“Excellent,” came from the container on the right.
How brave, and foolish, Desmond of Harfax had been! Did he think that so mighty a foe, so jealously guarded, might be so easily disposed of? I recalled that he whom he had spoken of as his principal, who had been, as it had turned out, Grendel, had said nothing of the assassination of Agamemnon. He had been silent with respect to that matter. This silence, I suspected, had puzzled, or displeased, Desmond of Harfax. Striking a blow at the heart of the conspiracy, by doing away with Agamemnon, had seemed to him a consideration of paramount importance. Be that as it may, it clearly was not an easy blow to strike.
Desmond of Harfax struggled futilely in the grip of two Kurii.
I wondered if Agamemnon was even ensconced in one of the three containers on the dais. Then I realized that in all likelihood he would be. Presumably, given the unrest in the Cave, the abortive revolt of Lucius, who had presumably been as trusted, or more trusted, than any, and the possible existence of dissidents amongst the Kurii, perhaps even some lingering followers of Lucius, I did not think he would dare to be far from Timarchos and Lysymachos.
There had been nothing secret about this meeting in the audience chamber of Agamemnon. Indeed, it had, in effect, been publicized. One of its purposes was to inspire terror in the hearts of the disaffected. It may also be remembered that the leader of the revolt, Lucius, and certain followers, had remained at large in the labyrinthine recesses of the Cave. This was due, in particular, not simply to the extent of the Cave and its passages, many of which were remote and unfamiliar, even natural, but because of a number of constructed private or secret passages. These were known to few but high Kurii, such as Lucius. With primitive weapons, of course, such as existed in the Cave, it would be extremely dangerous to pursue the dissidents into such places. Too, some had been clearly barricaded. The thought of Agamemnon and his adherents appears to have been that the putatively small number of remaining dissidents who might conceal themselves in such passages would perish for lack of water, or be starved out. Should they emerge into the larger halls they could presumably be easily met and dealt with. What was not understood was that Lucius and his cohorts had supplied several of these passages with reservoirs of water and stores of food, in case a retreat to them became necessary. The maps of the secret passageways had been taken by Lucius, and the adherents of Agamemnon knew little of their nature or whereabouts.
What is most relevant to this account is the fact that by means of one of these secret passageways, as to many other important locations in the Cave, one might obtain access to the audience chamber of Agamemnon.
“Take him away, to the place of cells,” came from one of the containers, that on the left.
“No!” cried a Kur. “Kill him now! Be swift! Be done with it!”
“He is a man,” said another Kur. “Men may side with him.”
“Men are dangerous!” said another.
“Men are not to be trusted!” said another.
“Very well,” came from the container on the right, “kill him now.”
“No!” I screamed.
A Kur paw struck me from my knees, feet away, to the floor of the chamber.
“Let all the men be killed,” called another Kur.
“We can hire others,” said another Kur.
“Hundreds will rush to serve,” said another.
“Such need only the smell of gold,” said another.
“Speak your last, Desmond of Harfax,” came from the container on the left.
“Gladly,” cried Desmond of Harfax. “Down with the tyrant! Down with Agamemnon!”
One of the Kurii near Master Desmond raised a massive paw. One blow from such a paw could break a neck or back.
“I will speak!” cried out a voice, a woman’s voice.
On more than one translator, as Kurii turned about, I heard, “She is free.”
“Noble beasts!” cried out the Lady Bina. “Repudiate Agamemnon! How can he be Kur? He has no body! I know his world! It rejected him! He is no Kur! He is only the brain that once inhabited a Kur body! Now he is an artificial thing, a brain armed with a hundred artificialities, an artifact of your wondrous science. Do not listen to such an object! Do not serve so monstrous a contrivance!”
“Kill her!” came from the container on the right.
It was not clear for a moment what then occurred, but a concealed portal, at the rear of the audience chamber had opened, and some fourteen armed Kurii, led by Lucius, thrust their way into the room. Several had axes, and two carried the massive crossbow with tiered quarrels, of the sort I had first seen in the place of cells.
