The Arsuuni had forehandedly brought along great carts full of scaling ladders, drawn by tame vakhnags, and they had rushed sixteens of these ladders against the wall. The Avtini had pushed some of them over backwards. Several Arsuuni who had fallen with the ladders lay writhing on the ground, for because of their size they could not stand so much of a fall as an Avtin.
On the ground outside, a giant in gold-plated armor walked up and down giving orders; this would be General Omvem of Tvaarm. Overhead the helicopter still whistled. Now would be the time for Antis to appear with his drones, to take the Arsuuni in the rear. But there was no sign of him; not even a telltale cloud of dust on the road from Khinam.
“This way! This way!” cried voices on Iroedh’s right, and the Avtini hurried toward the scene of the latest attack. A swarm of scaling ladders had been reared against the wall in that thinly held region, and up came the giants, shouting, “Künnef! Künnef!”
Iroedh made for one ladder that did not seem to have anybody watching it and started to push it away from the wall; then instinctively jerked back as a huge spearhead darted past her face. Before she could attack the ladder again the head and shoulders of an Arsuun appeared over the wall.
The long-jawed giant shifted her grip on her spear and braced herself for another stab at Iroedh. Iroedh rushed in, knocked the spearhead aside with her shield, and tried to hit the Arsuun in the face with the edge of the shield. The Arsuun brought up her own shield and for a second the shields ground together as each fighter tried to outmaneuver the other. Sensing the immense strength of her foe, Iroedh felt as if she were assailing a colossal bronze statue.
Then she caught a glimpse of the face as the shields separated, and thrust for the eyes with her machete. She felt the point go through tissue and bone, then jerked the blade out as the head of the giant pulled backward. Iroedh hacked again and again at the hateful face; then all at once there was no Arsuun there, and a great crash as the armored body struck the ground.
“Come, Queen!” shouted a worker. “Don’t you hear the recall?”
Iroedh had been too busy with the Arsuuny soldier to heed the notes of the trumpet. Now she saw that everywhere the Avtini were leaping and tumbling down from the wall and running for the plaza in front of the main portal. The Arsuuni had already broken through the defense in one section and gained the wall, and the general was withdrawing her troops before they were cut up and destroyed piecemeal.
Iroedh ran down the steps with the rest, while behind her the Arsuuni swarmed over the wall with roars of “Künnef!”
The general, seeing Iroedh approach, cried: “I thought I told you not to fight! Don’t you know that even queens have to obey me in warfare? Now get in the middle of the square. You can’t accomplish anything with that overgrown fruit-knife, but we need you as a symbol.”
“Oh, can’t I?” protested Iroedh, waving her bloody blade, but the general caught her by the shoulders and pushed her into place. She was forming the Avtini into a massive hollow square, with spears and shields in double array around the outside to make a hedge that even the Arsuuni might have trouble piercing. A stream of workers rushed out of the domes with furniture and utensils which they piled in a crude barricade around the square.
“We still outnumber them,” Iroedh heard the general say. Iroedh, however, knew that one Arsuun was worth two Avtini on a simple basis of size.
Iroedh looked over the ranks of the workers, between the helmeted heads. General Omvem of Tvaarm arrived in leisurely fashion and marshaled her soldiers for the final attack. It took the form of a wedge.
The deep Arsuuny trumpet groaned. The wedge thundered forward and struck the square with a deafening crash of clashing shields and snapping spears. Iroedh saw the point soldier of the wedge trip in climbing the barricade and fall, pierced by a dozen spears, and in her fall bowl over two Avtini. But those behind her pushed ahead, stabbing and trampling. The square gradually lost its shape and became a mere mass wrapped around the blunted point of the wedge. Those behind the front ranks tried to reach over the tangle of dead, wounded, and interlocked spear-shafts to get at their opponents.
The superior size of the Arsuuni told; beside Iroedh an Arsuuny spear-point struck down the general. Iroedh herself was buffeted by the crowd this way and that; elbows jabbed her in the face and heels stamped on her toes. An Arsuun towered over her, swinging a broken spear-shaft as a club. Iroedh caught a blow on her shield and felt as if her arm had been broken.
