Katala became the centerpiece of his existence. They came together whenever they found time, sharing meals, a quick exchange of words, and every night that they could steal together Pug was sure the other slaves in the household knew of their nighttime assignations, but the proximity of people in Tsurani life had bred a certain blindness to the personal habits of others, and no one cared a great deal about the comings and goings of two slaves.
Several weeks after his first night with Katala, Pug found himself alone with Kasumi, as Laurie was embroiled in another shouting match with the woodcrafter who was finishing his lute. The man considered Laurie somewhat unreasonable in objecting to the instrument’s being finished in bright yellow paint with purple trim. And he saw absolutely no merit in leaving the natural wood tones exposed. Pug and Kasumi left the singer explaining to the woodcrafter the requirements of wood for proper resonance, seemingly intent on convincing by volume as much as by logic.
They walked toward the stable area. Several more captured horses had been purchased by agents of the Lord of the Shinzawai and had been sent to his estate, at what Pug took to be a great deal of expense and some political maneuvering. Whenever alone with the slaves, Kasumi spoke the King’s Tongue and insisted they call him by name. He showed a quickness in learning the language that matched his quickness in learning to ride.
“Friend Laurie,” said the older son of the house, “will never make a proper slave from a Tsurani point of view. He has no appreciation of our arts.”
Pug listened to the argument that still could be heard coming from the wood-carver’s building. “I think it more the case of his being concerned over the proper appreciation of his art.”
They reached the corral and watched as a spirited grey stallion reared and whinnied at their approach. The horse had been brought in a week ago, securely tied by several leads to a wagon, and had repeatedly tried to attack anyone who came close.
“Why do you think this one is so troublesome, Pug?”
Pug watched the magnificent animal run around the corral, herding the other horses away from the men. When the mares and another, less dominant, stallion were safely away, the grey turned and watched the two men warily.
“I’m not sure. Either he’s simply a badly tempered animal, perhaps from mishandling, or he’s a specially trained war-horse. Most of our war mounts are trained not to shy in battle, to remain silent when held, to respond to their rider’s command in times of stress. A few, mostly ridden by lords, are specially trained to obey only their master, and they are weapons as much as transport, being schooled to attack. He may be one of these.”
Kasumi watched him closely as he pawed the ground and tossed his head. “I shall ride him someday,” he said. “In any event, he will sire a strong line. We now number five mares, and Father has secured another five. They will arrive in a few weeks, and we are scouring every estate in the Empire to find more.” Kasumi got a far-off look and mused, “When I was first upon your world, Pug, I hated the sight of horses. They rode down upon us, and our soldiers died. But then I came to see what magnificent creatures they are. There were other prisoners, when I was still back on your world, who said you have noble families who are known for nothing so much as the fine stock of horses they breed. Someday the finest horses in the Empire shall be Shinzawai horses.”
“By the look of these, you have a good start, though from what little I know, I think you need a larger stock for breeding.”
“We shall have as many as it takes.”
“Kasumi, how can your leaders spare these captured animals from the war effort? You must surely see the need to quickly build mounted units if you are going to advance your conquest.”
Kasumi’s face took on a rueful expression. “Our leaders, for the most part, are tradition-bound, Pug. They refuse to see any wisdom in training cavalry. They are fools. Your horsemen ride over our warriors, and yet they pretend we cannot learn anything, calling your people barbarians. I once sieged a castle in your homeland, and those who defended taught me much about warcraft. Many would brand me traitor for saying such, but we have held our own only by force of numbers. For the most part, your generals have more skill. Trying to keep one’s soldiers alive, rather than sending them to their death, teaches a certain craftiness.
“No, the truth of the matter is we are led by men who—” He stopped, realizing he was speaking dangerously. “The truth is,” he said at last, “we are as stiff-necked a people as you.”
