Altaica

by Tracy M. Joyce

  The canoes were carted to the steep bank, sat on their ends and then pushed up, as those above grasped them and pulled. They were then whisked off to their hiding place.

  Asha sat on the bank, dangling her legs over the edge. There were no longer any despairing neighs from across the river. She should have been relieved, but instead she was depressed.

  ‘They’ll be fine. They’ll give up and follow the others,’ Umniga said as she joined her and passed her a water bag. ‘They’ll go home, or back to Parlan and Deo.’

  Fihr landed beside Asha and sidled up to her in concern. Devi landed beside Umniga.

  ‘Can you send Devi to see, please?’

  Umniga pursed her lips, thinking that it may be best to assume they were safe, rather than know the truth.

  ‘I know that look, Umniga. I’m no longer a child. Don’t treat me as one. I need to know.’

  The old woman sighed. I am getting old and soft. ‘Fine, but if he drops dead from exhaustion I’m blaming you.’ Devi eyeballed her, gave a short abrupt bark and took off. Asha threw her arms around Umniga in gratitude.

  Karan was impatient to leave, but he and Āsim had seen and heard Umniga and Asha’s exchange. ‘We’ll rest here a short while—tell the others,’ Karan instructed the older man.

  Umniga moved away from the edge of the riverbank and sat cross-legged, waiting for Devi, with Asha beside her.

  Asha grinned, suddenly lighter in spirits. Thinking of Devi’s indignant departure, she said with an uncharacteristically nervous giggle, ‘Devi’s a funny old one.’

  ‘Umph!’ Umniga grunted. ‘You try living with him for sixty years.’ She took Asha’s hand. ‘It shouldn’t take long. They have probably left.’

  Honey stood cowed, her head lowered and licking her lips before Nasir. He snorted softly at her. Devi landed on a branch of the dead tree just over the water.

  Umniga’s eyes grew wide and she swayed slightly as Devi merged with her, sending her a brief glimpse of Nasir and Honey. ‘What are they doing?’ Then, unusually, Devi blocked her out. She tried to re-merge with him, but there was nothing. ‘What is going on?’

  Interested yet wary, Karan and Āsim moved closer.

  Nasir approached Honey, lowered his nose to hers and breathed softly beside it. Devi sat watching, fending off Umniga’s demands. Honey was calm. Nasir walked to the water’s edge and she followed to stand downstream beside him. He flicked his head at her, ears back, and she moved upstream to his other side. Nasir was diagonally facing the opposite landing point, even though through the mist he could not see it. Devi gave two successive short barks and took off, flying in a straight line across the water. Nasir and Honey waded into the water. It was not long before they were swimming and vanishing into the mist.

  Devi flew over Umniga, banked and returned over the river, finally allowing her to merge with him again. As he flew low over the water she saw Nasir and Honey, swimming valiantly across the river.

  Umniga broke from Devi, murmuring, ‘Great Mother, Great Father, givers of light and life, help them. Great Father, Jalal, let your river support them, lend them strength, guide them home.’

  ‘What’s happened? Umniga? Umniga!’ Asha asked her anxiously.

  ‘They’re crossing the river. Karan, they’re coming from upstream.’

  Asha shot to her feet and tried to peer through the mist.

  Nasir saw Devi fly across the river slightly upstream and pushed Honey in that direction. The current was at its strongest halfway across and their struggle intensified. Honey drifted downstream into Nasir, who used his shoulder to guide her back on course. Nasir concentrated on Devi and forced himself to keep moving. Out of the mist, he could see Umniga standing on the high bank. Honey’s head dipped below the water; he nipped her, urging her to fight. They were still too far away.

  Karan had nimbly climbed down the haphazard steps with several of his men and Asha. They had retrieved a canoe and on seeing Nasir and Honey emerge from the mist, they set out across the water. ‘Pull! Pull!’ he urged. Honey’s head was barely above water, her nostrils were flared wide with exertion. Drifting up beside her, Karan placed a rope behind her ears and crossed it under her jaw and over her nose, using it as a makeshift halter. He threw the end to Asha. ‘Talk to her. And keep pressure on the rope.’ He leaned out and placed his hands under Honey’s head to help keep it above the water. The canoe listed precariously. The men pulled furiously on the paddles.