Then the pressure eased and the noise became even louder. When Iroedh could see around her again, a swarm of armored drones was rushing down from the wall to form a phalanx advancing upon the Arsuuni from the rear. Before she could get her breath the drones struck the Arsuuni. Their front rank was armed entirely with machetes; these rushed in under the spears and slashed at the giants’ legs where a hand’s breadth of thigh showed between kilt and greave. Crash! Crash! Crash! Down went the Arsuuni like felled trees. Down went General Omvem, assailed by four drones at once.
The leaderless and surrounded Arsuuni milled around, trying to fight their way out, but the instant one separated from her fellows she was thrust through the legs from behind and fell. Crash! Crash!
And then there were no more giants on their feet: only a couple of hundred lying about the plaza, while the Avtini went around cutting the throats of those that still moved.
Iroedh was cutting one such throat when a pair of bloody hands hauled her to her feet. Antis hoisted her into the air, hugged the breath out of her, then gave her a stinging slap on the behind. From him it felt good.
“I told you not to get so far ahead!” he said. “We ran our legs off trying to catch up with you, and as it was we nearly arrived too late. We had three pieces of good luck to thank Gwyyr for. First we came across another rogue drone band who joined us. Second when we got to the Lhanwaed Hills we found that old Umwys had been forging matselhi ever since we left him; he had nearly a hundred. I bought the lot, and so armed more of my people with them than I had dared hope. Lastly the Arsuuni kindly left their ladders against the walls, so we came right up and over them. How have you made out?”
Iroedh found that, counting the defeats before the main battle, less than half the workers of Elham survived. Rhodh, for instance, had died fighting furiously; so had Tydh and Iinoedh and many of her other acquaintances. Only two officers, the royal officer and the grounds officer, lived. While the drones’ losses had been negligible, the Arsuuni had been wiped out to the last giantess.
Iroedh told Antis what had happened, adding: “Now that Estir and the more conservative officers are gone, I hope they’ll adopt our program for mating them with the drones.”
“They’d better! After being filled to the ears with talk on the glories of married life, every rogue is mad with impatience to seize a worker and start stoking her with steak. And speaking of which…”
Antis gave her a piercing look whose meaning she had come to know well. However, the helicopter landed, to the intense curiosity of the Avtini who had not yet seen it, and Bloch got out.
“Congratulations on your victory!” he said.
“No thanks to you,” said Antis sourly.
Iroedh said: “You forgot this, Antis.” She swung her machete.
Bloch exclaimed: “You mean you never had anything like that before we came? And you copied it from us?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, lord, now I’m in trouble! Didn’t you tell me—”
“Yes, I fear I stretched the truth, but to save my people. We’ll say nothing to the other Terrans and perhaps they will never know.”
Bloch shook his head. “Let’s hope they won’t. I should have remembered what the swords of the Spanish conquistadores did to the poor Amerinds…But you wouldn’t know about that. May I take some pictures, and remove a couple of dead Arsuuni? They’ll be invaluable as specimens.”
“Go right ahead,” said Iroedh, shedding her bloody accouterments. “Oh, there’s Vardh!”
Vardh was having a wounded arm tied up. The royal officer said to Iroedh:
“The others won’t let Vardh live among them even if they adopt your scheme. Their horror of harming a queen is too great.”
Vardh looked up. “I heard you. Since Iroedh now has Antis she doesn’t need me any more, so I’ll make things easy for all…”
She picked up a spear, held it horizontally in front of her so that the point touched her chest, and started to run toward the portal.
“Stop her!” cried Iroedh.
Antis, after one puzzled look, sprang after Vardh, caught her by the crest, and wrenched the spear away from her.
“Little fool!” he growled. “As if your Community hadn’t lost enough of its people!”
Iroedh said: “There’s no need to take your life, Vardh dear. I have a better program for you.”
