At that moment the king felt an impact on his back and a suddenly excruciating pain. He knew the fourth lizzie had hit him with a sword. Stabbing the first male again, he left his knife stuck in the warrior’s face and reaching up, took the hapless male’s sword. Swinging it around, he decapitated the male who had hit him in the back. Then spinning back around, he did the same to the warrior with the knife still stuck in his face. A quick look at the other two told him they were in no shape to fight, though still alive. He retrieved his knife from the severed head.
Sitting down on a log, he felt his back. There was a pretty deep slice, at least a foot long, which was bleeding freely. It was a recoverable wound, assuming he made it back home safely. The smell of blood would attract predators. After catching his breath, he stood up and stepped over to the warrior with the spear stuck through him.
“Where are you from?”
The warrior said nothing, just looked up with his yellow eyes.
“I can find out from your war paint, assuming the feathered runners leave enough of you for my people to find.”
“We are from Achocktah.”
“Did your chief send you?”
“No, it was Stohla.” He looked at the body of the talkative lizzie. “He wanted to be king. Killing you would have given him much suuwasuu.”
Kneeling down, Hsrandtuss rolled the warrior on his side. Then he used his knife to cut the bindings holding the spear point to the shaft. Once the stone tip had been removed, he rolled the male back over and pulled the spear out. The warrior cried out in pain.
“I don’t know if either of you will survive or not. I think your friend will bleed to death, but you might make it, if that spear didn’t hit anything too important. Maybe you can help each other. You can try to get back to Achocktah or you can go half a mile to Yessonarah. If you make it, my people will give you aid. Just don’t expect me to help you up the hill.”
With that, Hsrandtuss walked away from the scene of the attack. He made it all the way back to the site of the dam construction before he needed to sit down and rest. Several of the workers saw him and rushed over to offer assistance.
“Just watch out for predators while I catch my breath,” he said. “There are four males over that way. Two of them might still be alive, but they are injured. Somebody go see to them. Don’t harm them. If they want to join us, you may help them. Leave the dead ones for the scavengers.”
Despite his words, one of the males gathered together leaves and used them to stop the flow of blood from the king’s back. When this was done, and he had caught his breath, Hsrandtuss got to his feet and started up the slope. It was difficult going, but not as bad as he had expected. The pain in his back was severe, but not disabling. When he was back within the borders of his new city, he turned toward his house. He looked up and saw Sirris and Szakhandu rushing toward him.
“Warriors,” he growled, and then pointed at Szakhandu. “Get that female! I want her locked up and under guard!”
Several males grabbed his third wife and started to drag her away as she gurgled in surprise. “What have I done, Great King?”
“You have secured a painful death. That is what you have done. Sirris, get Kendra and Tokkenoht. Bring them to my house.”
Fear in her eyes, Sirris hesitated just a moment before hurrying away.
Hsrandtuss climbed through the doorway of his large square hut to find Ssu and Tokkenoht inside. The former was adding wood to the fire while the latter was mixing some concoction in a bowl. He dropped down onto his sleeping mat with his nose pointed toward the flames. Ssu hissed loudly when she saw his back.
“Get out,” he told her. Then to Tokkenoht he said, “When Kendra gets here, she will sew me up and you will use your magic on me.”
“Of course, Great King,” she replied, lying down beside him and pressing against him. “Do you want something for the pain?”
“Don’t be stupid. Even if I did, there are five thousand lizzies outside that need to see me act like a warrior and a king.”
“They need not know.”
“I said no. Are you going to argue with me?”
“No, Great King.”
Kendra stepped in the door, quickly followed by Sszaxxanna.
“It is a sword wound,” said Kendra, kneeling. “This would have killed a soft-skin.”
“Well, I am not a soft-skin, am I?”
“Of course not, my husband,” she said, pulling out a metal needle purchased from the humans and threading it with long fibers taken from razor grass.
“This will hurt,” she said, as she started to sew.
“Why did you have Szakhandu arrested?” asked Sszaxxanna.
“She was the one who told me to go out for a walk and then I was attacked.”
“I will find out the truth of it,” said Sszaxxanna, turning for the door.
“Hold! You will do nothing. I will question her myself. Tell Sirris to get in here.”
Sszaxxanna stepped outside and a moment later Sirris stepped in.
“Sirris, you are to go stay with Szakhandu. See that nothing happens to her, or it will be on your tail.”
“That was wisely done, Great King. I think that Sszaxxanna would kill Szakhandu whether or not she is guilty in this attack,” said Tokkenoht.
“Why would she do that?”
“She is unhappy with the trust you’ve shown Szakhandu, or the two of us for that matter.”
“I cannot believe that Szakhandu would be party to an attack on you,” said Kendra, threading another stitch in his back. “She has a great affection for you.”
“Don’t you have a great affection for me?” he asked, casting an eye up at her.
“You are my choice of male, but she thinks about you all the time. She draws little images of you in the dirt. She compares you to all the things she likes. It is the type of behavior I saw among the humans when I lived in their land.”
“It is probably because she is from the big city,” suggested Tokkenoht.
