Chapter 19: On The Road Again

Every man in Arragin's army seemed to know his job. By the next evening, it seemed to Jewel like their encampment looked like it had always been there. Tents had been set up in even rows, and events were running as smoothly as though they had been rehearsed. Another day, and the contents of the pack train were being put to good use.

"Siege engines!" Neal marvelled. "For a culture that doesn't use the wheel, they're doing all right."

"We know of the wheel," Amy answered. "It's just not needed all that much outside of the cities. Our land is heavily forested, with steep ridges and marshy valleys. We can move most of our goods more easily by pack beasts and on boats, and it costs too much to build good roads."

They were watching a squad of soldiers at work. A slender tree had been cut down, limbed, and dragged to a point close to the walls of the city. Stopping well out of spearcasting range, they had already built a log framework filled with boulders. The tree trunk was laid across it, the butt end pointing at the city, and lashed into place on the weighted framework. When it was solidly placed, the slender top was bent back and released. The treetrunk rose in a swift arc, hurling a smaller rock well into the city across the masonry wall.

"Too far," Jewel commented.

"What do you mean?" Neal looked surprised. "It landed in the city, didn't it?"

"Wait and see. The next one should just about reach the city wall."

She was right. The next stone landed just at the base of the wall, and the one after that struck about half way up.

"They just want to break down Chammar's defenses," she explained. "Not tear down the whole city. Arragin wants to cause as little destruction and make as few enemies as possible. The people still have to be able to live here after the fighting is over, and too much destruction would raise the King's anger against him."

The bombardment increased steadily as more catapults were built. Stones banged against the city's walls from all sides, the strength of the bombardment limited only by the difficulty of finding enough stones of the right size within easy hauling distance. By nightfall, sections of the wall were showing signs of damage, great cracks and gouges where blocks of stone had crumbled and fallen away.

"Trader, a word with you," Arragin's voice summoned from the gathering twilight. "Bring your two helpers with you, as well."

Wondering, they approached his fire. Prince Arragin stood between the fire and his tent, confronting two townspeople.

"These people claim to have some influence in Chammar." Arragin's voice and expression conveyed a blend of disapproval and wary amusement. "I had thought that you might know something of them, having been in the city but recently."

The woman was tall and slender, perhaps half a head shorter than Amy. The man was considerably shorter, and heavy.

"Greetings, trader from beyond the mountains." Jewel hadn't recognized the woman until she spoke, dressed as she was in the garb of an ordinary housewife of the town. "I hear that you have had an interesting journey."

"Why, it's the Elder Sister," Neal exclaimed. "And the good innkeeper, Mulgrub."

"So, you do recognize them," Arragin sneered. "Perhaps you can also guess how they escaped so easily from the guards on the walls of Chammar, and even what their mission is."

"I can guess how they got out of there easily enough," Neal answered calmly. "There are ways in and out of Chammar that are unknown to Captain Torvash. As to their mission, that would also seem obvious. They have come to offer aid to you in one form or another, in exchange for your support. Or, at least, your tolerance. I'm sure that it would be to their advantage to have a friend in high places in these troubled times."

"Very good guessing, if guessing it is," Arragin sneered, wrinkling his upper lip in distaste at the pair of emissaries. "All right, then. What can you do for me, and what do you want in return?"

"I can lead a small party of soldiers within the walls of Chammar," the High Priestess answered calmly. "As Nurm has guessed, the reward that I seek is your friendship. If not friendship, then at least support. If you cannot give me even that, then perhaps merely your tolerance in the tumultuous days to come. The Goddess cares not for war and soldiers, whichever side they are on. She is the friend of the common people, the farmers and merchants and ordinary workers, but there comes a time when even She must take sides."

"And what guarantees would you have me give?" Jewel watched with interest mingled with apprehension as Arragin put the question to the High Priestess.

"Your spoken word alone. What more proof can I ask for, that would hold good for more than a day? No, anything you put in writing could be used as a most potent weapon against you if it fell into the hands of your enemies. If your spoken word is not good, can your written word be any better? I will not even ask you to swear on either God or Goddess, since I know how little faith you place in their power."

