Unhesitatingly, he said, “I will help.”
“I thought as much,” I said.
9. Into the Forest
“Tell me of Evaldor,” I asked.
Lehdah, my slave and once mistress to Evaldor when he was leader of his own outlaw band instead of a mere slave chained to my wagon, hesitated before answering. Lifting her eyes to me she said, “If I tell you, will you permit me to slay him?” she asked.
“No, I will not. I may have need of him, as much as I have of you, and he will do me no good dead. Now, tell me of him.”
“Why should I?” she said, staring defiantly into my face.
“Because you are a slave and I your master. You need no other reason though I will remind you that we have a bargain in the event you have forgotten it.” I supposed that she must have forgotten. In that moment much of the anger passed and she assumed a posture of greater insight.
“If Evaldor fails in his service to you, will he die?”
“Yes, and by your hand if possible,” I replied. This pleased her and she began to tell me of my new captive, the man I hoped would help me in my plans to scourge these forests of the outlaws who concealed themselves within them and preyed upon honest men. She was not now chained and I bid her to sit at my side and share fruit with me.
“When I first was captured by the band two years ago after leaving my father’s house in Lathanah, he was not the leader. The band who took me initially were unwilling to violate me, apparently in fear of incurring the wrath of the leader of the band, who at that time was not Evaldor. I was taken into their camp and thrown naked before the feet of a massive, filthy giant who was also toothless. He wore many weapons about himself and kept a fat, equally filthy female slave at his side. She was a wench and laughed hysterically at his slightest attempt, crude as they were, at humor.
“This misshapen hulk of filth instructed that I be tied to the dirt, spread-eagled upon the ground. He proceeded to remove some of his garments and with horror I released that he intended to take me this moment before the men. He called out hoarsely that he would only be the first that when he was finished with me the men would all take me in turn as often as they wished. In that moment I wished for merciful death and would gladly have done the deed myself had I been able.
“As he prepared to mount me, Evaldor stepped out from the group of men and challenged the leader for first right to me. This was tantamount to challenging him for leadership and shortly a circle was formed. The combat was brief and from the comments of the men later they had apparently been much surprised at Evaldor’s prowess. He slew the loathsome giant quickly and gave the filthy wench to the men to do with as they wished. She was much raped that night and then slowly dismembered in a gruesome scene of merriment. Evaldor took me in private and often. After that I became for a time a convenient receptacle for any band member who desired me. Evaldor did not permit anyone but himself to whip me or mistreat me and in the first winter I became his woman, his personal slave. Thereafter he only gave me to the others as a reward.”
“And what of the man? Tell me of him,” I prodded.
“There is little to say. He is a cruel, brutal man but he was unquestionably the most intelligent of the band. He conceals his emotions and thoughts well. He thinks usually before he acts but basically he is a murderer and cutthroat. He never told me of his own city or how he came to be banished but often gloated about some successful maneuvering of a member of his band. He enjoyed making them do things for them and often devised elaborate games of deceit in order to accomplish his purpose. Beware of him master, he is cunning and skillful. He will get free of you and will kill you in the process if possible. I have no doubt but that he will destroy your plans for shear spite. Slay him now, master, he can do you great harm and as you can see for yourself he is a survivor and always turns defeat to success.”
I thought on what she told me. She seemed overly impressed with the alleged skills of this outlaw but then she was after all a woman and most likely easily impressed.
~
I sat by the cheerful fire under the clear Doridian sky and ate my meals in silence. The Merchant Renakor sat near but did not address me. It is customary to wait for one’s superior to initiate conversation before speaking. Then too, Doridians are by nature reluctant to inquire directly of another unless he is well known to them. This was a practice which had caused me considerable difficulty when I had first arrived but one which I now found to be convenient, considering my own origins.
When I had finished my meal and had washed my hands in the bowl of water brought to me by the serving slave I inquired as to the profits of our journey thus far.
“Considering that some wagons are filled with Sekers rather than trade goods, business is as good as one might anticipate,” he replied.
I had forgotten the merchant custom of never saying that business is good; it may be bad but no merchant would ever admit that it was good. A short time passed before the Merchant Renakor spoke again.
“The Merchant of Beerah approached me today concerning your use of his slaves.” I remained silent. “He said that you are unquestionably the lustiest man he has ever heard tell of. He said that not only do you take five or six slaves a night but that all of them are well used. He holds you in considerable respect.” He did not smile but then I had only known him to smile on one previous occasion and this was my second caravan with him though my first as his superior.
“The Lady Shelba seems much changed since the time she spent a month alone with you in the forest. It was said that she is now kind to her slaves and it is also said that she is very close to her father. Lonnan, the one recently raised to Officer and now in command of the Urak’s personal guard, is said to be courting her.”