“That’s all well and good,” said Hsrandtuss. “But she is the one who told me to go for a walk and she is the one who made contact with the local villages. She could have arranged the attack.”
“Did she tell you which direction to walk?” asked Kendra.
“No, but she knows what direction I would likely go.”
“I advise you not to do anything until you are sure. There, I am done. You will have quite a scar. Fortunately they didn’t injure your tail.”
Tokkenoht rubbed a sweet smelling salve over the wound. It stung, but Hsrandtuss tried not to flinch. Then she shook her lizard talisman and chanted, “uutanuhn, uutanuhn.” The wound became warm and that warmth spread into the rest of the king’s body.
“You should eat something and then sleep.”
Kendra left and a minute later Ssu came in carrying a small bird, plucked and gutted, but raw. Hsrandtuss opened his mouth and she fed him. Then she lay down on one side of him while Tokkenoht took the spot on his other side. They stroked his side until he fell asleep.
When Hsrandtuss woke, his back was so stiff and painful that he could hardly stand. Ssu was still lying next to him and he used her to push himself up. Stepping outside he saw that it was early morning. He pulled his pocket watch from his belt pouch. The big hand was on the stacked boulders and the little hand was on the ladle. He had slept more than fifteen hours. He stuck his face back inside.
“Find me something to eat. And I want real food. See if you can find me some fish.”
He walked uphill toward where his palace would eventually sit, stepping a little gingerly. He hadn’t gone far when he spotted Attarhakhic.
“Do you know where they are holding Szakhandu?”
“Yes, Great King. I will take you there.”
Their destination was another square house, just like all the others that had been constructed. Tusskiqu, a big strapping warrior, stood guard outside. Stepping through the door, he saw Szakhandu and Sirris lying on the floor. Both t
urned and looked up. Szakhandu’s face was bruised, her left eye was swollen, and there was a cut across her nose.
“I told you to keep her safe?” he growled at Sirris.
“Sszaxxanna got here before me. If I hadn’t had Tusskiqu pull her off, she would have killed her.”
“Go wait outside.” Once she had exited the one room hut, he turned his back toward Szakhandu. “You see what your friends did to me?”
“They were not my friends, my husband. How could you think I would do anything to hurt you?”
“You visited Achocktah. That’s where these pieces of ssotook were from.”
“Yes, I went there and I met the chief. He said he was willing to trade with us. He did not seem like he was speaking false.”
“And you didn’t speak with any dissidents in his tribe?”
“I spoke to a number of males and females in Achocktah, but only on unimportant matters.”
“Tusskiqu, get in here!”
The big male stepped inside. His shadow blocked out almost all the light that was coming through the portal.
“Did you hear what we were saying?”
“I didn’t mean to listen in, Great King.”
“Did you hear?” asked Hsrandtuss, waving his hand to silence him.
“Yes.”
“Does she speak the truth?”
“As far as I know, she does. We were not together all the time, but those times we were not together do not seem sufficient for her to have made any kind of plans.”
“You might be surprised,” said the king. “Females are much more devious than either you or me.”
“I do not say that I know, Great King. But I do say what I think.”
“All right. Wait outside.” Hsrandtuss turned back to his third wife, who was climbing to her feet. “You sent me on a walk where I was almost killed.”
“If I had known there was danger, I would never have let you go,” she said, pressing her chin against his shoulder.
“I want to believe you, but I’m not feeling very trusting right now.”
“Mistrust me if you will, but mistrust others just as much. If I did not conspire to have you killed, and I know that I am innocent, then either these fools from Achocktah came up with this plan on their own, or someone else conspired with them to kill you.”
He cupped her chin in his clawed hand.
“I’m sorry that Sszaxxanna injured you. She didn’t damage your tail, did she?”
“No, my husband.”
“That is good. Of all the tails I have seen, I believe yours is the most beautiful.”
He watched her look away and hunker down shyly. Yes, it was even as Kendra had said. Hsrandtuss had been to the human town and had watched the females display their fondness for their mates by looking away and blinking their eyes. Taking her hand, he led her outside.
“This female is to return to her duties. Tusskiqu, you will watch her and guard her during the day. See that she comes to no harm and does no harm to anyone else. Sirris, you will spend the night with her and do the same thing. You will both sleep in Tusskiqu’s hut. I am sure they can make room for you. We will revisit this arrangement after three days.
Walking back to his own home, Hsrandtuss realized that he already felt tired. He hoped that Ssu had managed to get him something to eat. Then he could take a nap. Just before he turned to go inside, he spotted Sszaxxanna running toward him.
“Great King, Great King!” she shouted excitedly.
Before she could say anything else, he backhanded her so hard she almost flipped over backwards. She landed in the dirt, her head smacking the ground hard. She looked up with wide eyes, but most of the lizzies in the area pretended not to notice the violence going on in their midst. It was a family matter.
“The next time I give you an order, you had better follow it, or I’ll knock that head right off, sneaky oversized brain and all.”
She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. He turned toward the hut door.
“Soft-skins,” she said quietly.
