after his and Faru-hin-Obaran's through the crowd.
The house of Nebu-hin-Abenoz, like every other building in Careba, wasflat-roofed, adobe-walled and window-less except for narrowrifle-slits. The wide double-gate stood open, and five or six heavilyarmed Caleras lounged just inside. They greeted Coru and Faru by name,and the strangers by their assumed nationality. The four rode through,into what appeared to be the stables, turning their horses over toslaves, who took them away. There were between fifty and sixty otherhorses in the place.
]
Divesting themselves of their weapons in an anteroom at the head of aflight of steps, they passed under an arch and into a wide, shadypatio, where thirty or forty men stood about or squatted on piles ofcushions, smoking cheroots, drinking from silver cups, talking in acontinuous babel. Most of them were in Calera dress, though there weremen of other communities and nations, in other garb. As they movedacross the patio, Gathon Dard caught snatches of conversations aboutdeals in slaves, and horse trades, about bandit raids and blood feuds,about women and horses and weapons.
An old man with a white beard and an unusually clean robe came over tointercept them.
"Ha, lord of my daughter, you're back at last. We had begun to fearfor you," he said.
"Nothing to fear, father of my wife," Coru-hin-Irigod replied. "Wesold the slaves for a good price, and tarried the night feasting ingood company. Such good company that we brought some of it withus--Atarazola and Ganadara, men of the Jeseru; Cavu-hin-Avoran, whosedaughter mothered my sons." He took his father-in-law by the sleeveand pulled him aside, motioning Gathon Dard and Antrath Alv to follow.
"They brought weapons; they want outland slaves, of the sort I took tosell in the Big Valley country," he whispered. "The weapons arerepeating rifles from across the ocean, and six-shot revolvers. Theyalso have much ammunition."
"Oh, Safar bless you!" the white-beard cried, his eyes brightening."Name your own price; satisfy yourselves that we have dealt fairlywith you; go, and return often again! Come, lord of my daughter; letus make them known to Nebu-hin-Abenoz. But not a word about the kindof weapons you have, strangers, until we can speak privately. Say onlythat you have rifles to trade."
Gathon Dard nodded. Evidently there was some sort of power-strugglegoing on in Careba; Coru-hin-Irigod and his wife's father were of theparty of Nebu-hin-Abenoz, and wanted the repeaters and six-shootersfor themselves.
* * * * *
Nebu-hin-Abenoz, swarthy, hook-nosed, with a square-cut graying beard,lounged in a low chair across the patio; near him four or five otherCaleras sat or squatted or reclined, all smoking the rank blacktobacco of the country and drinking wine or brandy. Their conversationceased as Cavu-hin-Avoran and the others approached. The chief ofCareba listened to the introduction, then heaved himself to his feetand clapped the newcomers on the shoulders.
"Good, good!" he said. "We know you Jeseru people; you're honesttraders. You come this far into our mountains too seldom. We can tradewith you. We need weapons. As for the sort of slaves you want, we havenone too many now, but in eight days we will have plenty. If you staywith us that long--"
"Careba is a pleasant place to be," Ganadara said. "We can wait."
"What sort of weapons have you?" the chief asked.
"Pistols and rifles, lord of my father's sister," Coru-hin-Irigodanswered for them. "The packs have been taken to my house, where ourfriends will stay. We can bring a few to show you, the hour afterevening prayers."
Nebu-hin-Abenoz shot a keen glance at his brother-in-law's son andnodded. "Or, better, I will come to your house then; thus I can seethe whole load. How will that be?"
"Better; I will be there, too," Cavu-hin-Avoran said, then turned toGathon Dard and Antrath Alv. "You have been long on the road; come,let us drink cool wine, and then we will eat," he said. "Until thisevening, Nebu-hin-Abenoz."
He led his son-in-law and the traders to one side, where several kegsstood on trestles with cups and flagons beside them. They filled aflagon, took a cup apiece, and went over to a pile of cushions at oneside.
As they did, three men came pushing through the crowd towardNebu-hin-Abenoz's seat. They wore a costume unfamiliar to GathonDard--little round caps with red and green streamers behind, and long,wide-sleeved white gowns--and one of them had gold rings in his ears.
