Princess Electra Book 3 Gypsy Music

by Dory Lee Maske

  Chapter 32

  Port City of Taz

  Princess Electra slept in a sumptuous bed that had once belonged to some important official of Taz. The room was exactly as that official had left it when he escaped the city before the Barburians overran it—rich with fine fabrics and carved geometric art work. Since there had been no battle, the city was left intact. The Barburians seemed to prefer their round yurts to the marble structures of Taz. The beautiful city was deserted—an unused prize of war.

  Electra awoke to a sound like distant thunder. She ran out to her small veranda but saw no sign of rain. The sky was a cloudless blue. She dressed quickly and raced down the stairs to find the source of the noise that continued to rumble like a gathering storm.

  In the courtyard she found her fellow Fernlanders. Prince Avor was very excited.

  "It's about time you woke up," he shouted at Electra. "The Great Khan and all his army are just arriving."

  Electra looked out at the hills rising behind the wall that enclosed the city of Taz. She saw the multitudes covering the hillsides, swarming like insects as they made their way down into the valley behind the city.

  Rabar was sitting beside the courtyard's bubbling fountain. He had donned his work clothes and held a pick and shovel on his lap. Tandor sat beside him, holding bags and boxes to carry his plants.

  "Will we be collecting today?" she asked Rabar.

  "I will be, and Tandor wants to come along. If you prefer to watch the opening ceremony, I will understand." Rabar stood up and adjusted his pick and shovel under his arm.

  Avor stared at Electra, then at Rabar. "She must come to the opening. We are guests here. We are representatives of Fernland. We can not offend the Great Khan."

  Electra suspected that the Great Khan did not know who she was, nor did he care. But she could see Avor would be humiliated by her absence.

  "My brother is right. I should go for the opening at least. Tell me where you will be collecting and I will join you as soon as I can."

  Tandor seemed uncertain whether to stay with Electra or continue on with Rabar. Electra was quick to reassure him.

  "I will be fine, Tandor. Avor will be with me and Muller and Hilgard as well. Go on ahead with Rabar. I'm sure he will be glad of your help."

  Rabar gave her directions to the collection area and all started off to their respective destinations.

  Electra looked up at the hills. More and more Barburee soldiers poured over the crests. The sounds of thousands of horses' hooves, drums, singing and shouting became almost deafening as the Fernlanders approached the open doors of the great wall. It was impossible to take it all in. At the gate in the wall, Rabar and Tandor went East and waved goodbye to Avor, Electra, Muller and Hilgard as they made their way to the tournament field.

  Different units of soldiers rode in groups of ten as they surged down the hills into the wide valley below. Archers, swordsmen, lancers, men with axes were followed by herds of animals—sheep, camels, goats, elephants and thousands of horses—some with riders and more running free. The women and children followed on horseback, children as young as two and three on their own horses, dashing down the hillside, laughing and singing.

  Electra, Avor and Tandor were amazed. But Muller and Hilgard had seen this sight before. They had visited Barburee last spring at the insistence of Bataar. While they had been about solving the problem of the arrows exploding prematurely, they had come to know many of the Barburee archers quite well. Some of the faces coming over the hill were familiar to them. The archers recognized Muller and Hilgard immediately. They welcomed them as heroes who had saved them from terrible injuries caused by the arrows exploding precipitously, sometimes in their very faces as they drew their bow strings. They surrounded the two Fernland men and led them off, shouting and slapping them on their shoulders.

  Electra and Avor wound their way through the arriving army to Bataar's tent.

  Bataar laughed when he saw them dodging horses and camels to get to him. He flung his arms out joyously. "Great Khan's army. All Barburee people come games."

  Electra smiled a reply. "Incredible!"

  Avor's eyes danced with excitement. "What will happen first?"

  Bataar pointed to a spot higher up the valley. "We see from there. New parade. Soldiers, visitors from all places. We watch. Father watch. Go there." Bataar grabbed some blankets from inside his yurt and they all mounted up to ride to the higher ground up the valley. There they spread out blankets and looked down at the mad scene below.

  A small contingent of soldiers broke out of the surging mass and rode up the valley.

  Bataar jumped up. "Father come!"

 

  The Great Khan rode up with a number of his generals and advisors. Electra recognized one of them—Twenty Quivers. The same older emissary who had visited Fernland last spring with Bataar. Electra knew he spoke English and was relieved to see him. Twenty Quivers jumped down from his horse and greeted them.

