by Sam Barone
“It was at the training ground, Noble. I went there to watch the women train. Sometimes they slip and fall, or their dresses come loose. When Lady Trella came, many of us ran over to her. Last week I carried a message for her, and she gave me a copper coin.” He looked crestfallen as he remembered. “But then some older boys took it away.”
“I can fix that.” Esk kar stood up and went back to his table, opened the drawer and extracted two copper coins. He presented them to Enki who took them with his free hand, the other still firmly clutching his bread. Eskkar sat down again. “Then what happened?”
“Lady Trella watched the women practice, then she began to train, too.
She’s very strong for a girl, you know, and she can handle the short spear by herself, or the forked stick. Many were cheering and laughing. When they fi nished for the day, the women washed themselves at the well. I like to watch that.”
Many of the women would take off their shifts and pour water over themselves. Esk kar smiled briefly. He’d watched such things himself. “Yes, that’s always fun to watch. Now, Enki, while you were there, did you remember seeing the man who attacked Trella? Was he there?”
Enki frowned as he tried to remember. “No, not there. I didn’t see him there. But later, when we began walking, he walked by me and Trella. I was following along, hoping she might need another message delivered or something. The man pushed past her and moved ahead. Then he came back and walked behind us again. He kept looking around, I remember that.”
“Good, Enki. What happened next?”
“Lady Trella stopped to talk to someone. Some of the boys crowded around her and the guard pushed them back. She and the women talked for a long time, whispering to each other, then Lady Trella smiled and gave one of them a coin before she started walking again. The guard had to push people out of the way so they could get through.”
The boy looked around the room and saw everyone watching him.
Probably no one had ever paid any attention to him before, and now four grown men listened carefully to his every word.
“Don’t be afraid,” Esk kar reassured the boy. “Go on.”
“I got left behind, and was trying to catch up when the man pushed past me again. I almost fell, and I cursed at him. Then I saw him pull the knife from under his tunic. He walked very fast, and headed for Lady Trella.
I yelled, and she started to turn around. Then she saw the knife and she raised her arm, but he stabbed her anyway. I kept yelling. He turned and ran away, ran right past me, so I grabbed his leg and held on until we both fell down. He got up, but the guard caught him and started hitting him.”
“Do you remember what you yelled, Enki? The exact words?” Esk kar wanted all the details.
“I remember. I yelled, ‘Lady Trella, he’s got a knife. Lady Trella …’
Then I saw the blood on the knife as the man ran past me.”
“How loud did you yell, Enki? Can you show me?”
Without hesitating, the boy screamed out the words, showering Esk kar’s face with bread crumbs, the high — pitched voice piercing in the closed room. It was loud, all right, loud enough to make anyone stop and turn around. If Trella hadn’t turned, she would have taken the blade in her back.
Esk kar made the boy go over the story again. When nothing new emerged, Esk kar glanced up at the three subcommanders, standing quietly against the wall. “Anything you want to ask?”
Gatus and Bantor shook their heads, but Sisuthros stepped over and bent down to examine the back of the boy’s head, pushing the unruly hair back and forth until Enki jumped in pain.
Sisuthros withdrew his fingers, some dried blood stuck on them. “I thought I saw blood. The blade didn’t miss by much, though I doubt it would’ve killed him.”
Enki’s eyes grew wide at the sight of his own blood. Sisuthros rubbed the boy’s head. “Just a scratch. Nothing for a brave man to worry about.”
“Thank you again, Enki,” Esk kar said as he stood. “Who is your family?”
“I have none, Noble. I had an older brother, but he disappeared. I sleep in the stables, or near the river.”
The brother had probably been picked up off the streets and sold to a slaver. “Then you’ll stay here from now on.” Esk kar turned to his men.
“Now it’s time to talk to the assassin.”
Taking the boy’s hand, Esk kar led the way downstairs, where he turned Enki over to Bantor’s wife before checking on Trella. The healer sat quietly beside her, his work for the moment finished. Ventor stood as Esk kar approached.