"Nebu-hin-Abenoz?" one of them said, bowing. "We are three men of theUsasu cities. We have gold _obus_ to spend; we seek a beautiful girl,to be first concubine to our king's son, who is now come to the estateof manhood."
Nebu-hin-Abenoz picked up the silver-mounted pipe he had laid aside,and re-lighted it, frowning.
"Men of the Usasu, you have a heavy responsibility," he said. "Youhave the responsibility for the future of your kingdom, for a boy'scharacter is more shaped by his first concubine than by his teachers.How old is the boy?"
"Sixteen, Nebu-hin-Abenoz; the age of manhood among us."
"Then you want a girl older, but not much older. She should be versedin the arts of love, but innocent of heart. She should be wise, butteachable; gentle and loving, but with a will of her own--"
The three men in white gowns were fidgeting. Then, suddenly, like threemarionettes on a single string, they put their right hands to theirmouths and then plunged them into the left sleeves of their gowns,whipping out knives and then sprang as one upon Nebu-hin-Abenoz,slashing and stabbing.
Gathon Dard was on his feet at once; he hurled the wine flagon at thethree murderers and leaped across the room. Antrath Alv went boundingafter him, and by this time three or four of the group aroundNebu-hin-Abenoz's chair had recovered their wits and jumped to theirfeet. One of the three assailants turned and slashed with his knife,almost disemboweling a Calera who had tried to grapple with him.Before he could free the blade, another Calera brought a brandy bottledown on his head. Gathon Dard sprang upon the back of a secondassassin, hooking his left elbow under the fellow's chin and grabbingthe wrist of his knife-hand with his right; the man struggled for aninstant, then went limp and fell forward. The third of the trio ofmurderers was still slashing at the fallen chieftain when Antrath Alvchopped him along the side of the neck with the edge of his hand; hesimply dropped and lay still.
Nebu-hin-Abenoz was dead. He had been slashed and cut and stabbed intwenty places; his throat had been cut at least three times, and hehad almost been decapitated. The wounded Calera wasn't dead yet;however, even if he had been at the moment on the operating table of aFirst Level Home Time Line hospital, it was doubtful if he could havebeen saved, and under the circumstances, his life-expectancy could bemeasured in seconds. Some cushions were placed under his head, andwomen called to attend him, but he died before they arrived.
The three assassins were also dead. Except for a few cuts on the scalpof the one who had been felled with the bottle, there was not a markon any of them. Cavu-hin-Avoran kicked one of them in the face andcursed.
"We killed the skunks too quickly!" he cried. "We should have overcomethem alive, and then taken our time about dealing with them as theydeserved." He went on to specify the nature of their deserts. "Suchinfamy!"
"Well, I'll swear I didn't think a little tap like I gave that onewould kill him," the bottle-wielder excused himself. "Of course, I wasthinking only of Nebu-hin-Abenoz, Safar receive him--"
Antrath Alv bent over the one he had hand-chopped.
"I didn't kill this one," he said. "The way I hit him, if I had, hisneck would be broken, and it's not. See?" He twisted at the dead man'sneck. "I think they took poison before they drew their knives."
"I saw all of them put their hands to their mouths!" a Caleraexclaimed. "And look; see how their jaws are clenched." He picked upone of the knives and used it to pry the dead man's jaws apart,sniffing at his lips and looking into his mouth. "Look, his teeth andhis tongue are discolored; there is a strange smell, too."
Antrath Alv sniffed, then turned to his partner. "Halatane," hewhispered. Gathon Dard nodded. That was a First Level poison;paratimers often
carried halatane capsules on the more barbarictime-lines, as a last insurance against torture.
"But, Holy Name of Safar, what manner of men were these?"Coru-hin-Irigod demanded. "There are those I would risk my life tokill, but I would not throw it away thus."
"They came knowing that we would kill them, and took the poison thatthey might die quickly and without pain," a Calera said.
"Or that your tortures would not wring from them the names and nationof those who sent them," an elderly man in the dress of a rancher fromthe southeast added. "If I were you, I would try to find out who theseenemies are, and the sooner the better."
Gathon Dard was
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