«I was wrong, mayhap. You have no lover-other than your fingers. I think you do it yourself and call it lover. It is why I can never content you, for no man could. It is said that such women can never find satisfaction of a man, but must always turn to self-love. I wish you joy of it, Hirga.»
She screamed something at him as he stalked out, but he made no sense of it. Something about a little man with nothing between his legs who pretended godship. Blade slammed the door and made a vow-as soon as this thing between Casta and himself was resolved he would see that something was done about Hirga. For now it must bide as it was.
As he made his way back to his own quarters he realized how far he had adapted to Zir, to this present Dimension X. Blade of Home Dimension had faded. He retained the crystal in his brain and full memory of HD, and he still had his sense of mission, but he was now a Zirnian.
The crystal still was not working.
The next morning Blade, with Ogier and Thane, and a large bodyguard, rode to the coast. It was his first glimpse of the narrow water.
It was near a day's ride, and as they went Ogier and Thane answered Blade's questions. Thane wore new armor, which he had forged himself, and a helmet with bronze horns on it. «It will confuse the Hitts,» he joked. «For they wear the same themselves. If we ever get across the water and if we can bring Loth Bloodax and Galligantus to battle, I may get close enough to his head to take it. I am a Hitt, after all, and they might mistake me for friend.»
Ogier laughed. «I think you have been at the wine again.»
«No.» Thane reached beneath his chest armor to scratch. «But it is an idea. Tonight-«
«Tonight you will stay sober,» Blade said. «No man drinks until we have accomplished our task. After that, Thane, you can roll in the gutter, for all of me.»
They came to the narrow water as first dusk was falling. Fires blazed on high cliffs across the channel, as Blade immediately thought of it. He judged it half a mile wide at this point, where the first pontoon was being built, and it was inevitable that he be reminded of the English Channel. The air was light this night and the water calm and on the Zirnian side the beaches were wide and long and gently sloping.
Torches and fires blazed on the leach near the jutting pontoon, for Thane had sent a division of engineers, guarded by foot soldiers, to begin the work. Blade, accompanied by his two Captains, walked briskly through the encampment. He spoke to wren and inquired of their health and the quality of the food, made a joke here and there and let himself be seen by as many as possible. When they retired to his tent for tree evening meal, Blade said, «They seem in good enough spirits. How does the work go, Thane?»
The big Hitt, soured at being denied wine, was in a grumbling mood, although this was not unusual in him.
«Slowly» he said, «for I must use the dregs for this first bridge. They are slow and clumsy and must be whipped to their work. There is no help for it-I must save my best men to work at night and build the secret pontoon under water. Even I will not ask a man to work both day and night.»
Blade gnawed the last meat from a bone and cast it to one of the great Zirnian hounds favored by Ogier. «Where do you build this secret pontoon, and how soon?»
Thane unrolled a map on the table and pointed with a finger. «Here. Half a mile to the east of this place. The water is as narrow there as here, and there is a large cove just opposite, a break in the cliffs, with meadows leading inland. There is perhaps a mile of this easy ground before the mountains begin-not much, but it will give us a foothold if we ever get across.»
«Aye,» said Ogier. «A big if.»
«You two are skeptics,» grinned Blade, «and believe in nothing. We will get across. I mean to feint at this first pontoon, the one we build above water, but I will feint in strength. Everything must seem as if we actually mean to attack across it in our greatest numbers, our main blow. Bloodax must be convinced of that. To this end we will concentrate all our daytime activity around here and to the west. Nothing must stir to the east, Thane. No fires, no smoke, no action of any sort. Keep your men well back behind the dunes and make them sleep the day away. I would not even have them talk, but I suppose nothing can be done about that.»
Thane chuckled. «Not even you, Blade, can stop soldiers from grumbling.»
Blade shrugged and assented. «I know. But see that they grumble in low tones. Now you, Ogier, must assemble boats and begin raids over the water. Always to the west, remember. We will lose men and boats, but it will be worth it. Your men must strike fast and hard, raid inland and kill as many Hitts as possible and burn villages. They have permission to loot, if there is time. This will serve to draw the Hitts to the west, where we must keep them. We will raid day after day, a steady pressure, and each raiding party will stay for only an hour before withdrawing. By this we may cut our losses somewhat.»
«Not by much,» said Ogier. «I have told you-the Hitts fight like devils, even the women and children, and it is easier to raid in than to get out again. We will lose many men and boats.»
«Then build more boats and find more men.» Blade stabbed a finger at the map. «It is essential that we keep them so busy that they have no time or thought to look eastward.»
Thane said, «There is one thing we have not taken into consideration, Blade. The leather-men. The winged ones. They cannot fly far, true, and must always go lower and never up, but it is possible that such a leather-man could fly over our troops in hiding and report it back.»
Blade nodded. «I have given that thought and I see no real danger. They must leap from their crags and their glide path is down. If they succeed in crossing the water, it will be easy to find and kill them.»
He had not quite believed in the leather-men at first, not until Thane had sworn it so and drawn him sketches. The Hitts trained certain men, built batlike wings of leather on light wood frames, and used them to glide among their mountains. Blade had made a thorough study and was convinced that the Hitts knew nothing of thermals or air currents and thus could not soar as could a glider back in HD. The wings were crude and permitted only a downward glide from a high peak to a lower one. Blade was impressed but not fearful. The leather-men would be only a minor headache.
Ogier, who was against the whole project, was not so sure. «They have already attacked the pontoon,» he said. «They launch from their cliffs and fly over my men working and drop stink-fire. The first attack caused a panic.»
Blade eyed him. «How many men did you lose?»
«Four only, and they became frightened and fell into the water and drowned.»
«And the leather-men-what happened to them?»
Ogier grinned. «They also fell into the water. We killed them with arrows.»
«You see. Was the pontoon damaged by fire?»
«No. They missed it. But they will try again.»
Blade yawned and stretched. «I am sure they will. Good. Let them try and be killed. As long as they concentrate only on this pontoon and do not know of the one under water, I am content. We will mislead them and take them by surprise and beat them. Now let us sleep. There is much to do tomorrow.»
Thane yawned. «I agree to that. But I could sleep the better with a single cup of wine.»
«No'» said Blade. «Go to bed and dream of that pontoon you will build for me. Remember that it must be exactly one foot beneath the water.»
«I should have been a fish,» grimaced Thane as he left the tent.
The next morning they rode into the dunes and circled to the east and came to where Thane's best labor battalions were camped. Here were great stocks of pilings and planks and tools, all scattered and covered with sand. There were no fires, and Blade had lent Thane his personal Guard for security. He made a rapid inspection of the camp and was satisfied for the moment. He was sure that Loth Bloodax and the Hitts had no inkling of this place, nor of his plan. The problem was to keep it so.