Esk kar stared at her pale face, her body covered with a soft blanket and another folded under her head. They’d combed her hair. Her eyes were closed but she was breathing regularly.
“How is she, Ventor? Will she live?” Esk kar couldn’t stop his voice from breaking.
“Yes, Captain, I believe she will recover,” Ventor said. “Unless the wound fills with pus. The blow struck her ribs and glanced downward. Her attacker should have directed his blade upward toward the heart. The ribs open to a thrust from below, but a downward stroke glances from rib to rib.
Not a very expert assassin.”
Ventor lifted the blanket and looked at Trella’s wound. “She’s young and strong and should heal quickly. I gave her some wine and ordered that she be fed soup as soon as she’s able to take some.”
Esk kar breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Ventor. I’d like you to stay the night. Then come at least twice a day to look in on her. You’ll be well paid for your good work tonight.”
“The nobles use their own healers, Captain.”
“Yes, but I’m just a soldier, and you’re more familiar with battle wounds.
Besides, I’ll not have a dozen healers standing around arguing about what potions to give her or gods to pray to. Tend to her wound, as you would for any soldier.”
Esk kar walked out into the courtyard. A cheer went up from the men.
Despite his order, more than twenty soldiers still crammed themselves into the courtyard, which now blazed with torchlight.
He held up one hand. “Trella is being cared for by the healer. Now we’ve work to do here, and you’ll be needed later. So clear the courtyard.
The Hawk Clan and the house guards remain.”
“Get the rest of them out of here, Gatus. Bantor, bring the assassin to the back of the house.”
Esk kar followed the guards as they dragged the man into the cul — de — sac behind the house.
The small garden contained only one bench and two small trees scarcely taller than a man. He stepped in front of the attacker. Two men held the prisoner by his arms. The man knelt in the dirt, arms bent up backward behind him, the gag still stuffed in his mouth.
Esk kar went down on one knee, his face close to the prisoner’s. His eyes bulged wide with terror, and the stink of urine hung over him. Esk kar pulled the gag from the man’s mouth, heard the quick gasp of air as the man filled his lungs. He started to speak.
“Silence!” Esk kar ordered savagely. “If he speaks or cries out, give him some pain.”
Both men tightened their grips on the man’s wrists, twisted high behind him, until he yelped with pain and saliva ran from his open mouth.
Esk kar studied the man carefully but didn’t recognize him. That didn’t mean anything. He could have been in Orak for months or days, though he was more likely to be a newcomer. “Anyone know this man?”
No one said anything. “What is your name?” The man said nothing, and Esk kar nodded at the men holding him. They jerked the man’s arms up a little, and the fresh pain loosened his tongue.
“Natram — zar… my name is Natram — zar, Noble.” He spoke in a hoarse voice with a trace of an accent. Esk kar guessed the man came from the south, probably Sumeria.
“Why did you attack my woman, Natram — zar?”
“I meant to rob her, Noble One. I’m just a thief. I only wanted to steal her purse.” He was pleading now, fear showing in his eyes as
they darted back and forth.
“Then you’re a very poor thief, Natram — zar. Her purse was still around her neck.” Esk kar stood up. “Did he have anything on him?”
Bantor stepped forward, holding a small leather pouch, much worn and repaired, that contained five copper coins as well as other odds and ends, and the man’s knife as well.
Esk kar took it, tightening his lips at the sight of Trella’s blood. A good weapon, the copper blade fit perfectly into a carved and curved wooden handle. Small and well made, it wasn’t a soldier’s weapon, but perfect to hide under a tunic for a quiet murder. Much too good a weapon for a common thief. Of course, he could have stolen it from some wealthy victim.
“Nothing else?”
“Nothing, Captain. Only this purse and the knife.”
“Stand him up, then cut off his clothes.” The man started to complain, but the guards lifted him up, ignoring his protests that quickly turned into moans of pain. In moments, they’d stripped him bare, and his clothes lay in a heap around him, including the dirty and reeking undergarment where the man had pissed himself in fear.
