“What are you talking about,” one of them called, “I thought you brought us here to take what we want from the fat, rich merchants in the caravan.”
“Hunt. That’s what I propose. Hunt outlaws and collect one silver coin for the head of each you bring me.”
The men gasped at my words. “But who would pay anything for the heads of outlaws?” said Danak. Then he comprehended my words. “You? But where would you get such coins. You have none.”
I thought I had them now. “I will pay one silver coin for the head of each outlaw you bring me,” I repeated to be certain they all heard me. “I represent men who wish to see outlaws dead but they well reward those of you who wage war on the outlaws as we have already done. Think of it. I will meet with you at the new moon where the route crosses the Beerah River and there I will pay in coin, or goods, and you will have the use of slaves for the night. I will see to it.”
The men were having trouble following all that I said but they understood the use of woman well enough. If there is anything that remains in short supply among outlaws, it is woman. And I had just offered them a means by which the worst of their deprivations in the forest would end and they would have the use of a slave one night each month.
“To show my good faith I will go to the caravan and I will return with silver for each of the 14 outlaws you have slain since you have been under my command.” I waited now for the reply.
At last Danak spoke, “Who commands once you are gone?” he asked, a solid practical question and I now knew the direction the band would take.
“You command, not as second leader, but as leader,” I replied.
Danak had sense enough to show no more than a short nod but I saw the gleam in his eye and knew I had won. He would back me so that he could have command. It seemed my departure was well timed. Danak had grown to enjoy his authority and he would not have remained content to be second much longer. He now assumed full command. He alone made the decision and spoke for the men. No one dared to challenge him. On one hand, I was very proud of the leader I had created but after hearing him out I was disappointed as well.
“We will do as you suggest and hunt outlaws for the bounty you promise. We will trade the head of an outlaw for one silver piece or goods and for the use of a slave girl one night each month at the time of the trading at the place where the Beerah River crosses the caravan route. I will permit you to go to the caravan and return with the 14 silver pieces you promise us, but your slave will remain with us, to insure you return with silver and not Sekers. I have spoken and I will not discuss it further.”
Such a speech. Granted, most of it was a rehash of my own but he had made it all sound as though he was laying down an ultimatum to me and that he was setting the terms, not me. Keeping Sofeeah here was a master stroke and I could see no way around it. Such a leader I had created.
“It is agreed,” I said, and hoped that I had not sealed Sofeeah’s fate in so doing. “I wish to speak with you a moment before I depart.” Danak had had his moment but he knew me well enough to walk a short distance away from the men and speak with me. “I am pleased, my friend that you now command. I would remind you that I once spared your life and that it was I how placed you as second leader. I have now given you full command and a means by which to live in relative comfort here in the forest. Your band will grow and with it your power and influence.” I saw that I had the man now. “But hear me now, I shall return and with the silver as I have promised but I hold you personally liable for the safety of my woman. If she is so much as touched, then I swear I will hunt you down and slay you. I am First Officer of the Great House of Rahdon in Taslea and I have the means to do as I say. Now Danak, give me your word and I will depart.”
The great man thought a moment and reached a decision, I knew not what decision, and then with a blank expression said, “I give you my word that no harm will come to your woman and that she will not be touched by anyone until you return.”
I went to Sofeeah and spoke with her a moment. “I must leave you while I go for the silver. Danak has given his word, for what that is worth. I can think of no other course of action and so I must risk leaving you in the hands of these men for a time.”
“Go Hunter and hurry hack. I trust Danak and think all will go well.” She smiled as she spoke and with sadness I turned for the caravan. I wondered if she had meant what she said or if it had been for my benefit alone. I could not know.
~
The caravan was not far from us and I soon reached the rear of it. It was about to stop for the midday meal and the front of the caravan was being drawn into a field to form the traditional circle for protection. The Commander of One Hundred was shocked to see me and Renakor actually smiled.
“Yes, I am alive but it was a close call. Tell me though how many perished of those I led so foolishly into the forest?” I asked. This was a matter which had been much on my mind for many days.
“Losses?” said the Commander. “Foolish? Why you made a sound decision, had you not I would have voiced objection. You are not responsible if the enemy laid a clever ambush. We are very happy to see you alive and surprised to see you emerge in this manner from the forest. You asked of losses, I recollect that we lost fewer than ten men, but we slew many times that and except for losing you I considered the mission a success, even though we did not succeed in destroying the entire band or in freeing the Urak Tonalah’s daughter.”
“I have her,” I said. “She waits for me not far from here but I must return alone to claim her. Good Merchant, I need 14 silver coins now. Commander hold the caravan here until I return. Do not send men after me, not until tomorrow if I fail to return. Much depends on our absolute obedience to my orders.”
“It shall do as you order. Only, First Officer, try to come back this time. It is wearisome commanding a caravan such as this. I prefer my duties when you were here before.”
