Taghri's Prize

by Peter Grant

  The result was a foregone conclusion. When one of the heavy grapeshot hit a man, it punched right through him, its momentum scarcely diminished, and sped onward, doing the same thing again and again as it bounced off the street and buildings. The grapeshot blasted its way through the entire force of pirates from front to rear, to a cacophony of shrieks, cries and screams.

  A sudden, deafening silence fell. The attackers in the square edged forward, and gazed down the street towards the harbor. There were still a few pirates standing, pressed back against the buildings, staring in horror; and there were still one or two men moving feebly on the ground, clutching at great, gaping wounds and missing limbs; but they were very few. The last organized group of defenders had largely ceased to exist. There was no fight left in the remnant who had survived.

  The leaders of the assault groups got down to business. “All right, you know what to do. Get all the prisoners together in the square. Search every building. Everyone is to be brought here. Only when the town is declared secure can you start looking for loot. We’ve got all the time in the world, and there’ll be plenty to go around. Take your time, and be thorough!”

  Taghri stepped ashore from the newly-moored chebec, and responded to the salute from a group leader. “Well done, Mahfuz! What are our casualties?”

  “So far, sir, twelve dead and about thirty injured, most of them lightly. It’s amazingly few, sir. I’d never have believed it possible! Those grasshopper guns made all the difference. After they’d stopped every attack dead in its tracks, it was simple enough to break it up and put the rest to flight. Without them, we’d have had it much harder.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Where’s Abu Reis?”

  “He’s in his bedroom, sir, badly hurt. One of the scouts at the fort put a crossbow bolt into his guts as he tried to sound the alarm and organize the resistance. He won’t live till morning, sir.”

  Taghri turned, and shouted to Elhac, “Get the priestesses at once! Tell them Abu Reis is badly injured, and dying!”

  “Aye, sir!”

  The three women hurried down the gangplank to join Taghri. “Where is he?” the Prioress snapped.

  “This way,” the group leader beckoned. “I’m sorry, Mother, but the road up to the square is… it’s very… well, there are dead bodies and blood all over it.”

  “We’ll just have to avoid them as best we can. Lead on!”

  The man had not been exaggerating, Taghri thought as they half-walked, half-ran up the street. The final group of pirates had been comprehensively slaughtered. Cleaning up was more likely to require mops, shovels and buckets than anything else. He shrugged. The dead pirates had deserved no better. They would all be buried in a communal grave far outside the walls, without a memorial.

  Two men were standing sentry at the entrance to the largest house on the square, next to the fort. They snapped to attention as they saw Taghri approaching. He acknowledged their salutes.

  “Where is he?”

  “Upstairs to the top floor, sir, and to the right.”

  The priestesses followed him as he climbed two long flights of stairs, passing an intermediate floor. At the head of the stairs he turned right, as instructed, to where lamplight showed through an open door. Inside were two more sentries, standing against the wall, staring impassively at an older man, writhing feebly on a formerly richly colored and embroidered, but now blood-soaked carpet. No-one was attending him.

  “Abu Reis?” Taghri demanded unceremoniously.

  “I… yes… I am… who the devil are you?”

  “I’m Taghri.”

  “You! You… murdered my son Sidi…”

  “I didn’t murder him. He tried to murder me. I killed him for doing so, just as I helped kill your other two sons when you attacked Malik Dregat. Now it’s your turn.”

  “Go ahead… curse you… kill me… get it… over with!”

  Taghri looked at the two guards. “Outside, and close the door behind you.”

  “Aye, sir!” “Yessir!” The two hurried out.

  “Thank you, young man,” the Prioress acknowledged. “Look on the balcony, would you? See whether there are ravens on the railing.”

  “Ravens?” Puzzled, Taghri crossed to the outer door and looked out. “Yes, there’s a whole row of them.”

  “Excellent! The Goddess is watching us. They are her sign. Sister Hanifa?”

  The priestess drew the purloined sacrificial knife from her waistband. “Do you recognize this, Abu Reis?”

  The dying man stared up at the stained blade. “It is… my talisman!”