He studied Pug’s face for a moment, then smiled. “We raided for horses during the first year, so that the Warlord’s Great Ones could study the beasts, to see if they were intelligent allies, like our cho-ja, or merely animals. It was a fairly comical scene. The Warlord insisted he be the first to try to ride a horse. I suspect he chose one much like this big grey, for no sooner did he approach the animal than the horse attacked, nearly killing him. His honor won’t permit any other to ride when he failed. And I think he was fearful of trying again with another animal. Our Warlord, Almecho, is a man of considerable pride and temper, even for a Tsurani.”
Pug said, “Then how can your father continue to purchase captured horses? And how can you ride in defiance of his order?”
Kasumi’s smile broadened. “My father is a man of considerable influence in the council. Our politics is strangely twisted, and there are ways to bend any command, even from the Warlord or High Council, and any order, save one from the Light of Heaven himself. But most of all it is because these horses are here, and the Warlord is not.” He smiled “The Warlord is supreme only in the field. Upon this estate, none may question my father’s will.”
Since coming to the estate of the Shinzawai, Pug had been troubled by whatever Kasumi and his father were plotting. That they were embroiled in some Tsurani political intrigue he doubted not, but what it might prove to be he had no idea. A powerful lord like Kamatsu would not spend this much effort satisfying a whim of even a son as favored as Kasumi. Still, Pug knew better than to involve himself any more than he was involved by circumstance. He changed the topic of conversation. “Kasumi, I was wondering something.”
“Yes?”
“What is the law regarding the marriage of slaves?”
Kasumi seemed unsurprised by the question. “Slaves may marry with their master’s permission. But permission is rarely given. Once married, a man and wife may not be separated, nor can children be sold away so long as the parents live. That is the law. Should a married couple live a long time, an estate could become burdened with three or four generations of slaves, many more than they could economically support. But occasionally permission is granted. Why, do you wish Katala for your wife?”
Pug looked surprised. “You know?”
Without arrogance Kasumi said, “Nothing occurs upon my father’s estates that he is ignorant of, and he confides in me. It is a great honor.”
Pug nodded thoughtfully. “I don’t know yet. I feel much for her, but something holds me back. It’s as if . . .” He shrugged, at a loss for words.
Kasumi regarded him closely for a time, then said, “It is by my father’s will you live and by his whim how you live.” Kasumi stopped for a minute, and Pug became painfully aware of how large a gulf still stood between the two men, one the son of a powerful lord and the other the lowest of his father’s property, a slave. The false veneer of friendship was ripped away, and Pug again knew what he had learned in the swamp: here life was cheap, and only this man’s pleasure, or his father’s, stood between Pug and destruction.
As if reading Pug’s mind, Kasumi said, “Remember, Pug, the law is strict. A slave may never be freed. Still, there is the swamp, and there is here. And to us of Tsuranuanni, you of the Kingdom are very impatient.”
Pug knew Kasumi was trying to tell him something, something perhaps important. For all his openness at times, Kasumi could easily revert to a Tsurani manner Pug could only call cryptic. There was an unvoiced tension behind Kasumi’s words, and Pug thought it best not to press. Cha
nging the topic of conversation again, he asked, “How goes the war, Kasumi?”
Kasumi sighed, “Badly for both sides.” He watched the grey stallion. “We fight along stable lines, unchanged in the last three years. Our last two offensives were blunted, but your army also could make no gains. Now weeks pass without fighting. Then your countrymen raid one of our enclaves, and we return the compliment. Little is accomplished except the spilling of blood. It is all very senseless, and there is little honor to be won.”
Pug was surprised. Everything he had seen of the Tsurani reinforced Meecham’s observation of years ago, that the Tsurani were a very warlike race. Everywhere he had looked when traveling to this estate, he had seen soldiers. Both sons of the house were soldiers, as had been their father in his youth. Hokanu was First Strike Leader of his father’s garrison, due to his being the Lord of the Shinzawai’s second son, but his dealing with the slave master at the swamp camp showed a ruthless efficiency in Hokanu, and Pug knew it to be no quirk. He was Tsurani, and the Tsurani code was taught at a very early age, and fiercely followed.
