and waiting.”
Rukor looked both confused and disappointed. No doubt he expected to get at least a few days’ rest before climbing back on a horse. And the message didn’t seem particularly urgent or important.
Eskkar turned to Grond. “Give Rukor two silver coins as a reward.”
A week’s pay would make the man feel a little better. While Grond hunted in his belt for the coins, Eskkar went on. “Rukor, Drakis says you can be trusted, so I ask you to leave at once. Get a fresh horse and take whatever you need. And tell no one what message you carry. Do you understand?”
Grond put the coins in Rukor’s hand before the man could answer.
“Come with me, Rukor.” He put his arm around the uncomprehending man’s shoulder and started him moving. “I’ll make sure you get a good horse and plenty of food.”
When the two of them were gone Eskkar turned back to Drakis. “Now I need you to do something important, Drakis. Listen carefully. You’re going to deliver the rest of the message Gatus sent to me. The message is that Gatus and a hundred and twenty men will be here in four or five days.
Do you understand?”
Drakis’s mouth fell open. There had been no other message. “But Captain, Gatus did not…”
“Listen to me, Drakis,” Eskkar went on patiently, keeping his voice low. “This is very important. Gatus told you that he and a hundred and twenty men will be here in four or five days. That’s what he told you to tell me.” Eskkar waited a moment, to let that sink in. “Now, Drakis, tell me what message you carry from Gatus?”
Drakis looked from Eskkar to Sisuthros, who grinned broadly at the man’s confusion. “Tell Eskkar what Gatus told you, Drakis,” Sisuthros encouraged. “Go on, deliver the message from Gatus.”
Now both Eskkar and Sisuthros waited, smiles on their faces. Drakis turned back to Eskkar. “Uh, Captain… Gatus said… that he and a hundred and twenty men would be here in four or five days.”
“Very good, Drakis,” Eskkar said. “Now remember well what Gatus told you. You must believe the words and say them as if it were true.
When you’re with the men, someone will ask you what message you carried. You will tell them what Gatus said, just as you told me. I want our men to believe that more soldiers are coming. You must believe it yourself, so that they will believe you. Can you do that, Drakis? If you can’t, then you’ll need to get on a horse with Rukor. The men have to believe reinforcements are coming.”
“I can do it, Captain,” Drakis answered determinedly. “I’m not sure what these words mean, but I can do it.”
“Understanding is not required, Drakis,” Eskkar said, but softened the words with a smile. “Just follow your orders. Believe the message yourself, and you’ll have no trouble convincing any of the men. Now, let’s go over it again.”
Eskkar made Drakis repeat the message half a dozen times, until the words fell smoothly off his tongue. Finally Eskkar dismissed Drakis, letting him rejoin the men so he could get something to eat. The other men would ask for news of Akkad, and sooner or later, Drakis would “confirm”
Gatus’s message. Rukor had already departed, on his way back to Akkad, carrying a useless message that would raise Trella’s eyebrows and make Gatus think his captain had lost his wits.
“Well, Captain,” Sisuthros said, “it’s as you said. The men will believe Drakis. And I expect the local farmers will be here soon. They know we’ve arrived, and that we’ll need food.”
“You deal with them personally when they arrive, Sisuthros. They’re important to the plan. Remember to pay them fairly for whatever they bring, but no more. If we start paying too much…” Eskkar glanced around the camp. “Now it’s time for Grond and me to take our little ride around the village, while you do your part.”
Moments later, after Eskkar had mounted his horse, a ragged cheer went up from the men. Sisuthros had just told the soldiers that Gatus and more men were on the way, to bolster their numbers. And should anyone ask Drakis, he would confirm that he had indeed delivered that message.
In Bisitun, men would start wondering about the cheering. Eskkar nodded in satisfaction.
With ten soldiers riding behind him, Eskkar started his survey of the village. First they rode slowly to the west, stopping often to examine the land, always keeping at least a quarter mile from the village. When they reached the river, they paused for nearly a half hour as Eskkar studied the land, the river, and the southwestern approach to the village before they began to retrace their steps. They quickened their pace as they passed behind their own encampment, then slowed down again and leisurely inspected the northeastern outskirts of Bisitun until they reached the river once again. As before, Eskkar took his time, studying the landscape, before they rode slowly back to the encampment.
They had been gone nearly two hours and during that time, the walls of Bisitun had been filled with men, not only soldiers but villagers as well, all of them nervous and curious as to what the men from Akkad were planning. Shading his eyes, Grond picked out the man with the silver arm bracelets who followed them along the palisade from one side of the village to the other.
“Well, we got their attention, Captain,” Grond said, as they dismounted and handed the horses off. “And Sisuthros makes good progress in building the ditch. It looks finished.”
“Let’s take a turn around the camp, just to see how it looks.”
They walked slowly around the encampment but found no fault with either the ditch or the rampart. While a good rider on a strong horse might leap the six-foot-wide ditch, the animal would be jumping directly into the mound of dirt and would probably bury itself to the shoulder into the soft earth. The ditch and the earthen embankment would slow down men on foot even more. They would have to jump into the ditch, then endeavor to climb up the rampart’s side, into the teeth of the defenders’ bows and swords. Satisfied that his position couldn’t be taken, Eskkar strode back inside the camp, thinking that, if Gatus were here, he would be pleased as well.
Eskkar repeated the inspection from behind the rampart, taking his time as he paced around the camp. The soldiers looked cheerful now, with the possibility of a fight delayed. They would have a few days’ rest before Gatus and his men arrived. With another hundred men, they knew they could easily storm the village.
Eskkar spoke to many of them, always asking if they understood their orders and knew what their posts were in an emergency, always trying to remember as many of their names as he could. He wanted them to know that he depended on them. And that this wasn’t the time for them to relax or forget their vigilance.
He had just finished checking the ranks when Sisuthros approached.
“Captain, here come the first of the farmers.”
Coming slowly down the road Eskkar saw three small farm carts, each pushed or pulled by two farmers. Either these farmers had no draft animals, or they feared the soldiers would confiscate them, a likely enough occurrence with Ninazu’s men. “Well, at least we’ll have fresh food for tonight.”
“Do you want to meet with them?”
“No. Let them get used to dealing with you, both now and in the future. Say that I am too busy to deal with farmers. Don’t forget to tell them we’ll need a great deal more food in a few days.”
“Do you think there will spies in this group, Captain?”
“No, not this group,” Eskkar said, taking a moment to consider. “Perhaps not even the next one. But when the third group arrives… then I think we’ll have some spies or farmers relying on Ninazu’s pay.”
Eskkar walked away from the rear gate and watched from a distance as the nervous farmers approached the camp. Sisuthros halted them outside the rear embankment, then spent half an hour haggling with them.
At first the local inhabitants looked fearful, afraid of their goods being confiscated, or themselves taken as slaves or laborers. But with Ninazu’s men taking what they wanted without paying, these farmers needed the copper coins, and their need had driven them to take the chance. So far none of these strangers from Akkad had looted anyone or raided the local farmhouses, so perhaps, after all, they would deal honestly.
That night Eskkar enjoyed good wine with his dinner, along with nuts and fresh bread. The farmers had departed, scarcely able to conceal their joy. They’d received a decent sum for their goods and they promised to spread the word, and that more food would arrive tomorrow morning.
Once again, Eskkar muttered thanks to the gods for Trella’s advice.
She had given him a good supply of their precious silver to win over the goodwill of the local farmers. In the old days he would have simply taken what he needed from them, no doubt in much the same way that Ninazu had. Now Eskkar understood how that would alienate them and work against him in the long run. For the next few days,
