Warrior

'There are but a very few,' Somervile called from the saddle, sounding disappointed.

'There might be hundreds more you can't see,' Hervey called back, hoping to silence his old friend for a few moments while the surgeon made his examination.

'There isn't any others, Colonel,' said Isaacs in almost a whisper. 'I know this country like the back of m'hand. You sees all there is, here. Not even a Zulu could 'ide 'imself. Not till we gets the other side of the Umhloti.'

'Tell me, how are they revealed as scouts?' asked Somervile, lowering his glass after several minutes' intense study. 'Either Serjeant Hardy's telescope is greatly more powerful than mine, or else something eludes me.'

'You observe what they carry?' Hervey tried his best not to sound exasperated.

'I do: the short spear, exactly as you described it.'

'Anything more?'

'No-o. Only a very small shield. Like a toy, indeed.'

'Exactly so.'

Isaacs insisted on answering for himself, if with the greatest difficulty. 'That's Shaka's way of saying 'e 'as no fear of us. The spear an' small shield belongs to the warrior; the war shield belongs to Shaka.'

'Should we speak with them?'

'No, Sir Eyre.'

The surgeon tried to stay him, but Isaacs insisted.

'They'll not let us within reach. Their job's to tell Shaka we're 'ere and when we comes to Dukuza, so's Shaka can look 'is best.'

Somervile nodded. 'Very well. There can be no objection in that. It shows that he does expect us.'

Hervey drew him aside, leaving the surgeon to his dosing. 'Not a sight to awe. But then, as a rule scouts are not meant even to be seen.'

Somervile raised a hand to acknowledge. In any case, he had wished only for a peaceful glimpse of a Zulu: his acquaintance with the Xhosa had been so fleeting and violent that he had not been able to form any impression of them from, as he put it, an 'ethnological' point of view. 'You know, Hervey, I am by no means certain that Shaka is waiting with equanimity at his kraal.'

Hervey shrugged. 'There could scarcely be certainty of anything in these parts.'

Somervile nodded. 'But beyond that: if his army has been fighting the Pondo, might he not believe that this has occasioned alarm in the Colony, and that we are harbingers of war?'

'He might. And with the bulk of his army in the north, he might be, shall we say, nervous?'

'Quite so. It is ironic, is it not, that our advantage would lie in Shaka's army being at Dukuza!'

Hervey frowned. 'Somervile, from what I have learned of the Zulu, Shaka will not have the entire army away either in the north or the south. We place ourselves as hostages to his good will either way. I must remind you that our safety rests ultimately in the speed of the horse.'

' 'A horse is a vain thing for safety. Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.' '

'I have always considered that the psalmist must have had other things in mind. We must trust differently.'

Somervile nodded again, but gravely. 'You know, Hervey, there is a line in that play of yours – I mean the Malfi – when one of the courtiers, an old and wise lord – do you recall, Castruchio? – is discussing with the duchess's brother whether a prince might also be a soldier.'

'I recall it.'

'And Castruchio says that while it is fitting for a soldier to become a prince, it is not fitting that a prince descend to be a captain.'

' 'That realm is never long in quiet, where the ruler is a soldier.' '

'Well remembered. Do you not think it apt?'

'I thought it our design in coming here.'

'It is. But look at the condition of Isaacs: how might we take the measure of Shaka, prince and soldier, without him? Without Mr King it was unpropitious enough! I confess I shall count as much on your judgement, now, as I do on your sword.'

Hervey would have sighed as heavily as his old friend, had he not just been placed upon his quality so. 'These fevers – the malaria – two or three days, that's all. Isaacs will be well. And Fairbrother has enough Xhosa for our purposes. We know it to be not so very different from the Zulu.'

He hoped he sounded more certain than he was.

XIV

ERROR'S CHAINLater

Marching across grassland was always a tedious affair. The dragoons stumbled when they were leading on foot, and there was nothing to mark their progress by, dismounted or mounted. Hervey lapsed into ruminatory silence.

They rested in the afternoon, not long, for it was by no means hot. But Fairbrother was able to rejoin them. His gelding had twisted a shoe just before they set off, and he had wanted the new one hot-fitted. Hervey asked him if he would ride with the scouts in place of Isaacs.