“Die, Agamemnon!” cried Lucius, and from diverse translators in the chamber, those activated, perhaps more than a dozen, there broke forth a startled medley of Kur and Gorean, producing a confused storm of sound.
As weapons were not permitted in the audience chamber, only the newcomers, Lucius, and his cohorts, were armed. Two Kurii rushed to the doors to exit, but were felled by quarrels, and one died clawing at the wood. I supposed the noise in the audience chamber might carry to the hall outside. On the other hand, the Kurii in the nearby halls would not be armed, either. The armed Kurii were mostly posted in the far halls, where it was thought that Lucius and his followers might emerge, presumably in an attempt to escape the Cave. The nearest armed Kurii would be at the great portal, and they would doubtless be summoned. Others would hurry to secure weapons. Presumably, under the circumstances, these would be supplied. This would mean that whatever Lucius and his cohorts would do must be expeditiously accomplished. It seemed likely they hoped, in this projected coup, to dispose of Agamemnon quickly and then present themselves to a confused, leaderless community as bold, patriotic liberators. In any event, several Kurii hurried to interpose themselves between the newcomers and the dais. Snarling, unarmed, they confronted the newcomers. Their own bodies would be the shield of Agamemnon. The common Kur is fanatically loyal to his lord, unless his lord is thought to have failed him, in which case the bond of allegiance is regarded as dissolved. This behavior, the loyalty to a chieftain, so to speak, had doubtless been selected for in millennia of Kur warfare, even prior to the development of sophisticated weaponry, which, as I understand it, exists on the steel worlds. In seeing these Kurii, unarmed, interposing their own bodies between weapon assailants and a leader, I learned more of what a Kur might be, and often was. I heard the snapping vibration of the cables of the crossbows, again and again. Kurii fell. Some of the newcomers rushed upon the defenders with axes, and limbs and heads were smote away, but Kurii loyal to Agamemnon threw themselves on the assailants, seized axes, and there were terrible struggles for the weapons. A throat was bitten through, and I did not even know if the victim was of the newcomers or not. Back in the room, closer to the portal through which the newcomers had emerged, Kur struggled with Kur. I was then on all fours, looking wildly about. I did not see the Lady Bina. I did see that Desmond of Harfax was free, one of his captors, headless, beside him. Desmond of Harfax was on all fours, looking about. He crawled amongst the struggling bodies. I think he was searching for his knife. The Kurii took no note of him. The crossbow cables were sprung again and again. Then one of the crossbows was wrenched from a newcomer, but the quarrels were lost from the guide. One was hurled like a small javelin and a Kur fell. Again I did not know one combatant from another. The doors to the audience chamber were pulled open from the outside and four armed Kurii, the guard from the great portal, entered the room. They were momentarily confused at the melee. One of the crossbowmen, back by the wall, must have been waiting for them. Three were felled by the tiered quarrels, and the fourth was cut open from behind, down the back of his spine, by an ax. I supposed then the great portal must be unguarded. No other Kurii entered. I did not know if arms had been issued, or not. I did know there was much dissatisfaction in the Cave. No men entered. I supposed mercenaries, even if armed, if they knew at all of this small war, would not regard it as their affair. It would be a matter, rather, betwixt possible paymasters. The exit was partially blocked by bodies but before it, too, now stood two of the Kurii of Lucius, with axes. Much carnage had ensued within the chamber. Bodies, some alive, and parts of bodies, were strewn about. In the end, weapons had had their way. The dais was now undefended. At one side, the left, as one faced the dais, lay Timarchos and Lysymachos. Timarchos, as it turned out, could not rise, so beaten he had been by the haft of an ax, and Lysymachos was lying against the wall, bleeding. Lucius had commanded that they not be slain. The reason for this shortly became clear. He knew more of the dangers posed by Agamemnon than his followers.
The quarrels had been expended.
“Bar the door,” said Lucius.
This was done by the Kurii who had guarded it. They then came to stand with Lucius, before the dais, with