“What? To become a bulgy functional female like you and submit to the horrid embraces of some drooling drone? No thank you!”
“How would you like to be the new Oracle of Ledhwid?”
“Me, an Oracle?”
“Yes. As the old one died without appointing a successor, the post is practically open to the first comer. I think it would suit you.”
“I’ll think it over,” said Vardh. “Excuse my discourtesy, darling. I still love you, but everything’s so confused.”
Tregaros said: “Queen Iroedh, you should organize an immediate attack on Tvaarm. They’ll have but a handful of soldiers and won’t expect it, and their Avtiny slaves won’t help them. A quick march and a night attack, eh? We can use their own ladders…”
The fellow was probably right, thought Iroedh, but she had seen about all the bloodshed she could stand for one day. She did not want Antis mixed up in such a project, because with his foolhardy bravery he would probably get himself killed. She said to the royal officer:
“Do the surviving members of the Council accept my program now?”
“Queen, we’re so bewildered we don’t know what to say. Let me speak to the grounds officer.”
Presently the two officers came back to Iroedh. The royal officer said: “Queen Iroedh, we accept you and agree to legalize your mixed-diet program if you promise not to take away any of our constitutional liberties. Does that suit you?”
“Certainly.”
The officer went off to organize burial squads, as there were far too many corpses for the soapworks to use. The surviving workers went about their task somberly, having, despite their spectacular victory, lost too many friends to cheer. While the dead were being disposed of Bloch said:
“Hey, Iroedh! Antis! I forgot to tell you that Subbarau has a position available for you.”
“What?” said Antis.
“He can’t transport you to Terra, but he can appoint you representatives of the Viagens Interplanetarias for the planet Ormazd. We always try to obtain a reliable native as an intermediary. To begin, you would accompany us on our tour of the other continents to familiarize yourselves with their cultures and languages.”
“It sounds fascinating,” said Iroedh, “but I must consult Antis.” When she got him aside she said: “What do you think? I’m all for it.”
Antis looked dubious. “We have a good prospect here as king and queen of a new united bisexual Community, don’t you think? What do you want to go flying off to the ends of nowhere for?”
“And what’s a king or queen under the new dispensation? They used to need a queen to lay eggs, but if all workers become functional females, what use is a queen? We should have no political power, especially as they’ve warned me against tampering with their constitution.”
“I don’t know…” said Antis.
Iroedh said gently: “Are you afraid of the sky ship?”
“Me?” His expression changed at once. “I should say not! So if we stayed here we should be mere ornaments, deferred to but not allowed to do anything?”
“Exactly. While if we accept the Terran offer—”
“We shall never have a dull moment. As I’ve said all along, our destiny lies with the Terrans. Let’s tell Daktablak quickly, before he changes his mind.”
The royal officer was at Iroedh’s elbow again. “Tregaros wants to organize a joint expedition to Tvaarm, and if you have no objections we’ll set forth tomorrow. We have agreed, however, that you and Antis must stay here; we can’t have you exposing yourselves in combat again.”
“Suit yourselves,” said Iroedh. “The sky folk have offered us a much bigger job than reigning over one Community.”
“What’s this?”
Iroedh told the officer about the Terran offer. Antis added: “She’s quite right; after spending most of my life cooped up in the dronery, not even a continent is big enough for me.”
“Great Eunmar!” said the royal officer. “This is a surprise. I hope we may continue to call you ‘Queen’ as an honorary title.”
“Certainly. I’ll even wear the regalia when I visit you, but you must have a set made for Antis too.”
“We will. We need things to appeal to our sentiments, to keep us loyal to each other and to the Community—”
“Sentiment!” cried Iroedh. “That reminds me! I never did learn what happened to Elnora.”
“Who or what is Elnora?” asked the royal officer.
“A character in a book which Daktablak’s mate gave me. If I don’t take another thing from Elham I want that book. But I wonder what became of it after I was driven out.”
Vardh spoke up: “I took it from your cell and hid it in my own, thinking you might return someday for it. You’ll find it under my pallet.”
