Tsudai chuckled. “I have here three hundred warriors, Princess. Each one of them will use your body between here and Ulrickham. Now, the journey will be sixty days. Even my simple mind tells me that five men a day will get to enjoy the pleasures you bestow so freely on the foreigners and scum you surround yourself with. Think of it, Princess: three hundred men!”
“Why warn me, you foul-mouthed whoreson?”
“It could be that you will not wish to suffer such humiliation. Surely someone of the blood of the great khan would sooner take her own life.”
Through her fear Tanaki forced a laugh. “My esteemed brother would like that, would he not? No, Tsudai. Come and take me. I’ll survive. And when the generals hear of my treatment at your hands, I will live to see the skin flayed from your foul body.”
He spread his hands. “As you wish, Princess, but do not expect too much support from the other khans. The Lord Jungir will shortly be celebrating the birth of an heir. All the omens say it will be a boy.”
“You lie! Jungir is sterile.”
“I never lie, Tanaki! You know that. One of the khan’s wives is pregnant.”
“Then she had a lover,” snapped Tanaki, before she could stop herself. But her heart sank. The khan’s concubines and wives were kept in a walled palace patrolled by eunuchs. There was no way a man could infiltrate such a fortress. And even if by some miracle he did, the scores of spies among the concubines would carry word to the khan.
“Will you come out—or will we come in after you?” shouted Tsudai.
“Come in!” she yelled. “Why not come yourself?”
Tsudai chuckled and waved his arm, and twenty riders raced for the walls, hurling ropes that looped over the pointed stockade timbers. As the Nadir leapt from their saddles and swiftly clambered up the walls, Tanaki drew her swords. The first man to show himself died, his throat ripped open. The second fell, his lung pierced. As the others came in sight, Tanaki waited, blood dripping from her silver blades as they advanced from left and right. She leapt and spun, killing a man with a reverse sweep across the neck, then jumped from the battlement into a wagon loaded with sacks of wheat. Scrambling clear, she ran for the hall. Four men moved to cut her off, but she swerved into an alley, then doubled back and waited. Six warriors raced into view. She charged into them, cutting and cleaving, breaking through their line.
On the battlements knelt a warrior holding a sling. He whirled it around his head and let fly, the small round stone cracking into Tanaki’s temple. She staggered and almost fell. A man ran at her … spinning, she hurled her right-hand sword. It punched into his chest, and he fell back, scrabbling at the blade. A second stone screamed past her. Ducking, she stumbled to a barn, pushing her back against the door. Her head was swimming, and a terrible dizziness overcame her. Two more Nadir warriors came into view. She half fell, and they leapt at her. Her sword came up, partly severing a man’s arm. A fist cracked against her skull, and her swords were torn from her grasp. Twice more the fist pounded at her face. She fell to her knees. Men were all around her now, tearing at her clothes. They dragged her into the barn, hurling her naked to the straw-covered floor.
“Well, well. We do not look like a princess now,” came Tsudai’s voice, cold and mocking. She struggled to stand, but a foot was pushed against her face and she fell back. “I said five men a day, but these twelve warriors have at least fought for you, Princess. I will leave you in their tender care.”
She gazed up through swollen eyes and watched the men untying their rawhide belts, saw the lust in their faces. Something inside her quivered and snapped. Tears ran to her cheeks.
“Make her scream a little,” said Tsudai, “but do not mark her unduly. There are many more men waiting.”
The general walked out into the sunlight, where he stood for a while listening to the sounds of grunting men and the low moans that came from the once-proud princess. Then she screamed, a long and piercing sound. Tsudai allowed himself a smile. He had waited a long time for this moment. Four years since the haughty Princess Tanaki had first spurned his offer of marriage. He had given her a second chance mere months before. Now she would begin to understand the depth of his hatred. The scream sounded again. More animal than human, he thought. Curious how so much despair could be carried in a sound with no words …
The screams drifted on the breeze, carrying high into the mountains. “Dear gods, what are they doing to her?” said Kiall.
“What the Nadir always do,” hissed Beltzer. “They’re raping her. My guess is they’ll kill her soon after.”
