“Please, Sabatu, please. .”
With a growl, Sabatu took a step forward and lashed out with his foot. The sandal caught Chaiyanar flat on the face, the force of the blow breaking his nose. His head snapped back, and blood gushed from his nostrils.
“Hurin, tie his hands behind him,” Sabatu ordered. “Make sure they’re as tight as you can make them. He won’t be needing them any longer.”
Hurin, laughing all the while, cut the sandal laces from a dead Elamite, and used them to fasten Chaiyanar’s hands. By the time he recovered from Sabatu’s kick, pain lanced through Chaiyanar’s wrists, as the leather stretched and pulled tight.
“King Eskkar of Akkad promised me your life, Grand Commander. You wanted to ride into Sumer as a conqueror, but you’ll walk through the gates like a slave, at the end of a rope. You’ll die slowly, a little each day, and I will spend every moment with you. I swear by all the gods in Elam and Sumer that, day or night, I’ll not leave your side. Not for a moment. I’ll make sure you suffer more than any man who has ever died by your order in Sushan’s marketplace.”
“Sabatu, please!” Chaiyanar managed to get to his knees. “Shirudukh will give you gold, all the gold you desire, if you set me free.”
With a movement almost too quick to follow, Sabatu snatched an arrow from his quiver, nocked it to the bowstring, and drew back the shaft. The bronze tip, almost touching Chaiyanar’s face, pointed toward Chaiyanar’s left eye. “Look at my hands, you dog. ‘Break his thumbs,’ you said. Now my hands are weak, and I don’t know how much longer I can hold back my arrow.”
“By the gods, mercy, Sabatu! Please don’t kill me.”
With a snarl of rage, Sabatu shifted his aim and released the bowstring. The bronze tip sliced through Chaiyanar’s left ear.
The former High Commander of Sushan screamed, as much in fright as pain.
Taking his time, Sabatu selected another shaft from his quiver.
“You’re not going to kill him before I get my ten silver coins, are you?”
“Oh, no, he won’t die that fast.” Sabatu let the bow go slack. “Hurin, there’s a ring with a ruby stone on his finger. You can have that for a start.”
Chaiyanar cried out, as Hurin twisted the Elamite’s fingers. “Can’t get it loose.”
Sabatu leaned forward, his face only a hand’s breadth from Chaiyanar’s. “Use my knife. It’s very sharp. Cut it free.” He drew the blade, Daro’s gift, from its scabbard, and dropped it beside the squirming prisoner.
“Ah, no need, I’ve got it!” Hurin stood and held the ring up to the sun. “This is worth more than ten coins.”
“You’ll earn the rest by helping me torture Grand Commander Chaiyanar.”
“No! You must not torture. .”
“Is this Chaiyanar?” Another man strode over to join Sabatu. An older man, his tunic was splattered with blood. A grim expression covered his face.
“Yes, and he’s my prisoner, Captain Jarud,” Sabatu said.
“Grand Commander Chaiyanar, I’m glad to see you’re still alive.” Jarud laughed, a chilling sound that seemed out of place on the bloody battlefield. “My name is Jarud, and I am the Captain of the Guard for the City of Sumer.” Anger and hatred now showed in his clenched jaw and narrowed eyes.
Chaiyanar shivered as much at Jarud’s dour countenance as at his words. But Chaiyanar saw the possibility of avoiding Sabatu’s torture. “I am Chaiyanar, Commander of the Elamite Army. My cousin is the King of Elam, and he will pay a rich ransom for my safe return.”
“Oh, yes, I’m sure he would. And I’m sure King Gemama would be interested in speaking with you, and welcoming you into our City. But yesterday, my nephew Jaruman, died defending Sumer’s gate. One of your archers killed him. He was a good man, like a son to me, and I will mourn his loss for many days.”
Taking his time, Jarud slid his sword, still stained with blood, from its scabbard. “I swore as I held Jaruman in my arms and watched him die, that I would kill many Elamites to avenge his death.”
