Part 49 (2/2)
”They stink so effusively,” said Heribert, waving a sc.r.a.p of linen cloth in front of his nose as they approached the wagons belonging to a Wendish merchant, a stout woman with the gaze of a stoat spying on an untouched nest of eggs.” Is there any way to clean them up?”
Zacharias' giggle was cut through by hysteria, barely suppressed.” Throw them in the river. They hate water.” He wiped his brow and looked ready to jump in the river himself.
”Courage, Brother Zacharias,” said Sanglant softly. Zacharias glanced at him in surprise and, with an effort, steadied his breathing and squared his shoulders like a man preparing for battle.
The merchant hurried forward to greet them.” My lord prince, I pray you are well come to this terrible place, and that you may find what you need here among my wares. I am called Mistress Otlinde, out of Osterburg, where your most n.o.ble aunt, d.u.c.h.ess Rotrudis, rules her subjects with a steady hand. My lord Druthmar! I have bided several times most rewardingly in the fine town of Walburg. Perhaps you may recall the fine silver silk damask my lady Waltharia selected from among my wares for your youngest son's naming day?”
”Alas,” Druthmar replied, with a pleasant smile, ”I do not.”
Mistress Otlinde looked like the kind of merchant who recalled every least transaction she had ever made, not to mention the exact count of eggs she had sucked dry.” I pray you, let my son bring you ale. How may I help you?”
Sanglant's attention was caught by his daughter, who had bolted away from Bayan and gone to examine the palanquin and the four male slaves. Without warning, she grabbed the edge, hoisted herself up, and slithered in through the gaudy draperies protecting the woman concealed within.
Anna shrieked in protest. The Ungrians called out in shock and dismay, and Bayan grabbed for Blessing's small shod foot, just missing it as it vanished behind the curtains. The slaves leaped to their feet, as distressed as fowl caught napping by a fox. Bayan ”My lord prince!”
Captain Fulk had heard, as had Lord Druthmar, Lord Hrodik, and several of the other n.o.blemen.
”Do you think it wise to allow Quman into our ranks, Prince Sanglant?” asked Druthmar.” What's to prevent them from murdering us in our tents at night once they have the run of camp?”
”Come, Brother Zacharias,” said Sanglant, ”how can I convince Quman soldiers to ride in my army, under my command, without having to watch my back ever after?”
”Will they take gold?” asked Lord Hrodik.
Zacharias laughed.” Yes, they'll take it and then murder you afterward to see if you're hiding any more on your person.”
”Might they swear a binding oath?” asked Captain Fulk, ”as a good Wendishman would?”
”They'd swear an oath as easily as they'd spit in your face just before they cut off your head.”
”Are they such savages that they can't be trusted at all?” demanded Lord Druthmar. He was an able man and a decent enough companion on the march, but Sanglant had discovered that he lacked imagination and ambition.
Zacharias laughed, a choked sound that annoyed Sanglant.” I pray you, forgive me,” he said at last, shuddering.” Griffin feathers, my lord prince.”
”Griffin feathers! Like those my mother had at Verna, when she shot the creatures that attacked us.”
”Just so. Bulkezu's feathers, those were'.” A nasty gleam lit Zacharias' gaze as he savored a memory.” I remember how she defeated him.”
”Truly, a remarkable feat. If only she would have stayed to lend some of her skills to my cause. But she never told me it was Bulkezu she had bested.”
Zacharias smiled wryly. After all, he, too, had been abandoned by Alia when she no longer needed him. He surely had no illusions about her loyalties.” Nay, my lord prince, do not think she tried to deceive you. I doubt she ever knew or cared about his name. But he'll not have forgotten her as easily as she forgot him.”
”I suppose not.”
”He's a madman, my lord prince. Nay. Do not shake your head as if I were a poet crowing for my supper. I mean it in truth. He is mad.”
”So was I, for a time. But he wasn't so mad that he couldn't stalk and kill a griffin.”
Heribert was listening.” It seems to me that a man must be mad to stalk a griffin. Are you really saying, Zacharias, that the Quman will follow a man wearing griffin wings even if he has nothing else to offer them? What of loyalty? Necessity? Family honor?”
”Have you ever seen a griffin, Heribert?” asked Zacharias.
”I have not.”
”Then you'd not ask that question.” He snorted, but not entirely with contempt.” Any man in the tribes can turn his back on his begh and take his tent and his herds and his family out into the steppe. Any man among them can live like a prince and his wife like a queen, if he chooses to leave the tribe behind. If he doesn't mind the solitude and is content with a small herd that he and his family can care for alone.”
”Do you mean to say they're entirely faithless?” demanded Druthmar.” Not even honorable enough to swear vows and keep them?”
”They're the most loyal soldiers I've ever seen. Never once would a Quman rider complain of hards.h.i.+p. They'd die rather than utter one word against the begh they follow.”