Using the man’s knife Esk kar poked through the clothes. He almost missed a small pocket, sewn closed, that ran lengthwise along the bottom hem of the tunic. Esk kar sliced open the threads and heard the faint clink of coins. Each coin had been wrapped in a bit of cloth to muffle the sound.
Esk kar counted ten gold coins, all flickering bright in the torchlight.
He looked at each disc, but they were all well handled and worn, with the different marks of various merchants and nobles. He checked the rest of the clothes, but found nothing. The gold told its own story-a murder for hire.
Standing, he faced Natram — zar. “You’ve lied to me once. Don’t make that mistake again. If you want to avoid the fire, you’ll speak the truth.”
Esk kar heard Gatus call his name. “What is it?”
“Many of the nobles are in the street. Nicar and the others wish to enter, but I’ve kept everyone out as you ordered. Also, the men guarding the walls heard something in the darkness. When they went to search, they found a horse tethered to a rock three hundred paces from the wall.
Whoever was with the animal disappeared in the darkness. It’s a fine beast, loaded with food and a water skin.”
I should have anticipated that. The murderer would need to escape quickly after his deed.
Now the nobles waited outside. Esk kar wasn’t sure whether he wanted them here or not, especially when it could have been Nestor who paid the man. Nevertheless, if he didn’t have them present when the man confessed, they might not believe Esk kar’s witnesses. Damn the gods.
“Bantor, find out who knows the horse, who owns it, where it came from. I doubt if this fi lth kept a good horse stabled in the village for days, but if so, somebody will know him.”
Esk kar looked toward Gatus, still waiting. “Allow in only the heads of the Families, no one else. If they don’t want to come in, don’t make them.”
Esk kar turned back to the prisoner. “Ready to speak, Natram — zar? The time for lies is past.”
“Noble One, I’m just a thief.” His voice sounded hoarse from dryness and pain.
“Tie him between the trees and spread his legs well apart. Bring fire from the house. And plenty of wood.”
Natram — zar cried out as the men holding his arms started to drag him away. One of the guards dropped his arm for a moment, stepped in front of the prisoner, and punched him savagely in the stomach, the force of the blow doubling the prisoner over. “Keep silent, dog, or you get another.”
They secured the prisoner between the two small trees, spreading his arms wide apart and tying them to the largest branches. Then they tied the man’s ankles, spread — eagling his legs and fastening them to the base of each tree. They pulled each rope tight. When they finished, Natram — zar hung there helplessly, unable to do more than twitch.
While this went on, the heads of the Families came in, looking un-nerved, the sight of the naked man reinforcing their apprehension.
“Just in time, Nobles,” Esk kar began. “This man tried to kill Trella, and only a boy with quick wits and a loud tongue saved her life. The dog was captured in the act. His name is Natram — zar. He had those ten gold coins lying at his feet sewn in his tunic and a horse waiting for him outside the walls. Any of you know this man?”
The sight of the coins gleaming in the torchlight changed everything.
No thief could have such an amount, and only the nobles and a few of the wealthier merchants could afford such a sum for a hired killing. And no thief carrying that much gold would risk his life for a slave girl’s meager purse, not even if the slave were Trella.
Esk kar watched Nestor, but the old man seemed as shocked as the rest.
Nicar, Decca, Rebba, and Corio all looked blankly at Esk kar. Nicar found his voice first. “Who paid him to do this? Why would anyone want to hurt Trella?”
“You will all wait over there and say nothing,” Esk kar ordered, his voice hard. “Not a word.”
He glanced at Gatus, who had little love for any of the nobles. “Gatus, escort the nobles to the side of the house where they can see and hear everything. Make sure they say nothing.” From there, the prisoner could not see them.
By now Natram — zar had gotten his breath back and he lifted his head.
A wide clay bowl, packed full of wood and a few chunks of coal, was placed on the ground before him. Another man came from the house, carrying three burning coals on a clay shard. He dumped them into the bowl and began building the fire, moving chunks of wood atop the coals. In moments, a small fire burned steadily.
Esk kar reached down and held his hand over the low flames. The heat rose to his hand, and he withdrew it.