Renakor gave me the coins and I set out back the way I had come. Many gawked at me as I passed but it is unseemly to show excessive curiosity on Doridia so no questions were asked. I passed the fat Merchant of Beerah and thought of one final gesture that might seal my deal with Danak and the outlaw band.
“Good merchant,” I said. “How are you this fine day? Listen, you may have heard that I have been missing for some days now, but I am back. I have been long without a woman and wonder if I might have the use of a few of yours for the afternoon to better quench my thirst, one might say.” I gave the man a lewd wink.
“Of course, of course. I had missed you. How many do you wish? I know you to be a Seker, ah, I mean, First Officer of prodigious appetites so perhaps three will suffice.”
I made a show of thinking a moment and then said, “I believe that 22 will do very nicely. Yes, very nicely indeed.”
The fat man stammered in disbelieve but he dared not offend me even if he wished, but 22! “Of course,” he said, “at once, I mean, immediately.” He ran off and in a moment 22 slave girls were brought to me. I looked them all over and nodded in approval.
“This way women, follow me. Have I got a surprise for you.”
The slaves laughed and giggled as we moved towards Danak and his outlaw band. We were not overly far from the caravan so they were not concerned, then too they were with me and I of all men should know where we were safe.
My former band of cutthroats were very pleased to say the least upon my arrival. Danak had been true to his word and Sofeeah was unharmed and untouched. The men rushed the waiting slave girls who were shocked at the appearance of the men, but then men are after all men and they knew what to do and what to expect. More than one I am certain found the experience a pleasing change and dirt washes away with little effort.
The men were starved for more than food after the previous winter in the forest and this was a feast with which they eagerly stuffed themselves. Sofeeah and I remained a discreet distance away until most of the men seemed sated. It was some time after I arrived with my giggling companions before D
anak thought to ask for the silver.
As I handed him the coins I said, “I have kept this much of our bargain. I will meet with coin, goods and women at the appointed time and place. I have decided that you may bring me only the scalp of each outlaw but enough of it for me to know the man is dead. I anticipate that you will have many for me.”
“After receiving a taste of what is to come this day, there may will be no outlaws left in the forest when next we meet.”
When the time came Danak beat a few determined gluttons from atop the much used slaves and returned the women to me to escort back to the caravan with Sofeeah. No leader wished women permanently in his camp for they lead only to trouble.
I led the slaves to the Merchant of Beerah who could not believe their wild-eyed condition. It was obvious they had spent most of the afternoon upon their backs. Seeing Sofeeah beside me he exclaimed, “Another! Still another! He took 22 into the forest but still needed one more! Such a men, such a man.” The look of adoration and respect was so strong I was sorry that the slaves would soon tell him the truth. But for the moment I enjoyed it.
16. I Resume My Journey to Lathanah
Camped that night near a large stream, I recounted my tale to the Seker leaders of Taslea and to the good Merchant Renakor. He estimated that we were now some three days trek from the city of Lathanah and that within two days we would be within the area of extensive cultivation and settlement, safe from any further attacks by outlaws. As I had surmised, the caravan had met with other delays upon my capture. This had been the longest trek to Lathanah that Renakor could ever recall and he hoped that the profits to be made would justify the expenses.
I quartered Sofeeah in my private wagon and ordered her to remain out of sight for while it was not probable that Kanchoh would send scouts so close to Lathanah and so far from his usual area of domination it was still a possibility as I did not believe he would lightly give up this woman who was such a central figure in his revenge against the Urak Tonalah. She accepted the restrictions without hesitation and could not conceal her joy at finding herself a Free Woman and in the comparative safety of the caravan with its excess of experienced Sekers.
Late on the evening of my first day back with the caravan I walked alone to the rear of my great wagon, intending to retire for the night. My days in the forest had taken a toll on me and I felt in the need of much rest. As I was about to enter I heard a voice call out softly into the still, floral scented air,
“Master! May a slave speak?” It was of course Lehdah, not actually forgotten since my return to the caravan but as she was a slave the last in order of priority for me to speak with. In truth though I must admit that while I had thought of the slave girl earlier when propriety did not permit me to seek her out she had not been in my thoughts as weariness had come to fill. I was happy to hear her voice and pleased that she had called out to me before I had retired and ignored the woman entirely.
I took her with me a short distance away for privacy, just beyond the circle of light cast by the fires of the caravan. Alone in the brush I pulled her down to the earth beside me and held her small body as we spoke.
“Master, do you wish only to use me and then return to your other woman, the golden haired one whom I have heard moving about in your wagon?”
“She is not my woman,” I began to explain before I realized that she was teasing me and efficient as I had found the slave spreading of rumors to be I thought that she already knew the truth. “And who are you to ask this of me? If I wish to use you without a word it is my right, and if I wish to keep a Free Woman in my wagon, of what concern of yours can it be?”