  Nasir, relieved of assisting Honey, swam for shore with renewed vigour. Soon he felt the bottom of the river brush against his feet and he waded ponderously ashore. Seeing Umniga waiting for him, he let out a joyful racket that started as a whinny and ended as a bray.

  ‘Damn fool mule!’ Umniga chided as she gave him an affectionate pat and looked over him for injuries.

  ‘You do realise how clever he is, don’t you?’ Karan asked, as Asha led Honey from the water.

  ‘What?’ Asha and Umniga said simultaneously.

  ‘They came from upstream.’ The two women remained uncomprehending. ‘They swam with and only partially against the current. I heard Honey scream when she was left behind. I bet she would have plunged, heedless, straight into that river and been lost.’ Umniga and Asha were speechless. ‘Your damn fool mule just saved that little mare.’

  * * *

  The warriors who met them on the other side of the ford had brought enough spare horses for everyone, and were riding strung out behind Karan, who held Isaura tightly before him on his horse. She looked paler and felt colder. Whatever the Kenati had planned, he knew it must happen soon. A grin crossed his face as he looked at Umniga riding Nasir. Despite his ordeal, Nasir had become thoroughly cantankerous when she prepared to ride one of the new horses in order to rest him. Honey was beside Nasir, looking decidedly weary, although less bedraggled than when she left the river. Asha was riding another, with Pio asleep before her.

  They were now in the Forest of the Asena, heading to their camp. This section of forest, in daylight, was a myriad of colours with the many deciduous trees readying for leaf-fall. Yet as the forest climbed the Bear Tooth Mountain range, conifers, dark firs, pines and cypresses predominated.

  Karan beckoned Umniga to him. ‘What are you planning to do for this one?’

  ‘The Ritual of Samara.’

  ‘You will do it tonight,’ he ordered.

  ‘But I will need all of the Kenati and the sacred site at the lake.’

  ‘The Kenati are here at this camp, not at the lake. You should know by now, I always plan ahead.’

  ‘Without the site, I cannot guarantee success.’

  Karan stared at her gravely. ‘Look at her. She is fading. You are not guaranteed success even at the site. She will be dead by the time you reach the lake.’

  Umniga’s face took on a fatalistic cast and her lips turned down bitterly. She had been holding onto one last remnant of hope and it was beginning to crumble.

  Karan took pity on her. ‘There is another site near where we have made camp. Never forget, Umniga, I plan.’

  ‘I know of no such site.’ Umniga was indignant.

  ‘No, you don’t. My mother planted the site when she was betrothed to my father.’

  ‘She never said. I would have tended it.’

  He shrugged. ‘She was to leave her clan and wanted to honour the gods. When she saw the place, the whim struck her. She told me of it when she died. I think she thought that if no one knew and it flourished on its own, then it truly was meant to be. I sought it out when these lands became ours.’

  ‘And, has it flourished?’

  ‘You will see.’

  When they reached the camp, Karan carried Isaura near the fire and left her with Umniga. He watched his people efficiently settle in to camp and was pleased to see the newcomers trying to help attend to the horses or anything else they thought ought to be done. They would have to earn their place here to be accepted by the clan, but this was a good start. He thought of Hunters’ Ford.
If the river kept rising, Ratilal would be able to do little other than hurl insults at them. Nevertheless he had left a squad there to keep watch. He returned to the fireside and accepted a bowl of hot stew.

  ‘Karan, we …’

  ‘Food first, Umniga—for everyone. A few minutes for food and a brief rest I’m sure will benefit you. Correct?’ Despite having said this, he walked to Isaura and placed his hand on her brow.

  ‘What do you see, Karan?’

  He frowned, puzzled at her question, for the answer was obvious to him. ‘She is a little warmer here, but she is fading—she is less bright.’

  Umniga nodded, but in truth she saw no such change. She looked questioningly at Asha, who shook her head and shrugged.

  ‘Make sure the newcomers get enough food. See if there are some cloaks for them. It will get colder before dawn,’ Karan instructed. Soon Āsim joined him. ‘How are your men?’

