The Honorable Barbarian

by L. Sprague De Camp

  "It's only—half up!" said Kerin. "Come on!"

  "I can do—no more!" sighed Pwana.

  The man in the bow of the craft drew a bow to the ear and aimed up at an angle. The arrow whistled down into the sea a few yards astern of the Benduan.

  "Nogiri!" Kerin called. "Lash the tiller and come up here!"

  The girl's modest strength provided the extra force needed to raise the sail the remaining distance. Kerin sent Nogiri back to the tiller, since the Benduan had begun to fall far off course. Then he busied himself with securing the lines. The sail, which had been flapping and booming, at last filled properly. The ship heeled a little more and sent out a larger wake.

  "I think we gain," said Kerin at last, staring aft.

  The Siauese veered off, to double back and shrink away towards their village. Pwana said:

  "With the Captain's permission, I will go to my cabin and lie down. Cranking that thing was a little too much for mine aged heart."

  "Go ahead," said Kerin. "I'll take the conn, Nogiri."

  When Pwana was out of sight, Kerin, now at the tiller, said: "Princess, have you noticed how obedient and respectful our hermit has become?"

  "Aye, I have."

  "Think you he's had a change of heart, or that he merely bides his time to take revenge?"

  "From what I know of him," the girl replied, "I should guess the latter."

  "I could have ranked him out of the captain's cabin. What would then have ensued?"

  She shrugged. "I know of no way to test these surmises, save to put us back on Kinungung and start over, pursuing the other course."

  "Nogiri," said Kerin, "you can always be counted upon for common sense."

  "Thank you. Mine uncle complains I have too much sense for a woman. He will probably say that picnicking with my sister and no attendants and being seized by pirates proves I am nought but a woman after all."

  "Your uncle?" said Kerin.

  "Aye; I dwell in his household with a swarm of cousins, my parents being dead. I shall leave that house when I wed next month."

  "You are betrothed?" said Kerin, feeling an obscure pang. He had been true to his promise that Nogiri would have nothing to fear, but his lusts had begun to fever him. He had been working up the courage to make a discreet advance, at least to ascertain if she were willing. If she were, what harm? But now even that prospect went glimmering.

  "Aye," she said, "to a young man mine uncle chose."

  "Are you and this lucky youth in love?"

  "Great Vurnu, what a barbarous notion! My family wants an alliance with his, and we shall doubtless come to like each other well enough. As far as I can judge from seeing him twice, he seems a man of parts. Mine uncle would not, I am sure, betroth me to a scoundrel or wastrel. I trust you'll escort me to's house in Kwatna, where they will reward you."

  "I shall be glad to," said Kerin a little stiffly, "and not merely in hope of reward."

  As sunset neared, Kerin routed out Pwana to help him lower and furl the mainsail. The hermit grumbled: "At this rate, I shall be dead of old age ere we raise Ambok!"

  "I dare not sail fast in strange waters," said Kerin firmly. "Even with the moon, 'tis mainly by luck that we haven't struck a rock or a shoal."

  Since the water was too deep for anchoring, Kerin sailed through the night. When this happened, he took the tiller for most of the night, posting someone in the bow for a lookout. This night, with Nogiri in the bow and Kerin at the tiller, Belinka danced before him, twinkling:

  "Master Kerin, I warn you! Cease lallygagging after that brown barbarian maid! Adeliza will be furious!"

  "Let her rage," said Kerin. "I'll pick my own mate. Not this one, however. She's betrothed."

  "But I know you Prime Planers! Put a pair of healthy young of opposite sex together, and neither laws nor customs nor promises will thwart their lusts."

  "Were you of sensible size," grinned Kerin, "I'm sure I could lust after you."

  "Oh, you beast! You unnatural monster! You vile lecher! You are impossible, and I will have nought more to do with you!"

  Kerin chuckled. "Just be on hand the next time danger threatens, Belinka, and all will be well."

  The journey from Kinungung took twice as long as it would have with an experienced crew. When not otherwise busy with the ship, Kerin practiced his Salimorese on Nogiri, who also taught him the few words of Kuromonian she knew.