“Warm him up a little.” Maldar knelt down and pushed the fire between Natram — zar’s legs. With his legs spread apart, the top of the flames reached within a foot of his testicles.
Natram — zar screamed as soon as the first warmth reached his genitals, long before the heat could have affected him. He struggled to move his body aside, but the men on either side of him used their knees to push his body back, keeping him centered over the flames. Maldar tossed more wood chips on the fire. The flames reached even higher.
Esk kar waited patiently, watching the fire’s glow, watching the man as he jerked his body back and forth in a frenzy, trying to move his groin out of the path of the heat building up beneath him, trying to pull his genitals up into his body.
But Natram — zar’s frantic exertions quickly tired him. He had to slump against the ropes, which once again positioned him directly over the low flames. In a moment, the pain made him stretch upright, twitching and jerking once again, until exhaustion brought him back to the flames and the process repeated itself.
Esk kar let it go on for a while, while Maldar made sure the flames didn’t lessen. The screams came without ceasing now and Esk kar knew the sound would be heard many streets away. From out in the lane came the sound of cheers as the crowd guessed what was happening.
When the smell of burning flesh started to rise, Esk kar nodded to Maldar, who pulled the bowl forward, removing most of the heat. The prisoner slumped limply from the ropes, the hair scorched away from his thighs, his genitals a deep red from the heat.
Esk kar stepped forward. “Who hired you to kill Trella? Talk now, or go back into the flames.”
The man moaned as pain continued to shoot through his body. Blood flowed from his mouth where he had bitten his lip. “Mercy, Noble… mercy! I’m just a thief!”
“Back into the fire.” Esk kar stepped away, and Maldar returned the bowl underneath the prisoner, bringing the flames back into position, before tossing more wood chunks on the fi re. The top of the fl ames rose up to nearly touch the man’s body.
The assassin’s screams split the night air, loud enough to be heard throughout Orak. Jerking about, his cries for mercy echoed off the walls that surrounded him. Natram —
zar must have known he was going to die, but that didn’t matter anymore, only that the pain stop.
Esk kar gave the signal to stop. “Give him water, then we’ll hear what he says.” A soldier brought a ladle of water from the well and held it to the man’s lips.
“Now, talk, and if you lie, you go back into the flames. And speak up, so all can hear your words.”
Natram — zar sucked in gulps of air before he could speak, then his voice croaked with pain and fear. “It was Caldor. Caldor paid me. Caldor, son of Nicar. I was only doing what the nobles wanted.” His voice trailed off and tears streamed down his cheeks.
A murmur of disbelief ran through the men in the courtyard, while Nicar cried from the wall, “No! It can’t be true.”
Even Esk kar felt surprise. He expected the man to name Nestor as the one who hired him. That was foolish. Of course Nestor wouldn’t want Trella killed. He might want Esk kar out of the way, but he had no grudge against Trella. He’d been more than kind to her at all their meetings. But Caldor? Could he be that stupid? A wave of anger went through Esk kar.
This was his fault. He should have taken care of Caldor sooner.
“Who else, Natram — zar, who else?” Esk kar grabbed the man by the shoulder and shook him. “Speak, or I’ll put you back in the fire!”
The words poured from Natram — zar. Now he would do anything to avoid the flames. “Nobody else… only Caldor… and his servant, Loki.
They approached me in the tavern… asked what I would do for gold, a lot of gold. He offered me… ten gold coins to kill her. I told him I’d need a horse… to escape, so he gave me twelve silver coins for that as well.”
“Where did you buy the horse? Who sold it to you?”
The wretched man mumbled the name of Zanar, a liveryman. “Send someone for him, Gatus. Hold him in the street outside and have him describe the man who bought the horse, when he bought it, and how much he paid.”
Esk kar turned back to the would — be assassin, who trembled uncontrollably. The smell of Natram — zar’s burning flesh hung in the air. “If the liveryman’s story differs from yours I’ll put every part of your body in the flames, piece by piece. Now tell me! Why did Caldor want Trella killed?”