“What?” He turned back around.
“Humans are approaching.”
“How many and how soon?”
“There are eight or ten. They are about ten miles away to the southwest, in the forest.”
“Go find Straatin and Chutturonoth. I want to talk to the three of you as soon as possible.”
While Sszaxxanna scurried off, he stepped inside to find Ssu waiting with his breakfast. She had procured two large fish and several tuber vegetables. He growled in approval as he sat down and started eating.
“Great King, Tokkenoht told me that I was to rub this salve on your wound.”
“And where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Very well. Go ahead.”
Hsrandtuss had finished eating, but Ssu was still ministering to his back when his first wife and the two warriors entered. He directed them to sit down.
“Are you two aware that humans are approaching?”
They hissed affirmatively.
“A group of that size is no doubt a trade mission.”
“It was a group about that size that destroyed Suusthek,” said Straatin.
“Well I would hope somebody would have told me if there was a witch woman with them!” boomed Hsrandtuss. “Are you telling me that is the case?”
Straatin hissed the negative.
“Then it is a trade mission. Chutteronoth, you will lead a group of warriors to meet the humans and guide them here. Take no more than four. We don’t want to frighten them. Sszaxxanna will prepare a hut for their use and see that they have a fire already burning in it. They will also want food. They like small pieces of meat that they cook over the fire and fruit if you can find some. Finally, Straatin, you will see what trade goods we have. But they are not, I repeat not, to see any of the gold from the river.”
“But the humans want gold, do they not?” asked Sszaxxanna. “They might trade many things for it.”
“They will not trade goods for it. If they find out about it, they will come and take it themselves. Now go.”
The three of them left on their missions and Hsrandtuss lay down upon his mat. Ssu finished rubbing the unction on his back. She wiped her hands on a bundle of grasses and then lay down beside him. Pressing her belly against his side, she slipped her tail over his.
“That gold is mine,” he growled.
Then as he stroked Ssu’s belly, he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Fifteen: Chief Inspector Saba Colbshallow
Chief Inspector Saba Colbshallow sat down for breakfast. He looked first to his left at his mother and then to his right at his daughter.
“And where’s the lady of the house?” he asked.
“Mummy says she doesn’t feel good,” said DeeDee. “She’s going to stay in bed today.”
Saba clucked his teeth in annoyance as Risty scooped scrambled eggs with diced peppers and onions onto his plate next to the sausages.
“I’m sure she has a good reason,” offered his mother.
“I’m sure.”
“She’s been having a rough time lately.”
“No doubt.”
“I don’t like onions in my eggs,” said DeeDee.
“Yes you do,” said her father. “Look at me. I’m eating them. Eat some and then Risty will get you a crumpet.”
“Maybe she’s out of sorts because she’s expecting,” said Mrs. Colbshallow.
“And here I thought Kafira was the only Immaculate Conception,” he muttered. He took another bite and ignored his mother’s scandalized look.
The only other bit of breakfast conversation was when DeeDee demanded strawberry jam with her crumpet. When they were done, Saba helped his daughter fasten on her shoes and then her bonnet.
“Come along girl. Your tutor is awaiting.”
“Maybe you should go up and kiss your wife goodbye,” said his mother.
“I’m sure she’s very busy with the second coming
and all,” he said, and guided DeeDee out the front door.
They walked across the street to the Dechantagne Staff estate, where the lizzie doorman let them enter. Mrs. Dechantagne was alone in the parlor.
“Hello Saba,” she said, getting to her feet.
“Please don’t get up, Mrs. D.”
“Oh please don’t call me that.” She sat the book that she had been reading down and stepped over to him. “You’ve known me all your life, we lived in the same house for years, and don’t forget you were my husband’s best man at my wedding.”
“I was just a witness, and I haven’t forgotten a single moment.”
“You’re so sweet,” she smiled. “What can I do for you today.”
“DeeDee’s going to start on with Iolana.”
“You’re early. They usually don’t start until 11:00.”
“Yes, well I was wondering if I could leave her early. Her mother’s not feeling well.”
“Of course. I’ll take her upstairs and she can play with Terra. That girl could use some human companionship.”
“If you’re sure it’s not an inconvenience…”
“None at all. But you have to do me a favor first.”
“What?” he asked.
“You must address me properly.”
“As you wish… Yuah.” He blushed furiously.
“See, that didn’t hurt,” she said as she took DeeDee’s hand.
“Be a good girl,” Saba told his daughter.
“I will.”
Back outside, he crossed over to his own yard, but didn’t go into the house. He climbed into the steam carriage that the lizzies had already rolled from the machine shed and fired up. Putting it in gear, he pulled out onto the street and headed for downtown.
He arrived at the five-story police station five minutes later than his usual time. He had parked the car and quickly made his way up the walk when he almost collided with Eamon Shrubb, who was on his way out. He was dressed not in his police uniform, but in a grey suit not too different from the one that Saba wore, with the exception that Eamon had a turquoise utahraptor feather stuck in the hatband of his bowler.
The Sorceress and her Lovers Page 18