Chapter 36

That night and the next three days were a nightmare, particularly for me and my mates. Unfortunately there was nothing I could do to change it.

Lord Omar was different after the battle. In a way his new demeanour took me by surprise. The man who had just wanted the conflict over with was gone and the triumphal ruler had taken his place. He relished the fawning of his favourites and welcomed the treasure that I'd brought him from the battlefield. Greedily he ran his hands over the golden baubles and bejewelled accoutrements that had been taken from King Argo's tent. The only thing he would not touch was the blood stained circlet that had been the man's crown. This he declared was to be mine in acknowledgement that I had brought about the death of two Minoan kings. Humbly I had accepted it.

The next day was even worse. Lord Omar wanted a triumphal return to Izmir regardless of the fact that most of the men were tired and that the distance to the city would preclude us reaching it that day. At his command men formed up upon the main road to Izmir. He summoned his military advisors and his Captain of the Horse and put them in charge. The horse would lead the march followed by the troops from Izmir who had not left yet. After them the men from Oak Hall and Blue Harbour formed up under the leadership of Elsa Mueller and Chester. They would be followed by the wagon train hauling back the ballistae, the onagers, the provision wagons, and any wounded that hadn't been sent back to the city for care. Behind them would follow the prisoners and their guard.

Of course we rode ahead. Lord Omar decided that he would spend the night at a villa near the outskirts of the city and he invited me and my mates to join him. Willingly I accepted knowing that the march back would take all day and that the returning men would end up camping outside the city walls that night so that Lord Omar could have his spectacle in the morning. While we rode, Lord Omar drew me into conversation.

"So my young friend," he said to me after we'd ridden for half an hour or so, "what plans do you have for the future?"

"I'll be returning to Oak Hall," I said without hesitation, offering nothing else in reply.

"Yes," Lord Omar acknowledged with a hint of irritation, "I know that, but what then?"

"I need to speak to Lord Barnabas first," I replied sensing that the man was fishing for something, "but then I must return to my travels. Most likely I will take up the search for Nimue's sister. Nimue hasn't felt her since the bastards kidnapped her, but I'm not worried about that. In the last couple of days I've thought of a way to find Dindraine. Hopefully it will work."

"Really?" Lord Omar stated with a look of surprise appearing on his face.

"Yes," I replied with firmness, "really."

That silenced Lord Omar for a moment or two, though from the expression on his face I knew he was mulling something over in his head. Then he spoke again.

"I was wondering what it would take to claim Minos," Lord Omar admitted bluntly, "considering that you've destroyed their navy and the majority of their maritime capability and you killed off two of their kings and have eliminated over two thousand of their fighting men and sailors."

"It would take too much," I answered him with equal bluntness, gazing over at him firmly as I spoke, "at least right now. Even stripped of their navy and the men that we've killed and captured, the Kingdom of Minos is stronger than the combined might of the alliance. With luck we could capture the place but I doubt that we could hold it and our own lands for any length of time. You must remember that there are other city states within a week's travel of Izmir who might take an interest in your city if your troops are elsewhere. I think that for now we should concentrate on consolidating what we have and then when we are stronger, we can look elsewhere if need be."

Again Lord Omar fell silent for a few moments as he mulled over what I had said to him while we continued on towards the villa. Silently I wished that he'd drop the subject. Personally I had no desire to rule Minos, even if it was possible and I knew it wasn't. I had other desires with surviving the year being paramount in my plans.

"We could keep them off balance though," Lord Omar suggested a few minutes later, "by raiding them like the Sea Wolves of my world."

Now it was my turn to think about what the man was saying. While I had no interest in returning to Minos and ruling it, raiding the coastal cities and the outlying farms might be worth the effort. At the minimum it would tie down any troops they still had in a defensive posture allowing the alliance to do as we pleased without worrying about a pending invasion. It would also allow the alliance to liberate more outworlder slaves who would boost our population and strengthen our own capabilities given time and training. Still it worried me that Lord Omar was interested in taking a more aggressive stance towards the Minoans. In the brief time I'd known him, I had never gotten the idea that he was militaristic in nature. I wondered what had changed him. I'd have to talk to Barnabas about him. In the meantime he was still waiting for my answer.

