With sword and steel and fire and blood, they would.
The warriors of Donald of the Isles, the Picts of Fidach and the stubborn spearmen of the Lowlands would not bow before any piratical potentate. Bradan stilled the sudden surge of passion within him. He started as something flew past – something black-and-white. He did not know what it was. It had not been a bird; it was shapeless, formless and sad. That thing was back, that vague mist that had appeared on the island where Melcorka had thrown away her sword. What was it? Somehow, Bradan knew it was not unfriendly. That black-and-white mist had put the leopard to sleep.
'What is in your mind, my slave?' Dhraji had caught his mood.
The black-and-white image had gone. 'I was wondering how you would like Alba,' Bradan said. 'It is cooler than here, with winters of snow and sleet and winds that can blow the roofs off houses.'
'I've never seen snow,' Dhraji said.
'It's cold and white,' Bradan began, just as the catapults fired again. Bhim had loaded half with rocks and half with something else; things that writhed and screamed as they soared through the air, to plummet on and around the Chola ships.
'Oh, look!' Dhraji laughed out loud. 'Bhim is letting his prisoners go!'
It was true. Bhim had loaded the Chola prisoners onto the catapults and fired them against the Chola fleet. That action seemed to sting the Chola admiral into action, for his ships suddenly surged forward towards the beach.
'They're going to attack!' Dhraji shouted. 'Now we'll see how good they really are!'
Bradan could only watch as the Chola ships raced for the walls of Kollchi. The Thiruzha catapults fired again, hurling rocks and fireballs through the now-darkening sky, with one Chola ship set ablaze and another broken in half. The artillery only stopped when the Chola fleet was under the arc of their rocks and closing on the walls.
Most of the population of Kollchi seemed to be waiting to repel the attack, women as well as men, with archers firing non-stop and the rest throwing spears, stones and anything else they could find. Bradan saw a group of women emptying a cauldron of boiling oil onto the Chola warriors and another group throw pots and burning cloth on them.
That black-and-white mist was back, hovering a few feet from him, fluttering like a bird above the parapet. What are you?
The Cholas thrust ladders against the wall and clambered up, with Thiruzha archers picking them off in dozens while spearmen and swordsmen waited on the top. One brave Chola warrior reached the battlements, felling three of the defenders, before a female thrust a spear into his belly and slowly pushed him backwards. Other women joined in, until the man was balanced on the parapet, roaring defiance and spurting blood.
'Oh, there's a brave man,' Dhraji said. 'He would make an excellent slave if he could be tamed.' She smiled and licked her lips. 'What fun the taming would be!'
An archer fired at the Chola warrior, and then another. Under the impact of two arrows, he toppled slowly backwards, still slashing with his sword. His ladder followed a few seconds later.
Despite all the effort and bravery, the Chola attack ebbed back, with the defenders standing on top of the battlements to fire arrows and hurl missiles at the retreating warriors.
'Now!' Bhim rasped through his speaking-trumpet. Horns immediately blared out across Kollchi, their sound filling the air until the city gates crashed open. A squadron of horsemen poured from each gate, to harry the disorganised Chola warriors. The angle of the walls impaired Bradan's vision so he could not see details of the battle, only the Chola's surge back to the ships. He heard a rising cry of triumph from the ranks of the Thiruzhas and the defending archers fired non-stop. Chola warriors were falling fast, with a few dozen raising their hands in surrender as the Thiruzha horsemen slashed and stabbed and whooped in delight.
One by one, and then in a great clump, the Chola ships put back out to sea, with the Thiruzha horsemen riding into the shallows to hack and slash at them. Only a few desperate Chola warriors turned to fight. When the Cholas' spears struck down some of the horsemen, Bhim ordered his horns to sound again, recalling the cavalry.
Once again, the catapults and that massive bow fired on the Chola ships, turning their retreat into a panicked rout, which the defenders of Kollchi intensified as they surged from the gates. Attacked on all sides, the discipline of the Chola fleet completely broke.
The horns sounded again, three sharp blasts followed by one long one, and the Thiruzha seamen poured out of the city, passing the panting cavalrymen as they re-launched their ships.
'With the boom up, the Chola ships only have one channel to squeeze through,' Dhraji said. 'There won't be many going home. We'll harass them until dark, catch the stragglers and create so much panic that the Cholas will never return to this coast again.'
'There is still the Chola army advancing on the eastern frontier,' Bradan reminded her.
'I anticipated that it would take a week to defeat the Chola fleet.' Dhraji sounded smug. 'It has taken only two days.' Her smile wrapped around Bradan like the tentacles of the monster from the sea. 'We have time for other things, Bradan.'
* * *
When Bradan woke in the morning, Dhraji was gone. For the first time since his enslavement, he lay alone in the vast bed. Shadows striped the room as the moon glowed above the Ghats.
'Where's Her Majesty?' Bradan asked the guard who still lolled outside the room.
'She has gone on her own business.' Used to Bradan, the guard was offhand. She barely spared him a glance.
'Will she be back soon?'
'I do not inquire into the Rani's business.' The guard was older than most, perhaps