  “Not your talisman. It was our Goddess’s before you stole it, and she has reclaimed it. You dishonored and murdered our priestesses and sisters who were bearing it to its new temple. Now the time has come to pay for your crimes. In doing so, you will purge this knife of the pollution you laid upon it, and restore it to the service of Kokat.”

  “Curse you… for an old fool… there are no gods… nor goddesses either!”

  “You are about to find out how wrong you are.”

  Hanifa bent, and with a swift stroke thrust the knife hilt-deep up through Abu Reis’ ribs into his heart. He stiffened, screaming aloud in torment, smoke rising from the wound as the knife seemed to vibrate in his chest. She held it there for a moment, then withdrew it. A puff of smoke emerged from the pirate’s chest, and he shuddered, eyes wide with horror. “No… no!” he cried; then his eyes glazed, and his body slumped.

  “See, the Goddess has accepted our sacrifice!” Hanifa exclaimed. She held up the knife. All the discoloration had vanished from the blade. It had been restored to bright gleaming steel, as fresh as if it had just come from its maker’s polishing wheel. There was no blood on the blade or hilt, either, no sign that it had just taken a life.

  Taghri shivered inwardly. There was a power at work here he did not understand, and could not control – enough to make any soldier afraid. He tried to mask his feelings as he said, “Has it been cleansed, then?”

  “It has. We shall use it to found a new Temple of Kokat when the opportunity arises.”

  “How about right here? You know what I intend to do with this place, Mother Prioress. There are no temples here to any gods or goddesses. I want to establish at least three right away; to Hobal, god of war, to Suhal, god of the waters, and to Kokat, who helped us so much to take this place. You’ll obviously want to select the site to build your temple. Meanwhile, I’ll have a house in the village cleared and furnished as a temporary home for your sisters. Just tell me what you need in it.”

  The Prioress favored him with a smile. “We accept with gratitude. It will be for our Council to decide who will be Prioress here, and who will be sent with her to found our new Temple. I shall inform them at once.”

  “Thank you, Mother. Ah… if I speak with the ravens outside, will they understand me?”

  “You are learning, my son. Yes, they will understand. They are Kokat’s children, after all.”

  “Thank you. Will you please come with me, as a witness for Kokat to what I have to say to them?”

  The Prioress took his arm, and accompanied him onto the balcony. The row of big black birds stared up at them.

  Taghri cleared his throat. “I’m mindful of all I owe Kokat, and the aid you’ve given me. I’m told there are no ravens living in these mountains, but I don’t know why. If it’s a matter of the right sort of shelter for your nests, or not enough food, I can solve that easily enough. I’d be grateful if some of your kind would make their homes here among us. You’ll be honored and protected. A new Temple of Kokat will be built here as soon as her Order has made the arrangements, and it will be good for her priestesses to have you around.”

  The birds’ heads all turned as they looked to one of their number, a larger, older bird. He stared at Taghri, then nodded once, deliberately, and cawed stridently.

  “He agrees, on behalf of his people,” the Prioress said softly.

  “Thank you.” Taghri half-bowed to
the raven. “I must leave soon – there’s a vast amount to be done – but I’ll be back within a month or so. If you’ll prepare those of your people who will come here to be ready by then, we’ll see what we can do to make you comfortable, right from the start. We’ll even name this place for you. Gaidah is a name now tainted by evil. I shall rename this town Ravenskeep, to honor you for your help, and cleanse its reputation.”

  The bird seemed to nod again, almost a half-bow. He spread his wings, and launched himself from the railing. As he flew upward into the night sky, the moonlight seemed to intensify around his black feathers, outlining him against the stars. He flew over the fort, and continued along the mountainside for almost half a mile before landing on a tall rock outcropping, jutting out of a cliff face. Taghri could see him clearly, glowing in the darkness, even so far away.

  “What is he doing?” he asked.

  “Have you forgotten, my son?” the Prioress asked softly. “Look for the raven out of place. You will see it three times. Each time you do, follow, and you will find what you seek. I think he is telling you something. Go to that place in the morning, when there is enough light, and see what you find there.”

  “I shall, Mother.”

  She sighed. “Well, all is done, and well done. I think our Goddess continues to be pleased with you. Be sure she has plans for your future, too.”