For a moment, Jewel thought that Arragin might be at a loss for words as he studied the face of the priestess, then a wry chuckle escaped his lips, expanding into outright laughter for the first time in her knowledge.

"All right, my word it is. Not that my enemies, nor even many of my friends would place much credence in it. My tolerance, then, perhaps even my good will is Hers. Hers until it profits me to forget this small favor. Will that much satisfy you?"

"Well enough." Jewel thought that a faint answering smile moved along the High Priestess's lips, but in the flickering firelight she couldn't be sure.

"We'll attack at dawn," Arragin decided. "You will lead a small force within the city, perhaps two or three squads will be enough to open the gates from within, but your innkeeper friend will stay here as assurance of your good will." He proceeded to issue orders to be passed on to his men. A subdued murmur arose from the camp as soldiers were roused from their toobrief sleep, and commands were passed back and forth in whispers. Fires remained banked, so as not to give the city's defenders any warning, and several squads of picked men were sent off into the darkness with the High Priestess.

"You will stay here by my side," Arragin snapped as Neal moved a little farther from the fire. "I want you where I can keep my eye on you."

With a slight toss of her head, Jewel led Amy a few dozen paces back into the darkness.

"See if you can find Jal," she whispered, and Amy slipped away. She was back in a few moments, followed by Jal's looming shadow.

"What's up?" His whisper couldn't have been heard more than a couple of paces away.

"Will your squad be sent into the fighting?"

"Not right away." He glanced around uneasily, but nobody seemed to be watching. "Me and my squad are assigned to the reserve force. We won't be called on until after the first bit of fighting, at least. What's the problem?"

"Right now, I just need someone to keep an eye out for trouble. Once the fighting begins, I'll need more than that. We have to get out of here, and I don't think that Arragin will like it one bit when we head for the woods without saying goodbye." She shook her head, as though to brush away a troubling thought. "We'll be heading straight north at first, and then angling off to the east. We need to go back where we came from, and we don't have much time left."

"Amy, too?"

"Yes, she's going back with us."

"Oh, well. That's life. Any chance of you needing a few good men along the way, or after you get there?"

"Afraid not. Not after the first day or two. You probably wouldn't like it back there, anyway. No farms, and no fighting. Or not the kind you're used to, of either one. When and if we come back, though, that's a different story."

"We'll hope that you make it back here, then. Life is at least interesting with you folks around. All right, I'll stay on the alert. If the chance shows up, we'll get you away from here."

He faded back into the shadows, and Jewel moved back toward the fire. Neal glanced her way, lifting an inquiring eyebrow, and she nodded her reply. They had discussed this, and what alternatives their plans might hold, and he'd known pretty well what she was up to.

Jewel's nerves wound ever tighter as the night seemed to stretch into eternity. She wished, not for the first time, that this world had a moon, and she could only try to tell time by the slowwheeling stars that clustered so richly across the ebon sky. The legends Amy had told them as they sat by their campfires had taught her the names of many of the strange constellations, but they were hard to pick out. There were just too many stars in the skies of Khamus, and the patterns blended into one another...

The sky in the east was barely streaked with palest rose as the forefront of Arragin's army moved silently toward the city. From where she and Amy watched, behind and slightly to the left of the low knoll where Arragin and Neal waited, she had a clear view of the town's gates. Arragin had been taking his ease in a folding camp chair, but got to his feet and paced nervously as his army started to move. The plan was that when the gates were secured, a signal horn would be blown. The whole world seemed to hush, to hold itself in readiness for the violence that was yet to come.

Jewel never did get a clear idea of just what went wrong, but suddenly there was a burst of noise from within the city. The heavy timbered gates swung open and ranks of soldiers poured out, trumpets blaring. Arragin's forces were caught by surprise, wavering as though they were undecided whether to attack or fall back, when there was a fresh burst of sound from inside the city. Now it was the city's forces who wavered, rear ranks turning back as though to defend themselves against attack, while those in front kept on coming.