  Nineteen days after leaving Kinungung, the Benduan sighted a stretch of forested land. Pwana said this was Ambok, the main island of Salimor and the site of the capital of Kwatna. Kerin wondered how he knew, since one stretch of beach, fenced by a line of coconut palms and backed by a towering hardwood forest, looked much like another. They had passed several such shores in recent days. To each Pwana had said:

  "Nay, that is not Ambok. That is either Pola or Jambiang, or Waiku or Sakudina."

  As they neared the new coast, Kerin said: "Kwatna must be elsewhere, since I see no signs of habitation. Should we turn north or south?''

  Pwana frowned, staring through his spyglass. "Methinks Kwatna lies a dozen leagues to northward. First, I pray, let us anchor. Our water is turning foul, and we must find fresh."

  "What sort of folk live hereabouts?"

  "Mostly simple peasants. The Sophis have turned the headhunters into taxpaying farmers. That cannot be said of some of the smaller isles, as we have seen."

  An hour later, the Benduan anchored a bowshot from shore. Leaving Nogiri on watch, Kerin and Pwana rowed the ship's boat, laden with empty casks, to the beach. They agreed that Kerin should walk to northward seeking a stream, while Pwana trudged to the south. Each, if nothing he found, should turn back after half a league's hike.

  After a quarter-hour, Kerin came to the mouth of a rivulet, winding sluggishly out of the shadowy green of the jungle. He dipped a finger and tested; it was fresh.

  Kerin whooped and trotted back along the strand to where the boat was beached. Pwana was not to be seen; so Kerin sat down to wait. If Pwana, too, had found a water source, they would take the boat to the nearer.

  Kerin sat and watched an occasional crab beachcombing for carrion. Then he glanced out at the Benduan. He saw the small figure of Nogiri in the bow, holding a stay and waving her free arm. Her mouth worked, but the distance was too great to hear.

  "Belinka!" Kerin called.

  "Aye, you lascivious monster?" The sprite materialized.

  "The princess seems agitated. Pray, flit out and find the cause."

  Belinka soon returned, saying: "She demands speech forthwith, Master Kerin! She thinks that Pwana hath absconded."

  Kerin rowed back to the Benduan. When he had climbed aboard and secured the boat, Nogiri told him:

  "I suspected some such scheme. When you set off northward, he bent his steps south; but after a few paces, he looked about, pulled something from his garment, and vanished! I could still see the garment, which fell to the sand. It lies where he dropped it."

  "He must have donned the tarncap," said Kerin. "Now why should he do such a thing?"

  "I can but guess. Would he walk boldly into Kwatna, counting upon the new Sophi's good will? As he counted upon his logic to tame the pirates? Perchance. But suppose he wished to take a new name, change his appearance by magic, and resume his magical practice?"

  "If that were his plan," mused Kerin, "he would not wish us to see him change; we could threaten to expose him. It would seem riskier, though, to set out naked on a barefoot hike through the jungle. What is the danger from wild beasts?"

  "Not great. Tigers are few near Kwatna; from being hunted, they are seldom seen. A leopard will not attack a grown man; and the only elephants hereabouts are tame ones. The prime hazard is that of venomous serpents. So, shall we go for water or sail for Kwatna?"

  "The latter, methinks," said Kerin. "With Pwana absent, I'm sure we have enough water to get us thither. He said it lies a day's sail northward."

  "But if he wished to assure our arrival after his—or not a
t all—would he not give false directions?"

  Kerin smote his palm with his fist. "My clever, suspicious princess! Certes he would; so let's sail south for at least a day or two. If we find neither the city nor any wight who can direct us, then we'll turn north."

  Since the sun was already far down, the Benduan remained at anchor for the night. Kerin examined the scanty belongings that Pwana had brought aboard. He helped himself, not without a twinge of conscience, to such useful articles as the spyglass.

  The next morning they sailed. At the mouth of another creek, they passed two fishermen standing immobile on stilts in the shallows, poising spears for a deadly thrust at some unwary fish. Nogiri hailed these watchers and asked if they were headed aright for Kwatna. She reported:

  "As nearly as I could grasp their dialect, this is the right direction; but Kwatna is twenty or thirty leagues."

  Later that day, Kerin did what he had so far avoided by cautious sailing and anchoring every night when the depth of water permitted. He ran the Benduan aground on a sand bar. There the little ship remained despite Kerin's sweat-streaming efforts to tow it off with the Dragonet's boat.