“I also had heard this,” I replied. He referred to events in Taslea and in the forest of the previous fall at the time of the insurrection of the Sekers. I had earned some reputation within the city for my small part in these events. With the Sekers and some of the High Caste I was quite popular but many looked upon me with disapproval and more than a few with hate. Only my reputation as a swordsman had prevented violence against me but then these were matters which concerned those who disapproved of me and had no part in my life. Let them think what they would.
“I fear for the security of the Golden Triangle, First Officer,” Renakor said softly to me, changing the subject.
“But why?” I asked.
“Rumor has it that war is imminent between the cities of Ramalon and Sarpedon and while they are both north of here they play an important part in trade. It has been hundreds of years since a war spread beyond two cities but it is not impossible. Fortunately these cities have little in common with most of Doridia. As a result no other cities will feel compelled to assist either of them. I find it peculiar that two cities which have much in common should be prepared to fight one another. Each of them is located on the edge of the Great Jungle of Tirsenos and each his large numbers of citizens of the dark race. They have no trade to speak of with each other since the goods they export are so much alike.”
“Why then do they seem prepared to make war?” I asked. These were matters which were new to me.
“It is said that each lays claim to overlapping portions of the Tirsenos and is unwilling to relinquish its claim to the attempts at compromise have failed and now it seems they will fight for relatively worthless jungle. Until 100 years ago this disputed region was within the strong control of the city of Tharason said to be located at the head waters of the mighty Tharason River which meanders through the jungle of Tirsenos. No one has ever seen this city but it ruled most of the hinterland of the jungle for itself and encroachers rarely emerged from the jungles alive. Ramalon and Sarpedon were restricted to the fringes of the jungle. But mysteriously, the city of Tharason withdrew from the forest and the city is now generally referred to as lost. No one ever knew for certain where it was located.
“In time both Sarpedon and Ramalon came to realize that T
harason no longer controlled the jungle. With the city now believed to be destroyed by nature, for what people could live in so forbidding a location and long prosper, Sarpedon and Ramalon sought to take over the region. Neither was prepared to go to war over the area but recently gold has been brought from deep in the jungle by adventurers. Gold is, of course, well worth going to war over.
“The situation is nearing a crises and once the battle begins we will all suffer for it. Gold fever alone will cause many good men to perish in the jungle and prosperity for all will diminish. Men can be very foolish at times,” he concluded.
“I have observed the same thing myself good merchant,” I replied. I left him by the fire gazing into its flame preoccupied with the war which would soon come.
~
Returning to my wagon, I untethered the slave girl Lehdah and took her within the wagon and bid her light the Lamp of Love. In silence, I removed my clothing, considering all that the merchant had related to me. Without a word of instruction, Lehdah removed her clothing and assumed a position in my furs meant to please me.
I had been wrong to think she would voice any objection to may use of the slave belonging to the merchant of Beerah. Lehdah was after all a slave and as such was used to the lusts and desires of men. Chastity and fidelity were only commonly taught among Free Women of Doridia. Men lived lives just the opposite and frequent encounters with slave girls were encouraged. Sex was looked upon much as hunger or thirst, another appetite to be satisfied and then forgotten until next time. I had made the mistake of judging Ledah’s reaction be the standards of my own world and not be those of the world in which she had been reared.
She entered my furs this night eagerly, looking forward to the pleasure she would receive and relishing her role as a woman and as my lover. Doridians as a whole I had observed took greater pleasure in the immediate than those of my world. Each pleasure was relished intensely for now and little thought was given to the possible pleasures of tomorrow. They would be enjoyed as they came. This was, I thought, a natural reaction to the less secure and more violent world in which one never knew when death or slavery would befall you.
Gently, I pulled the golden skinned slave to me and with the Lamp of Love flickering within my great wagon I slowly pleasured the woman and in time she pleased me in turn.
10. March Against the Outlaws
The trail seemed impossible for any man to follow, even the experienced trackers who led. My 100 Sekers commanded immediately by the Commander of One Hundred with me were confident now in their ability to fight within the forest and to pursue outlaws and leave victorious. My men had always been excellent Sekers, they were now competent in the great forest as well, when previously only the outlaws possessed such skill. My two friends, Koptos and Ctesias, each commanding a squad of ten were also with me.
A stout collar had been placed about the neck of Evaldor but otherwise he was unhampered except for the chain which ran from the collar to the hand of my strongest and most able Seker, Tabuk, the giant. Evaldor marched slightly to my rear but always close at hand. He said we were close to the band of Kanchoh and I wished to press our attack before this night. We would be outnumbered but we were strong and fit from a good previous winter while our foes would be gaunt and weak from their suffering in the forest. Then too with Evaldor’s help we would have the advantage of surprise.
I ordered the pace stepped up and my eager men responded enthusiastically. We were all eager for action.
