“My commander,” each one the commanders bowed to both Gelaus and Hamo as they took their leave.
“General,” the new appointed adjuvat of General Hamo arrived in the war room.
“Yes?”
“We found the blacksmith.”
“Very well, I will come.”
“General, it is not a pleasant sight. We shall need a new blacksmith.”
“Commander send for Haticar when you have a moment.”
“Yes, general, who is this man here? Your new adjuvat?”
“Yes, he is. Introduce yourself.”
“I am called Mago, of Numo, commander.” General Hamo’s new adjuvat bowed to Gelaus, who nodded in answer.
“Lead the way.” General Hamo motioned and he left with his adjuvat.
The Hunt for Snakes
Eleesa felt like a bruised sack of rice on the rump of Lord Hamago’s horse. It was trotting but every step the horse took would bounce her into the air. She would hate to feel the horse galloping. The Lord’s horse was at the front of the caravan and slaves sprinted ahead of the group. Each lord was sweating under their armor. They all carried spears and waited for the slaves to flush out snakes. The group numbered about ten and increased to fifty with the slaves. This would be a prime moment for revolt. However, all the slaves were either too weak to rise, or to busy treating each other cruelly. Eleesa hated this place and she hated this view of the world from the rear of a horse. Lord Hamago’s eyes sparkled and he spurred his horse into a gallop. Eleesa was thrown from the horse and landed on her side. She gasped for air and rolled onto her back. The other lords almost trampled her as they galloped after the Hamago. A shout came up and Eleesa pulled herself to her feet. Harco returned and pulled Eleesa onto his horse.
“What happened?” Eleesa gasped just as her breath was returning. Dust had filled up her lungs making it harder to breathe.
“Come, you shall see what happens to a slave when they make Lord Hamago angry.” Harco spat as he spoke his fathers name. The two rejoined the group to find Lord Hamago shouting. The slave boy who had given food to Eleesa was the target of the lord’s assault. Eleesa felt pity for him and felt guilty. She was glad that it wasn’t her, but was that wrong?
“You blind fool! You should have leapt in front of my javelin. The fate that awaits you now will be far worse!”
“Is this how your slaves act to you? It appears your slaves think themselves better than us.” Lord Gauta laughed, rocking back on his horse.
“Shut up! I will handle this!” Lord Hamago snapped at Lord Gauta and glared at him. He then returned his hatred to the slave boy. “Tie him to the end of my horse!” After the other slaves had followed their lord’s orders, the procession moved on.
“What happened?” Eleesa whispered to Harco as they trailed behind the group.
“Lord Hamago missed a snake with his spear. Something always happens to the nearest slave. This is known, my pretty raven.”
“Harco, you must come away with me. We should escape this place. Now would be a perfect opportunity. Just let them keep going.” Harco laughed at Eleesa’s words, but she continued tenaciously. “You know that neither of us will survive here. You can’t be with me if either of us is dead. Even if you could, both your cruel father and his spoiled son would have spoiled my body.”
“You called Hamaco spoiled,” Harco laughed, but made sure to keep his voice from reaching the others. “Where would we go? What would we do? What would we eat? No, this is folly. Besides, my father’s men would find us eventually.”
“It would at least be a chance. We could hide out in my village and hunt snakes for food. The desert provides much. We could at least have a life together. Remaining here would be certain death.”
“I have survived this far…” Eleesa held up a finger to Harco’s mouth before pressing her point. She sensed Harco was close to breaking.
“How long do you think this could last. I will be yours Harco. Only yours.” Eleesa stroked Harco’s leg and then moved her hand to his groin. Harco laughed in response and shifted uncomfortably in his saddle.
“Ok, ok, I have a plan. This is not a good time though. I have a plan, young raven. You might be more cunning than myself. We can’t bring my crew. The boring villager life does not suit them. Don’t worry, no one will ever touch you.” Harco had no idea how true his words would come to be.
