«What message?»
«From my master, Hectoris himself. He has great admiration for you, Blade, but is no friend. You must understand that-I make no false pretenses. But any man who can thwart him as you have is of interest to Hectoris. He wishes to meet you.»
Blade smiled faintly. «And I him.»
Lycus fingered a lantern jaw. «Then it is simple enough.» He gestured at the Guard in its square. «Disband your men. Let them surrender their arms. They will be well enough treated. And cease all destruction in Patmos, for it is this which angers Hectoris most-he does not want to. conquer a desolated country. You will be treated as an honored guest as long as you choose to remain and there will be high office for you if wish to serve Hectoris. Izmia, she who is called the Black Pearl, will keep her suzerainty and all close to her will be favored. She will still be spiritual ruler of Patmos and her caverns will be respected as sacred to her.»
Blade nodded. «And who will actually rule Patmos? The traitor King and Queen-Kador and Smyr? Or perhaps Juna?»
He had little doubt that this Lycus had been sent to seek him out and strike a bargain. Hectoris did not want to fight unless he must. Blade glanced at the sky. It was looking more ominous by the moment.
The Samostan officer saw Blade's glance and must have gathered its meaning, but he said, «Kador and Smyr have been executed. They were traitors, sure enough, and plotted against Izmia, but they made a botch of it. Their plans were known to Izmia all along, and they could not even hold you captive. Hectoris does not abide bungling.»
«And what of Juna? It is said that she was taken with Kador and Smyr to the safety of your master's ships-has she also been executed?»
For now, to carry out his vow to Izmia, he must again possess the person of Juna. He did not know how he would do it, or if it could be done, but he had promised Izmia and he 'must try.
Lycus slapped his thigh with a hairy knuckled hand and laughed. «It must be true, then, what the spies have said of you and Juna? You have tasted the favors of a goddess and wish to taste again, eh?»
Blade's mouth tightened but he refused to be drawn. He would settle accounts later. He said, «You do not answer my question, man.»
Lycus made a fist and scowled. «Do not use that tone with me. Or that term. I am a captain in the.army of Samosta.»
Blade smiled. «Forgive me, Captain. But I still await an answer. What of Juna?»
«She is on the command ship of Hectoris and welltreated, though not as a goddess. Surrender and be friend to Hectoris and I have no doubt that he will be generous and give you Juna.»
Blade already knew this from his questioning of Ptol. Just as he knew that the Samostan army, as hard and efficient as it was, was a war-weary army of veterans who longed for peace and the fruits of weary years of campaigning. Blade was counting a great deal on this.
Abruptly he changed tactics. In a cold voice he said, «Hectoris has had my message? He is aware of my challenge?»
Lycus nodded. «If you mean the rumor that has spread, that is shouted from the shores by your beggars who will not fight, if you mean the talk that is meant to corrupt good Samostan soldiers, I say yes. Hectoris has heard it. And ignores it.»
Now was a time for guile, for cunning. Blade managed a look of surprise. «Ignores it? How is this? I have heard many things of Hectoris, but never that he was a coward. Is he afraid to risk single combat with me?»
Lycus put a hand to his sword hilt again. «Hectoris is afraid of nothing.»
Blade, mocking, pointed to the snake on the man's shield. «Nothing at all? Not even the god for whom he acts?»
«Not even his god! But why should he fight you, Blade? What gain could he have of it?»
Guile. Blade put sorrow and sweetness into his smile. «Hectoris gain? I say only his death at my hands. But you, Lycus, and all the men of the Samostan army, they would gain. Gain life, for even if you do overwhelm us in the end you know that many will die. We will die hard and you will win nothing but a ruined country and piles of corpses. I hear that Hectoris has had you at the wars for twenty years-a,pity that when it is over your men will find not women and wine, but only death. The life of a common soldier is as precious to him as that of a general is to him, Lycus. If you doubt it ask among your men.»
Lycus spat. «I have heard all this before, Blade. It is the propaganda your spies whisper among our troops, and that your beggars cry from the beaches and hill tops, but you waste your time. It will not avail you. Hectoris will not fight you.»
Blade, with a sureness he was far from feeling, spoke again. «I think he will. No man can command who will not face the same dangers he — asks his troops to face. He would be a fool to try and I do not think your leader is a fool. In the end he will have to face me-I march to the beaches now and I will cry out for all to hear that Hectoris is a coward and no than at all unless he faces me. I will offer him such a bargain in combat that he cannot afford to refuse it, for if he does he will lose q credit with his army and his officers will be plotting agamst him before a week has passed.»
Lycus half drew his sword. His laugh seemed forced and for once he did not look Blade in the eye. «You will not,» said he. «For you will never reach the beaches. I am sent for that purpose-in the event that you are an unreasonable man and will not take terms. As I begin to see you will not.19
Blade ignored the half-drawn sword and leaned toward the officer. The seed must be planted, whether it burgeon or not.
«Let us suppose,» said Blade, «that Hectoris did meet me in fair fight and I killed him. I have no ambitions here in Patmos, nor in Thyrne nor in Samosta. You will soon see the last of me. Now, in such case, who would come to the throne and the power of Hectoris?»
The eyes of Lycus shifted away. «There would be a council of high officers. A new leader would be chosen. There are many who would aspire-«
He broke off and scowled at Blade. «It is said that you are a demon and I believe it Well-spoken. But you will have no treason out of me. Enough of this twaddle-will you disband your men and come with me in peace?»
Blade shook his head. «You know the answer to that, Lycus. I will go to Hectoris in my own way and on my own terms.»
The man pulled his horse about and scowled back over his shoulder. «We will see as to that. I will send a part of you to Hectoris, though the mouth will not be so glib when he sees it. Make ready, Blade, for I attack.»
Blade sent the black galloping back into the square. He gave orders to disperse his stingers and grouped his mounted officers around him. Cheers went up from the ranks of the Guard as they saw there was going to be a fight.
The Samostan trumpets began to ring clear in the dank misty air. The sky was fast curdling into black porridge and the wind was rising. This must be short and sharp, Blade told himself. He must make the beaches before the storm struck in full fury or all his planning was for nothing.
The cavalry of Lycus wheeled and trooped by left and right flank and came into a line of charge. Blade was surprised. He did not deem the man a fool, and yet a frontal attack in these circumstances was a fool's trick. Either Lycus was angered and had lost his judgment, or he was so arrogant that he trusted his horsemen to break the square by sheer fury and weight of numbers.
Blade gave orders that unleashed his slingers and bowmen, the latter firing over the two ranks in front of them.
«Aim' at the horses,» Blade commanded. «The horses first. When they are afoot we can handle them easily enough.»
He called his mounted officers to form around him. «We are the reserve,» he told them with a wry smile. «All of it. If they break the square we must be quick to plug the hole and beat them back.» He glanced at Edyrn. «If they break through in another place you will take half the men and see to it.».