  ‘They’ll settle in quickly,’ Āsim replied. ‘They’d rather serve under you than Ratilal.’

  ‘I meant it when I said they would not have to fight Ratilal. Their task remains the same: protect Asha and Umniga. I sent for Pravin before we set out. He will join you at the lake. Together you will continue their training, and the training of these strangers.’

  ‘Pravin? He is still alive? He must be ancient.’

  Karan snorted in amusement. ‘I believe he is not much older than you.’

  ‘You know that they will fight Ratilal?’ Āsim asked so only Karan could hear.

  Karan nodded as he stared into the fire. ‘It may come to pass, but only in defence of those under their protection or their clan members here. Make no mistake—we will protect the citizens here. They may have been the Boar Clan’s once, but now they are ours and …’

  ‘It can only be helpful for them to see Boar warriors who have defected to you, working here with you to safeguard them.’

  Karan winced at his insight. ‘My father chose you well.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  IT WAS STILL night when the two men sent by Ratilal entered the outskirts of Parlan. The night had been unnaturally quiet but, after the chaos, they had found that a boon and were glad to be away from the wrath of their high lord. They had been forced to slow their pace because their horses were nearing exhaustion, and had spent their time hypothesising over the future course of events and whether they would be better off with a new lord.

  ‘He’s a hot head—has always been.’

  ‘But new blood could be a good thing. Gods rest his soul in Susurrah, Lord Shahjahan was a good clan lord in his day, but that day has passed.’

  They rode a short distance into the village before one reined in his horse and stopped the other. ‘Where are the guards? Surely we would have seen some by now.’

  They looked about warily, seeing no one. Suddenly the silence that they had found peaceful felt ominous. ‘Keep going. We’re too far gone now.’

  Their horses, sensing their tension, pricked their ears forward and walked skittishly through the village, expecting trouble. They reached the tree in the square without incident and noticed that the door to the lodge had been jammed shut.

  Having dismounted to investigate, they warily approached the lodge. It was then that they noticed the dead dumped in the shadows beside the building. They kicked the timbers jammed against the door free and tossed them aside. By the lamp light inside, they discovered their fellow warriors wounded and trussed up.

  They unbound Vikram, who was nearest to the door. ‘Karan came back and took the strangers Shahjahan had promised him,’ he mumbled through his bruised mouth. ‘We tried to stop them.’ He rubbed his wrists gingerly as they unbound his hands. ‘Our Kenati were in on it,’ he finished bitterly.

  ‘Both?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Traitors! We could have used their skills.’ Vikram looked curiously at him. ‘We were ambushed. Caltrops—half the men and horses injured.’

  ‘Damn!’

  ‘Bloody disaster, that’s what it is! Young hot head should have known better than to hare off in the dark.’

  ‘I’d keep such thoughts to yourself if I were you,’ Vikram chided. ‘The high lord is young, but he was justly enraged and no doubt thinking only of vengeance for the death of his father.’

  ‘No doubt,’ was the acerbic reply. The soldier helped Vikram to his feet and they untied the other warriors. ‘Why did they leave you all tied up?’ he asked as he eyed the strangers with disgust.

  ‘They’re scared. Stuck in the middle of something they don’t understand. They have helped the wounded as best they could … At least Umniga and Asha left their kits,’ Vikram replied.

  ‘Asha I can understand, but Umniga?’

  ‘Nothing we can do about it now. What were your orders?’

  ‘To return with the wagons and supplies for our wounded.’

  Vikram laughed bitterly. ‘You’d better go and see if they are still here.’

  It was not long before they returned to Vikram. ‘The horses are gone, all of them!’ one spat. ‘The high lord will damn us to Karak if we don’t come through for him.’

  ‘Calm down. Wake the head man—Deo.’ Vikram indicated the direction of his house. ‘See who about has horses we can use … Curse it! I’ll come with you, make sure he cooperates.’ Vikram straightened, his face greying as pain burst forth from his ribs. He put a hand against the wall to steady himself. ‘Gods, damn it!’

  ‘Captain?’