The horses and slaves arrived at a very small oasis hidden in a field of sand. Trynuma had disappeared from the horizon. The slave boy was exhausted from running behind Lord Hamago’s horse. The boy had lost his foot miles back and his body had been ripped open from sand. His clothes were all but completely torn. Now only strips of cloth clung to his body. Something told Eleesa this was the destination for the boy. Lord Hamago would not have dead weight slowing his horse. The oasis was watched by three trees on it’s north bank. While the horses drank, Lord Hamago and the other lords dismounted.
“Strip him!” The few torn dusty rags were removed from the slave boy and he lay naked on the ground. Blood trickled from his torn skin and mixed with the sand. This created a dark mud that smeared whenever the boy was moved. “Tie him to the tree!” The boy had no strength to fight back, nor did he try. The other slaves picked up his naked body and tied his arms and legs apart. He was tied around the tree. His arms were dislodged from his shoulders as the slaves bent them around the tree. “Let this be a warning! Come, we have more snakes to hunt.”
“Father!” Harco hurled a javelin towards Lord Hamago. The lord’s eyes widened as the javelin split the lord’s calf.
“You idiot!”
“I saw a snake! I saved your life, father!” Harco shouted his defense as he prepared to fight off Hamaco. Brother advanced on brother as both raised javelins.
“Stop it, my sons! Would you leave your father here to die?” The two boys, inches from drawing each other’s blood, rushed to the aid of their father. The slaves helped the boys hoist their father onto his horse.
“It seems the hunt is over.” Lord Gauta laughed as the slaves picked up the snake, speared by Harco. They added it to the collection of hunted snakes. The procession started back towards Trynuma. They left behind the slave boy, naked, and tied to a tree as Lord Hamago had ordered.
***
With tired eyes, General Hamo stared down at the body of his blacksmith. The man’s body was mutilated by many different weapons. The only feature that revealed his identity was the flesh on his right hand. The man had suffered a severe burn during a childhood accident. The flesh looked like that of a rat’s when all the fur is removed. General Hamo looked up at his adjuvat and awaited the explanation.
“Twenty-men deserted, General.” The adjuvat Mago hesitantly spoke to Hamo. He was unsure of the general’s reaction, but the adjuvat continued. “It appears that either the blacksmith joined the desertion and was betrayed, or he attempted to stop them.
“Whatever the blacksmith did, he died with honor. I want him buried with all the rights accustomed to the old gods. The doctor knows how…”
“General, the old gods are illegal.”
“Everything is legal to me.”
“The Dark Queen takes a special interest in you my General. Why can you break her laws but none of us can…” General Hamo dismissed his adjuvat’s curiosity as he was very young and ignorant.
“I do not know.” General Hamo’s words, though sounding sincere, seemed to hide a deeper truth. Despite his look, Adjuvat Mago was very perceptive.
“Shall we send out of search party, General?” Adjuvat Mago changed the subject to future matters.
“No, the deserters have a chance to return and all will be forgotten. They will bring the culprit to answer for the murder. If not, they will join the bandits and die like one.” General Hamo tiredly stated what everyone else knew, except for Mago. “This is well known.”
“General, you sent for me.” Commander Haticar rode up to the crime scene and dismounted.
“How are your horse shoes, commander?”
“They are in a retched condition, General. I would fix them if I had a moment.”
“Good, because you will get that moment. Follow me to the smithy.”
“General, I have many tasks to complete. The men are not yet ready for the coming battle. I fear none of us will be ready in time.” Commander Haticar bowed and prepared to remount his horse.
“Have your adjuvat tend to the tasks. This is a more pressing matter.”
“Yes, commander.” Sheepishly, Commander Haticar took the reins of his horse instead of mounting.
“I will speak with his adjuvat and insure all is understood, General.” Adjuvat Mago bowed and went to leave.
“Very well, come Commander Haticar.” The commander followed his Commanding General Hamo as they strolled to the smithy. “As the son of the blacksmith, what is your account of our iron and bronze?”
“It is in a very grave state, General. I have not held a hammer in years my General. Surely, there is another more suited to this task.”