"It's a thought to consider," I told him in a tentative manner, "and one to talk about later. I still have to consider my mission and finding Nimue's sister. However I can see the merit in conducting a raid or two against Minos, especially if the raids eliminate the Minoan's ability to retaliate."

"Good," Lord Omar responded enthusiastically, a grin upon his lips. "We will talk about this some more at a later date. For now just think about it my young friend. I'm certain that in time you will see the wisdom of such actions."

I said nothing in return. Instead I just nodded my head and kept my face as non committal as possible. Thankfully Lord Omar let the matter drop. Unfortunately he had other things that he wanted to talk about before we got back to the city, such as the fate of the prisoners taken both on land and at sea, and the division of spoils. For the next while I rode beside him stone faced and uncommitted as his lordship rattled on about what he wanted for the price Izmir had paid in this conflict. Silently I wondered once more at the change in the man.

We rode into Izmir the next morning with Lord Omar at the head of the army and his allies riding behind him. Elsa Mueller rode between Chester and I and like us she wasn't impressed. Behind us came my mates and then the troops.

Trumpets heralded our return. They rang out over the city and the port summoning the people of Izmir into the streets to greet us. When the massive gates opened to let us through, I noticed that upon the ramparts overlooking the road stood Asana. She waved enthusiastically at her father and at me and we waved back. I noted that Asana was not alone on the wall. With her stood the wives and daughters of many of the leading men of the city who had ridden out with Lord Omar. They too waved silken scarves at their returning men and cheered heartily as we moved through the gates and down the road into the city. Samira was there as well, standing silently beside Asana. Her face was pale and I wondered what she was thinking. I'd learn the answer later that day.

The men of Oak Hall and Blue Harbour marched down to the harbour once the procession had passed by the assembled population of the city. The majority would sail later in the day with the men of Oak Hall returning home by tonight. Before they left I would speak to them. In particular I would talk to Elsa Mueller. Her own behaviour during the procession told me that she too was not impressed with our host.

I did get to speak to Elsa before she sailed and I did speak to Samira. Elsa agreed with me that Lord Omar deserved closer watching in the coming months. She felt that the victory over the Minoans had imbued him with thoughts of grandeur and conquest that needed to be controlled. She promised to pass on my doubts to Lord Barnabas and to Chester. As for Samira, her concerns were equally disturbing.

"My lord," she said to me when I came upon her later that day, "I beg the right to speak to you in confidence."

The young woman was kneeling before me as she spoke and her face was pale and strained and her manner was very serious. I nodded my assent and begged her to rise up and tell me her concerns.

"No my lord," Samira replied shaking her head, "for I am your slave and I know my place even when we are alone. You are a kind master as are your mates and for that I respect you even more, and while you often grant me kindnesses, today I must lower myself before you and beg your favour when I know I have no right to do so."

I sighed at hearing that. The young woman had changed greatly in the brief few weeks that she'd been my captive and I appreciated that. She had bent her knee willingly in service to me and my mates when others of her station would have baulked. Still I did not view her as a slave. In fact I still thought of her as a hostage and my guest, although I knew in time even that relationship would change and she would probably become something more. For now however I gave in to her whim.

"Speak Samira of Minos," I told her in a low voice, "and tell me what you wish of me."

"My people," Samira said bluntly. "I saw the men of Minos in chains being led into the city from the top of the great gate. There were so few left and the sight pained my heart. The Lady Asana told me that all would become slaves of Izmir and I shuddered at that thought. I know it's the fate of the defeated and accept that. The people of Minos have long kept slaves and those men knew what their fate would be upon failure long before they left Helios and the other cities of Minos. Still I beg you to treat them as you have treated me."

"I cannot free them," I told Samira with a sigh, "and you must resign yourself to their fate. Lord Omar will use them as he wishes. Some might be sold to other city states but most will be kept by Izmir to work the lands to the east that Izmir will be moving into."

"Still my lord," Samira said in a pleading manner, "you could save them from this fate. I sense that people of Izmir will desire revenge beyond what is due for this conflict and will mistreat my people. If you bought them and took them to Oak Hall and made use of them there, I am certain that their captivity would be kinder there instead of here."

"You may be right," I said bluntly, "but it will not happen."

"But my lord," Samira cried out in protest, looking up at me with saddened eyes.

