Equebus read the scroll in a formal voice of authority. The gist of it was that one Richard Blade, known to be a stranger cast ashore by storm, and now training as a battleman at Barracid, be brought to Sarmacid at once to be held for the pleasure of the Queen.
Equebus smiled at that phrase. Smiled and cast a sly glance at Blade in his chains on the floor. "There is more in that sentence than meets the eye," he said. "Which you will come to know for yourself."
Blade hardly heard him. Zeena had done her work well. Perhaps she had even begun to spread Blade's lie about his twin brother. It would help. Thousands of eyes were better than just two - he might find the Russian agent, his double, if the agent was in this particular Dimension X.
Equebus was still reading. "... said Blade to be handed over on presentation of this scroll by Mokanna, Captain of Barracid."
Blade allowed himself an evil grin, even though it hurt his bruised mouth. "That is not the way Mokanna told it, Captain. I remember something about a slave rising, a frameup, and I was to be killed. Whatever happened to that little plan?"
In the corner Pelops groaned and his chains jangled as he made the T sign. Blade smiled at him. "Stop worrying, little man. It's going to be all right. You heard the Captain - we're under the Queen's protection."
Equebus tossed the scroll away. "You are right, Blade. There was another plan. Before the rider brought this message in the Queen's own name. Until that time I had only received flag signals to find you. Which I did."
Blade had figured it out long ago. "So you cooked up a little scheme with Mokanna? Only he double-crossed you. And you triple-crossed him!"
Equebus stood up and kicked away the stool. His smile was superior. "Mokanna was always a fool. I have known him since we were boys together in cadet school. He was twice a fool to match wits with me. I did not know his plan, nor did it matter. I distrusted him just because he was Mokanna. And I have spies here in Barracid just as he had spies in my fortress. This time my spies were best. Mokanna is dead. And you, Blade, live only because the Queen wishes it." Again the odd sly smile. "In the end, Blade, you may yet regret that I did not kill you along with Mokanna."
Equebus clapped his hands. Armed men came into the hut to hustle Blade and Pelops away.
Blade pointed to the little man. "What of Pelops? He is servant to me, and also friend. I would have him well treated."
The Captain's shoulders moved in a contemptuous shrug. "I care nothing for servants and slaves, even school teachers. He will be well treated - as well treated as you are."
There was, Blade thought, something ominous about those last words.
Chapter Ten
The long line of weary battlemen wavered across the dusty brown plain like a crippled snake. They marched in pairs and a massive chain, half a mile long, stretched from front to back between them. Each man was attached to the master chain by his individual manacles. The slave patrol marched with them, prodding them with lances when they faltered. Captain Equebus rode ahead on the same white horse Blade had seen on the beach.
Blade and Pelops were in the middle of the file and linked together by the master chain. After the first day - it was three marches to Sarmacid - the little man swore that he could not go on. Blade coddled him and swore that he would. Until he could come again to Zeena he needed Pelops for guide and mentor. Despite all that had happened to him he was still very much a stranger in Sarma. Quite apart from all this, and a bit to his own surprise, Blade found that he had grown fond of the timid ex-school teacher. He did not want anything to happen to him.
They were well fed and watered, for they must be in condition to fight in the upcoming games in honor of Otto the Black's visit. Yet, if a man fell more than three times, he was taken from the chain and examined by the Captain himself. If he was thought worth saving the man was allowed to ride on a sledge drawn by horses. If Equebus made a fist and slashed it downward the man was lanced on the spot. Blade counted a dozen bodies that first day.
He gave Pelops most of his own food and water, having no doubt as to the Captain's decision should Pelops fall. Even so the little man fell once the first day and again on the second. Equebus dropped back occasionally to ride near them, silent and watching with a faint sneer. Blade marched with one big hand hooked into the chain about Pelops' middle.
Once, as the Captain rode close by and watched, Blade called out, "I can carry him easily enough. He is no weight."
Equebus shook his head and laughed. "It is forbidden. If he falls again I will examine him and decide." His dark stare mocked Blade. "You doubt my mercy?"
Blade tried to spit, but his throat was too dry. He had given his last ration of water to Pelops. But at least he made the gesture.
Equebus laughed again and spurred away to speak to two of his patrol. After that, Blade noted, the two guards marched close and kept watching Pelops. Blade hardened his jaw and tugged at his curling black beard, now well grown and full of tangles. He lifted Pelops off the ground with a sudden jerk.
"Keep going," he growled. "You can do it, little man, because you must! One step after another - that is the way. Just think of it as one step and then another step and then another. One at a time. Cry out if you are about to fall, but not too loudly. I will hold you up."
"I cannot," moaned Pelops. "I cannot, sire. Let me go. Let them kill me. I care not."
"I care," Blade said grimly. "I need you, Pelops. Think of me, small one. I have no friend in Sarma but you."
Pelops stumbled. Blade snatched him upright and glanced at the guards. They were talking and had not seen.
"You have the Princess Zeena," Pelops muttered. "Though I have begun to wonder - "
"As have I," Blade concurred. "Something has gone wrong."
It was the first time he had voiced the thought, though it had been with him since the march began. He and Pelops were given the same harsh treatment as the other battlemen - even harsher. Blade could not fathom this - not if Zeena had successfully intervened with her mother the Queen, had told of the marriage to Blade and received a parental blessing. Surely the Queen would not treat a new son-in-law and his servant so harshly. Ergo - Zeena had not been successful, or at least not altogether. Blade remembered the words of the Captain - he was being taken to Sarmacid at the Queen's pleasure. Not a word had been said about Zeena!
One thing Blade understood only too welclass="underline" The Captain was obeying his orders, but just barely. It would please him if something happened to Blade and Pelops enroute, and no doubt he would have a plausible story ready for the Queen.
At night they slept in the dirt, still attached to the great chain. Men defecated where they lay and slept in it too weary to care. Blade, by constant dinning and nagging, kept Pelops awake as long as possible so that he might learn more about Sarma. He learned the basics of the Sarmaian script and the secrets of the signal flags. He memorized (he table of organization of the matriarchy that governed the country. He studied the religion of Bek-Tor. Even during the march he gave Pelops no peace, questioning constantly, feeding the information into his expanded memory center. Lord Leighton had promised him, and now he found it to be true, that he would not have to consciously struggle to remember. The material would file itself and be ready when wanted.
During his last stay in Home Dimension Blade had been at first cajoled, then ordered, to expand his studies. He fretted at first, for it took time away from his regular duties with MI6 - he still thought of himself primarily as a secret agent- - and it also interfered with his sex life. For a time, after losing Zoe, he had been like a faun in heat.