Caldor, the younger son of Nicar, broke the silence. “You speak of ignorant barbarians having a strategy just because they wander along the river! They may just as soon head back the way they came as come here.”
Nicar whirled toward his son, his voice hot with anger. “You are not to speak at this table unless asked to. If you’re unable to obey, leave.” The words chilled the room. Everyone remembered the brash words of another youth killed in this very room. Caldor flushed red at the rebuke and sat back in his chair, looking away from the group. Everyone turned to Esk kar, expecting an outburst of some kind.
Esk kar heard Trella’s stool scrape softly on the floor behind him, a reminder she was close by. He didn’t answer Caldor directly, responding as if Nicar himself had asked it.
“If any here think the Alur Meriki leaders, who’ve led their clan through hundreds of battles and thousands of camps, are not capable of planning their route with care and forethought, you are mistaken. If you think that it takes no wits to rule three or four thousand people, organize hunting and food gathering, repair your own wagons, smelt your own ores, forge your own bronze, make your own tools, and raise your own livestock, all while moving hundreds of miles, then you’re even more mistaken. If we make mistakes of that kind, we’re as good as dead or captured.”
No one said anything in answer, and they avoided looking at Caldor.
“Jalen,” Esk kar said, breaking the silence. “Did you get any idea of how big the tribe is? How many men, wagons, horses?”
Jalen clutched the empty cup, no doubt wishing for more wine but too nervous to ask for any. “The great clan has grown. There must have been a joining in the last few years. They say the tribe numbers more than five thousand, not counting slaves.”
Esk kar thought that over as gasps of amazement went around the table. Five thousand was an incredible number of people, more than twice the number of people in Orak. But Esk kar knew it wasn’t the number of clansmen that counted, only the number of warriors they could hurl against the wall. Everyone started talking at once, but Esk kar rapped his cup on the table.
“Five thousand is a great number of people, but only about one in five will be a warrior. The rest are old men, women, and children. At most, there will be fifteen hundred warriors, probably less, maybe only around twelve hundred. It’s a great number of warriors, but we’ll have over three hundred defenders. It will be more difficult, but still possible.”
“When we agreed to defend Orak,” Nestor said, his voice tense with anxiety as he leaned across the table, “we spoke of possibly six or seven hundred barbarians. Now we speak of twice that number, and you say it’s still possible? Are we mad to think we can stop that many barbarians?”
“The wall can stop them.” Corio’s words made everyone turn toward him. “It will be high enough and strong enough. I’ve seen Esk kar’s men in their training, firing arrows into targets at a hundred paces, seven and eight shafts each minute. I’ve watched, and I believe what I’ve seen.”
“You’re committed to building the wall,” Rebba countered. “You’re being swayed by your own work. No matter how strong the wall, there won’t be enough men to defend it.”
“It’s true I believe in the wall,” Corio admitted. “But if we can get additional men, then it can be done, I’m sure of it.”
“And where are you to get these additional men?” Nestor shouted, putting his fist hard on the table. He turned to Esk kar. “Your plans to recruit and train are already stretched thin. There are fewer men willing to fight each day. Isn’t that so, Captain?”
Another silence fell over the table as all eyes turned back toward Eskkar. He saw the fear in their faces, and found he had no words. If the barbarians hurled everyone at the wall in one rush, he didn’t know for certain they could be stopped. Everyone waited for his answer.
The sound of Trella’s stool being scraped along the plank floor made every eye turn toward her, including Esk kar’s. “Pardon me, Nobles, for speaking out, but are not the barbarians sending you all the men you desire?” She kept her head bowed as she spoke, properly submissive, her words just reaching their ears.
“By the gods, Trella, you’re right. The more fool I for not seeing it,”
Esk kar’s confidence returned, and he looked first at Trella, then at Jalen, who nodded his head in agreement. “We’ll have more men than we know what to do with. And many of them will be fighting men at that, driven here from all the smaller villages to the south and the east, looking for a chance to strike back. We’ll easily add another hundred or more men, and many will know how to swing a sword.”
He grasped Trella’s arm in excitement. “We can do it! We don’t have to match the barbarians in numbers. One man behind the wall will be worth four or fi ve below it. We’ll have to plan on more people inside the village, but it can still be done.”
“Then you think Orak can be held? Enough men will be found?” The excitement in Nicar’s voice betrayed his emotions.
Esk kar turned back toward the table, the smile that Trella’s words had brought still on his face. “Yes, Nobles, I’m sure we can. With another hundred fi ghting men, we should…” He stopped and turned back toward his slave. “Is there anything else we should be wary of, Trella?”
She lifted her eyes for a moment. “I should not speak at your gathering.”
“Speak up, Trella,” Corio snapped, “and forget those customs. If you have anything to say, just say it and let us decide if it’s worthy.”
Nevertheless Trella kept her voice humble. “Nobles, it seems to me that you will soon be facing the problem of what to do with so many people. If hundreds more farmers and villagers flock to Orak from the south and east, they’ll overwhelm the village, even as you work to defend it. Already there are many strangers in the streets. I fear they interrupt the work or cause other problems. Perhaps you should consider closing the gates to all except those who will fight and their families, and send the rest across the river.”
That sounded wise to Esk kar, and he was about to agree before he managed to get hold of his tongue. Let others speak first, Trella kept telling him. Listen to what they say before you speak, and you’ll know better what to say yourself.
Corio’s voice rose once again. “Yes, by the gods, I’ve already been slowed down by interruptions and people wandering in and out of the work areas, asking stupid questions. Each day it grows worse. It’s hard to keep men working when newcomers stand there gawking.”
Murmurs of agreement sounded around the table. “We’re risking all that we have,” Nicar said, “to save Orak. These strangers owe nothing to us or to the village. Let us take those who we want and send the others away.”
“Fight, work, or move on,” Esk kar said quietly. “That’s what we’ve been saying, and it’s the choice we’ll offer those who can help us. We can establish a camp for the newcomers at the old village site to the south. They can stay there until they decide to move on. That will keep them out of Orak.”
The first people to settle in Orak had dug a well about two miles to the south and lived there for many years before moving the village to its current site.
“More guards will be needed at the gates and at the old site,” Jalen suggested. “And you’ll need more patrols in the countryside.”
Esk kar smiled at that. “We already have over a hundred and eighty men under arms, and well — trained men, too. Another sixty are in training and will be ready in a few weeks. Now that we’ve enough men available, we can increase the number under training.”
“Are you certain you’ll have enough men?” Nicar voiced everyone’s concern.
“Yes, Nicar, I’m sure of it now. I want to have three hundred and fifty men ready to defend Orak, with another five hundred villagers behind them to help fight and carry loads. With that many men, I can hold Orak as long as the wall stands and the food holds out. But I think we’ll need another fifty fighters to send across the river.”
Nestor looked puzzled. “Why send men across the river when they’re needed here?”
“To guard your livestock, Noble. All the spare cattle, sheep, and horses must be moved out of the village and the countryside. We won’t have food or space to keep them here anyway, and the stink and filth would be un- bearable. Besides, the barbarians will learn that we have no livestock here.
It will make them less eager to fight. Remember, gold is not so important to them. Horses first, then animals, then women, that’s how they think. So we send all our beasts away, across the river and to the west, with fifty men to guard them.”