“Shame,” commented Harokas. “Good-looking woman.”
“We must do something,” said Kiall, pushing himself to his feet. Chareos grabbed his belt, hauling him back.
“Good idea,” agreed Beltzer. “Why don’t we saddle up and charge all three hundred of them? Grow up, Kiall. She’s finished.”
“Kiall is right,” said Okas softly.
Beltzer turned to him, his jaw dropping. “You think we should charge them?”
“No, my friend. But she is part of this … this quest. I know it. I feel it.”
“We’re here to rescue a farm girl,” said Beltzer.
“Not anymore,” said Okas.
“What do you mean?” asked Chareos.
Okas rubbed his tired eyes. “It is coming together now, my friends. All the threads. And I can see them. The girl Ravenna was sold to Jungir Khan. He has bedded her, and it is she who now carries his child. He has made her the Kian of Wolves, the queen. You are seeking to steal the Nadir queen.”
Beltzer began to laugh. “Better and better. In that case we should charge them. It’ll be good practice for when we take on the entire Nadir army!”
“The woman down there is Tenaka Khan’s daughter, Jungir’s sister. She will know the palace. She will be of great help to us,” Okas said.
“Help?” said Chareos. “We can’t go on with this. It is madness now to even consider it.”
“There is more to this quest than you realize, Chareos Blademaster,” Okas continued. “Far more. Can you not see it? The dream of Bel-azar, the ghost of Tenaka Khan? It is all part of a great whole.”
“What part?” asked Finn, kneeling by the Tattooed Man.
“The child,” answered Okas. “He will be born early … twelve weeks from now. The stars show that he will be great king, perhaps greatest who ever lived. He will be bloodline of Ulric and Tenaka Khan and of Regnak, Earl of Bronze. He will be warrior and statesman. As Nadir khan, he will take his armies across the world.”
“Are you saying we should kill the babe?” Beltzer asked.
“No. I am saying you should continue with this quest and see where it leads.”
“It will lead to death for all of us,” declared Chareos. “We are no longer talking of buying or stealing back a farm girl. We are talking about the Nadir queen!”
“Let me speak,” Kiall said softly. “You are right, Chareos. It is all too … too overpowering. May I then suggest we take one step at a time? Let us first think of a way to rescue Tanaki. After that we can decide what to do.”
Chareos sighed and shook his head. “We are six men in an alien land. And you want us to consider a plan to steal a prisoner from three hundred of the fiercest warriors in the Nadir nation? Well, why not? How many ways can a man die?”
“You don’t even want to consider that question,” said Harokas. “In Nadir hands a prisoner could be killed slowly over a score of days, with each painful day worse than the last.”
“What a sack of comforts you are,” snapped Beltzer.
“The sun is going down,” said Finn. “If we are going to get the girl, then tonight will be our best chance. Especially if the main force camps outside the walls. Then all we have to do is get down there, sneak past them, climb the walls, kill anyone inside, and carry the girl out.”
“Oh, that’s all?” Beltzer sneered. “And I know who gets to carry the bitch. It’s me, isn’t it?”
“Correct
,” admitted Finn.
“I’ll come with you,” said Harokas. “I rather like the woman. You don’t mind if I stick close to you, do you, Chareos?”
“Not at all. But stay in front of me, Harokas.”
Chareos knelt on the hillside as the sun faded into dusk. The Nadir warriors had dragged the girl out into the open and dropped her naked body in the dust of the square. She was limp as a doll. Two of the men then hauled her up, lifting her onto the auction platform and bending her over the block. Chareos averted his eyes and switched his gaze to the riders beyond the town. They had settled down in the open, setting campfires. The general and four of his men had entered the long hall, which left seventeen men inside the town.
Too many …
Kiall brought Chareos a meal of dried meat and fruit, then sat in silence beside him.
What am I doing here? thought Chareos. What is this madness? The woman means nothing to me; this quest is of no consequence. What will it matter to the world in a thousand years if another Nadir khan is born? He gazed down at the still, white form draped over the auction block and the men bearing down on her.
“Do you have a plan?” whispered Kiall. Chareos turned to the pale-faced young man.
