The Desert Spear (26 page)

Inevera was waiting when they limped back to the training grounds. Seeing his arm hanging lifelessly, she turned to Hasik.

'Bring him to the palace,' she said. 'Drag him, if he resists.'

Hasik bowed his head. 'As the
dama'ting
commands.'

Jardir turned to Shanjat as Hasik pulled at him. 'Locate Abban and have him brought here. When he arrives, escort him and the greenlander to my audience hall.'

Shanjat nodded and sent a runner. Jardir and Hasik headed for the palace, but they had not reached the steps before the training ground was swarming with
dama'ting
tending to the wounded, and women wailing for husbands and sons who could not be found.

These were followed by
dama,
who quickly broke their tribesmen away from the mass of
Sharum
returning from the Maze. In moments the force that had stood unified in the night splintered as it did each day.

Jardir had not ascended half the steps to his palace when the palanquins arrived. All twelve
Damaji
and the Andrah himself, riding the backs of
nie'dama
and flanked by their most loyal clerics.

Jardir stopped where he was, knowing no injury could take precedence over his giving a full report of this cursed night. But what to say' He had lost at least a third of Krasia's warriors, and what did he have to show for it'

'What happened'' the Andrah demanded, storming up to him. Inevera was at Jardir's side in an instant, but in the light of day, with the
Damaji
at his back and such failure at Jardir's feet, the Andrah was uncowed even by her.

Even after years, the sight of the fat man filled Jardir with hatred and disgust. But the day Inevera had foretold, when he could feed the man his spear and cut his manhood off, seemed impossible now. Jardir would be lucky if he did not end this day as
khaffit.

'The outer gate was breached last night,' Jardir said, 'letting the enemy into the Maze.'

'You lost the gate'' the Andrah demanded.

Jardir nodded.

'Losses'' the Andrah asked.

'Still counting,' Jardir said. 'Hundreds, at the least. Possibly thousands.'

The
Damaji
burst into whispered conversation. All through the training grounds, the scene was being watched closely by
Sharum
and
dama
alike.

'I will have your head on a pike above the new gate!' the Andrah promised.

Before Jardir could respond, Hasik stepped in front of him, prostrating himself before the Andrah and pressing his head to the steps.

'What are you doing, fool'' Jardir demanded, but Hasik ignored him.

'Your pardon, my Andrah,' he said, 'but this is not the fault of the First Warrior. Without Ahmann Jardir, we would have all been lost in the night!'

There were murmurs of accord from the gathered warriors. 'He pulled me from a demon pit!' one cried. 'The First Warrior led the charge that saved my unit!' another called.

'That doesn't explain how he lost the gate in the first place!' the Andrah barked.

'Alagai Ka attacked the wall last night,' Hasik said. 'It caught a sling stone and hurled it back, breaking the outer gate. It was only by the First Warrior's quick response that we were not completely overrun.'

'It is the Waning, but Alagai Ka has not been seen in Krasia in more than three thousand years,' Damaji Amadeveram said.

'It was not Alagai Ka,' Jardir said. 'Just a rock demon from the mountains.'

'Even that is unheard of,' Amadeveram said. 'What could have brought one so far from its mountain home''

Hasik looked up, scanning the crowd. Jardir hissed, but again his lieutenant ignored him.

'Him,' he said, pointing to the greenlander.

All eyes turned to the greenlander, who took a step back, realizing he had become the focus of everyone's attention.

'A
chin
'' the Andrah asked. 'What is a
chin
doing among the
Sharum
of Krasia' He should be in the market slums with the other
khaffit.
'

A
dama
whispered in Amadeveram's ear. 'I am told he came to the First Warrior last night and begged to fight,' the
Damaji
said.

'And you gave him permission'' the Andrah asked Jardir, incredulous.

Inevera tensed, but Jardir stilled her with a hand. She might have power in small chambers, but if a woman, even a
dama'ting,
defended him before the assembled warriors and
dama,
she would only make matters worse.

'I did,' he said.

'So this ruin brought upon us is wholly your fault!' the Andrah cried. 'Your
chin
's head shall share the gate spike with you, and let buzzards eat your eyes!'

He turned to go, but Jardir was not done. He had sacrificed too much for the greenlander to let him be executed now. Inevera had said their fates were tied, so let it be so.

His arm screamed still, and he was tired and bruised from fighting the night through. His head spun with pain and exhaustion, but he embraced it all and pushed it aside. There would be time to rest in Everam's embrace, and he was not there yet.

'So I should have turned him away'' he asked loudly, so all could hear. 'He comes to us with
alagai
as his enemy, and we should show him our backs' Are we men or
khaffit
''

The Andrah stopped short, and turned back to face Jardir. His face was a stormcloud.

'He brought a rock demon with him!' the Andrah cried.

'I don't care if his enemy really
was
Alagai Ka!' Jardir shouted back. 'Woe betide Krasia when we fear the
alagai
enough to turn on a man in the night'even a
chin
!'

He beckoned to the greenlander, who ascended the steps halfway, so all could see him. He held his spear tightly, as if expecting the crowd to turn on him in an instant. His hard eyes made it clear he would not fall easily.

He is fearless,
Jardir thought.
Could there be a better man to tie my fate to'

'This is no cowardly Northerner, tilling soil like a woman,' Jardir said. 'This is a
par'chin,
a brave outsider who stands like a
dal'Sharum
! Let Alagai Ka come! If he wishes this greenlander's blood, then that is reason enough for any man who would stand tall before Everam to deny him!'

Shanjat gave a shout of support, echoed quickly by Jardir's hundred. In an instant every
dal'Sharum
had raised his spear to add his voice to the cacophony.