“Commander, while I know the names of everyone in the infantry and cavalry. I do not know who among them possesses smith skills.”
“What of the skirmisher ranks, general?”
“I only learn the names of those with a higher chance of survival. Each death weighs heavily on my conscience and comes at a great loss to our army. However, slaves are not worth my concern, nor yours.”
“I disagree, General. I will always believe that the one thing which makes all equal is the battlefield. There are no lords, no soldiers, only men struggling to protect each other, or survive themselves.”
“It is for that method of thought that I picked you Commander.”
“You chose me? I thought Commander Gelaus picked us.” Commander Haticar and General Hamo arrived at the smithy. Commander Haticar tethered his horse to the wooden structure. He removed the horse’s metal shoes. Together, the commander and his general ascended the wooden stairs to the smithy.
“You, I picked myself. Commander Gelaus wanted to place another in your position. The other commanders, while intelligent, are arrogant and this blinds them. I would have made you my adjuvat, but that would not have suited your talents.” Commander Haticar and General Hamo picked up hammers.
“You don’t need to do that, General. I can manage.”
“Does not this job require two?”
“Yes, but I will find another to help me.”
“You have already found one.” The General laughed and took one of the horse shoes from Commander Haticar.
“Well, if you’re going to help that is not the way. Only one man can strike the anvil. You shall man the fire.”
“I suppose not only the battlefield is the great equalizer. You are correct in siting my lack of skill in this work, Commander.” General Hamo laughed as he threw wood into the cold furnace.
“General, there is a way to ensure a higher probability for the skirmishers survival.”
“Yes, but the Dark Queen would not allow it.” General Hamo grunted as he fanned the coals in the furnace. Commander Haticar chuckled at the General’s inability.
“Here, let me show you.” Commander Haticar shifted the wood. He then began to delicately coax the embers. “You have shown your ability at defying the Dark Queen, General. If anything would be worth it, would it not be ensuring the lives of our men. If the skirmishers survived longer, perhaps the rest of our men might.”
“I know this, Commander, but trust me when I say it cannot be done.”
“You have little to fear in consequence though, General.”
“It is not I that I fear for, commander. The slaves are worth less than the rest of our men, commander. Believe me when I say, the danger is too great in defying the Dark Queen.” Commander Haticar nodded and began to strike the anvil. All other words were beaten away in the thundering of Haticar’s hammer.
***
In the bed chamber of Lord Hamago, the faces of each inhabitant were grave. Hamaco, however, had a smile stitched to his face. He stood in the back of the room and kept his joy hidden. Eleesa saw it when she glanced back at him. She quickly hid her face before he saw her looking. Harco stood by the bed side with a look of deep worry. Slaves and the other lords stood around but kept their distance. The slave healer tended to the wound frantically. After an hour of vigilance, the healer finally raised his head.
“It seems as though the infection has set in. My powers are beyond this sickness. He will die shortly.” The healer arose and bowed before the members in the room.
“Then you will join him.” Hamaco drew a dagger and advanced on the healer. Harco moved to block his path. Hamaco threw Harco out of the way and drove the dagger into the healer’s gut. Harco drew his sickle and raised it to cut down Hamaco. “Do you really want to bargain your life protecting a slave?” Hamaco grinned as Harco lowered his sickle. Hamaco then continued to stab the healer to death. “Who is your king now!” Eleesa thought about moving to Lord Hamago’s bedside and healing him but Hamaco blocked her path.
“The snake is mighty!” The whole room kneeled before Hamaco and Eleesa was forced to join them. Harco drew his sickle.
“I am older than you, Hamaco. I am the heir.”
“You are a bastard. You could never rule this house!” Hamaco spat at Harco but recognized Harco’s skill with a sickle. Hamaco did not step forward to fight Harco.
“I am recognized and my claims to this house are more legitimate than your own.” Harco was calm and threw his sickle at Hamaco’s feet. Harco was still gallant and adhered to tradition. He would soon realize his mistake in trusting Hamaco’s honor.
