“What about the men who attack the horses?” Trella asked. “Could they get back to Orak?”
“No, they’d be trapped there,” Gatus answered soberly. “Once the horses began to stampede, the riders who guard the approaches to Orak would cut them off.” Silence followed his words. “Still, it would be worth it, even if we lost the men. As Esk kar says, if we burn the wood, then we can weaken the attack, even if we can’t prevent it.” His eyes turned to Eskkar, as did Trella’s and Sisuthros’s.
Their captain remained lost in thought, his eyes focused on the map.
Nobody wanted to interrupt him. He tapped on the location of the horses with his finger, forgetting Corio’s admonishment about touching the papyrus. “Perhaps there’s a way to get the men back after all.” He looked up and found them all staring at him.
“The carts and wood must be destroyed,” Esk kar said softly, “even if we have to chance losing men. But I think it can be managed.” He turned to Gatus. “Get the other leaders here, even Bantor. We have much to plan if we’re to attack tonight.”
“Tonight! By the gods, we’ve hardly finished one battle and you’re planning another?”
“Tonight. It must be tonight. If we let another day go by, they may launch their own attack.” He smiled at Trella and took her hand. “As always, you give us good ideas, wife. And I think we’ll add Simcar to our household from now on. Just in case the gods are slow in their duty to send us a son.”
26
Esk kar awoke to the smell and feel of Trella’s hair on his cheek and the brush of her lips against his. For a moment he just lay there, soothed by her touch as he awoke. Then he glanced at the window. The full darkness of evening covered the sky. He sat up in the bed, words of anger coming to his lips.
“Be easy, husband, there’s plenty of time. Gatus told me to make sure you got some rest before you go.” Trella lowered her voice. “If you still insist you must go.”
They’d argued about that most of the morning. Gatus and Trella re-monstrated against Esk kar’s going. No one wanted him dead out there in the countryside, putting the village into panic.
Esk kar insisted, determined to lead the raid. In truth, he didn’t trust anyone else. Sisuthros and Bantor were wounded, and Gatus couldn’t move fast enough at his age. That left only Jalen, and his blood flowed too hot for such a mission. Esk kar spoke the language, which might be critical.
In the end everyone had finally given way.
That decided, he and his commanders spent the rest of the day planning the details. They selected men to raid the horses, choosing eight men for the task, all experienced liverymen who knew how to handle horses and, more important, how to stampede them. Jalen would lead them, a simple raid well suited to his abilities. Esk kar reviewed the preparations, then turned the details over to Jalen.
Finding volunteers for the fire carts took less time. When the soldiers learned Esk kar would lead that party, dozens offered to go, despite the risk. For this he needed only levelheaded men who could follow orders and strong enough to carry what they’d need. He and Gatus selected six men, talking with them individually and making sure each had the right temperament and would follow orders.
Esk kar finally took some rest just before sundown, at Trella’s and Gatus’s insistence. By then even Esk kar felt tired enough that he agreed to rest for an hour.
Instead Trella let him sleep more than three hours. By the time he’d dressed and eaten, only two hours remained before midnight, the time set for both parties to depart. Actually there would be three parties. The third consisted of a small team of archers, all good hunters and trackers, men who could move quietly through the darkness. They’d slip out first and eliminate any enemy sentries in their path.
Before Esk kar left the house Trella pressed herself against him with such force that he nearly lost his balance. Her words breathed against his cheek. “Don’t take any foolish chances. Come back to me, Esk kar.”
At the river gate Esk kar assembled his men, wondering what the next few hours would bring. The guards had removed most of the braces that secured the gate and now they eased open the heavy frame, its hinges moistened earlier with oil and water to muffle any sound.
Twenty — six men slipped out in single file and moved as silently as possible across the ditch. As soon as the last man passed the gate, the sentries closed it behind them.
Across the ditch, the two raiding parties stopped and knelt in the darkness, while they waited for the archers to remove the enemy sentries. Led by a hunter named Myandro, they disappeared into darkness, their bows wrapped in cloth to lessen any noise. All had hunted wild game in the hills and knew how to move with care.
Nearly an hour passed before Myandro returned, slipping up to Eskkar’s side so quietly that he jumped in surprise.
“Captain, the sentries are dead,” Myandro whispered. “There were only three as far as the first line of hills. You’ll have a few hours before any come to relieve them. But go quickly. I’ll send Jalen out as soon as you are gone.”
Esk kar grasped the man’s shoulder. “Good work, Myandro.” Jalen and his men had a much shorter distance to travel and would move faster, since they carried no heavy loads. Esk kar turned to Grond, his second in command for this mission and kept his voice low. “The way is clear. Come.”
Esk kar waited while Grond passed the word down the line, making sure every man understood the order. Then Esk kar stood up slowly, letting any stiffness in his muscles stretch their way loose. He carefully picked up the two clay pots, bound in thick cloth for protection and linked by a rope that he slung around his neck, allowing him to carry a pot under each arm.
His sword already hung down his back, leaving nothing that might bang against a pot and make a sound, or worse, break the container.
The burden was heavy and he heard the muffled breathing of the men as they shouldered their loads. Only Grond seemed unaffected by the weight.
Myandro took the lead. In single file Esk kar and his men followed, traversing the north side of the village, stepping with care to make sure they didn’t trip over some obstacle, fall into the ditch, or splash into a pool of swamp water. That caution slowed them down, and it took some time before they passed the point where the wall turned to face the east.
Grateful to be away from the ditch and the flooded lands, they traveled now in the open, exposed to any close scrutiny. Gradually they turned south and began the long walk across the face of the main wall, moving farther away from Orak with each step. At first Myandro stayed with them, leading them at a steady pace. Then he vanished into the darkness ahead, to make sure the way remained clear.
At last they reached the first of the low hills, nearly opposite the main gate but more than a mile away.
Myandro reappeared at Esk kar’s side, placing his hand on his captain’s chest to stop the column. Esk kar sank to his knees, grateful for the chance to remove the millstone from his neck, even for a moment. Between the weight of the pots and the coarse rope, the flesh already felt raw.
His men welcomed the respite. The need for complete silence and the effort to ensure that no misstep caused a stumble had stretched every muscle, and Esk kar felt the strain in his body. They waited as Myandro and two of his men slipped ahead through the darkness.
Looking up at the stars Esk kar guessed that not quite two hours had passed since they left Orak. It would’ve been shorter to leave by the main gate, but that meant more sentries to get past, as the Alur Meriki watched the main gate more closely.
Myandro reappeared, ghostlike, putting his face directly to Esk kar’s ear. “The barbarian troop is just over this hill and about a hundred paces away. Most are sleeping and they only posted a few guards. A sentry is there, supposedly watching the village, though he spends more time looking at the campfires. They suspect nothing. But they’re between us and the wagons, so we must wait here.”
Esk kar repeated the message to Grond, who would whisper it to each man. Esk kar turned back to Myandro. “Jalen should have attacked by now.
It grows late.”
Myandro checked the progress of the moon before answering. “We’d have heard something if he were seen or captured. I’ll go back on watch.