  He grinned. “Is it safe to say, that’s what worries me?”

  Laughing, the three priestesses accompanied him down the stairs.

  23

  “And what did you find when you followed the raven?” Gulbahar demanded, her eyes alight with excitement.

  “Yes, tell us! Don’t leave us in suspense!” her mother urged, sitting forward in her chair.

  Taghri smiled. “There was so much to do to sort out the aftermath of the assault, I didn’t go there until late afternoon. Beyond the outcropping, there was a small hidden hollow. At first I couldn’t see anything of interest there, but the raven reappeared. He hopped over to a cliff face and pecked at it. When I looked more closely, I could see a raised piece of rock. I pushed it, and a small door opened in the cliff face. I went inside, and found a cave filled with boxes, sacks and chests. They held over ten thousand diracs in coin, jewelry and other treasures – about two-thirds as much as there was in Abu Reis’ treasury in the fort. I think he’d been building up a private store of loot that even his sons didn’t know about, for some reason only he knew.”

  “What did you do with it?” Dregat demanded. “Where is it now?”

  “I left it where I found it, your majesty. It’ll be safe enough there for the time being. We’ve already recovered enough loot to make this venture profitable for everyone who contributed. It’ll pay out at three-to-one, a very fair return for a six-month investment. On the other hand, a great deal of money will be needed to develop Ravenskeep into a self-supporting state and shipbuilding port to be proud of. It seems to me Abu Reis’ secret hoard will be better spent if it’s reserved for that purpose, rather than distributed.”

  “Aha!” Dregat smacked his knee with his hand. “So that’s what you’re up to!”

  Taghri smiled. “Actually, your majesty, it’s what we’re up to. I offer you the bay and town of Ravenskeep, to be a possession and extension of the Kingdom of Kalba. In return, I ask that you accept me as a citizen of Kalba, and appoint me as the first Governor of Ravenskeep, in an appropriate rank for the position.”

  Dregat looked at him narrowly. “I’m grateful for your offer, of course, but I have to point out that it’ll be easy enough for you to declare yourself its ruler, and run it as an independent principality. Why not do that?”

  Taghri shrugged. “Three reasons, your majesty. First, no-one will trust or have dealings with a new state originally built on the foundations of piracy. It’ll take years to prove I’m different from Abu Reis, and establish a better reputation for Ravenskeep. During that time, it’ll be hard to make money there honestly. Settlers won’t want to live there, and businesses won’t want to invest. If Ravenskeep becomes part of the Kingdom of Kalba, that problem goes away overnight.

  “Second, on its own, it’ll be an inviting target to every other small principality out there. I took it with a few hundred men and five ships, only one of them a proper fighting vessel. Anyone else with an eye to expand could do the same. I’d have to be constantly on my guard against that, and keep enough men and ships under arms to defend Ravenskeep. I don’t think I could afford to do that out of its own resources alone – not and build it up, too. On the other hand, Kalba has a reputation for defending itself vigorously, and I’ve developed some small reputation along the same lines. If we join forces, no-one in their right minds will target Ravenskeep.

  “Finally, the whole purpose of taking the place was to clear the way for me to marry Gulbahar. It’s the only reason I did it. If I give it to you, more than doubling your kingdom’s size, can anyone, including other noble and royal suitors, truly argue that I haven’t rendered Kalba a service worthy of the future Malika’s hand in marriage?”

  Dregat’s face broke into a broad smile. “I don’t think anyone can possibly argue that. You’re right in your other reasons, too. Besides, it makes good sense for us. Kalba is very short of space for its businesses to expand, and a growing number of young people can’t buy or build homes of their own, because there’s no room for them. I foresee many of them moving to Ravenskeep. It won’t be a burden for us – it’ll be a wonderful opportunity. The distance between here and there won’t matter. It’s only a day’s sail, or two days in contrary weather, and we’re a seafaring nation.”

  “But what will the Sultan say?” Adila asked. “How will you get him to approve your becoming a citizen of Kalba? Will you renounce your citizenship in the Sultanate?”