“King Shirudukh will pay three hundred gold coins, no, five hundred, for my safe return.” The words gushed from Chaiyanar’s mouth, even as the blood from his broken nose dripped down his chin. He tried to stand, but Hurin pushed him back onto his knees.
“You came into our land, killed our people, and tried to sack my City.” Jarud took a step closer and stared down at the frightened and cringing leader of the Elamites. “Each day from the wall I watched you, sitting under your awning, taking your ease while your men prepared to kill thousands of Sumerians who had done you no injury. But I will avenge my nephew. That will require that I kill one more Elamite. Just one. And after I kill you, I’ll have your head nailed to Sumer’s gate and your body cut into pieces and fed to the dogs, so that your spirit is cursed forever in the afterlife. May the demons there burn your body in the pits for all time.”
Chaiyanar lurched forward, his face lifted imploringly. His mouth agape, he gazed up in horror as Jarud raised his sword.
“No!” Sabatu stepped between the prisoner and Jarud. “King Eskkar promised me that I could have Chaiyanar. He killed every member of my family. For that, I swear to you that he will die a slow, very slow and painful death. You can come and watch each day, and hear his screams of pain.”
Jarud glared at Sabatu. “He will die right here, with my sword in his belly, while I watch him bleed to death.”
“Hold on, hold on! What are you two doing?”
King Gemama, accompanied by Yavtar, had wended his way through the bodies to reach Jarud’s side. “I’m glad you captured Chaiyanar alive. This filth must repay the gold that Sumer has wasted fighting. Crops have been lost, houses burned, tradesmen killed. . his ransom will repay much of that expense. We must keep him alive.”
“I think King Eskkar would like to speak to Chaiyanar,” Yavtar added. “He should be sent to Akkad. After he spends a few days with Annok-sur and her pain givers, the Grand Commander will reveal everything that we want to know. Then Eskkar can ransom him or give him back to you so you can torture him to death.”
“Yes! Yes! I’m worth a great ransom,” Chaiyanar pleaded. “Do not let these men kill me.”
With a snarl, Sabatu fit another arrow to his bow. “He is my prisoner. My arrow brought him down, and his body belongs to me.”
Jarud hefted his sword. “No, he dies now. He’s as cunning as a fox. He’ll find a way to get himself ransomed.”
“Wait! Hold your sword, Jarud.” King Gemama stepped in front of the captive. “Put down your bow, Sabatu. I may have a way to satisfy everyone, if my good friend Yavtar will agree. He does owe me a favor or two, as I recall.”
Yavtar lifted his hands and let them drop. “He’s not my prisoner. Do whatever you like with the scum.”
“Good, good,” Gemama said. “Now let me see this man.” He turned and peered down into Chaiyanar’s bloody face for a long moment. “This dog is not Grand Commander Chaiyanar,” Gemama declared. He glanced around. A dead Elamite lay a few paces away.
Gemama stepped over to the corpse, and pointed down at the body with his finger. “That is Grand Commander Chaiyanar. He was killed during the attack, so there can be no ransom.”
Sumer’s King returned to stand in front of the prisoner. “For daring to impersonate Chaiyanar, I order this common soldier to be tortured to death by Sabatu. When the prisoner is ready to die, Captain Jarud can run his sword through his belly. That way all will be satisfied. Sabatu? Jarud? Is that not right?”
“Oh, damn the gods!” Jarud lowered his sword and spat on the ground. “I suppose it will have to do. But Sabatu must swear to let me deliver the final blow, and Chaiyanar must know it is I who sends him into the fire pits.”
Gemama faced Sabatu. “Will you agree to this? You can torture him as long as you like.”
Sabatu’s eyes went from Gemama to Jarud. He took a deep breath, then nodded his head. “I will keep him alive for Captain Jarud. I swear it on my honor.”