Reward us, my friend. I will tell him only the truth, that without you I would be a captive on Skadros and he would be ignorant of the plots. Even the best spy nets can fail. Even if we only confirm what he already knows, that will be taken as a gesture of friendship. He will know for certain that I am on his side, and should be willing to reward me and my friends.»
Gursun pulled at his beard. «Maybe. But what if his reward is a spear in the belly?»
Blade had to admit that Gursun's suspicions made too much sense, considering how things usually went in the Empire of Karan. But-
«If you are with me when I speak to Pardes, he won't live long enough to enjoy his treachery.»
«I should put my head down on the block beside yours?»
«It will help.»
«It may. But…» The Nessiri's voice trailed off and he appeared to be thinking hard. Then he pulled at his beard again.
«Blade, Karan's got a lot of Nessiri slaves and their women and children. You know that, don't you?»
«I do.»
«I think, maybe, some of them would like to fight the Scadori. We've been fighting them nearly as long as you Karani. There's a lot who were warriors among the slaves, too, so we could fight well. Some of them were even horsemen. Karan needs horsemen, doesn't it?»
«It does.» Blade waited for Gursun to continue, but the Nessiri seemed to be finished. Blade waited a little longer, then spoke briskly.
«Let's speak plainly, Gursun, not like a couple of Karani nobles planning an assassination. If the Nessiri slaves in Karan are offered their freedom, they'll take up arms against the Scadori. Is that what you're saying?»
«Yes.»
«So what do you want of me in this matter?»
«What I want-what I want's that you talk to Pardes about this, and the Emperor too. Tell them what I've told you. Tell them I'll lead the other Nessiri, and they'll follow me. I'll swear to lay down my own life before I'll let a single Nessiri turn against Karan, swear it by anything they want to hear. Blade, you were a slave too. Think-think back to what it's like. You must-«
Blade held up a hand to stop Gursun's flow of words. «I must not do anything you ask me to, at least not just at your bidding. Particularly not when Pardes and the Emperor might think I've gone mad.» He frowned at Gursun. «Why don't you simply raise the Nessiri slaves in revolt against the Empire? That way they won't have to fight for Karan, only for themselves. They'll never have a better chance, either, with the Scadori holding the frontier and the army weakened and scattered.»
Gursun staggered as if Blade had struck him. Then he let out a wordless growl. Blade braced himself. He wasn't sure that the Nessiri wasn't going to leap at his throat right then and there.
Gursun's brief rage passed swiftly. He drank a cup of wine and wiped the sweat off his face. Then he went on.
«Blade, I–I nearly killed you there, for saying that Nessiri might ever do something that would help those dirty swine of Scador. Most of the warriors of my people would have killed you. For all our sakes, believe me. Believe what I say, and speak to the Emperor for my people. Promise me that. Otherwise I cannot go with you. I will turn pirate as I had planned, and let you and Karan go anywhere you want.»
«You cannot force me to come with you, Gursun, so do not threaten me. Unless you wish to try killing me here, yourself.» Again Blade braced himself. He did not care to mention that he would be hard put to reach Pardes or the Emperor without Gursun's aid.
Gursun's massive shoulders slumped, and he spread out his hands in a pleading gesture. «You think I'd kill a comrade like you? How could I do that, in honor? Please, Blade.» He looked ready to burst into tears of frustration over his lost hope of trying to free his people.
Blade now believed Gursun's sincerity. He wasn't sure if the plan would work, even if the Emperor and Pardes accepted it. He was even less sure they'd accept it. He wasn't sure, in fact, that he wouldn't be killed on the spot for even raising the question. Fear of slave revolts ran deep in Karan.
But Gursun and the Nessiri deserved his aid. He owed Gursun his freedom and whatever chance he had of avenging Tera. It was only fair to help in turn. Besides, a man who could think as much as Gursun did about the rest of his captive people was worth helping. Until now, Blade had met only one really good person in this whole blasted Dimension, and she was dead. Gursun seemed like he might be another, for all his growling and grumbling.
Blade thrust out his hand and gripped the Nessiri's. «Very well, Gursun. I believe you mean what you say. You shall help me reach Pardes and the Emperor. Then I shall speak for you and your people to them. If they attempt any treachery, you and I will have our final battle side by side. Is that enough?»
Gursun embraced Blade, squeezing him until Blade was ready to gasp for breath. Apparently this was enough.
On the voyage home the weather was gray and stormy, with half a gale blowing most of the time. With a small and inexperienced crew neither Blade nor Gursun got much sleep or peace of mind. Fortunately the same gray weather that gave them both gray hairs also kept patrol ships at a safe distance. They had four days' unmolested voyaging, then anchored safely in a small bay about thirty miles south of Karanopolis. From the map, they were about eight miles by road from Pardes' country estate.
Unfortunately it was not a simple case of getting ashore and walking off to their goal. The first and easiest thing to get was disguises.
«What sort of man can tramp around the countryside these days with no questions asked?» said Blade. «Soldiers, of course. So we all put on armor and weapons from the cargo, and there we are, a patrol of the good soldiers of His Sacred Majesty Jores VII.»
Gursun laughed. «What about the three sailors?» He made his usual throat-slitting gesture.
Blade shook his head. «We'll strip and bind them like slaves captured while escaping. That can be our business if we need to answer questions. We're returning three escaped slaves to the estate of Duke Pardes.»
Gursun shook his head. «Blade, you sure you hate the Karani as much as you say? You play tricks just like they do, and just as good.»
Blade grimaced. «I knew a great deal about intrigues before I came to Karan. I didn't much like them then. I don't like them now. I wouldn't go on with them to sit on the Coral Throne itself, if I didn't have to.»
When they had ferried the freed slaves and the captive crewmen ashore, Blade and Gursun set Green Gull's mainsail. Then they set her on course out of the bay toward the open sea and lashed her steering oar in place. They watched Green Gull sail out into the darkness, then rowed ashore.
The shore was not well-patrolled these days, since it was not from the sea that Karan was in danger. But they ran into their first patrol of soldiers before they had covered three miles.
Blade stepped forward at «Who goes there?» and faced the eleven soldiers who blocked the road.