«A dozen horses taken, master, and some fifty Samostans slain. We lost but twenty of the Guard. We took more than a hundred prisoners, but I gave them your message and released them as you ordered. They will make their way back to the beaches and spread the word. I am sure of it.»
Blade finished the broth and beckoned for his armor. «That is good, so far. But it is not enough-all the Samostan army must know of my challenge. You have put your beggars and thieves to work?»
«Aye, I have, sire. I have made loud hailers, of paper as you instructed, and my knaves are all up and down the beaches, on the cliffs, everywhere, shouting your words to those who may come ashore.»
Nob scratched his jaw. «I was not of your mind at first, master, for I have never seen a battle won with words, but now I begin to think it might work. Certainly it is clever enough-as a soldier myself I know that a soldier does not want to die unless he must. He will take an easy and painless victory every time or, lacking that, he will even choose defeat with honor. Either is better than dying. Yes, master, it just might work. You prey on their weaknessone we all have-a desire to live.»
Blade nodded slowly. «We will see,» he said gravely. «If Hectoris is as vain, and as proud and,brave as he is said to be, then it will work. But there is an irony here, Nob-if Hectoris is a coward we are lost.»
CHAPTER 11
Dawn broke as Blade rode northward. A bloody sun, wrapped in mist, was a harbinger of weather to come. Nob, riding on Blade's left-Edyrn rode on his right side-cocked his good eye at the eastern horizon and opined, «A sky like that means but one thing, master-a gale before dark. And gales are fearsome things in Patmos. I have lived through one or two and I know.»
Edyrn looked at Blade and nodded in agreement. «It may be that a gale, if it comes, will do our work for us. If the Samostan fleet is broken up and driven ashore piecemeal the Guard will be able to handle them.»
Blade.said nothing to this. He was prepared to welcome a storm, but only after he had confronted Hectoris. Not much good in killing the little serpents if you let the big one escape.
He was riding a fine black stallion shod with bronze and bearing scarlet equipage. Nob himself had slain the officer who rode it, and had marked the horse for Blade at once. Edym rode a mettlesome gray and Nob a brown hack of enormous size. The other captured horses had been distributed among the Guard officers.
Two miles south of the harbor the land began to slope down to the sea. There were no cliffs or natural obstacles here, the terrain forming a shallow bowl that ended in long wide beaches of powdery sand. It was a natural spot for invasion and Blade had carefully left it undefended, gambling that the positioning of his other defenses, both real and faked, would exert pressure enough to channel the attack to North Harbor. The harbor, with its superb beaches, was the funnel through which he wished the Samostans to attack. It was true that he had not foreseen a gale, and that the harbor would give the Samostan fleet more protection than he cared to extend, but you could not have everything. In any case it did not really matter. If he could not bring Hectoris to private combat, no gale, nor indbed anything, was going to save Patmos.
Nob's one eye was sharp. He pointed to a moving cloud of dust on the horizon. «Cavalry, master. They've put another scouting party ashore.»
Blade held up a hand and the column halted. He had taken a third of his reserves from the volcanic area camp and they were strung out behind for a half mile in a column of fours. Blade stared at the oncoming war party.
«How many do you make their, Nob?»
But it was Edyrn who answered. «Some hundred horse, sire. And they have seen us.»
Blade nodded and gave orders. Four of the mounted officers went galloping back along the column. The other mounted officers, with Nob and Edym, grouped around Blade. The black, sensing combat, began to curvet nervously. Blade gentled the animal by pressure of knees and hands and said to Nob; «They are going to attack. Fair enough, for we face a test sooner or later. If we give a good account of ourselves it will win respect. But do you slip off, Nob, and bring me word of affairs at the harbor beaches. See how our word war is progressing, for if we are to have a chance we must be at the beaches before Hectoris is ashore in strength. Go at once.»
Nob scowled. «Aye, master, but I will miss the fighting if I go now.»
Blade scowled. «Go, man! This moment.»
The man grumbled but he went, riding off to the left flank under cover of a shallow ridge. Blade pulled his steed around and nodded at Edyrn. «Let us get into.the square. They will be on us soon enough.»
The Guards, by marching left and right flank, had completed the formation of a hollow square. The ranks parted to let Blade and his officers ride in, then closed in again. Blade leaped to stand on his saddle and study the formation. He nodded in approval at what he saw.
The files were three deep. First a rank of kneeling men with long cruel pikes, then a rank of javelin throwers and last a rank of bowmen. All of them, in addition to their special weapons, carried short heavy swords and daggers. Inside the square, near Blade and the other mounted men, was a small party of slingers now engaged in counting and grading their jagged lava rocks. Blade looked them all over, and sighed. If only he had more of them! If only he were not so hopelessly outnumbered he would have risked a pitched battle with the Samostans and forecast victory: But wishes did not make it so. He must stick to his original plan.
The Samostan cavalry by now were deployed in a crescent before Blade's square. Trumpets shrilled and banners fluttered, but they did not attack.
Edyrn touched Blade's arm. «They want a parley. Yonder comes Lycus, their commander. I know something of him-a cruel man and a skilled warrior. Shall I order the slingers and bowmen to open fire? If we kill Lycus they may leave us alone.»
Blade shook his head. «No. I do not want them to leave us alone. I must see,how your Guard fights and now is good a time as any-and I have use for this Lycus. Pass the word that he is to be left to me. To me alone!»
Edyrn looked puzzled, one of the few times he had done so, and rode off to execute the order. Blade spurred nearer to the ranks and watched a burly horseman leave the Samostan line and gallop toward the square. He held up both empty hands to signify peace and reined in just short of the line of pikes. Blade rode toward him, the black prancing and skittering as it threaded through the ranks. One of the bowmen, sighting his weapon, grinned up at Blade as he passed.
«Let me have a shot, sire. I can bring him down from here, or you may skin me else.»
Blade smiled and shook his head. «Later-later. I will fill your craw with fighting.»
The Samostan officer called Lycus stared curiously at
Blade as he cantered up. Blade returned the stare with in terest. This Lycus was a powerfully built, thick-chested brute. His helmet, with its nose and ear guards, boasted the long blue feathers of Samosta. The shield on his left arm bore the snake with its tail in its mouth and the le, — , Ister.
I Act for God. Blade's lips quirked in a half smile-he hoped to test that theory in reverse. Would the god of Hectors act for him.
Lycus sat easily in the saddle, one foot out of the stirrup and dangling. His right hand rested lightly on his sword hilt. He showed his teeth like a wolf as Blade rode up.
«You are the stranger called Richard Blade?»
Blade met the cold stare with one of his own. «I am. What is your business? Why do you parley instead of fight?»
The man's chest armor strained as he bent to laugh. «I'll fight you, never fear. Unless you are a coward, or a more reasonable man than I have heard, and heed the message I bring you.»