Tooraj called out Deltin’s name, and the Elamite emerged from the house, surprised to find that he had visitors. As soon as he saw Eskkar, Deltin bowed low.
“No need for that,” Eskkar said. “You look well.”
After Sabatu decided to help Akkad’s cause, he’d spent almost a month at Eskkar’s Compound, working with the senior commanders. Sabatu also worked with Trella, Annok-sur, and especially Ismenne, Akkad’s Master Map Maker. Ismenne had married Daro a few years ago. She spent several days with Sabatu, Eskkar’s scouts, and some of the city’s traders. Afterward Ismenne had devoted almost ten days to creating maps of Elam’s western lands, and the mountains and passes of the Zagros Mountains.
While the Map Maker drew sketches of the land, Eskkar and his senior commanders had spent almost as much time with Sabatu, talking about King Shirudukh and his generals. Tactics, training, weapons, every facet of Elam’s war machine was discussed and analyzed. Sabatu knew all about the likely contingents that could be summoned from various regions.
The information about the size of the armies Elam could field had sobered everyone. Nevertheless, by the end of that hectic month, Eskkar had learned all he needed to know about his enemy.
By then Trella and Annok-sur had arranged for Sabatu to move to Nuzi. The mine’s close location — a full day on the river, coming down the Tigris, and less than two days going upstream from Akkad — meant that Sabatu stayed close at hand, but out of sight of the people of Akkad.
In the months since Sabatu’s rescue, Yavtar’s spies regularly brought back word from Sushan, but there was never a mention of the man’s escape. No doubt the incident had proved too embarrassing for Grand Commander Chaiyanar, who must have blanched under the wrath of King Shirudukh over his failure to torture Sabatu to death.
Nevertheless, neither Yavtar nor Daro would ever dare tread on Sushan’s docks again. The risk of finding Chaiyanar’s soldiers waiting for them far outweighed any possible gain.
The last time that Eskkar had seen Sabatu, the man had not fully recovered from his injuries. But today, Eskkar saw a soldier, with powerful arms and thick muscle across his chest. The scars had faded, and he had recovered as much as he ever would. Sabatu’s hands, however, yet told the story of Elam’s torturers.
Sabatu’s thumbs still appeared twisted, and the last three fingers on his left hand were bound together with a strip of leather.
While Mitrac and Sabatu exchanged greetings, Eskkar strode over to the table placed at the head of the archery range. The targets, two bales of hay standing close together, rested against the wall at the other end, about thirty paces away. He glanced down at the table, and saw three bows stretched out, their grips well-worn from use. All were small, curved, and quite thick, a horse fighter’s weapon. Then Eskkar noticed the grip.
He picked up one of the bows. “What’s this?”
“I asked Mitrac to fashion a bow that I could use, My Lord,” Sabatu said. “That was before I left Akkad. Together, we carved out a bow that I can use despite my weak hands.”
“All I did was talk to Sabatu about archery,” Mitrac said. “Daro suggested it. The next time I was here, I spent two days with Sabatu. I really enjoyed designing a bow for him. I’ve never seen one like it. Then one of your Hawk Clan warriors at Aratta constructed the first weapon. He was very skilled.”
When steppes warriors grew too old or injured to fight, they took up weapon making to provide for their families and to help the clan. Several Alur Meriki fighters from the original Hawk Clan had joined Eskkar after the Battle at the Stream. One of them had constructed the unique weapon for Sabatu.
Eskkar examined the bow. The oversized grip felt unbalanced to his hand. A hole, more a slot in the wood, appeared just large enough to accept the three fingers of Sabatu’s left hand. When Eskkar tried to grip the bow properly, his hands didn’t fit.
“It was designed for my hands, My Lord, which are smaller than yours,” Sabatu said. “Instead of gripping the weapon with my left hand, I slip my three fingers into the slot. My thumb and first finger slide into the groove. The grip pushes back on the center of my palm. The arrow rests on the carved projection, to keep it close to the center of the limbs. Then I push out with my left arm to hold the bow steady. My right thumb is just strong enough to help draw the arrow. It took a month or so for the muscles in my wrist and arm to toughen up, but now I scarcely notice it.”
Sabatu demonstrated. Facing the targets, he fitted his left hand into the grip, nocked a shaft, then drew it back. The muscles on his arms rippled as the thick limbs of the bow resisted the pressure. Eskkar recognized a powerful weapon, almost as difficult to draw as the ones Akkad’s bowmen used. The arrow hissed through the air, and drove deep into the center of the target.
An impressive shot for a man with two crippled hands, Eskkar knew. “Can you use the bow on horseback?”
“Not very well, My Lord. “I’m still trying, but I’ve fallen twice already, so I think I’ll always have to dismount to shoot. Perhaps in time, I’ll get better at it. But for now, I’m working on my marksmanship. I’ve hit a mark at a hundred and twenty paces, but I’m most accurate at sixty to seventy paces.”
Eskkar, always interested in weapons of any kind, hefted the bow in his hand. “I’d like to try this. Show me again.”
For the rest of the afternoon, the four men took turns shooting the three weapons. Tooraj was the first to give up, and Eskkar soon followed. But by the time dusk arrived, Mitrac could use the unusual bow almost as well as Sabatu.
“You’ve done well, Sabatu,” Eskkar said, “better than well. That’s fine shooting for any archer. Let Tooraj know if there is anything else you need, and you’ll have it.”
He turned to Tooraj. “Come, we’ll leave these two alone, while you take me around.”
Eskkar and Tooraj left the house and started back toward the mine. “What do you think of Sabatu? Can he be trusted?”
“I worried about that, too,” Tooraj said. “But any time in the last few months, Sabatu could have taken a horse and ridden back to Elam. By now he knows all about our plans and numbers, so he gains nothing by remaining here. I believe he’s beginning to see that he can have a new life in the Land Between the Rivers. After Sabatu satisfies his desire for revenge on this Elamite Chaiyanar, that is. Until that is settled one way or another, Sabatu will never be at peace with himself.”
Eskkar had believed much the same, but felt reassured hearing Tooraj confirm his opinion. “He does know about some of our ideas to defeat the Elamites. There was no way to keep that knowledge from him.”
“In the beginning, Sabatu probably thought he would be killed after we’d learned what we wanted to know. But he trusts Daro and Lady Trella, so that’s no longer an issue.”
“Daro suspected as much, so he asked Trella to speak to him. I think she eased his mind.”
“In a few months, it won’t matter,” Tooraj said. “By then he’ll be more than deadly with that bow. I’ve watched Sabatu out on the archer’s range, day after day, from dawn until dusk. He can shoot as well as any of our bowmen, and almost as far. Grand Commander Chaiyanar better keep his distance.”
“I hope Sabatu gets close enough to take the shot,” Eskkar said. “We will need every man who can bend a bow.”
“Captain, when the time comes, I would like to fight alongside you and the Hawk Clan once again.”
Eskkar shook his head. “I don’t know of anyone who could command this place half as well as you. Besides, Trella would be dismayed if you left us. You’ve already given more than most men in Akkad’s defense. You’ve no need to risk more.”