Chaiyanar, his eyes wide with fear, gaped in silent terror as the men talked about his coming torture and death. “You must not do this. I am Grand Commander Chaiyanar and I. .”
Yavtar, who happened to be closest to the prisoner, kicked him in the side of the head. “This filthy soldier, to save his own life, still claims to be the Elamite commander. He should not be allowed to speak to anyone.”
“Well, I can take care of that,” Jarud declared. He returned his bloody sword to its scabbard without bothering to clean it, and then drew a slim knife from its sheath. “Who wants to hold his head?”
Even though Chaiyanar’s hands were bound, it took all four of them to hold him fast while Jarud cut off his tongue. When Jarud finished, he held up Chaiyanar’s bloody tongue, so that everyone could admire it, and then spat again, this time in Chaiyanar’s face.
“Time to get back to work,” Jarud said. “We’ve got to clean up this mess, and Hathor and Naxos will need food and supplies, before they can start hunting down the remaining invaders. I won’t feel satisfied until every last Elamite is dead or driven into the sea.”
Chaiyanar, blood still dripping down his chin, stared at his captors in horror.
“Come with me, Grand Commander.” Sabatu grabbed the dazed Chaiyanar and jerked him to his feet. “I will lead you into the City of Sumer, and you can receive the reward you deserve. I promise you that your first night in Sumer will be one you will remember. But not for long.”
Later that evening, Yavtar and Gemama sat together on the terrace of the Palace. Yavtar had dined with his old friend. The servants had all disappeared, out in the lanes celebrating the destruction of the Elamites, so there was no one to cook a proper feast. Even so, King Gemama had plenty of fine wine yet stored in his cellar, and two pitchers of his best rested on the low table between the men.
The people of Sumer, jubilant that the siege had been lifted, would get little sleep tonight. Already three boats had arrived, two from the north, and one from Lagash. As word spread that the siege had broken, food and supplies would once again flow into the city.
“How do you think King Eskkar is doing?” For Gemama, it was no idle question. If Akkad fell, Sumer would soon be facing another, perhaps even more intense siege.
“Well, he’s getting all the supplies and weapons he needs,” Yavtar said. “My boats have hauled little else for the last three months.”
“Even so, Eskkar will be outnumbered.”
Yavtar waved his wine cup in the air. “He’ll find a way to even the odds. You know, I fought with him many years ago, when he recaptured Akkad from Korthac and his Egyptians. I transported Eskkar and his men down the Tigris to Akkad. I gave into a foolish impulse and volunteered to fight beside Eskkar and his men. But even then, I knew the man wouldn’t be stopped. He was greatly outnumbered and locked outside the city’s walls. Yet he got in and slew the Egyptians. Killed all of them. Except Hathor, thank the gods.”
“Men say King Eskkar has the luck of the gods.”
“You can believe that, if you must,” Yavtar said. “But Eskkar has mastered every kind of warfare and way of fighting. Most of all, he knows how to win.” He chuckled. “But I can tell you a secret, something else about Eskkar that few even in Akkad know.”
“And what is that, old friend, that makes you laugh?”
“Eskkar, the King of Akkad, hates to waste gold. He’s going to be really annoyed when he finds out about Chaiyanar.”
“I thought you weren’t going to tell him.”
“Oh, not me. But Trella will find out, sooner or later. However, it’s more than likely that King Shirudukh would not have paid a single gold coin. It’s said he has no patience with those who fail him. But if there were a ransom, I can tell you what Eskkar would have done to Chaiyanar. He would have cut off both his hands before selling him back to Susa.”
“Barbarians are a bloodthirsty lot.” Gemama shivered. “Perhaps it is for the best, though. “We would have had to guard Chaiyanar’s worthless life day and night while every man in Sumer demanded his death. All the same, my people would never have forgiven us if we turned him over to Akkad, let alone sent him back to Elam. At least this way Jarud will avenge his nephew and the ransom be damned.”
“Yes, barbarians do like to wallow in blood.” Yavtar filled his cup again, then lifted it high. “To King Eskkar of Akkad. May he destroy the Elamite Modran and save the Land Between the Rivers.”
“If he does, I will sacrifice a goat to the goddess Inanna, may she. .”
“Not another goat,” Yavtar pleaded. “One more sacrifice offered up, and the last goat will vanish from the land.”
Chapter 36
The Elamite supply station at Zanbil. .
The morning after the capture of the supply depot at Zanbil, Sargon awoke to find he had slept through the dawn, something he had not done in months. Groggy, he pushed himself to his feet, and discovered that the sun had already lifted clear of the horizon. He and Garal had spread their blankets in a quiet place next to one of the huts. To Sargon’s surprise and despite the hard ground, he enjoyed a good night’s rest for the first time since they started riding east.
The strain of riding for days on end, and not even knowing if they could reach Zanbil in time, had worn on Sargon’s nerves. War, he’d come to realize, occupied a man’s thoughts from dawn until dusk, and then plagued the night’s rest.
This coming fight — he regarded the capture of the village yesterday as nothing of consequence — would be his first campaign. This time he bore a good share of the responsibility for the plan’s success or failure. Unlike Garal and most of the warriors, Sargon had all the worries that went with any campaign — would they reach their goal, would they achieve their objective, would the Elamites fall upon them and destroy all of them.
Another concern — would he fight bravely or would he dishonor his name — troubled him as well. Thoughts of whether he might die in battle always lingered, as they did with every warrior, in the back of his mind.
Sargon had worked with his father and Chief Bekka to map out the route as well as the timing. Sargon’s presence with the Alur Meriki was meant to ensure that the warriors played their role in the battle, and did not wander off on some senseless raid to loot and pillage. Though Sargon never mentioned it, Chief Bekka understood that Sargon would decide when the Alur Meriki’s oath to Eskkar had been fulfilled.
Part of the responsibility for stopping the entire Elamite invasion now rested on Sargon’s shoulders. His concern also included the warriors themselves, already hundreds of miles from their homes, in a hostile land, with a large and formidable army of fighting men ready to fall upon them. Mistakes on his part might mean the deaths of hundreds, including many of his friends.
The easy capture of Zanbil had resolved little. To the north, General Jedidia and his six thousand horsemen might emerge from the Jkarian Pass any day, on route to Zanbil for supplies and another pathway to the Land Between the Rivers.
To the west, Lord Modran and his forces, should they fail to breach Eskkar’s defense of the Dellen Pass, might turn about and fall upon the Alur Meriki. Farther to the south lay the large city of Sushan, which, if his mother’s spies were correct, now housed the Elamite King and his own force of dangerous Immortals.
Nevertheless, now was not the time for such apprehensions. Sargon went down to the stream, to relieve himself and wash his face and hands. The warriors had occupied the village because the clean flowing stream was far too valuable to ignore. Later, after he ate a healthy meal from the Elamite supplies, he intended to take a swim and clean his clothes. But when he straightened up from his ablutions, he found Garal, always an early riser, striding toward him.