Kasumi sensed he was being studied and said, “I fear I am becoming softened by your outlandish ways, Pug.” He paused. “Come, tell me more of your people, and what . . .” Kasumi froze. He seized Pug’s arm and cocked his head, listening. After a brief instant he said, “No! It can’t be!” Suddenly he wheeled and shouted, “Raid! The Thun!”
Pug listened and in the distance could hear the faint rumbling, as if a herd of horses were galloping over the plains. He climbed upon the rail of the corral and looked into the distance. A large meadow stretched away behind the corral ending at the edge of a lightly wooded area. While the alarm sounded behind him, he could see forms emerging from the tree line.
Pug watched in terrible fascination as the creatures called Thün came racing toward the estate house. They grew in stature as they ran furiously toward where Pug waited. They were large, centaurlike beings, looking like mounted riders in the distance. Rather than horselike, the lower body was reminiscent of a large deer or an elk, but more heavily muscled. The upper body was completely manlike, but the face resembled nothing so much as an ape with a long snout. The entire body, except the face, was covered by a medium-length fur, mottled grey and white. Each creature carried a club or ax, the head being stone lashed to the wooden haft.
Hokanu and the household guard came running from the soldiers’ building and took up positions near the corral. Archers readied their bows, and swordsmen stood in ranks, ready to accept the charge.
Suddenly Laurie was at Pug’s side, holding his nearly finished lute “What?”
“Thün raid!”
Laurie stood as fascinated by the sight as Pug. Suddenly he put his lute aside, then jumped into the corral. “What do you think you’re doing?” yelled Pug.
The troubadour dodged a protective feint by the grey stallion and jumped upon the back of another horse, the dominant mare of the small herd. “Trying to get the animals safely away.”
Pug nodded and opened the gate Laurie rode the horse out, but the grey kept the others from following, herding them back Pug hesitated for a minute, then said, “Algon, I hope you knew what you taught.” He walked calmly toward the stallion, silently trying to convey a sense of command. When the stallion put back his ears and snorted at him, Pug said, “Stand!”
The horse’s ears cocked at the command, and it seemed to be deciding. Pug knew timing was critical and did not break the rhythm of his approach. The horse studied him as he came alongside, and Pug said, “Stand!” again. Then before the animal could bolt, he grabbed a handful of mane and was up on its back.
The battle-trained war-horse, whether by design or luck, decided Pug was close enough to his former master to respond. Perhaps it was due to the clamor of battle around, but for whatever reason, the grey leaped forward in response to Pug’s leg commands and was out the gate at a run. Pug gripped with his legs for his life. As the horse cleared the gate, Pug shouted, “Laurie, get the others!” as the stallion turned to the left. Pug glanced over his shoulder and saw the other animals following the herd leader as Laurie brought her past the gate.
Pug saw Kasumi running from the tack house, a saddle in his hand, and shouted, “Whoa!” setting as hard a seat as he could manage bareback. The stallion halted and Pug commanded, “Stand!” The grey pawed the ground in anticipation of a fight. Kasumi shouted as he approached, “Keep the horses from fighting. This is a Blood Raid, and the Thün will not retreat until each has killed at least once.” He called for Laurie to stop, and when the small herd was milling about, he quickly saddled a horse and turned it away from the others.
Pug kicked, and the grey and the mare Laurie rode led the remaining four horses to the side of the estate house. They kept the animals closely bunched out of sight of the attacking Thün.
A soldier came running around the corner of the house, carrying weapons. He reached Pug and Laurie and shouted, “My master Kasumi commands you defend the horses with your lives.” He handed the two slaves each a sword and shield, then turned and dashed back toward the fighting.
