eight seasons. After meeting Bantor’s wife, Trella hired mother and daughter to help run the house.
Bantor’s family was more than grateful to get out of their wretched hut, all Bantor could afford.
A clerk, provided by the Noble Nestor and skilled in writing the symbols, arrived the morning after Esk kar and Trella moved in. The clerk kept track of expenses, but returned to Nestor’s house each night, where he no doubt reported everything of interest.
Gatus’s two boys and their friends began spending their days at the new headquarters and right away became runners, relaying messages at Esk kar’s or the subcommanders’ need. Nicar contributed an older woman slave as a cook. He’d planned to put her on the auction block, but she would have fetched little. Instead, he made her a gift to Esk kar. The grateful slave took over the cooking, and soon Esk kar and Trella began to enjoy bread and vegetables fresh from the market, to go with the occasional chicken.
To men used to communal living in the filthy and crowded barracks, the house seemed vast and luxurious, but Esk kar knew that soon more commanders would be eating and sleeping there. Meanwhile he ordered each commander to sleep three nights in a row in Ariamus’s quarters. This would keep them close to the men, not only to keep an eye on the soldiers but also to stay aware of what they thought and felt.
The main house had a smaller, single
— story building adjoining it, where Drigo housed his guards and slaves. It had five separate rooms, each large enough for four or five men. Esk kar decided to keep a force of ten soldiers near him at all times, should the villagers or even the Families grow troublesome. He had to put men there anyway, since the old barracks could at best provide beds for fifty men. Gatus helped pick the ten soldiers, making sure only the steadiest and most reliable men moved into Esk kar’s quarters.
Esk kar and Trella began to settle into a routine. Each day he trained until midmorning with his men. After a brief break to wash up, he met with his four subcommanders and Trella to plan the rest of the day. They gathered in what had been Drigo’s workroom, the large room outside Eskkar’s bedroom and sanctuary. While Nicar had stripped the house of most of its furnishings, no one had wanted the workroom’s two tables. Esk kar purchased them at a good price. He used the smaller one as his private work table, while the other easily accommodated Esk kar’s meetings with his four subcommanders.
At the initial session, Esk kar had spoken first, according to the custom.
Afterward, Trella suggested he allow the others to speak first. By doing so, he would not be contradicted by facts or new information he didn’t have when he spoke. She added he didn’t need to impress his men with his authority. Esk kar saw the wisdom in her suggestion so the next morning he let Gatus begin.
“The target range has been completed,” Gatus announced. “Since Sisuthros wanted some building materials and we needed the space, we tore down almost all the huts on the northeast side of the palisade. We set up a range of up to three hundred paces, right up to the river’s edge.”
“And the training?” Most of the soldiers could bend a decent bow, but these men needed to train others. That required better than average archery skills, plus the knowledge of how to teach others.
“They’re doing well, but slower than I’d like. I won’t trust the best of them on their own for another week at least.”
Gatus went on to the next topic. “In the last few days, we’ve taken in forty recruits. When I reached that number, I stopped accepting new men, at least until we’ve got these other men trained.”
“Gatus, we need men as soon as possible, so move them along as quickly as you can,” Esk kar said. “But I don’t want half — trained men strutting around Orak carrying weapons, or fools killing themselves or some villager. How long before you can take more men?”
“At least two weeks, maybe longer.” Gatus’s words brooked no argument. “After that, we’ll be able to take in another forty or fifty. Tevana already supplies us with target arrows, though he has requested four tons of bronze, plus a new forge and a dozen other wood and metal — working tools. I think Master Tevana wants to make sure he never has to buy anything again.”
Esk kar grimaced at that, but nothing could stop Tevana or other craftsmen from taking advantage of the situation. If Orak survived, many tradesmen would profit handsomely by their dealings with Esk kar and Nicar.
“And thanks to Trella,” Gatus continued with a smile, “we now have plenty of bows to work with, good ones, too. Tell them, Trella.”
All eyes turned to Trella. She sat to Esk kar’s left and always a little away from the table. “When I went to work with Rufus at his home, I said I was ignorant of the bowmaking process and asked him to show me everything. At first he resisted, but finally he took me to the room where the bows were shaped and assembled, and the glues were prepared. I saw the tubs where they soaked the wood and the presses where the wet shafts were bent. But I never saw any finished bows.
“After I finished, I went to Gatus. He brought some men, and we searched the house. In a tiny attic above the bowmaster’s sleeping chamber we found the drying and storage room. Inside were twenty — two finished bows, ready for use. I told Gatus to take them. Since Rufus had denied having any inventory, I told him there would be no payment. He wasn’t happy.”
Gatus laughed at that. “No, not a bit. He started to scream at Trella. His sons were quick to restrain him. Good thing, too, or I would’ve knocked the old fool down.”
“Make sure the tale is told throughout the village,” Esk kar said, laughing as well, though he’d already heard the story. “It may persuade others to be more honest. And keep training the men, Gatus. Archery first, then sword and spear. Practice everything from behind a wall if you can.
Sisuthros, how goes our wall?”
“Captain, I’m worried,” Sisuthros answered gloomily. “For the last five days, Corio and his helpers have been digging small holes in the ground, driving stakes here and there, and mixing batches of mud and straw. There are many meetings with his apprentices where they talk and talk. The masons are working from dawn to dusk making bricks, but Corio has yet to lay one brick on another, though he seems busy enough. I asked when he’d begin, but ‘soon’ was all he said.”
Esk kar frowned. “What have you done for him?”
“We’ve confiscated lumber and tools and set up three different work crews. I also cleared some land near where the new gate will be, but that’s all that has happened so far.”
“Master, do not be concerned yet,” Trella offered. “I’ve watched houses built, and there’s much talking and preparation before the actual construction begins. It’s always this way at the beginning, much confusion and seemingly little progress. Better to have them certain of what they must do, than to begin wrong and have to start over.”
“Well, let’s hope so, for our sakes.” Esk kar shook his head. “Though I’d like the wall finished at least a day or two before the barbarians arrive.” He turned to Bantor. “And the guards at the gates?”
Bantor’s duty had turned into the busiest of all. Larger numbers of people came into and out of the village, and traffic on the road had increased to match. Already he’d stopped two fights at the gate involving people trying to leave. The second struggle had nearly overwhelmed the gatekeepers. Esk kar had to assign additional men, and now four men guarded both gates at all times.
“We search every cart and wagon that leaves Orak,” Bantor answered.
“No slaves or tools of value have left, and we make sure that no villager on Nicar’s list leaves without his approval.” He looked around the table.
“Captain, the men are growing tired of guarding the gate. They complain they train for ten or twelve hours a day, then stand a four — hour watch at the gate or patrolling the streets.”
“Bantor, I know the duty is hard right now. Tell the men it’s only for a few more weeks until the recruits are trained.” Not that Esk kar believed it.
Any slack time created by the new recruits would likely be used up somewhere else. “You can lead them in this, Bantor. Treat yourself no better than they, and your men will endure it because you do.”
Bantor nodded, then sat back, relieved to know his commander understood his problems.
Trella leaned forward again. “Bantor, has anyone tried to bribe your men to get out of Orak? If not, they will soon. Some rich tradesman or merchant will offer your men gold, and the temptation will be great.”
“Like Rufus, you mean,” Gatus said with a laugh. “I’m sure he’s planning it as we speak.”
Esk kar hadn’t considered that possibility, though, of course, he should have thought of something so obvious. He sat thinking about what he would do if he were a rich merchant who wanted a few underpaid guards-men to look the other way.
