'Don't forget that Aquer has scouts who know the country as well as Sidudu does,' Taita reminded him. 'They will certainly know of the other route to bypass the gap and reach the boatyards. Instead of waiting for him to come at us, we should strike at him before he expects it.' Meren had glanced at Sidudu as Taita mentioned her name. Even in the moonlight his expression was doting. Poor Meren, the famous philanderer, is smitten, Taita thought, and smiled inwardly, but he said, 'We will need more men than we have now if we are to hold Aquer. I will stay to watch the road for him. Meren, you must take Fenn with you and ride as fast as you can to find Tinat—'
'I will not leave you!' Fenn cried. 'I have come so close to losing you that I will never leave you again.'
'I am not a messenger, Magus. You owe me more respect than to treat me as one. Like Fenn, I will stay with you. Send Hilto,' Meren declared.
Taita made a gesture of resignation. 'Will no one take an order from me without argument?' he demanded of the night sky.
'Probably not,' Fenn answered primly, 'but you might try speaking gently to Hilto.'
Taita capitulated and called Hilto forward. 'Ride ahead at first light as fast as your horse will carry you. Find Colonel That Ankut and say that I have sent you. Tell him that Aquer knows we are aiming for the Kitangule river, and is in hot pursuit. That must send a small detachment of fighting men ahead to seize the boats at the headwaters of the river before the Jarrians can destroy them. Tell him his plan to hold
the Kitangule Gap until all our people have been embarked is a good one, but he must send me twenty of his best men. This is desperately urgent. Hilto, you must lead the men he gives you back along the1 east road towards Mutangi until you find us. Go now! At once!' Hilto saluted and, without another word, cantered away.
'What we need is an ambuscade where we can wait for Aquer.' Taita turned back to Meren. 'You know precisely the kind of place we are looking for. Ask Sidudu if she knows of one.' Meren spurred forward to Sidudu, who listened intently to his request.
'I know just such a place,' she said, as soon as he had finished speaking.
'You are such a clever girl,' Meren told her proudly, and for a moment the two of them were lost in each other's eyes.
'Come, then, Sidudu,' Taita called. 'Show us if you are truly as clever as Meren declares you are.'
Sidudu led them off the track they had been following and turned towards the great starry cross in the southern sky. Within an hour's ride she had reined in at the top of a low, wooded hill and, in the moonlight, pointed down at the valley that opened before them.
'There is the ford of the Ishasa river. You can see the glint of the water. The road that Lord Aquer must follow to reach the Kitangule Gap crosses there. The water is deep so their horses will have to swim. From the top of the cliff we can shower arrows and rocks on them once they enter the water. They will have to ride forty leagues downstream to find another ford.'
Taita studied the crossing carefully, and nodded. 'I doubt that we will find a better place.'
'I told you,' said Meren. 'She has a warrior's eye for good ground.'
'You carry a bow, Sidudu.' Taita nodded at the weapon that hung over her shoulder. 'Can you use it?'
'Fenn taught me,' Sidudu replied simply.
'During your absence Sidudu has become an expert archer,' Meren confirmed.
'It seems there is no end to the virtues of this young paragon,' Taita said. 'We are fortunate to have her with us.'
They swam the horses through the ford, whose current was strong.
Once they reached the eastern bank they saw that the path followed a narrow, rocky defile between the cliffs. It was only wide enough for horses to pass in single file. Taita and Meren climbed it and from there surveyed the ground below.
'Yes,' Taita said. 'This will do.'
Before he allowed them to rest, he went over his plans for the ambush and made each in turn repeat the role he had assigned to them. Only then did he allow them to unsaddle and hobble the horses, fill their nosebags with crushed dhurra meal and turn them loose.
It was a cold camp because Taita would not allow a fire. They ate dhurra cakes and slices of cold roast goat's meat dipped in a fiery pepper sauce. As soon as they had finished Nakonta took his spears and went to stand sentry at the ford. Imbali followed him.
'She is now his woman,' Fenn whispered to Taita.
'That comes as no surprise, but I trust that Nakonto will keep at least one eye on the ford,' Taita remarked drily.
'They are in love,' said Fenn. 'Magus, you have no romance in your soul.' She went to untie her bedroll from the back of Whirlwind's saddle, selected a sleeping spot in the lee of a rocky outcrop well away from the others and spread her sleeping mat on the ground with a fur kaross.
Then she came back to Taita. 'Come.' She took his hand and led him to the mat, helped him out of his tunic, balled it up and held it to her nose. 'It smells very strong,' she remarked. 'I will wash it as soon as I have the chance.' She knelt beside him on the mat and covered him with the kaross, then took off her own tunic. Her body was very pale and slim in the light of the moon. She slipped under the kaross beside him and pressed her body to his.
'I am so glad that you have come back to me,' she whispered, and sighed. After a while she stirred and whispered again, 'Taita.'
'Yes?'
'There is a little stranger with us.'
'You must sleep now. It will soon be morning.'