“Do you think me some god of war, Kiall? We can get in, possibly without being observed. But then there will be seventeen against seven—six if you discount Okas, who is no warrior. Now, let us assume we could defeat all seventeen. Could we do it silently? No. Therefore, the other warriors outside would be alerted. Can we defeat three hundred? Even you will know the answer to that.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“I don’t know, boy!” snapped Chareos. “Go away and let me think!”
The sky darkened, and the moon shone bright. Idea after idea drifted into Chareos’ mind, there to be examined, dissected, discarded. Finally he called Finn to him and outlined his thoughts. The hunter listened, his face impassive.
“Is this the only way?” he asked at last.
“If you can think of a better plan, I’ll go along with it,” answered Chareos.
Finn shrugged. “Whatever you say, Blademaster.”
“I say we should all go home and forget this nonsense,” said Chareos, forcing a smile.
“That would win my vote,” admitted Finn. “So why don’t we?”
Chareos shrugged and pointed down to the moonlit town, where the naked form of Tanaki was tied to the auction block.
“We don’t know her,” said Finn softly.
“No, we do not. But we have seen her suffering. Do I sound as naïve and romantic as Kiall?”
“Yes, but that is no bad thing, my friend. I share your view. Evil will never be countered while good men do nothing.”
“Then we are a pair of fools,” declared Chareos, and this time the smile was genuine. Finn reached out his hand, and Chareos took it.
“Win or lose, we achieve nothing that the world would understand,” said Finn.
“But then, the world does not matter,” answered Chareos, rising.
“Indeed it does not,” Finn replied. “It is good to understand that.”
It was close to midnight when Finn and Maggrig rode from the camp. Chareos, Harokas, Kiall, and Beltzer slowly made their way down the slope toward the stockaded town. Okas remained in the woods, squatting cross-legged, his eyes closed. He began to chant softly, and a mist rose from the grass, swirling out to cloak the four warriors as they moved into the open.
11
THE MIST ROLLED on and down like a ghostly blanket, shimmering in the moonlight. Chareos reached the rear wall of the stockade and located the iron portcullis. Beltzer moved alongside him.
“What now?” whispered the giant.
“We raise it?”
The iron grille was four feet wide and seven feet high. Beltzer handed his ax to Kiall and gripped the lowest bar. The muscles on his neck and shoulders swelled as he applied pressure: the gate creaked and rose an inch. Harokas and Chareos joined him: the gate rose another foot. “That is enough,” hissed Kiall, dropping to his back and sliding under the gate.
Chareos turned to Beltzer. “Can you hold it there?”
The giant grunted. Chareos ducked down and rolled under to rise beside Kiall. The two men climbed the rampart steps; there were no sentries posted. Together Kiall and Chareos turned the wheel above the gate, tightening the rope and relieving Beltzer of his burden. Swiftly they returned to the gateway, where Beltzer struggled through, followed by Harokas.
“Now we wait,” whispered Chareos.
From beyond the town came the sound of galloping hooves.
Finn rode headlong into the Nadir camp, scattering two fires. Warriors surged up from their blankets as his horse thundered by them. Finn swung the horse to a stop. Notching an arrow to his short hunting bow, he sent a shaft slicing into a man’s throat.
From the other side of the camp came a wild yell, and Maggrig galloped into sight through the mist. The Nadir swarmed for their horses. Finn shot a second man, then kicked his mount into a gallop and headed off toward the south. The camp was in an uproar as warriors seized their swords and ran to saddle their mounts. Within minutes the campsite was deserted.
Inside the town Tsudai ran from the hall, mounting the ramparts to watch his soldiers splitting into two groups to hunt down the attackers. He swung to an aide who was running toward him.
“Get out there and find out what is happening!”
The man darted to his horse, vaulted into the saddle, and galloped through the gates.
Chareos and Beltzer climbed through the window at the rear of the long hall and crept forward. Four Nadir officers were sitting around a table, playing dice.
Chareos sprang into the hall, slashing his sword through the throat of the nearest man. Beltzer leapt into action beside him, his ax killing two men before they could rise. The fourth man tried to run and made it to the door, wrenching it open. Harokas’ knife plunged into his chest.
