Part 20 (1/2)
Later that afternoon Banokles sat on the south bank of the Scamander, was.h.i.+ng blood and mud out of his hair and beard. The water trickled under his armor, and its coldness felt good against his hot skin. He had no wounds except for a nick on the arm from a deflected arrow. He was tired and hungry.
The river was red with gore, and men and horses floated there, moving swiftly down toward the bay. On the other bank he could see the figure of Kalliades walking among the wounded, dispatching enemy soldiers with his sword, calling stretcher bearers to Trojans and their allies. Youngsters were running among the wounded and dead, collecting arrows and abandoned swords and s.h.i.+elds. Overhead, carrion birds gathered.
Nearby six men were trying to drag a dead horse out of the water. Banokles stood up angrily. ”Our men first, you morons!” he shouted. ”Not the poxy horses!” The soldiers hurried to obey, and he slumped down again. His back ached, and his stub of an ear itched intolerably.
I'm getting too old for this, he thought.
A vast shadow fell across him, and he looked up.
”Well done, Banokles,” said the king's son Antiphones. Despite his bulky frame, he also seemed to be carrying no wounds. ”Your ride was well timed, thank the war G.o.d Ares. We had the enemy on their back foot already. Your charge was the straw that broke the donkey's back.”
”Some donkey,” Banokles grunted. ”Best soldiers in the world, Mykene infantry.”
”Nevertheless, General, we were the better men today.”
”Not a general anymore,” Banokles said happily. ”I was ordered to leave my Thrakians in Dardanos.”
”Yet some came with you, regardless,” the prince said, amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice.
Banokles shrugged. ”I'm no good as a general, then. So dismiss me.”
Antiphones laughed then, and his ba.s.s bellow rang out rich and clear over the battlefield.
”To me you are a hero, Banokles,” he said. ”I would grant any wish for you that was in my power. But I fear the king may see things differently.”
”The king?”
”We are commanded to attend King Priam at his palace immediately, you and I. So find a horse and come with me.” He turned away.
”Not me,” Banokles said stubbornly, staying where he was. ”I'm going to see my wife first.”
Antiphones turned back. ”Ah, yes, I remember. You are married to Big Red, the...former wh.o.r.e.”
”That's right,” Banokles told him proudly. ”She's a good wife. She'll be missing me and wondering where I am with all this fighting going on down here.”
”Kings take precedence over wives,” the fat man said impatiently. ”Come with me,” he repeated.
”What about Kalliades?”
”By Hades, man,” Antiphones exploded in exasperation. ”Who is Kalliades?”
”He's my fr-my aide. Over there.” He pointed in the direction of the battlefield.
”You can send for your aide when you have spoken to Priam. Now, come with me before I have you arrested and brought to the king in chains.”
During the slow ride up to the city Banokles looked longingly down the Street of Potters where his small white house was situated. He wondered if Red was there now, waiting.
At Priam's palace he and Antiphones dismounted and entered the megaron. megaron. Banokles looked around with interest. It was the first time he had been there since the palace siege when he and Kalliades had been among the besiegers. He remembered with nostalgia the battle on the stairs, the great Argurios, unconquerable, turning back the Mykene invaders with relentless strength and skill. Banokles rubbed the scar on his arm where Argurios' sword had punched through it. He remembered the arrival of Hektor, G.o.dlike in his power, and the s.h.i.+eld wall where the invaders had planned to make their last stand, then their mysterious retreat to the s.h.i.+ps and the screams of Kolanos. Banokles looked around with interest. It was the first time he had been there since the palace siege when he and Kalliades had been among the besiegers. He remembered with nostalgia the battle on the stairs, the great Argurios, unconquerable, turning back the Mykene invaders with relentless strength and skill. Banokles rubbed the scar on his arm where Argurios' sword had punched through it. He remembered the arrival of Hektor, G.o.dlike in his power, and the s.h.i.+eld wall where the invaders had planned to make their last stand, then their mysterious retreat to the s.h.i.+ps and the screams of Kolanos.
Banokles smiled grimly. That was a day to remember, all right.
When the king came down the stairs, Banokles' eyes narrowed. He last had seen Priam in a parade at the summer's end. Then he had looked strong and powerful, waving to the troops from his golden chariot. The change in him was shocking. Priam was a frail old man, leaning on his aide's arm on one side and a wooden staff on the other. His face was as white as papyrus, and his steps uncertain. His aide, Polydorus, helped him to his throne, and the king sat down wearily, staring at the stone-flagged floor. Behind him stood a scrawny man Banokles knew was the chancellor Polites. Six Royal Eagles flanked the throne.
Finally Priam looked up. When he spoke, his voice was cracked and feeble.
”So this is the great Banokles, the hero who never loses, who turns the battle with every charge. Do you not kneel before your king, General Banokles?”
Banokles stepped forward. ”I was taught soldiering as a Mykene, Priam King. In Mykene lands we do not kneel before our kings. We show our loyalty in our every action.”
The king smiled thinly. ”It might not be wise to remind me you once fought in this megaron megaron with every intention of killing me. But for the hero Argurios you would have been slaughtered where you stood, along with your fellows.” with every intention of killing me. But for the hero Argurios you would have been slaughtered where you stood, along with your fellows.”
”Well,” Banokles said, ”you see, Argurios was Mykene, as you know.”
”Enough!” The king's voice thundered out, suddenly full of power. ”You are not here to debate me, soldier!”
”Now,” Priam said, leaning forward in his throne, ”my son Hektor gave you leaders.h.i.+p of the Thrakians because you gathered a loyal army in your retreat across Thraki. It seemed to me then a mistake to put a fool in charge. But now it appears Hektor was right and you are a lucky fool.”
Banokles opened his mouth to speak, but Priam silenced him. ”Be quiet and listen, soldier! My general Thyrsites, the idiot, got himself killed in the battle today, so I need a new general for the Scamandrian regiment. I'll take a lucky fool before an unlucky genius any day. So you are a general again, Banokles, general of the finest infantry force in the world.”
”Yes, but I think-” Banokles started.
The king stood up angrily. His anger had rejuvenated him, and Banokles could see the powerful man he once had been. ”If you argue with me again, General Banokles, I will have my Eagles kill you where you stand!”
There was an angry silence, and then Banokles said mildly, ”What about Kalliades?”
The king frowned. ”Kalliades? I know that name. Ah, yes, the tall soldier who took command of the Mykene invaders after the arrest of Kolanos. What of him?”
”He's my friend.”
Antiphones stepped in hastily. ”He is the general's aide, Father.”
”Then he will continue to be his aide. Now”-he turned to his son-”Antiphones, report.”
”The enemy has been forced back again to the earthwork they erected at the foot of the pa.s.s, Father. We calculate they lost at least a thousand over the two days of battle on the plain.”
”And our own dead?”
”Slightly less. Maybe seven hundred dead and two hundred so grievously wounded that they will not fight again soon, if ever. A hospital has been set up on the edge of the lower town, in the Ilean barracks. Many of our physicians and healers have moved there from the House of Serpents.”
”And the Ilos regiment?”
Antiphones shrugged. ”They are soldiers. They will rest wherever they can.”
Priam looked around him. ”And where is General Lucan? The Heraklions are not represented here.”
”The Heraklion regiment is still on the field. I thought it best to leave one general at the Scamander in case of a further attack tonight.”