"That, too, would be my understanding of the matter," I said.
5 I Throw Stones on the Road to Kailiauk
I stepped aside, to the side of the road. It had rained early this morning. Theroad was still muddy. The men, some afoot, some on kaiila, with the clank ofweapons and the rattle of accouterments, filed past me. I looked into the eyesof some of them. They were mercenaries. Yet they belonged to no mercenarycompany I recognized. Doubtless they had been hired here and there.
They wore various uniforms, and parts of uniforms, and carried an assortment ofweapons. Some of them, I suspected, might even be men without a Home Stone. Theywere moving northward, as I was. They, I speculated, were bound for kailiauk. Itook it there were about a thousand of them. This was unusually large for amercenary force. It would require a considerable amount of money to hire andsustain such a force.
In the center of the road, approaching, between, and with, the lines, drawn bytwo tharlarion, was an ornately carved, two-wheeled cart. An officer, a beardedfellow with plumed cap, perhaps the captain of the mercenary company, besidethis cart. On a curule chair, fixed on the high cart, under a silken canopy,proud and graceful, bedecked with finery, garbed in the ornate Robes ofConcealment, sat a woman. Chained by the neck to the side of the cart, clad inrags, was a red youth.
"Hold!" said the woman, lifting her small, white-gloved hand as the cart drewnear to me.
"Hold!" called the officer, turning his kaiila and lifting his hand.
"Hold! Hold!" called other officers. The lines stopped. The woman lowered herhand.
She regarded me. "Tal," she said.
"Tal, Lady," said I to her.
With one hand, nonchalantly, she freed her outer veil. Her features, then, wereconcealed but poorly by the second veil, little more thin a wisp of diaphanoussilk. She did this, apparently, that she might speak to me more easily. Shesmiled. I, too, smiled, but inwardly. A master might have given such a veil to aslave as a joke. She was a vain woman. She wished me to see that she wasstunningly beautiful. I saw that she might make an acceptable slave.
"I see that you carry a sword," she said.
"Yes, Lady," said I.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"A traveler, a swordsman," I said.
"This is the Lady Mira, of Venna," said the bearded officer. "I am Alfred,captain of this company, mercenary of Port Olni." Venna is a resort town west ofthe Voltai, north of Ar. Port Olni is located on the north bank of the OlniRiver. It is a member of the Salerian Confederation.
"Apparently you do not wish to reveal your name," said the woman.
"The name of a lowly fellow, such as myself," I said, "could surely be of nointerest to so fine a lady."
"Are you a bandit?" she asked.
"No, Lady," said I.
"Can you use the blade hung at your hip?" she asked.
"After a fashion, Lady," I said.
"We are hiring swords," she, said.
"My thanks, Lady," I said. "I do not wish to take fee."
"Draw your weapon," said the officer.
I drew the blade quickly, smoothly, and stepped back. When a Gorean tells you todraw your blade, it is generally not wise to spend a great deal of timediscussing the matter. He may have something in mind.
"Attack him," said the officer to one of the men nearby.
Our blades had not crossed twice before the point of sword was at the fellow'sthroat.
"Do not kill him," said the officer hastily.
I resheathed my blade and the fellow white-faced, backed away.
"A silver tarsk a month," said the officer. This was a handsome sum. I was sureit was more than most of the men about me were receiving.
"Whither are you bound, Captain," I asked, "and on what business!"
"We are going to Kailiauk, and are then going to enter the Barrens," he said.
"There are tribes to be subdued."
"I do not understand," I said.
"Surely you have heard of the depredations which took place yesterday?" heasked.
"Your forces were surely assembled before yesterday," I said.
He laughed. I supposed such forces might indeed enter the Barrens and wreak somehavoc, perhaps falling upon some Dust-Leg villages. Too often it seems it is thepeaceful and innocent who are slaughtered. In this a lesson may be found that itmay not be prudential to be either too peaceful or too innocent. One does notsurvive with wolves by becoming a sheep. That is only a short cut todestruction.
"There are thousands of savages in the Barrens," I said.
"These men are professionals," he said. "One such mercenary is worth a thousandhalf-naked savages."
I heard laughter about me.
"They will flee," he said, "at the very sound of our drums."
I said nothing.
"Too long has the perimeter held," he said. "We shall advance it, to the east.
The banners of civilization are in our grasp."
I smiled. I wondered if barbarisms were civilizations which were not one's own.
"Are you going to take a woman into the Barrens?" I asked. "Surely you cansurmise what the red savages would do with such a woman?"
"I am perfectly safe, I assure you," laughed the Lady Mira. I wondered what shewould feel like if she found herself naked and bound with rawhide, lying at thefeet of lustful warriors.
"The Lady Mira is of the Merchants," said the officer. "She has been empoweredto negotiate hide contracts with the conquered tribes."
"Who is this?" I asked, indicating the red youth, in chained by the neck to theside of the cart.
"Urt, a Dust Leg, a slave," said the officer. "We purchased him in the south. Hecan speak with Dust Legs, and knows sign."
The boy looked at me, with hatred.
"How long was he a slave?" I asked.
"Two years," said the officer.
"From whom was he originally purchased?" I asked.
"Dust Legs," said the officer.
"It seems unlikely they would sell one of their own tribe," I said.
"They are savages," said the officer.
"You are not a Dust Leg," I said to the boy.
He did not respond to me.
"You will trust your translations to such a fellow?" I asked.
"Our clearest speech," said the officer, "will be with steel."
"You have many men," I said. "Your expedition must be very expensive. Had itbeen mounted by several cities I think I would have heard of it. Whence comesthe gold for these numerous and manifold fees?"
The officer looked at me, angrily.
"We are sustained by the merchant council," said the woman. "Our papers are inorder."
"I see," I said.
"Seldom," said the officer, "have I seen steel move as swiftly, as deceptively,as yours. My offer stands. Rations and a silver tarsk, one for each month ofservice."
"Rations, and a golden tarsk," said the woman, looking down at me. Over her veilof light silk her eyes shone. She had made the offer without consulting theofficer. She had obviously much authority and power. I wondered what she wouldlook like, if reduced to helpless bondage,"My thanks, Lady," I said. "But I am in my own service."
"A position might be found for you, even in my intimate retinue," she said.
"I am in my own service," I said.
"Move on!" she called, lifting her gloved hand, and sitting angrily back in thecurule chair.
I stepped to the side of the road.
"Forward!" called the officer, lifting his arm. The lady looked at me, angrily,her gloved hands now clutching the arms of the curule chair. Then she lifted herhead and looked directly ahead. "Ho!" called the officer. His arm fell. Thelines of mercenaries then moved forward, with the wagon in their midst,northward, toward Kailiauk. I withdrew to the side and sat in some shadows,among rocks, to observe the lines. I estimated the number of men, and,carefully, counted the supply wagons. My conjectures were warranted. Consideringthe game presumably available in the Barrens there were several more wagons inthe lines than would have seemed called for.