Clash Of Empires

Chapter 4

The morning after Trella and Eskkar met with the kings of Isin and Sumer, another meeting took place, this one in the upper room of the Compound. There private matters could be discussed without worrying about anyone overhearing.

“Welcome, Alcinor.” Trella motioned their visitor to a seat across the table. “We didn’t expect you back so soon.”

Tall and thin, with hunched shoulders that emphasized a narrow face beneath a serious brow, Alcinor did not resemble someone raised in a wealthy family. He looked more like some over-worked apprentice, one who rarely received enough to eat. Nevertheless, in his twenty-eight seasons, the oldest son of Noble Corio had already faced danger once before, when he had traveled with Eskkar’s army and participated in the Battle of Isin.

“Always good to see you.” Eskkar smiled as he took his seat, facing their visitor.

Trella noted the warmth of Eskkar’s greeting. Her husband had not smiled much in the last few days, but a special bond existed between Eskkar and Alcinor. The two men had fought together, after a fashion, during the conflict.

Not that Alcinor had ever swung a sword at anyone in anger. His weapon at the Battle of Isin had been a shovel, or rather, hundreds of them. Alcinor’s threat to flood the city of Isin had forced King Naxos out of the battle, and out of the war.

And Eskkar, Trella knew, placed great value on such bonds. Any man, he’d often said, who fought at your side deserves to be treated as a friend.

Alcinor bowed as he sat. “Lady Trella, Lord Eskkar, it is good to be back in Akkad.”

“You must be weary after your long journey,” Trella said. “You could have waited until tomorrow to see us.”

Alcinor’s face turned somber. “No, I dared not waste a moment.” He took a deep breath. “I must report what I discovered in the Jkarian Pass.”

Two months ago, Trella had dispatched the young man to the Jkarian Pass, the northern passage to the lands of the Indus. According to her spies, the Elamites planned to send a major cavalry force through the old trade route, to harry Akkad’s northern borders and cut supply lines to the besieged city. Such havoc would be devastating to the farms and small villages in that region, not to mention Eskkar’s plan to defend the city.

She had tasked Alcinor with finding a defensible place where a few men might hold back the coming invaders, at least until Eskkar could free up enough soldiers to deal with them. From the signs of unease on his face, Trella knew he had failed.

Eskkar, too, recognized Alcinor’s expression, and his smile faded. “You did not find a suitable site?”

“No, my Lord.” Alcinor took a deep breath. “I traveled the length of the pass, nearly all the way through the mountains, almost to the lands of the Indus. I mapped the route, and identified several places where the Pass might be defended. I even retraced my steps several times, just to be certain. But each defensible position I found would require a large force of men. I calculated it would take at least two or three thousand soldiers.”

Trella watched her husband’s shoulders slump. For almost a year, a key component of Eskkar’s plan to stop the Elamite invasion depended on holding the Jkarian Pass with a small force. Now Alcinor was saying it couldn’t be done.

She knew her husband did not have an extra two thousand men, let alone three thousand. Not to mention the vast amount of supplies needed to support such an army at that distance from the City, or the fact that the Elamites would be sending at least five or six thousand men through the Pass. Every man Akkad could raise and outfit would be needed elsewhere to repel the main invasion.

Eskkar broke the silence. “I suppose we’ll have to find the men somewhere.”

Trella, however, had detected something else in Alcinor’s demeanor. She leaned forward, her gaze fixed on her visitor. “What else did you find, Alcinor?”

Alcinor hesitated. “There is one place. . I found one place where it might be possible to close the pass. Permanently.”

Aware of the young man’s nervousness, Trella leaned closer even as she allowed herself a glimmer of hope. “And how would you do that, Master Engineer?”

She used the formal and recently invented title for their guest. In the almost ten years that had passed since the Battle of Isin, Alcinor had become the most famous and skilled of all the builders in Akkad. He’d even surpassed his father, Corio, who had built the great wall that saved the City — it was still a village back then — from the first barbarian invasion by the Alur Meriki.

