Shardik (24 page)

trees’ - she pointed up
the
slope - ‘he was already down here. He was waiting - crouching behind the rocks. And then, after only a little, I heard the man -
I
saw him coming up the road and I ran out of the trees to call out and warn him. But I caught my foot - I stumbled and fell: and as I got up, Lord Shardik came out from behind the rocks. The man saw him and screamed. He turned and ran, but Lord Shardik followed him and struck him down. He — he —’ In
the
vividness of her recollection the girl beat at the
air with one arm held out stiff
ly, open-handed, the fingers apart, rigid and curved.

‘I might have saved him, saiyett -‘ She began to weep once more.

Ta-Kominion came over to
them
, his tongue protruding between his bared teeth as he shifted the position of his wounded arm in its sling.

‘Do you recognize that man,
Kelderek
?’ he asked. ‘No. Is he from
Ortelga
?’

‘He is from Ortelga. His na
me was Naron and he was a serv
ant.’ ‘Whose?’

‘He served Fassel-Hasta.’

‘Served Fassel-Hasta? Then what could he have been doing here?’

Ta-Kominion hesitated, looking back at Numiss and his fellow, who had lifted the body to the other side of the track and were doing what
they
could to make it decent Then he held out a blood-spattered leather scrip, opened it and showed to the Tuginda two strips of bark inked with brush-written letters.

‘Can you read this message,
saiyett
?’ he asked.

The Tuginda took the stiff, curved sheets and held first one and then the other at arm’s length in the moonlight Kelderek and Ta-Kominion could learn nothing from her face. At last she stood up, returned the sheets to
the
scrip and with
out speaking gave it back to the baron.

‘You have read it,
saiyett
?’

She nodded once, rcluctantl
y it seemed, as
though
she would have preferred, if she could, to disown knowledge of the message.

‘Docs it tell us what this man was doing here?’ persisted Ta-Kominion.

‘He was carrying news to Bekla of what happened in Ortelga today.’ She turned aside and looked down into
the
valley.

Ta-Kominion cried out and
the
servants across the road looked up, staring.

‘God! It tells that we have crossed
the
causeway and what we mean to do?’

She nodded again.

‘I might have guessed it! Why didn’t I post my own men to watch the road? That treacherous -‘

‘But the
road was watched for us neverthe
less,’ said
Kelderek
. ‘Surel
y it was no accident that Zilthe
stumbled before she could warn the man. Lord Shardik -
he
knew what had to be done!’

They stared at each other as the long, moonset shadow of the forest crept lower down the hillside.

‘But Fasse
l-Hasta - why did he do it?’ asked
Kelderek
at last.

‘Why? For wealth and power, of course. I should have guessed! It was always he who dealt with Bekla. “Yes, my lord.” “I’ll write it for you, my lord.” By
the
Bearl I’ll write on his face with a hot knife
this
morning. That for a start. Numiss, you can leave
that
body for the buzzards - if they’ll touch it.’

His loud words, echoing, starded direc or four pigeons out of the cleft of the brook below. As
they
rose
with
a clatter of wings and flew across the road and up into the forest Ta-Kominion, watching their flight, suddenly pointed.

From
the
edge of the trees, Shardik was looking down into
the
valley. For a moment they saw him plainly, his shape, black against the line of the woods, like an opened gate in a city wall. Then, as Kelderek raised his arms in salutation and prayer, he turned and vanished into the darkness.

‘God be thanked!’ cried Ta-Kominion. ‘Lord Shardik saved us from that devil! There - there is your sign,
Kelderek
! Our will is Shardik’s will - our plan will succeed! No more children’s games on the shore for you, my lad! We’ll rule in Bekla, you and I! What is it you need? Tell me, and you shall have it within an hour of daybreak.’

‘Hark!’ said the Tuginda, laying a hand on his arm.

From
the
forest above came faint calls. ‘Saiyett!’ ‘Lord Kelderek!’

‘Neelith
will have woken Rantzay when she heard the man scream,’ said
Kelderek
.
‘They’re looking for us. Zilthe
, go up and bring them down. You are not afraid?’

The girl smiled. ‘Not now, my lord.’

As she set off up the slope the Tuginda turned to
Kelderek
. ‘What plan is he speaking of?’ she asked.

‘Lord Ta-Kominion is going to lead our people against Bekla, saiyett, to win back what is ours by ancient
right. They have crossed the Te
lthearna -‘

‘By now they will already be on
the
march,’ said Ta-Kominion.

‘And our part, saiyett,’ went on
Kelderek
eagerly, ‘is to take Lord Shardik there, you and I. The baron will give us craftsmen to make a wheeled cage and men to draw it -‘

He stopped a moment, meeting her inc
redulous eyes: but she said noth
ing and he resumed.

‘He will be drugged, saiyett, as he was in the first days. I know it will be difficult - dangerous too - but I am not afraid. For
the
sake of
the
people -‘

‘I never heard such nonsense in my life,’ said
the
Tuginda.

‘ Saiye
tt!’