'We stood fast against Nie, this night, and denied her great servant,' Jardir said. 'Even now, he crawls back to the abyss in failure and defeat, quailing in fear of the
dal'Sharum
of the Desert Spear!'

The Andrah sputtered, foundering for a response, but anything he could have said was drowned away as even the
dama
in the crowd took up the cry.

The Andrah scowled, but in the face of such overwhelming support for Jardir, there was nothing he could do. He turned on his heel, sitting heavily in his palanquin. The
nie'Sharum
groaned under his bulk as they hoisted the carrying bars to their shoulders.

'You play a dangerous game,' Amadeveram warned as they carried the Andrah out of earshot.

'
Sharak
is no game to me, Damaji,' Jardir said.

'That was well done,' Inevera said as she laid him on her operating table. 'You sent that fat pig running with his curled tail between his legs!' She laughed as she began to cut the robes from him. His shoulder and much of his arm had gone black.

'I have rare moments of competence,' Jardir said.

Inevera grunted, taking his arm and popping it back into its socket with a sharp twist. Jardir was ready for the pain, and it washed over him like a warm breeze.

'Do you need a root for the pain'' she asked.

Jardir snorted.

'So strong,' she purred, running her hands over his body, searching for further injuries. Jardir was a mass of bruises and scrapes, but there was nothing that could not wait, it seemed, for Inevera's robes fell to the floor, and she climbed onto the table, straddling him.

Nothing aroused her more than victory.

'My champion,' she breathed, kissing his hard chest. 'My Shar'Dama Ka.'

Jardir sat on the Spear Throne, regarding his
kai'Sharum
as they gave their reports. His left arm was in a sling, and though the pain was only a faint buzz to his focused mind, the loss of use in the limb angered him. His wives would try to keep him from
alagai'sharak
in the coming night, but he would be damned first.

Before him stood Evakh,
kai'Sharum
of the Sharach tribe.

'With but four
dal'Sharum
remaining, I regret to inform the Sharum Ka that the Sharach no longer have enough warriors to form our own unit,' Evakh said, his head bowed in shame. 'It will be many years before we recover.' He left unsaid what they were all thinking: that the Sharach would likely never recover, dying out or being absorbed into another tribe.

Jardir shook his head. 'Many units were shattered last night. I will call for
dal'Sharum
to stand up and honor their Sharach brothers with their spears. You will have warriors under your command this very night.'

The
kai'Sharum's
eyes goggled. 'That is too generous, First Warrior.'

'Nonsense,' Jardir said. 'I could do no less in conscience. In addition, I will purchase wives from my own coffer to aid in your recovery.' He smiled. 'If your men bring as much energy for that task as they do to
alagai'sharak,
the Sharach should recover swiftly.'

'The Sharach are in your eternal debt, First Warrior,' the man said, prostrating himself and touching his forehead to the floor.

Jardir descended from his dais and put his good hand on the warrior's soldier.

'I am Sharach,' he said, 'as are my three sons and two daughters by Qasha. I will not let our tribe fade into the night.' The warrior kissed his sandaled feet, and Jardir felt the tears that fell from his eyes.

'The Kaji and the Majah will not sell wives to another tribe,' Ashan advised when Evakh departed, 'but the Mehnding have an abundance of daughters, and are loyal to the Sharum Ka. Their losses were few last night.'

Jardir nodded. 'Offer to buy as many as they will allow. Money is no object. Other tribes will need fresh blood to survive this event, as well.'

Ashan bowed. 'It will be done. But is rebuilding the tribes not the duty of the
Damaji
''

Jardir looked at him knowingly. 'Come, my friend, you know as well as I that those old men will not lift a finger to help one another, even now. The
Sharum
must look to their own.'

Ashan bowed again.

There were more reports, many just as bad. Jardir sat through them wearily, giving aid to all, and wondering at the state of the army that would assemble when dusk came that night.

Finally, the last of his commanders departed, and he sighed deeply.

'Bring in the Par'chin and the
khaffit,
' he said.

Ashan signaled the guards, and they were escorted in. The
dal'Sharum
shoved Abban roughly to the floor before the dais.

'You will translate for the Sharum Ka,
khaffit,
' Ashan said.

'Yes, my
dama,
' Abban said, touching his head to the floor.

The greenlander said something to Abban, who mumbled a reply through gritted teeth.

'What did he say'' Jardir asked.

Abban swallowed hard, hesitating.

The guard behind Abban hit him across the back with his spear. 'The Sharum Ka asked you a question, son of camel's piss!'

Abban cried out in pain, and the greenlander gave a shout, shoving the warrior back and interposing himself between them. He and the warrior glared at each other for a moment, but the warrior's eyes flicked to Jardir uncertainly.

Jardir ignored them. 'I will not ask twice,' he told Abban.

Abban wiped the sweat from his brow. He said, 'It is not right that you should have to grovel so,' he translated, ducking his head and closing his eyes, as if expecting another blow.

Jardir nodded. 'Tell him that you have shamed yourself and your family in the Maze, and are no longer fit to stand among men.'

Abban nodded, translating quickly. The greenlander replied, and Abban translated. 'He says that should not matter. No man should crawl like a dog.'

Ashan shook his head. 'The ways of the savages are strange.'

'Indeed,' Jardir said, 'but we are not here to discuss the treatment of
khaffit.
Abban, you may take your hands from the floor.'

'Thank you, First Warrior,' Abban said, straightening. The greenlander seemed to relax at this, and he and the guard backed away from each other.

'You fought well in the night, Par'chin,' Jardir said. Abban translated quickly.

The greenlander bowed, meeting Jardir's eyes as he replied in his guttural tongue. 'I was honored to stand among men of such courage,' Abban translated.