  Kerin and Nogiri had to set out in the boat to hunt for fresh water after all. They found another rivulet, with a ten-foot crocodile asleep on its bank. Having driven the reptile away by throwing stones, they filled their casks. While they were at work, a bloodcurdling scream resounded from the forest. Startled, Kerin asked:

  "Means it that some jungle beast is slaying Pwana?"

  Nogiri laughed. "No such luck! That is the cry of the long-tailed fowl we call a peacock."

  "According to those fishermen," said Kerin back on the Benduan, "Kwatna is still too far for us to row. But we cannot stay here for ay."

  "Do not give up hope of getting free," said Nogiri. "See how the moon does dwindle nightly."

  "What has that to do with freeing the ship?"

  "Know you not that high tides are higher at full moon and at new moon than in between? We ran aground at low tide with the moon just past half full. Any day now, a high tide should float us."

  Kerin smiled. "My clever princess! I was reared inland, and there were no tides on the lake where I learned boating."

  So it proved. Two days later, the Benduan sailed into the harbor of Kwatna, the capital of Salimor.

  Kwatna harbor was cluttered with ships of all sizes, having hulls painted in every hue—crimson, emerald, buff, and black—anchored or moored to quays. The Salimorese lacked piers. Other craft moved in or out of the harbor; small boats bustled about, proffering merchandise or offers to tow.

  These ships bore an exotic look. There was not a true square-rigger in sight; most of the local craft bore triangular sails like those of the Benduan, although those moored or at anchor had their sails furled. Others had sails of curious horned or trapezoidal shapes. Kerin saw a couple of big, square-ended, threeand four-masted ocean-goers with lugsails stiffened by bamboo battens. He supposed these last to be from Kuromon.

  Some smaller vessels were little more than dugouts, with outriggers to keep them upright. There were also two ships that Kerin supposed to be galleys of war. They were long, low, and lean, designed to be paddled rather than rowed, with seats along the gunwales for paddlers. In addition, each had a pair of outriggers, one on each side, and the outriggers also had seats for paddlers. At the moment these anchored craft appeared to have but skeleton crews aboard.

  Kerin knew that maneuvering the Benduan through the crowded harbor and bringing the ship up neatly against a quay, single-handed, were beyond his strength and skill. With Nogiri at the tiller, he dropped the mizzen sail into its crutches. The ship slowed to a gradual halt. Soon a tug, propelled by eight naked brown paddlers, approached. A man in the stern shouted up.

  "What say they?" Kerin asked the girl.

  "They ask if you wish a tow."

  "How much?"

  A brief chaffer between Nogiri and the tugboat captain brought agreement. The Benduan was creeping towards a vacant quay when another craft, a galley bearing a score of paddlers, approached with swift strokes. With disciplined precision, it swung broadside to the Benduan, the paddlers on that side all lifting their paddles out of the way. When the two vessels gently bumped, a dozen Salimorese in fancy skirts and turbans scrambled aboard with swords of the serpentine, wavy-edged form that Kerin had seen on some of the pirates. Nogiri had told him it was called a kris.

  Unarmed, Kerin found himself backed against the deckhouse facing a semicircle of swords. The leader barked a command; a couple of boarders hauled Kerin forward. Others forced him to his knees; still others dug fingers into his hair, grown long since leaving home, and pulled his head forward.

  Still another stood beside Kerin, kris in hand. Sighting on Kerin's neck, he raised his blade. Struggling, Kerin shouted in rudimentary Salimorese: "What do? I friend! I peaceful traveler!''

  Nogiri was pulling at the arm of the man in command. At last that officer, distinguished by a golden medallion suspended by a chain against his bare chest, turned. The two argued, but the rush of words was too fast for Kerin.

  At last the leader barked another command. The men holding Kerin let go; the headsman, looking disappointed, put away his sword. Nogiri explained:

  "The harbor guard recognized this ship as Malgo's Maneater, which they have long pursued. They thought you a survivor of that crew."

  The officer said: "A simple misunderstanding, foreigner; nought to get excited about. What befell Malgo?"