"No Samira," I told her firmly, "and you will listen to me as to why it cannot happen. The fact is that amongst the people now living at Oak Hall are men and women who were slaves of your people and they will act no differently towards these men than the people of Izmir. Their hearts are still pained with the memory of their suffering and for me to offer compassion to men who were once their masters and overlords would cause unrest and that is something that neither Lord Barnabas nor I desire. You are kind hearted, but you must accept the fate waiting for the men of Minos. There is nothing that I can do for them."

"But my lord," Samira pleaded, "what of the sailors that you offered quarter. Will you give them to Lord Omar as well or will you set them free?"

Samira had me on that one. I had given quarter to roughly thirty Minoan sailors. When I had captured them originally, my intent was to set them free so that they could return to Minos and spread the word that fighting the alliance was a futile act. Now Lord Omar wanted them as well.

"I will have to think about that Samira," I told the young woman honestly, although my voice was heavy with resignation that told her there was little hope for the men of Minos.

"In truth," I continued before she could plead with me again, "there is little that I can do for the men captured on the field of battle. Lord Omar wants them and I know for a fact that neither Lord Barnabas nor Lord Tailem needs them. Both men have enough problems in their cities to worry about a group of hostile slaves. However, you are right about the men I captured at sea. At least thirty were taken with the promise of quarter and I intend to honour that promise. What I do with them is another matter and not something I am ready to discuss right now. I appreciate your appeal and will try to do my best for these people, but in turn you must accept that most will serve out their days as slaves and there is little that you can do about that."

"I understand my lord," Samira replied bowing her head as she did, "but I am grateful that you heard me out and that you have promised to do your best."

In the end Lord Omar conceded to my view of things, as to how the spoils were to be divided, especially when I chose to be generous to the man. We had captured three biremes and four smaller craft that had survived the bombardment inflicted upon the vessels that had been beached. I offered Lord Omar one of the transports and the four smaller craft. He accepted them eagerly. I would keep the captured warship for Lord Barnabas and give the other transport to Blue Harbour. As well I offered a third of the treasure that we'd taken from the transports. It was in fact a sizeable amount of gold and silver. I don't know if it was the pay promised the men of Minos for their services or King Argo's war chest brought along in case he needed funds during a lengthy siege but it was certainly enough to sate the avarice of most men. I also offered him all the weapons and supplies taken from the battlefield. Again he accepted these items willingly. As for the captured men, I kept the men captured at sea. The ones who had been picked up after their ships had been sank I gave to Blue Harbour to do with as they pleased. They could keep them or sell them to recoup their costs in coming to the aid of Izmir. The rest including the men I had offered quarter to I kept for Oak Hall. They would become indentured servants. It was the best I could offer them. Hopefully they would appreciate that. Only time would tell. As for the horses off the two transports, I kept them all.

We left the next morning aboard the Windrunner sailing with the two Minoan biremes and the slaves that I demanded. We left after one last chat with Lord Omar. Again he raised the idea of raiding the cities of Minos and again I promised him that I would think about it. The conversation left a bad taste in my mouth and in the end I was forced to make his lordship a promise. I told him that I would look at the issue in detail on my return to Oak Hall and that within two weeks I would submit to him a plan that could be implemented either by the alliance together or by Izmir itself. It seemed to satisfy him. Still the change in Lord Omar bothered me and while the hairs on the back of my neck did not stand on end, I didn't feel relaxed until we were at sea once again.

That night we feasted in the great hall of Lord Barnabas and once more celebrated our victory over Minos. Many found pleasure in it, particularly the ex-slaves from Minos. Unfortunately I couldn't. After awhile I slipped away with Elsa Mueller and Lord Barnabas and we retired to his private office to chat.

"Can you explain to me what has happened to Lord Omar," I asked the old man bluntly, once we were all seated with drinks in our hands. "It's almost as if he is a different man."

"I agree," Elsa interjected just as bluntly, the concern on her face visible for both of us to see. "I know that I've only interacted with him for the last month but the man we left in Izmir isn't the same man that I joined a few days ago. He changed over night."

"I see," Barnabas said in a tired voice. As he spoke he nodded his head thoughtfully. The look on his face was distant and sad and slightly worried. For a moment he said nothing else. He simply stared out into space as if thinking about something. Patiently Elsa and I waited for him to say more.