“Marduk’s blood, but that man can use a bow better than anyone I’ve seen.” Forno turned and squinted at the marks. “And his boys are almost as good. Narquil shoots slower but is the most accurate, though Mitrac hits his marks nearly as often.”
“Can they help you train the men?” Esk kar asked.
“Captain, I think I’ll be helping them train in a few days,” Forno replied. “I’d like to see them shoot with our bows, but I’m sure Totomes has been training archers for twenty years.”
Totomes and his sons, as far away from the butts as possible, still arched arrows into the sky that almost always struck the targets. Esk kar made up his mind and turned to Gatus. “Let Totomes start by training this group of recruits. And Gatus, I’ll train with them.”
Gatus raised an eyebrow.
Up to now Esk kar had postponed any intensive training with the bow, concentrating mainly on his swordplay. This might be as good a time as any to begin.
Before long, Esk kar stood at the head of the recruits, bow in hand, quiver of arrows strapped to his waist, the targets a mere thirty paces away.
Totomes began his instructions. He put aside his weapon and demonstrated with one of the soldier’s bows. If anyone thought it strange that the captain of the guard should be standing rigid with the latest batch of recruits, no one said anything, as Totomes stood next to Esk kar and watched him notch an arrow, aim, and let fly.
“Again,” Totomes ordered, his eyes fixed on his pupil. Esk kar launched another, though the first shaft had hit the mark almost dead center. Totomes shook his head. “You’ll not hit a target of any distance like that, Captain.” He turned to his sons. “Show him.”
The two boys moved on opposite sides of Esk kar, grasping his elbows, adjusting his stance and shifting his weight more to his rear foot.
“You shoot too much on your front foot, Captain,” Totomes continued,
“so, as you draw the bow, you become unbalanced, and make unnecessary movements. And you bring the arrow up from the ground as you bend into the bow. Always raise the arrow skyward and bring it down as you put your shoulder into it. That way a shaft released too soon may strike a target in the rear rather than the ground in front of you.”
The two boys held Esk kar firmly, making him draw the bow slowly, keeping more weight on his rear foot and adjusting his right elbow. Esk kar held the drawn bow while they checked his stance and grip, taking plenty of time until they were satisfied. Esk kar’s left arm began to tremble before Totomes gave the order to loose. The shaft flew into the straw butt but missed the wooden target hanging in its center.
“It feels awkward at first, Captain, but you’ll get used to it. It’s different from the way the… the way you learned. Try again.” Totomes moved on to the next man, leaving Narquil to keep an eye on Esk kar.
And again and again, until Esk kar’s left arm felt weak as water and the fingers on his right hand swelled and burned from the friction of the bowstring. But his pride drove him, and he refused to show weakness in front of his men. Up and down the line, Totomes, Mitrac, Narquil, Forno, and even Gatus kept close watch on the recruits’ every movement, making sure they followed Totomes’s instructions exactly. By the time they finished, Esk kar felt as exhausted as any of the men and wasn’t even shooting as well as some.
“You’ll do better in a few days, Captain,” Totomes said with a friendly laugh as he walked with Esk kar back toward the barracks. “If you want accuracy, you’ll have to unlearn some of your bad habits, but you’ll do fine.
You have the eye for it. If you like, Mitrac can work with you privately if you feel uncomfortable with the others watching.”
A little late for that. He offered to train with this batch of bowmen, and now his honor had been challenged. He determined to do as well as any of them. “No, Totomes, though I thank you for the offer. I’ll stay with these men for a while.”
That meant an extra four hours per day with the bow for at least a week, in addition to his usual hours each morning training with the sword, spear, and battle — axe. But he couldn’t avoid it, not if he wanted to experience exactly how Totomes and Forno trained the men. Orak’s fate would rest in the arms of these bowmen.
It took ten days before he felt comfortable with the changes in his shooting style and before he could again plant his shaft within the mark with confidence. He’d long since admitted Totomes knew his craft. Esk kar led the recruits with the best scores until he realized some of the men would occasionally let a shaft or two fly wide to make sure their captain always scored higher. But by then he could hit a target at seventy paces three times out of four, and he felt more than satisfied with that.
A few days later they practiced from the main wall, looking out toward the low hills where their real enemy would appear. Now the soldiers fired as a group, aiming not at individual targets, but at a particular range. The targets had changed from the straw butts to stick figures planted in the earth at various distances. The men drew, aimed, and loosed their arrows together on command, learning how to gauge the distance and walk their shafts in from the farthest mark to the closest.
The fi rst day on the wall Esk kar noticed something unusual. The men were always laughing, raising coarse jests, or doing all of the usual things soldiers and recruits did to take their minds off their own discomfort and to pass the time during training. But the first time they stood on the wall, the laughter stopped of its own accord. Taking their places, exposed from the waist up, they realized that a deadly business would soon be at hand.
So they listened to the instructor’s words a little more attentively, and took a little extra care in their work.
At the end of the first session, Totomes took Esk kar aside. “You’re finished with your training, Captain,” he said. “You’re as good as you’ll ever be. But you’ll never make a master archer. You’re too old for that. Leave the training now before too many of the others pass you by. You’ve proven your skill to your men. There are other, more important tasks for you.”
13
Esk kar rode out of Orak six days later, taking Sisuthros, nine riders, two boys, and one pack horse with him. They traveled south at a steady pace. Jalen had explored north to get information about the barbarians’ main camp. Esk kar wanted to observe the far — ranging Alur Meriki war parties reported to the south.
The men were fit, hard, and ready to fight. Six were hard — bitten veterans. Recent recruits made up the remainder, men who’d proven both their fighting ability and horsemanship. When you went to war against the barbarians, skill with a horse was as important as fighting.
Mitrac excepted. Totomes’s youngest son had only limited experience with horses. Nevertheless Mitrac practiced hard for the last week under Jalen’s tutelage. Once Esk kar saw Totomes’s expertise, Esk kar wanted someone with him who could draw one of the great weapons.
Even so it had occasioned a four — sided argument between Esk kar, Totomes, and his sons before the father consented, worried he might lose Mitrac on some minor raid. Totomes gave in only when Esk kar promised to look after the boy personally.
Each day they rode south, resting the horses often. Esk kar spent time with Sisuthros, Mitrac, and the rest, talking to them, asking their advice, or just joining them in rough song. Get close to your men, from the lowest recruit to your commanders, Trella advised. First make them respect you, then let them know you. That’s how you build loyalty.
Her words matched what he’d seen in Corio and Nicar. Esk kar didn’t know where Trella had learned so much about leading men, but her ideas made sense. He’d only to recall all the mistakes of his previous commanders or even his own to see the wisdom in what she said. So he began in earnest to build respect, then loyalty, in his men.
Only with loyalty can you have true power. The words echoed in his thoughts.
If enough of the soldiers and people believe in you, you will be safe, because your enemies will fear the anger of those who trust in you. And so Eskkar made sure he got closer to his men.
In this Esk kar had changed greatly in the last months. Gold, women, horses, weapons, all the things he’d previously considered desirable, meant nothing to him. He wanted power now, power to place himself above the reach of the nobles, power to found his own House, power to build a clan that would last forever. Most of all, he