  "I slew him in a duel," said Kerin, mentally thanking Jorian for training him in lying. "We wagered my life against freedom for me and the princess, and I won."

  The leader looked quizzical. "It sounds not like that gang of cutthroats to let a captive depart, oaths or no oaths."

  "He speaks the flawless truth," said Nogiri. "I was there."

  The officer shrugged. "If Lord Vunambai's niece says so, it must be so. I am glad now that I did not summarily cut off your head."

  "I am even gladder," growled Kerin.

  Hours later, the Benduan was berthed and the customs and harbor dues paid. At Nogiri's suggestion, Kerin hired an off-duty harbor guard to watch the ship when he was away from it, to guard against pilferage.

  "Now," said Nogiri, "let us forth to Lord Vunambai's house, as soon as we make ourselves presentable. Mine uncle is a fussy man."

  An hour later, Kerin and Nogiri, dodging around waterbuffalo carts and an elephant ridden by two Salimorese, approached the estate of Nogiri's uncle. Kerin wore his best trousers and shirt but no jacket in this steamy, muggy climate. He insisted on stopping at a barber's for a haircut and a beard trim; his beard was at last reaching respectable proportions. Nogiri had donned an embroidered sarong that she found in the hold.

  A porter sat half asleep against the outer gate of the grounds; a spear was leaning against the surrounding wall. Through the grillwork Kerin could see a fountain and colorful plantings, with a glimpse of a big house behind the palms. Flowers of scarlet, magenta, and purple blazed in the beds. The house looked to be a solid structure of stone and timber, whereas most dwellings in Kwatna were flimsy affairs of bamboo and palm fronds, larger versions of the hut that Pwana had built on Kinungung. Nogiri explained that earthquakes favored this construction.

  The porter leaped to his feet and seized the spear, crying: "Mistress Nogiri! We all thought you slain!"

  Kerin could not follow the ensuing rush of talk. At last Nogiri said: "Wait here, Master Kerin. Trojung has orders to admit no person unannounced. I will go in and explain."

  The porter opened the gate, bowed Nogiri in, and followed her. Kerin waited outside, strolling up and down. Passers-by stared at him; naked children pointed and giggled.

  Time passed; the sun declined until it touched the roofs among the palms. Kerin wondered what had gone wrong, when a cry of "Master Kerin!" from the street brought him about.

  Nearby stood Janji, Captain Huvraka's witch-navigator. She was barefoot and clad as usual in no
thing but the short Salimorese sarong. "How come you here?" she rasped.

  "That's a long story," said Kerin. "I cannot tell you now, because I have an appointment within."

  "Indeed? Know you Lord Vunambai?"

  "In a manner of speaking."

  Janji looked piercingly at Kerin. "Art still on your way to Kuromon?"

  "Aye, if my Western gods permit."

  "Novarian gods have no power in these purlieus," she said in a tone of menace. "You will never get to Kuromon. My powers tell me that if you try, you will surely perish. Better you should return forthwith to your own barbarian land!" Abruptly she turned and walked away.

  "Watch out for that one!" tinkled Belinka from the air above Kerin's head. "Remember what her hantu told me on the other ship! She and her guild will do aught in their power to keep out knowledge of that new navigating device."

  "Thankee, Belinka," said Kerin. "I'll try to be careful." An idea struck him. "Couldst follow the witch to see where she goes and report the tale to me?"

  "But I cannot leave you unguarded—"

  "We must take that chance. Her guild may try to make trouble. If you find out where they meet and pay them a visit unseen from time to time, you could give me timely warning."

  "Nay, Master Kerin; that would leave you for too long helpless—"

  It irked Kerin that she supposed him so incapable of taking care of himself. But, remembering his brother's admonition that "flattery will get you everywhere," he said:

  "But Belinka darling, think! I cannot flit about the city awing and unseen with the speed of the wind, as you can. A timely warning were the surest precaution against a blade in the back. With your ease of movement and nimble wit, your scouting will make me safer than an Othomaean knight's defense of iron plate."

  "Oh, very well," said Belinka. "Where will you be, so I can find you again?"

  "I await reception by Lord Vunambai, who may load me with gold and honors. If he ask me to remain, I shall have to return to the ship for my gear. So after the witch, Belinka!"

  "I go," said the sprite.