  ‘Give me a minute.’ He nodded, attempting to collect himself, then they headed slowly to Deo’s house.

  They pounded on the front door. ‘Deo!’ Vikram bellowed. ‘Wake! Rouse yourself, in the name of High Lord Ratilal.’ He nodded at the door and the man with him pounded on it again. ‘Get your old arse out of bed!’

  Deo fumbled at the door, opening it slowly. ‘What do you want? Why wake the whole household in the middle of the night?’

  ‘Sleeping, were you?’ Vikram replied sarcastically.

  Deo narrowed his eyes. ‘Aye, that I was. Why?’

  ‘You didn’t hear fighting earlier? Wonder what was going on?’

  ‘Haven’t heard nothing since I hit the pillow. Had too much ale earlier at the celebrations. Most of us had.’ He felt Vikram’s cold appraisal.

  To anyone else’s eye, he had the appearance of a man who had been roused from deep slumber; his hair was tousled, he was wearing only a crumpled, drink and food-stained, long shirt. But he could not hide the alertness in his eyes from Vikram. Yes, you heard nothing. Well, old man, you can keep your secrets.

  Deo knew that Vikram was not fooled. He tried to hide his surprise and relief when Vikram did not pursue the issue. ‘Do you have horses?’

  ‘Yes, one,’ Deo replied.

  ‘We’re taking it.’ Before Deo could protest Vikram continued, ‘You’ll get it back when we are finished. I’m sure the high lord will appreciate your cooperation in this hour of need.’

  ‘Fine, take it.’

  ‘Who else has horses?’ Deo gave them a list of local farms nearby. ‘Anyone else in the village with a horse or mule? It will take two for each of the wagons we’ve got.’ Deo reluctantly gave him another name. ‘Thank you. I’ll make sure that the high lord knows how helpful you were.’ The guard next to him sniggered. ‘Go on, get the others, get the horses. Hitch up those wagons.’

  When the guard left, Deo looked at Vikram and spat. As he tried to shut the door Vikram put his foot against it. ‘Oh, I’m not finished, old man. You will be coming with us, you and your wife. Your presence will help convince the others to come and lend a hand. We need all the help and wagons we can get for the wounded and dead.’

  ‘Ratilal can go to Karak!’

  Vikram’s face drew taut. ‘I would be very careful what you say, old man. Those words could get you killed, should the wrong ears hear them.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Do you know what Ratilal would do to this village if he thought you sat idly by while his men were slaughtered? Do you wan
t that?’ A slight look of guilt crossed Deo’s eyes. ‘We both know you heard the fighting, don’t we? If you want to come out of this unscathed you should lend all the help you possibly can right now.’

  ‘He’s right, Deo,’ came Nada’s voice from the dark interior. ‘Do you think two people from each household with a wagon would suffice?’

  ‘It should do. We’ll need as many first aid supplies as you can find for men and animals. If we arrive with a convoy of wagons, it should hopefully impress Ratilal of your loyalty. Get ready to leave right away. We’ll pick up more wagons from nearby farms as we travel.’ Vikram spun and left.

  ‘What in Karak is going on with him?’

  ‘Don’t curse. I’m sure your judgement already hangs in the balance; the gods may yet send you there when you pass,’ Nada scolded as she rummaged through the cottage gathering supplies. ‘And your grand-babies are starting to copy you.’

  ‘I don’t damn well think now is the time to be chiding me about my language,’ he grumbled back at her. ‘I’ll let the gods worry about where to send me later. Right now I’ll bloody well swear if I like.’ He stormed to the front door, pausing with his hand on the latch. ‘I’m going to get more supplies from the others. I’ll be damned if I let that sneaky little shit Ratilal say I’m disloyal!’

  ‘You might want to put some pants on first.’

  * * *

  Ratilal had sent several riders off at first light to locate a farm nearby to accommodate the wounded or at least the horses. Most of the farms in this backwater were small. The caltrops had been cleared and collected. The uninjured horses, too few in his opinion, were used to drag the carcasses of the dead horses from the road and the small valley. They now formed an ugly mound in the adjacent grassland before the valley entrance.