Harokas stepped into the doorway, grabbing the man’s corpse and lowering it to the floor.
Outside Kiall, keeping close to the shadows, crept toward the auction block where Tanaki lay unconscious. Three men ran into the square, and he ducked behind two water barrels and waited.
The men climbed to the ramparts where Tsudai was watching the chase. Kiall could not hear their conversation. He moved carefully out into the open and climbed to the auction platform, where he knelt by Tanaki and cut the ropes binding her wrists. She moaned as she felt his touch.
“No more,” she pleaded. Her eyes were dark and swollen, her lips cut, her body bruised and bleeding. Kiall gritted his teeth and waited. The men on the ramparts came down to the square, and he heard one of them laugh. Hidden behind the block, he saw a Nadir warrior point to Tanaki, then turn toward her. The others hooted and swung to Tsudai.
“It is still your day,” he told them.
The first man clambered to the platform, loosening his belt and dropping his trews. Kiall reared up and plunged his sword into the man’s groin.
Tsudai’s eyes widened. “Wolves to me!” he yelled, and from the barn came a further nine men, swords in their hands. “Take him!” shouted Tsudai.
The warriors surged forward, but just as they reached the platform, Beltzer came hurtling into them, his ax cleaving and cutting. Chareos and Harokas joined him. Kiall leapt from the platform, cannoning into three men and bearing them down. A sword sliced the skin of his upper arm, but then he was up, his blade slashing at the men beneath him. Harokas ducked under a wild cut and skewered the man before him. His blade sprang clear in time to block a second thrust from another warrior. Chareos dispatched two Wolves, then swung to aid Harokas. Beltzer fought like a man berserk. Within seconds the last Nadir fighting man had been cut down.
Tsudai ran along the ramparts and jumped to the ground, rolling to break his fall. He seized the reins of his horse and vaulted to the beast’s bare back. Chareos ran to block his escape, but the horse galloped clear.
/> “Get the girl!” Chareos shouted.
Beltzer tossed his ax to Kiall and climbed to the platform. Lifting Tanaki, he draped her over his shoulder.
Chareos led the group back to the iron gate and out into the mist-filled night. Slowly they made their way clear, judging their path by the rising ground. Within minutes they heard the sound of horses’ hooves. “Down!” hissed Chareos. The group dropped to their bellies. Horsemen passed them by within a few paces. Chareos rose.
“Which way?” whispered Beltzer. They could hear the calling of the Nadir, but the mist had thickened into a deep fog and the sounds were distorted, muffled and eerie. As Chareos led them up the slope, Beltzer was breathing heavily, his face red with exertion.
“I’m not as young as I was,” he said, stopping for a moment to get his breath.
A glowing sphere formed in the air before Chareos. “Thank the Source!” he whispered. The sphere floated away to the right. Chareos and the others followed it and soon climbed above the mist into the relative safety of the trees. Okas was still squatting on the grass, but he opened his eyes as the questers entered the clearing. “Sit around me in a circle,” he said. “Place the girl at the center.” Beltzer gently laid the unconscious Tanaki on the grass, and they formed a circle. Okas closed his eyes and began to chant once more, his voice low and rhythmic. Beltzer looked closely at him. The old man was painfully thin, and his face was streaked with gray, his lips as blue as the tattoos on his chin.
Beltzer nudged Chareos and pointed to Okas. Chareos nodded. Whatever magic the old man was working was taking a terrible toll.
Nadir horsemen rode into the clearing, and Beltzer jerked and reached for his ax, but Chareos gripped his arm. The horsemen seemed insubstantial, like ghosts. They rode slowly past the questers.
Kiall shivered and watched the wraith riders as they passed. Okas opened his eyes and sagged sideways to the grass. Chareos and Kiall moved to him, but the old man waved them away and curled up to sleep. Chareos covered him with a blanket as Kiall turned to the girl. Under the bright moonlight he could see that her face was swollen and bruised. Her left eye was closed tight, the right darkened and discolored. Carefully he lifted the blanket from her body. Her legs and buttocks were also badly bruised and scratched, and there was dried blood on her thighs.