  "May I present the Great Khan." Twenty Quivers raised his hand to indicate the man to his left. It was good that Twenty Quivers had pointed him out. Since he was dressed as his generals in a lacquered leather cap, tunic and leggings, it would have been hard to guess his identity, otherwise. Electra was surprised that he rode as his generals and had no trappings of royalty.

  The Great Khan glanced at Avor and Electra and nodded. Then he walked on to Bataar and put an arm around his shoulders, speaking to his son in their mother tongue.

  "Are you enjoying your visit?" Twenty Quivers asked as the Great Khan moved on.

  "I have learned to play buzkashi," Avor rushed to say.

  Twenty Quivers smiled. "Good. Good. Is best game, no?"

  "The very best," Avor agreed. "I wish I were on a team today."

  Twenty Quivers nodded as though he understood Avor's enthusiasm. "In my youth, I had good buzkashi horse. Now..." He shrugged. "Too old."

  The horses are trained especially for the game, then?" Avor asked.

  Twenty Quivers looked surprised by the question. "Horses play buzkashi. Riders only go along." He smiled.

  The Great Khan and his generals settled down on blankets, listening to Bataar. He seemed to be discussing important matters. Electra wished that Hilgard was here to tell her what they were saying.

  Women and children—perhaps more of the Great Khan's family, joined them and plates of food were passed around. Electra and Avor were largely ignored as family members caught up on the latest news. After some time, horns announced the start of the official Nomadic Games parade.

  The parade was very like the one that had welcomed the Fernlanders, except much bigger. Teams flying their identifying flags and colors paraded by the Great Khan as did the various military units. Even the elephants, clothed in their fighting armor, paraded by to great cheers from the families who lined the sides of the valleys. The wrestlers came last to great acclaim. They would compete on the last day of the games. Their oiled muscles gleamed as they paraded by their cheering fans.

  Finally the parade ended and the Great Khan stood and shouted out the words to officially open the games. Horns blared and drums sounded as the first two buzkashi teams thundered onto the field.

  "I'm going to leave now and go find Rabar," Electra whispered to Avor.

  "But the buzkashi match is about to begin," Avor whispered back.

  "I know." Electra did not share her brother's enthusiasm for the sport. The last game had ended in her having to drag a man off the field to care for his injuries. "I'm sure they have other physicians to care for the wounded," she added.

  Avor frowned at her little joke. "You will miss something you'll likely never see again," he argued. "These are the best from all the provinces."

  "You will tell me what I missed, I'm sure."

  Avor shrugged. "It is your loss." He jumped to his feet and cheered as they brought in the first goat carcass, his sister already forgotten
.

  Electra found Tandor and Rabar at the base of a hill farther up the valley. Some of the boxes were already filled with plants. As soon as Tandor saw Electra coming he ran out to meet her.

  "I was thinking of asking Rabar if he could identify the white powder Dagon seeks," he said.

  "You do not need my permission," Electra answered. "Do you have the powder with you?"

  "Yes, I have some from the sample Deimos brought back." He brought out the rolled tube from his tunic and opened it to show Electra.

  "Let us ask him, then."

  They approached Rabar and he stopped digging, wiping perspiration from his face with his sleeve.

  "Have the games begun?" he asked.

  "With great enthusiasm." Electra motioned to Tandor to ask his question.

  "I am searching for a source of this white powder," he said, as he carefully held the unrolled tube out for Rabar's inspection. "Are you familiar with it?"

  Rabar separated the white granules out gingerly, then shook the white grains from his finger, spit on his finger and wiped it on his sleeve. "Ah..., the hot powder. Yes, I know it. You mix it with the dirt and the plant grows very big." He held his hands out to emphasize his point. "I would like to have some as well, for my plants. But the place I know of is several days journey from here. It is found in a cave near an oasis where the caravans stop to drink.

  Tandor's eyes grew large. "Could you show me the way?"

  "I could tell you how to get there. But I must spend the short time we have here gathering plants."

  Tandor nodded. "Yes, of course. You could tell me?"

  "I could draw you a map."

  Tandor's face glowed with enthusiasm. "A map would be perfect!"

  Electra knew the games would last only four more days. How did Tandor hope to get back in time if the trip needed several days going and the same returning. Tandor would certainly set off to find the powder as soon as he could manage it. Electra did not want to see Tandor left behind alone. She made a decision she knew Tandor would not appreciate, nor would Muller. Both wanted their search for the white powder kept secret.

  She turned to Tandor. "I believe Muller is looking for a bit of the same powder. Perhaps you should speak with him before starting out on such a long journey."

  Tandor frowned and carefully rolled his paper tube back up. "Perhaps." He gave Electra an angry look but said nothing more.