Pug regarded the strange sword and shield, lighter by half than any he had ever trained with. A shrill cry interrupted his examination as Kasumi came riding around the house, in a running fight with a Thün warrior. The eldest son of the Shinzawai rode well, and though he had little training in fighting from horseback, he was a skilled swordsman His inexperience was offset by the Thun’s lack of experience with horses, for while it was not unlike fighting one of his own kind, the horse was also attacking, biting at the creature’s chest and face.
Catching wind of the Thün, Pug’s grey reared and nearly threw him. He held fiercely to the mane and gripped tightly with his lower legs. The other horses neighed, and Pug fought to keep his from charging. Laurie shouted, “They don’t like the way those things smell. Look at the way Kasumi’s horse is acting.”
Another of the creatures came into sight, and Laurie let out a whoop and rode to intercept. They came together in a clash of weapons, and Laurie took the Thün club blow on his shield. His own sword struck the creature across the chest, and it cried out in a strange, guttural language, staggering for a moment, then falling.
Pug heard a scream from inside the house and turned to see one of the thin sliding doors erupt outward as a body hurled through it. A stunned house slave staggered to his feet, then collapsed, blood welling up from a wound on his head. Other figures came scurrying through the door.
Pug saw Katala and Almorella running from the house with the others, a Thün warrior in pursuit. The creature bore down upon Katala, club raised high overhead.
Pug shouted her name, and the grey sensed his rider’s alarm. Without command the huge war-horse sprang forward, intercepting the Thün as it closed with the slave girl. The horse was enraged, from the sounds of battle or the Thün smell. It crashed heavily into the Thün, biting and lashing out with heavy forelegs, and the Thün’s legs went out from under it. Pug was thrown by the impact and landed heavily. He lay dazed for a moment, then he climbed to his feet. He staggered to where Katala sat huddled and pulled her away from the maddened stallion.
The grey reared above the still Thün, and hooves came flashing down. Again and again the war-horse struck at the Thün, until there was no doubt of there being a breath of life left in the fallen creature.
Pug shouted for the horse to halt and stand, and with a contemptuous snort, the animal ceased the attack, but it kept its ears pinned back, and Pug could see it quiver. Pug approached it and stroked its neck, until the animal stopped trembling.
Then it was quiet. Pug looked about and saw Laurie riding after the scattering horses. He left his own mount and returned to Katala She sat trembling upon the grass, Almorella at her side.
Kneeling before her, he said, “Are you all right?”
She took a deep breath, then gave him a frightened smile. “Yes, but I was sure I was going to be trampled for a minute.”
Pug loo
ked at the slave girl who had come to mean so much to him and said, “I thought so, too.” Suddenly they were both smiling at each other. Almorella stood and made some comment about seeing to the others. “I was so afraid you’d been hurt,” Pug said “I thought I would lose my mind when I saw you running from that creature.”
Katala put her hand upon Pug’s cheek, and he realized they were wet with tears, “I was so frightened for you,” he said.
“And I for you. I thought you’d be killed the way you came crashing into the Thün.” Then she was weeping. She came slowly into his arms. “I don’t know what I would do if you were killed.” Pug gripped her with all his strength. They sat that way for a few minutes, until Katala regained her composure. Gently pulling away from Pug, she said, “The estate is a shambles. Septiem will have a thousand things for us to do.” She began to stand, and Pug gripped her hand.
Rising before her he said, “I didn’t know, before I mean. I love you, Katala.”
She smiled at him, touching his cheek. “And I you, Pug.”
Their moment of discovery was interrupted by the appearance of the Lord of the Shinzawai and his younger son. Looking around, he surveyed the damage to his house as Kasumi rode around the corner, splattered in blood.
Kasumi saluted his father and said, “They have fled, I have ordered men dispatched to the northern watch forts. They must have overwhelmed one of the garrisons to have broken through.”
The Lord of the Shinzawai nodded he understood and turned to enter his house, calling for his First Adviser and his other senior servants to report the damage to him.
Magician Page 49