“None, master. Will master punish this miserable slave and well use her this night so that she learns the price she must pay for talking too much about matters she has no concern in?”
“Yes, slave,” I thought with mock intensity. “Forcing you to submit time after time seems adequate punishment for what you have done and should teach you a lesson. You shall submit to me now to begin the punishment.”
“Yes, master. Yes, now, please and often tonight, oh please take me now master, now.” She squealed in pleasure as I pressed her eager, hot body to the damp, soft earth and began to punish my beautiful, faithful Lehdah.
~
The caravan traveled ponderously but with each passing day we made good progress towards Lathanah, the third city of the Golden Triangle. The Merchant Renakor continued to work with the Arabic system of mathematics I had taught him some time before and I was very pleased with his progress. I had no doubt but that in Lathanah he would substitute it for the cumbersome and inexact Doridian system.
I no longer desired to be attacked by outlaws and for I had Sofeeah with us and I did not wish to invite battle that might conceivably bring her to harm now that she was so near safety. Accordingly I had authorized the release of the extra Sekers who until now had remained concealed in wagons much to their pleasure, for all of them preferred the march to the cramped quarters of the wagons. I thought that the increased display of might would discourage any would be enemies.
Shortly before dawn of the day after my return to the caravan from the great forest, I lay in the soft ground of the brush and held Lehdah to me. She asked of Evaldor, her tormentor and the man she had warned me so vehemently not to trust. She had been right but had the good sense not to mention it.
“I lost track of him the moment the attack came and so I cannot tell you what happened to him from personal knowledge,” I had answered, “but I can tell you that it appears he escaped and arrived after the battle at the camp of Kanchoh who promptly banished him for losing the men who had been entrusted to him for the attack upon this caravan. I have heard nothing of him since.”
She had been disturbed by this and well she should be. For she had once had him utterly at her mercy and I through my own stupidity and ignorance had let him escape. Now she might never have the revenge which she so well deserved. I regretted not listening to her in the beginning but I did not tell her so for one does not speak of such matters with a slave, especially one with as quick a tongue as this one.
I had returned to my wagon seeking to make as little noise as possible lest I disturb the sleep of Sofeeah but she had awakened nevertheless, and said ever so softly, “Is master tired? Does master need to rest after working so hard through the long night?”
“Silence,” I said, “You are a Free Woman and it is not seemly for you to speak in that way any longer. Let me rest.”
“Of course, you poor thing, so tired after such, shall I say, an energetic night. Sleep now, poor darling.”
I slept but not for long and Sofeeah had laughed long and heartily when I was awakened to resume the trek.
The passage of the Beerah River was made without incident. An ancient stone bridge designed to withstand even the efforts of the outlaws to disable it spanned the waterway regardless of its size. There were to my knowledge no major obstacles remaining between here and Lathanah. That night I summoned Lehdah to my fire and asked what she wished me to do upon entering Lathanah.
“I do not know master. I suppose that I want my freedom but I have found such happiness with you that I hesitate to give it up. Once I return to the life of the Free Woman I can no longer come to your furs at night or serve you in all your needs,” she had answered, her brow wrinkled in thought.
“I am pleased that you have found life with me to be thus but you cannot expect it to always be that way. I might be slain and you would fall property to someone else. You are slave and I do not believe in right that you remain one. I ask you to allow me to approach your family in Lathanah and determine if you are welcome in their home. If you are not, then I shall surely free you nevertheless, and if you will not remain in Lathanah then a proper place can be found for you in Taslea. Allow me to do this small thing for you.”
The dilemma I faced was because she had thus far not named her family and without their name I would be unable to approach her family.
“I
will think of it,” she said before lapsing into silence.
I was puzzled by her actions but then I am often puzzled by the actions of a woman so why should this occasion be any different.
The following day we would begin to enter the settled area surrounding Lathanah and thus an area of farms heavily patrolled by the city Sekers. We would be beyond the attack of outlaws by nightfall and I was eager to see Sofeeah in a city of safety. We would deal with the problem of her return to Runah after we reached Lathanah and had concluded business. I was more preoccupied with seeing Lehdah returned to her parents at this point.
The attack came suddenly and just at the moment when the caravan had topped a ridge and obtained a clear view of the vast plain of Lathanah stretched for miles before us. It was carried out as near as I could surmise by some 1,000 outlaws and this was to my knowledge the largest band of outlaws ever known to have been assembled in one point at the same time. I could not understand how such a large band could be held together for it would be impossible to hunt properly for so many and surely they could not survive a winter together, but they were together for now and that was all that mattered at the time. I remember thinking as the cutthroats descended upon us that only a cunning mind and determined personality could have brought such a large, vicious group together.
JH02. Caravans of Doridia Page 11