“Why wait?” Hamaco grinned and lunged at Harco. Without his sickle, Harco sidestepped and pushed Hamaco aside. Hamaco stumbled and Harco leapt to retrieve his sickle. He was too slow. Just as Harco’s fingers grasped the hilt of his weapon, Hamaco’s knife plunged into Harco’s side. Cruelly, Hamaco twisted the blade and ripped open Harco’s guts. Blood and a freshly opened stomach spilled onto the floor. Harco gasped in shock as he gathered up his organs. He struggled to put them back inside. Hamaco finished the job by striking Harco’s neck in the side. During the fight, Eleesa’s companion appeared in the room. He moved around behind the spectators and grabbed Eleesa’s arm. His eyes were filled with determination and desperation. He pulled Eleesa, who followed dumbly. She was still in shock from the miraculous events taking place. Together, Eleesa and her companion Jaco leapt out of the window. Still fixed on the fight, none in the room saw them flee.
Eleesa and Jaco landed in a bush just under the window. Jaco, still roughly holding Eleesa’s arm, pulled her threw the gardens. They dodged slaves and guards. It appears Jaco had been planning this escape the entire stay at the Hamago Hamicali mansion. The two finally made it out of the house through a hole in it’s out wall.
“How did you manage al that? Where were you?” Eleesa gasped her words out between breathes as they ran.
“Talk later. Focus on escape right now. We must make it to the Salty Chariot.”
“What is the Salty Chariot?”
“You shall see.” The two ran together through the streets. The chain around Eleesa’s neck clanked as they moved. Each dodged the guard and the people moving through the streets. A runaway slave would receive the cruelest of deaths in this city. Just when Eleesa thought they would be caught. Jaco pulled Eleesa down behind a barrel. They had come to a halt in the alley way to the docks. Ahead lay a small merchant vessel. Slaves were being taken on to the ship.
“Why are we here, Jaco?”
“Eleesa, you must stop calling me that. It was the name of the slave boy left at the oasis. Also, this ship will be our salvation.” Eleesa had a look of sadness at hearing the true holder of the name Jaco. She peered over the barrel at the ship. The ship’s name was written up on its bow in old Bahlic; The Salty Chariot.
The Salty Chariot
Ge
neral Hamo sat against the wall on the smithy floor as he took a break. He wiped sweat from his brow and threw a bronze fire poker on the floor.
“This is exhausting work. I don’t think I shall ever complain about Commander Gelaus’s long speeches again.” General Hamo little pieces of stone into the furnace.
“I don’t think you should say that, General.” Commander Haticar laughed and placed a hot bar of iron on the anvil. “We have a lot more shoes to make, General. Tend to the fire.” General Hamo sighed and got back to his feet. Just then, Adjuvat Mago entered the smithy.
“General, Commander Gelaus told me that you would be here. He asks for you to come to the war room.”
“It looks as though I am need.” General Hamo excitedly went to leave the smithy. “Mago, help Commander Haticar.”
“Yes, General.”
“Finally, I will have someone younger to help me, no offense General.” Commander Haticar laughed as he gestured to Mago. General Hamo shook his head as he exited the smithy.
Back in the war room, Commander Gelaus was waiting. His walking stick had turned into an ornate cane. The hardened oak turned into a rose head at the top. It was the symbol of Commander Gelaus’s old house.
“It seems that your ailment is permanent, Commander.” General Hamo motioned to Commander Gelaus’s cane as they sat down.
“Yes, General. Unfortunately, the healer was unable to replace the bone in my hip. It looks as though the siege of Timujri proved to be my last battle.”
“Why do you torture yourself by keeping that sigil. It is a relic of the past.” General Hamo looked perplexed as he looked at Gelaus’s cane. “That house disowned you.”
“Without nobility, we have nothing, General.” Gelaus almost seemed to plead with General Hamo.
“You are wrong, Commander. Where do you think our nobility came from? You have proved yourself to be of noble blood in your own right. Your birth does not dictate that. Create your own sigil. You shall create your own house under your name. The coronation will take place before we depart for the invasion.”
The First Valkyrie Page 7
