Ignoring her question, he gave orders to have both the upper rooms searched and all weapons removed. Korthac left six of his men to watch over Trella, telling them in Egyptian to kill her if anyone attempted a rescue.
Moving downstairs, he found Ariamus and Hathor waiting for him.
“A messenger just came from Takany,” Hathor said, still holding a sword dripping with blood. “He’s taken the barracks and seized all the weapons. But men are holding out at the main gate.”
Hathor had done well, securing the entrance to Eskkar’s compound.
With Takany’s capture of the soldiers’ quarters, the most difficult objective had been achieved. The only real resistance could have come from the barracks. With that taken, the battle had ended. Korthac’s main goal had been to secure Trella alive and unharmed, so that he could use her to force the inhabitants to his will.
“Ariamus, leave twenty of your men here,” Korthac said. “Take the rest and guard the river gate. Make sure no horses leave the city. Watch the boats and the river as well.”
Korthac turned to Hathor. “Take your men to the main gate. Keep whatever soldiers are left penned up there. Put archers on the walls, to make sure no one leaves the city. When Takany gets here, we’ll bring our men to the main gate and finish the last of the resistance. Afterward, we can begin hunting down any who’ve escaped. By dawn, the city will be mine.”
Unsure of what to do, Tammuz and En-hedu stood there with a dozen others, even after the fighting ended, watching events unfold. Along with a few dozen of Akkad’s stunned citizens, Tammuz and En-hedu had seen Korthac capture Eskkar’s house. Whatever warning Tammuz might have given would likely have arrived too late. By the time he’d convinced anyone of the danger, Korthac’s men would have struck.
Just when Tammuz decided they’d best return to the alehouse, armed men poured out of Eskkar’s house.
Tammuz and En-hedu, like all the frightened villagers, shrank against the wall or into nearby homes while the fierce-looking Egyptians marched by, many with blood still on their swords. After all the invaders had passed, with En-hedu holding his left arm, Tammuz followed behind them, keeping back a safe distance. When they reached the open area before the main gate, he and En-hedu could see that the archers in the towers had refused to surrender. As they watched, shafts flew at the invaders, pushing them back into the lane.
“Wait here,” Tammuz said, nudging En-hedu into a doorway. He slipped as close to the rear of the Egyptians as he dared. He heard Hathor and Korthac talking, along with another man they called Takany, who seemed to be Korthac’s second in command. The three men spoke briefly, but always in Egyptian, and Tammuz had no idea of what they said.
When Korthac finished, Hathor raced off back up the lane toward Eskkar’s house. Tammuz watched as Korthac and Takany positioned their men, to make sure no reinforcements could reach the gate or towers, and to prevent the soldiers within from escaping. Then Korthac stood there, waiting.
Before long, Hathor returned, leading a dozen men carrying torches and escorting Lady Trella, her hands bound together with a leather thong and escorted by two grinning Egyptians who held her by the arms as they hurried her along. They took her directly to where Korthac waited. He spoke to her, then slapped her across the face before taking hold of her wrist and twisting it until she cried out.
Appearing satisfied at Trella’s reaction, Korthac pushed her into Hathor’s arms. “Take her to the gate,” Korthac ordered, speaking in Akkadian to make sure Trella understood his words. “If the soldiers don’t surrender, kill her.”
Stunned at Trella’s treatment, Tammuz watched as Hathor led Lady Trella out into the open space behind the gate.
“Soldiers of Akkad,” Hathor shouted, his powerful voice echoing throughout the area. “If you don’t lay down your weapons and surrender, Lady Trella will be put to death, and then we’ll kill everyone in the towers.”
Tammuz saw that Hathor stood beside Trella, an easy shot for most of the archers in the tower. But everyone knew what would happen to Trella if an arrow struck him down. Hathor waited a few moments, then called out again. “For the last time… surrender now, and you will live.”
He pushed Trella forward. “Tell them.”
“Soldiers, come down from the towers.” Trella’s voice carried easily to the walls. “Don’t resist. Save your own lives.”
Tammuz shook his head. Never had he thought such a thing could happen.
“Korthac’s too wise to stand out there in the open, where an arrow could take him,” En-hedu said, watching the spectacle. She’d ignored Tammuz’s order to stay behind and moved up to join him. “He lets Hathor take the risk of dying.”
“This is bad,” Tammuz said. “The guards will have to surrender.”
“We should get back to the alehouse,” En-hedu whispered. “We can’t do anything here. They may start killing everyone in the streets.”
“As soon as I see what happens. I have to make sure.”
Shouting voices came from the towers, but the debate didn’t last long.
The twenty or thirty men, divided between the towers and outnumbered by at least five times their strength, had no choice but to yield. Without weapons, food, and water, they couldn’t hold out. At Trella’s urging, they put down their weapons and filed from the tower.
By then Tammuz had seen enough. With all resistance ended, the terror would begin. “Let’s get out of here, before the looting starts.”
He hurried En-hedu along, his knife held tight against his side. But they didn’t encounter any of Korthac’s men, and soon reached Tammuz’s establishment, as dark as every house on the lane. No one would burn even the smallest lamp tonight, afraid to attract any attention from their new masters.
A worried Kuri let them into the alehouse, sword in hand, and barred the door behind them. Only a faint glow from the fireplace embers gave any illumination.
Tammuz peered into the common room, but saw no one.
“I chased them all out, and told them not to return until morning,”
Kuri said. “They’ll be busy enough, picking up whatever they can steal in all this confusion.” Using a shard of pottery, he lifted a glowing ember from what remained of the fire, and carried it into Tammuz’s private room, where he touched it to the oil lamp.
He blew on it gently, until a tiny flame appeared, enough to reveal another presence waiting for them.
“What’s happening out there?” Gatus lay across Tammuz’s bed, one hand clutching his side, his voice weak and full of pain. His still-bloody sword lay beside him, close to his hand.
En-hedu pushed past the men. She lifted the lamp and moved it closer to Gatus. “Hold the lamp here, Tammuz, while I look after his wound.”
Lifting his garment, she moved aside Gatus’s hand and examined the gash just above his hip. She’d tended enough cuts and scrapes at the tannery, though nothing as deep as this. “He’s still bleeding. His arm is cut and his side. The blade must have passed through his arm.”
“An arm’s not very good as a shield,” Gatus said, wincing in pain. “Just tie it up. I have to go… get to my men.”
“You can’t go anywhere, Gatus,” Tammuz said, his voice sounding harsh in the small room. “Trella’s been captured, the barracks and both gates seized. All the soldiers have been taken prisoner, except for the ones who died. Korthac rules Akkad.”
“Korthac! That Egyptian dog…”
“By dawn, half of Korthac’s men will be searching for you. Simut must have had orders to kill you. Instead, we killed him and one of his men. The Egyptians will want revenge for that. They’ll want you, or your dead body.”
“That was you? My thanks for that stroke, Tammuz,” Gatus said. “Did Kuri teach you how to fight?”
“Thank En-hedu as well. She saved both of us.”
Gatus looked at En-hedu in confusion, so Tammuz recounted the fight and described Simut’s death, while En-hedu cleaned the soldier’s wounds.
“He can stay here,” Kuri said. “I mean… he’s bleeding pretty bad.”
“They’ll search everywhere, including here,” Tammuz said. “We’ll have to find someplace else.”
“We’ll hide him here, on the roof,” En-hedu said. She tore a piece of cloth in half and turned to Kuri. “Help me lift him.” They lifted Gatus’s shoulders up off the bed, enough for her to slip the cloth underneath him.