  “I don’t know about my citizenship there, but I’m about to send him another very large tax payment – the second he’s had from me within a year. I think that ought to please him enough that he’ll let me become a citizen here, and a noble of Kalba, without too much difficulty. The prospect of future trade between Alconteral, Kalba and Ravenskeep should also be an incentive. If you think it wise, I can even send him a selection of Abu Reis’ jewelry, as a sort of bribe.”

  The Malik’s wife giggled. “Bribes are terribly low-class. Call it a diplomatic gift.” They all chuckled.

  Dregat asked, “You’ll be starting your new shipyard at Ravenskeep, then, in partnership with Zulfiqar?”

  “I hope so, yes, your majesty. There’s also been an approach from a shipbuilding family in Sarut. They’d like to invest in a shipyard, and perhaps even become partners. If Zulfiqar and I agree on terms with them, they’ll contribute a great deal to the enterprise, particularly building chebecs and other modern ships there. What’s more, there’s a lot of land that can be used for farming. It needs only water, and there are several sites in the mountains where dams can be built. Feringhi labor can help with that, and Abu Reis’ secret treasury can pay for them. Businesses will pay for their own expansion, of course, and they’ll bring in customs and tax revenues to support Ravenskeep. I daresay there’s many years’ work ahead, to develop the place into all it can become.”

  Dregat nodded firmly, decisively. “We’ll tackle it all, one day at a time. Young man, the more I see of you, the more grateful I am that the gods brought you into our lives in so dramatic a fashion. I think we’ll achieve great things together. Yes, I accept your gift, with grateful thanks. It’s our tradition that there are only six Emirs of Kalba, but you’ll be the first Emir of Ravenskeep, which neatly sidesteps that problem. I’ll ennoble you at tomorrow’s public audience, and appoint you its first Governor, answering to the throne here. We’ll announce your betrothal to Gulbahar at the same time.” His eldest daughter couldn’t restrain a wriggle of sheer delight as she beamed at him.

  “I also approve of your plans for Abu Reis’ secret treasury. Let’s use it to begin transforming the former Bay of Gaidah into something that’s a
credit to the Kingdom of Kalba. It’ll give us a head start on the process, without needing to increase taxes for the purpose.” He grinned. “Besides, as you say, those who invested in your venture will get more than enough of a return as it is. Our two-hundred-daric contribution is about to multiply threefold, which will delight my Treasury Minister. That’s equivalent to a third of our annual customs and tax revenues.”

  Taghri nodded, smiling. His own wealth would multiply just as greatly, thanks to his investment in the venture. He’d get it back threefold – plus, of course, his one-sixth commander’s share as well. That would be enough to make him one of the richest men in any country in the area.

  I’ll have to keep the true extent of my wealth a secret, he thought. It’ll be enough to make enemies, merely out of envy over its existence. I’ll use some of it to build the three temples. I can afford to build really nice ones, using the best materials. They’ll be a credit to Ravenskeep, as well as their gods and goddesses. That’ll be a worthwhile thanksgiving offering from Gulbahar and I, for our wedding.

  “There’s another thing, your majesty,” he added. “I pickled the head of Abu Reis in a jar, and brought it with me. I thought you might like to add it to his sons’ heads over your felon’s gate.”

  The Malik slapped his thigh gleefully. “Ha! Excellent! Yes, it’ll complete the set nicely. His sons’ skulls have long since been picked clean by our birds. I daresay it won’t take long for them to do the same to his. I’ll have to think of an appropriate way to display them more permanently, for posterity’s sake.”

  Servants came in, summoned by a bell, to remove the remains of the private supper they’d enjoyed in Kalba’s Royal Palace. As they left, Adila sat forward. “Can we use this to help Gulbahar’s ladies-in-waiting? They’re still in Alconteral. What if they return to Ravenskeep, instead of here? She’ll be living there with you, at least for the first few years of your marriage. I imagine a place like that might establish its own minor ranks of nobility in due course, nominated by its Emir and confirmed by the Malik of Kalba. Could we find husbands for them who’ll be given minor titles in Ravenskeep? That would protect the girls’ reputations, and allow them to marry a noble as their rank requires, and satisfy their families.”