‘It will not be attempted
. It is plain that you know noth
ing either of Lord Shardik or the true nature of his power. He is not some weapon or tool to be used for men’s worldly greed. No
-‘ she held up her hand as Ta-K
ominion was about to speak ‘- nor even for the material gain of
Ortelga
. What God is pleased to impart to us through Shardik, that we should be holding ourselves ready to receive with humility and thanks. If the people believe in Shardik, that is their blessing. But you and I - we neither determine nor confer that blessing. I drugged Lord Shardik to save his life. He will not be drugged in order
that
he may be taken in a cage to Bekla.’

Ta-Kominion remained silent for a little, the fingers of his injured arm, in its sling, tapping g
ently
against his left side. At length
he said, ‘And long ago, saiyett, when Shardik was brought to the Ledges, how, may I ask, was he brought, if not drugged and restrained?’

‘Means used for an end appointed by God, that his servants might serve him.
You
are intending to make him a weapon of bloodshed for your own power.’

‘Time is short, saiyett. I have no time for argument.’

‘There is nothing over which to argue.’

‘Nothing,’ replied Ta-Kominion in a low, hard voice.

Stepping forward, he grasped the Tuginda strongly by the wrist. ‘Kelderek, you shall have your craftsmen
within
two hours, though the iron and some of
the
heavy materials may take longer. Remember, everything depends on resolution.
We’ll
not fail the people, you and I.’

For an instant he looked at
Kelderek
and his look said, ‘Are you a man, as you maintain, or an overgrown child under the thumb of a woman?’ Then, still gripping the Tuginda’s wrist, he called to the s
ervants, who approached hesitantl
y from the scrub on the other side of the track.

‘Numiss,’ said Ta-Kominion, ‘the
saiyett
is returning with us to meet Lord Zelda and the army on the road.’ He slipped his arm out of the leather strap. ‘Take this and tie her wrists behind her back.’ ‘My - my lord,’ stammered Numiss, ‘I am afraid
-‘ Without another word Ta-Kom
inion, setting his teeth against
the
130 pain in his arm, himself drew the Tuginda’s hands behind her back and bound them ti
ghtly
with the strap. Then he put the free end into Numiss’s hand. He held his knife in his teeth the while and was clearly ready to use it, but she made no resistance, standing silent with closed eyes and on
ly compressing her li
ps as the strap cut into her wrists.

‘Now we will go,’ said Ta-Kominion. ‘Believe me, saiyett, I regret this affront to your dignity. I do not wish to be obliged to gag you, so no cries for help, I beg you.’

In the near-darkness of moonset the Tuginda turned and looked at
Kelderek
. For a moment his eyes met hers; then they fell to the ground, and he did not look up as he heard her footsteps begin to stumble away along the track. When at length he did so, both she and Ta-Kominion were already some distance off. He ran after them and Ta-Kominion turned quickly, knife in hand.

‘Ta-
Kominion
!’ He was panting. ‘Don’t harm her! She must not be hurt or ill-treated! She is not to come to -my harm! Promise me.’

‘I promise you, High Priest of Lord Shardik in
Bekla
.’

Kelderek
stood hesitant, half-hoping that she might speak even now. But she said
nothing
and soon they were gone, sight and sound, into the dawn-mist and gloom of the valley. Once he heard Ta-Kominion’s voice. Then he was alone in the solitude.

He turned and walked slowly back, past the dead man shrouded in his bloody cloak, past the rock where Shardik had lain in wait On his left, above the dreary forest, the first light was gathering in the sky. Not a blow had yet been struck in the war, and yet he was filled with a sense of loneliness and danger, of being already committed past recall on a desperate enterprise which, if it did not succeed, could end only in ruin and death. He looked about the empty, twilit valley with a kind of puzzled surprise, such as a malicious child might feel, on holding
a burning torch to a rick or th
atch, to find that it caught slowly and did not on the instant blaze up to match the idea he had formed in his mind. Was desperation, then, so slow a business?

From the hillside he heard his name called and, turning, saw the tall shape of Rantzay striding down, with six or seven of the girls. At once his apprehension left him and he went to meet them, clear in mind and purposeful.

‘Zilthe* has told us, my lord, how Lord Shardik struck down the traitor from
Ortelga
. Is all well? Where are the Tuginda and the young baron?’

‘They - they have returned together down the valley. The army has already set out and they have gone to join it. It is Lord Shardik’s will to join the march on
Bekla
. We have to carry out that wi
ll, you and I, and there is no ti
me to be lost.’ ‘What are we to do, my lord?’

‘Have you still got the sleeping-drug in
the
camp — the drug which was used to heal Lord Shardik?’

‘We have that and other drugs, my lord, but none in great quantity.’

‘There may well be enough. You are to seek out Lord Shardik and drug him insensible. How can it best be done?’

‘He may take it in food, my lord. If not, we shall have
to wait until he sleeps and the
n pierce him. That would be very dangerous, though it could be attempted.’

‘You have until sunset. If by some means or
other he can be brought near th
is place, so much the better. Indee
d, he must not fall asleep in th
ick forest, or all may fail.’

Rantzay frowned and shook her head at
the
difficulty of the task. She was about to speak again, but
Kelderek
forestalled her.

‘It
must
be attempted, Rantzay. If it is God’s will - and I know
that
it is - you will succeed. At all costs, Lord Shardik must be drugged insensible by sunset.’