“Thank you, darling! I shall be right back.” She dashed into the portal. Antis said: “Wait, beautiful! I’m coming too!” and ran after her.
Glossary of Ormazdian Names and Words
Aithles—the king in the Lay of Idhios.
Antis—a drone of Elham and a close friend of Iroedh.
Arsuuni—a race hostile to the Avtini (in their own language, Arshuul).
Arsuunyk—the language of the Arsuuni.
Avpandh—a worker of Elham.
Avtini—the most civilized race of Ormazd (sing. Avtin).
Avtinid—the land of the Avtini.
Avtiny—adj., pertaining to the Avtini.
Avtinyk—the language of the Avtini.
Baorthus—a drone of Elham.
borb—a unit of distance comparable to a mile.
branio—“stop” in Avtinyk.
dairtel—a plant bearing a kind of nut.
Danoakor—an ancient reforming queen of the Avtini.
Denüp—a community of the Arsuuni.
Dhiis—a god of the ancient Avtiny religion.
dhug—a small spiny animal.
dhwyg—a many-legged creeping organism.
Dyos—a drone of Elham.
Eiudh—a worker of Elham.
Elham—the heroine’s community of Avtini.
Elhamni—the inhabitants of Elham.
Enroys—a former Oracle of Ledhwid.
Estir—Crown Princess of Elham.
Eunmar—a goddess of the ancient Avtiny religion.
Garnedh—a priestess of Ledhwid.
Geyliad—a locale in the Song of Geyliad.
Gliid—an uninhabited valley near Thidhem.
Gogledh—a worker of Thidhem.
Gruvadh—a worker of Elham.
Gunes—a drone in the Lay of Idhios.
Gwyyr—the ancient Avtiny goddess of luck.
Hawardem—a northern Avtiny community.
Ho-olhed—the star Procyon.
hudig—a small edible herbivore.
huusg—a jellyfish-like marine organism (also a constellation).
Hwead—a gorge near Ledhwid.
Idhios—hero of the Lay of Idhios.
Igog—a fire-breathing monster in the Tale of Mantes.
Iinoedh—a worker of Elham.
Inimdhad—a place mentioned in the Lay of Idhios.
Intar—Queen of E
lham.
Iroedh—a worker of Elham, and the heroine.
Ithodh—a worker of Yeym.
khal—a tree with edible seeds.
Khinad Point—a place near Elham.
Khinam—a ruined city on Khinad Point.
Khwiem—an Avtiny community.
künnef—the war cry of the Arsuuni.
Kutanas—a drone of Elham.
kwa—“Hurrah!” in Avtinyk.
Ledhwid—site of a famous oracle.
leipag—a medium-sized edible herbivore.
Lhanwaed—a range of hills near Elham.
Lhuidh—a priestess of Ledhwid.
Maiur—Queen of Thidhem.
Mantes—hero of the Tale of Mantes.
matselh—Avtinyk for “machete.”
neinog—a small animal tamed as a pet.
Niond—Avtinyk for “earth,” “soil,” or “world.”
noag—a large carnivore.
oedhurh—Avtinyk for “love.”
Omvem—general of Tvaarm.
Omvyr—Queen of Tvaarm (in her own language, Omförs).
pandre-eg—a large wild herbivore related to the ueg.
Pligayr—Intar’s predecessor as Queen of Elham.
pomuial—a flowering plant.
prutha—an exclamation of annoyance.
Rhodh—a worker of Elham.
Rhuar—a former queen of Elham.
rumdrekh—a system of self-defense.
Santius—a drone in the Lay of Idhios.
suroel—a plant whose fibers are used for textiles.
Sveik—Arsuunyk for “earth.”
tarhail—a domesticated cereal grass.
telh—a flute.
Thidhem—a neighboring Avtiny community.
Tiwinos—a god of the ancient Avtiny religion.
Tregaros—a drone, an officer of Wythias.
Tvaarm—an Arsuuny community (in their own language, Tvaar).
Tydh—a worker of Elham.
Rogue Queen Page 18