~
Two days before Lehdah had lain in my arms as I was nodding off. She had just extinguished the Lamp of Love and I was well satisfied with our lovemaking.
“May I speak, master?” she asked.
“It will do me no good to say no for you will only speak anyway, knowing I am too exhausted to get up and whip you as a proper master would.”
“Do not trust Evaldor, master. He is cunning and a wicked man. I know him well and he will trick you if he can. He desires his freedom and a return to the life of banditry which he so thoroughly loves. He likes power and will not be satisfied with less than absolute control of another outlaw band. He is also vindictive and you have defeated him twice before. He will seek to kill you or failing that to humiliate you. Believe me, do not trust him.” I saw tears as she spoke.
“I have need of him.”
“I can lead you in the forest as well as he,” she said.
“Yes, but you do not know the location of Kanchoh’ s band and he does. Now silence. You have had your say. I do not trust him and l will be very careful. I will sleep now.” She remained silent thereafter but once in the night she awoke me with her sobbing.
I in turn slept fitfully and though I sought to push her words from my thoughts I could not entirely. At last, much disturbed by dreams, I convinced myself of the soundness of my decision and managed to sleep a few hours before we departed that next dawn.
~
Evaldor had assured me that he could locate Kanchoh’s band with little difficulty. I had told him at l did not want to the detected as we approached. He said that he knew an indirect route that would bring us to them and promised that if we were cautious our surprise would be absolute. Not trusting him I sent additional scouts ahead of us and about us to assure that there would be no ambush.
I suppose that my two previous successes had made me overconfident for I was deep within the hostile forest, depending on a defeated enemy to guide me safely and about to face a force which outnumbered my own half again. I had tremendous confidence in my own Sekers and their infectious enthusiasm contributed in no small part to my blunder. I believed that with the element of surprise, I could encircle the enemy and by timing the attack to coincide with some period of laxness or distraction confuse them and destroy them with minimal losses. I was confident in my assessment of my prisoner and I suppose in all candor I was eager to keep my vow to the Lady Tonalah in Runah when I had pledged upon my sword to recover her lost daughter.
They fell upon us from all sides just as we entered a narrow gorge cut by a stream. I heard the fierce cry of outlaws as they descended and drawing my blade assumed a defensive stance as I had been trained to do in such circumstances. The Sekers with me drew in circles with their backs protected by friends and their shields, spears or swords to the front. I pulled my fine Khashan dagger said to be tempered in human blood and crouched facing my foes, dagger to my left, sword to my right.
All of this occurred in only an instant and virtually instinctive for all of us as the outlaws came at us from all sides. Battles raged as each protective group was encircled. I had no opportunity to observe the combat of others as my small group was under vicious attack. A burly though still gaunt cutthroat charged at me, seeking to knock me from my feet, but I neatly step aside and drove my short blade into his side. A second outlaw confronted me and blade clashed with blade, the clear ring lost in the cacophony of the conflict as Seker fought valiantly against outlaw. We were outnumbered and I feared a massacre.
My next opponent was skilled but no match for me. I had been trained by the Master of Arms of the Great House of Rahdon and tempered in combat with Zagos, the upstart, atop the High Tower of the Council of the High Caste of Taslea. Until the day I drove my dagger deep into his brain, he had been reputed to be the finest swordsman in all of Taslea. He had then lay dead at my feet and there were those who now claimed that I was the finest swordsman in Taslea. It was a mantle I did not wish to wear and certainly did not wish to put to the test for I was still new to swordplay. But this day I was the superior of the rogue before me and in moments slashed his throat.
No longer was single combat possible for the battle had degenerated in a melee and I now faced two, three and at times four opponents. My back and to an extent my sides were protected by my fellow Sekers but I was nearly overwhelmed more than once. My dagger seemed to confuse the men, held as it was in my left hand as I fought with sword in my right, for this was a style of swordplay unknown in Doridia. More than one man fell by inca
utiously exposing his side to my dagger.
The battle seemed lost to me and there was no hope of victory, nothing was left but the honor of falling nobly in combat, the fate all Sekers know will be there’s someday if they remain a Seker. I dimly saw the dead stung along the stream, most of the opposition but many recognizable in their distinctive Rahdon tunics. I prepared to sell my life as dearly as possible but without warning the day blackened and I knew no more.
~
In the instant before blackness I had believed myself slain by some unseen opponent who had managed to break through the men to my rear but as I regained consciousness I knew myself to be alive although in such pain that the prospect of continuing life held little appeal to me. I was trussed as one carries a dear, hands and feet tied over a stiff pole slung between two sturdy men. The binding cut brutally into my hands and feet and already I had lost feeling in those extremities. Mercifully, I passed out once again.
~
Caravans of Doridia: The 2nd Chronicle of Jon Hunter (The Saga of Jon Hunter Book 2) Page 7