Lord Hrodik had taken a liking to Druthmar, who put up with him, and he exclaimed loudly in protest, looking as if he would like to spit at the helpless prisoners.” If you love them so much that you praise them like kings, then why did you flee from them, Prater?”
”I hate them,” said Zacharias softly.” Never doubt that. They treated me like a dog, and worse than a dog.” Sanglant had noticed now and again a certain expression on Zacharias' face, a way the disreputable frater had of wrinkling up his nose as at a bad smell, or as if he were trying not to snarl contemptuously-or yelp in fright. He had that look now. The frater looked the prisoners up and down and even swaggered forward two steps, well out of reach in case one should try to kick him. The Quman studied him with those unnaturally blank stares, then glanced away dismissively. But Zacharias wasn't done. A string of words emerged fluently from his lips, swift and sweet. The aloof demeanor of the Quman slaves snapped so fast that poor Lord Hrodik yelped, startled, and leaped backward. The slaves growled and swore, spitting. One yanked so hard against the cords that bound him that the post to which he and his comrades were tied, driven deep into the ground, rocked alarmingly. Druthmar drew his sword. Bayan's Ungrian guards came running. Sanglant laughed, feeling the old familiar surge as his heart pounded and excitement raced along his limbs.
Mistress Otlinde's hired guards bolted forward with their staffs and began beating the bound prisoners into submission.
It wasn't a pretty sight. The Quman who had howled curses at Zacharias hunched over, taking hard blows without a whimper. In its own horrible way, it was an impressive display of toughness.
But it was a waste.
”For the sake of G.o.d,” said Sanglant harshly, moving in to drag off the most rabid of the hired guards, who was whacking away like a crazed man at the Quman now driven to his knees below him.” Hold!” The man whirled, thinking to strike the prince, but Sanglant caught his arm in mid-strike and held it, staring him down. After a moment, the hired guard shrank away, called off his fellows, and retreated to a safe distance, glowering. His victim spat out a few teeth and wiped blood off his chin. Staggering slightly, he stood, lifting his chin to look up at Sanglant, meeting his gaze. In the end, after a long battle, it was the Quman who looked away first.
”What was that?” Sanglant grabbed Zacharias' shoulder and spun him around. The frater was breathing hard, as though he'd been running, and sweat streamed down his face.” I would have been better amused if I knew what purpose it serves to beat them senseless.”
”Forgive me, my lord prince.” Zacharias could hardly speak because he was panting so hard, flus.h.i.+ng and almost stammering.” I only wish it were Bulkezu trussed up in their place. My mother always told me I was better armed with my tongue than many a man who carries spear and s.h.i.+eld.”
”If they hadn't been tied up, they'd have torn you to bits,” observed Heribert, who had retreated a few steps, letting Lord Druth-mar's broad shoulders s.h.i.+eld him.
Zacharias spoke again, hoa.r.s.ely, still catching his breath.” Griffin wings, my lord prince. They'd never stab in the back a man wearing griffin wings.” With a shuddering sigh, he strode off into the crowd.
”Nay, Heribert,” said Sanglant quietly before the cleric could hasten after him, ”he has his own demons to fight. Let him be for now. Yet I would gladly know what he said to them.”
The Quman slaves had by now all picked themselves up, shrugging bruised shoulders, licking away blood that trickled down from their nostrils, all of it done awkwardly because their hands were tied up tightly behind their backs. Bayan and Sapientia hurried up, having heard the commotion.
”Do they trouble you?” demanded Bayan.” I can have my men kill every one, but first I must wait on my mother. She sometimes likes to take one of these-” He spat at the feet of the nearest one, shoulders taut and one hand on his sword hilt as if he meant to cut their throats himself.” -as a slave. But such maggots as this are unworthy even to be slaves.”
”I think they're not really born of human blood,” said Druthmar in a low voice.” You'd think it hadn't hurt them at all. There's no shame in saying what hurts when a wound is honorably won, or dishonorably given.” He, too, glanced toward the hired guards, a motley-looking crew of mercenaries who had probably been bandits preying on innocent travelers two months ago.
”No shame,” agreed Sanglant. He beckoned to Brother Breschius.” Do you know what my frater said to them? I know you have experience with the tribes.”
”Nay, Prince Sanglant,” said Breschius.” I was a slave among the Kerayit, not the Quman clans. I know a few words of Quman, it's true, and indeed I believe he made some comment about their mothers, but beyond that I could not understand what he said.”
”What do you care what the frater said to them?” asked Sapientia scornfully.” They're only Quman. More beasts than people.”
”They're soldiers. We have need of soldiers, I believe. If they aren't Pechanek Quman, then there's no reason we can't take them into our army as well and use them to fight Bulkezu.”
Bayan stiffened as though he'd been spat on, turned abruptly, and walked away into the market.
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