Esk kar heard what the man said but it made no sense. Something about
“touching the gifted one.”
Mesilim turned toward Esk kar. “My men request a great favor, though you’ve already done so much for us… but, if it is permitted, they would like to touch Trella to give them strength and a blessing from the gods.”
Mesilim sounded a little uncomfortable with the request, but did not withdraw it.
Trella came back to Esk kar’s side and looked inquiringly at him. “They want to touch you, for luck or something,” he said. “It may be a custom I don’t remember or something I’ve never seen before. Mesilim seems embarrassed by it but probably thinks it’s a good idea.”
“What should I do? How should I touch them?”
Esk kar thought for a moment. “Touch each man on his upper right arm to give him strength in battle.”
Trella handed her empty basket to Annok — sur, at her side as always, and approached Mesilim. She put out her hand, but not to his arm. Instead, she placed the palm of her hand on his forehead. “May you have the wisdom to lead your people through the coming fight,” she said, then touched his right arm as Esk kar suggested. Turning to Subutai and placing her hand on his forehead, “May you have the wisdom to guide your people in the days ahead when many things will change and all will be sorely tested.”
By the time she finished, a line had formed behind Subutai, some of the men pushing each other to gain a higher place. She went down the line, touching each man on his battle arm, offering them strength for the coming battle. Fashod followed alongside her, translating her words.
The women had gone to the end of the line, and with each of them she clasped hands. When she finished, she retrieved her basket and left without a word, her guards and the women falling in behind her.
They stood there, watching in silence until she passed through the gate and out of sight. Then Esk kar turned to Mesilim. “Rest tonight, Mesilim.
My men will close the gate to keep the curious away, and they’ll keep watch from the walls. I don’t think any will approach you here, but you may want to post your own guard. No man from the village will be outside the walls tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll return and we’ll talk further.”
When they had walked out of earshot, Jalen made a comment. “That was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. They looked and acted as if Trella were a goddess.”
“Nothing strange about that,” Gatus answered. “Is there, Esk kar?”
“Nothing at all, Gatus,” Esk kar said with a laugh. “Nothing at all.”
20
Two nights later and three hours after sunset, Esk kar led a hundred men through the river gate. It took half the night to ferry them and their equipment across the river. By dawn the soldiers had marched well inland, out of sight of any watchers.
They traveled slowly. Each man carried seventy pounds of equipment: a wooden shield, a bow, two quivers of arrows, plus a sword, food, and water. Gatus informed Esk kar that men on foot could carry no more than sixty pounds at a steady pace. So the fi rst day’s march would be the hardest. The weight would decrease each day.
Esk kar walked with the men. He’d brought only four horses for the scouts, plus two donkeys to carry food and water. They didn’t expect to be gone more than a week; if they were, they’d have to live off the land. On this side of the Tigris, nothing had been put to the torch, and herds of goats and sheep still grazed in the hills.
Gatus insisted on coming. He’d trained the soldiers to fight together and wanted to see his work put into practice. Sisuthros stayed behind to oversee Orak’s defenses. The following night, Jalen would cross with Mesilim and the Ur Nammu, then guide them to Esk kar’s soldiers at the appointed place.
During the march Esk kar thought about his talks with Mesilim and Subutai. The day after the Ur Nammu’s arrival, Esk kar and his commanders had taken Mesilim and his son around the walls. Esk kar went over his battle plan, putting Mesilim in the role of the Alur Meriki war chief. Back and forth they’d ridden, looking at the wall from every angle, searching for weaknesses.
Afterward he took Mesilim inside and showed him the great stores of arms and the preparations for defense. Mesilim’s eyes widened in surprise at the vast quantity of arrows and stones. In the end, he found no flaw in Esk kar’s defenses. “But you must not let them over the wall. Once inside, they will overwhelm your men.”
Esk kar and Gatus had looked at each other in satisfaction. They’d drilled that same message into the men since the fi rst day. The barbarians must be stopped beneath the wall.
Time was running out, for both Esk kar and the Alur Meriki. The great battle would be fought soon enough, and he needed to protect his back by destroying the barbarians sent against them from the west. The men, cattle, and supplies sent across the river must not be lost, or Orak would starve even if its people drove off the attackers.
Esk kar wanted to take more men with him, confident that he could return before the Alur Meriki arrived. But the looks of panic among the families convinced him not to take too many soldiers away from Orak at this late stage.
Mesilim and his men would depart the following night, to give them an extra day’s rest. In the four days since they arrived at Orak, they’d had plenty of food and sleep, and restored much of their strength. Mounted on refreshed horses, they’d easily catch up with Esk kar and his slow — moving soldiers.
Counting Mesilim, thirty — seven warriors and two boys remained. One warrior had been judged too weak to ride and left behind. He’d been told to guard the women and children staying in Orak.
Esk kar pushed the pace as hard as he could for two days, walking beside the men and carrying his own equipment. He could have ridden, but the horses were better used by the scouts, and this let him stay close to the men.
They’d just made camp at the end of the second day when Mesilim and his men rode up. Esk kar studied them as they arrived. Four days’ rest showed in their faces. The new clothing each man wore replaced their old garments. Many of their weapons were gifts from Orak.
Every lance carried a yellow strip of cloth, another gift from Trella, and each bow dangled a smaller yellow ribbon. Each warrior wore a yellow sash around his waist. The colors were more than simple decoration-in a close — up battle they helped identify friend from foe, something needed even more by his soldiers.
The Ur Nammu’s mounts looked stronger as well, and those that hadn’t fully recovered were replaced by the last of Orak’s horses. Mesilim’s warriors looked confi dent and strong, a far cry from what they had been only days before.
Mesilim swung down from his horse and saluted Esk kar, while Subutai led the riders to their campsite, a few hundred paces away from Esk kar’s.
His men had little enough experience with barbarians, without getting into some argument or fight with the Ur Nammu over an unexpected or careless insult. Better to keep them apart until the time for battle, when no man would turn down an ally. Neither leader wanted any incidents.
“Your men look fi t, Mesilim,” Esk kar extended his hand in the sign of friendship. On the war trail, formality disappeared. “Any trouble following our path?”
“No. We rested the horses often, else we would have caught up with you hours ago.”
After everyone had eaten, the two leaders stayed by the fire and discussed what the next few days would bring. Much would depend on the ambush site itself, and they wouldn’t know about that until tomorrow. After Mesilim left, Esk kar spread his blanket on the hard ground and fell asleep in moments.
In the morning, Esk kar mounted a horse for the first time. With Jalen and Gatus, he joined Mesilim and Subutai, riding ahead of the men until they reached the site chosen for the ambush, a few miles away from the river and well into the rough hill country. Clumps of pale — green grass still showed on the land, though the hills would turn brown soon enough from the merciless sun.
The small valley chosen for the ambush ran roughly north — south and was surrounded by steeper hills. At the southern entrance some farmers had built a half — dozen mud houses, penned some sheep, goats, and chickens, and tried to farm the land. But as Jalen reported, they were too few for such a task, less than a dozen men, and none used to living by their swords.