Both father and his apprentice son had learned much about the construction of large and complicated structures from that enterprise. Afterwards, Alcinor helped design and build Akkad’s newest walls, gates, towers, and fortifications. In so doing, he showed such skill that he soon earned an even greater accolade than any his father ever received.

In the ensuing years, Akkad’s other builders and master craftsmen used a new title to describe him — Engineer. The word came to mean someone who understood not only how to build structures, but who also delved into the study of all materials, and understood how they worked together.

Over the years, Trella had observed with interest as Alcinor developed more efficient ways to utilize wood, stone, and even the omnipresent mud bricks. He had already discovered several new techniques that permitted the building of higher and stronger structures, and had created standards of measurements now used by almost all the builders in the land. Even more important, Alcinor possessed a special skill that allowed him to imagine something new, and transform that mental picture into a physical reality.

Alcinor lifted his eyes, and put aside any misgivings. “Rather than waste men trying to defend the Jkarian Pass, I think we should close it.”

Eskkar’s mouth opened in surprise, and even Trella seemed at a loss for words.

After Alcinor’s words were spoken, his voice grew more confident. “There is a particular place, just short of the highest point on the western slope, where I believe I can bring down enough of the surrounding cliffs, part of the mountain, really, to close the Pass once and for all.”

Eskkar leaned forward with interest. “What do you mean by close it? A rock slide won’t stop an army for long. With so many men and horses, they could soon clear any blockage.”

“If I can bring down the cliff, it will be much more than a mere landslide. The Jkarian Pass will be choked with large chunks of the mountain itself. No horse, cart, or wagon could climb over such an obstacle. Men with the proper tools and supply animals might be able to clear the debris, but it would take months, perhaps half a year. An army on the move would have none of those things. Of course I will need to return, to study the site more closely, confirm my estimates, and make sure there is not any way to get around the obstacle.”

“And you believe you can seal the Pass long enough to halt the Elamites?” Trella asked the question, but her husband surprised her by answering it.

“When young Master Builder Alcinor claimed he could destroy an entire city, I didn’t really think it could be done, not until I saw the channel dug and the river’s water poised to flow. So now, if he says he can move a mountain to close the Pass, I believe him.”

“Then Akkad’s finest Engineer,” Trella said, “needs only to tell us what he requires to accomplish this feat, and we will supply it.”

Alcinor took a deep breath. “It won’t be easy. I’ll need plenty of men, skilled stone workers. The work will be dangerous, and it is likely that some will be injured or die. Also, I will need a large number of the great logs from the northern steppes. I would have to dispatch Jahiri, my senior apprentice, at once, to purchase exactly what we require, then float the logs down the Tigris. And I must have a large force of laborers and pack animals to transport everything back to the Pass.”

“And soldiers to guard you and your equipment,” Eskkar said. “Well, they can help carry your supplies.”

“All this will cost a great deal,” Alcinor said.

“Whatever it costs,” Trella answered, “will be far less than what it takes to feed and equip three thousand men in the field. You will have whatever is necessary.”

“Then I’ll dispatch Jahiri to the north as soon as possible. He will need several boats, plenty of gold, and an escort to protect both him and the logs.”

“I can have soldiers ready for you within a few days.” Eskkar’s voice now sounded confident, the way it always did at the prospect of action. “Commander Draelin is eager for a new assignment, and he has dealt with the northern tribesmen before. Yavtar can provide however many fighting boats and transport vessels you need.”

“How much gold will you require?” Trella knew the practical details of the operation would fall on her and her clerks.

Alcinor hesitated. “I’m not sure. The usual time of year to purchase the great logs has passed. The tribesmen may want more than their customary demands.”

None of the trees, mostly date palm and willows, that grew in the Land Between the Rivers, possessed the size and strength of timber taken from the northern lands. Nor did the local trees grow as straight and tall as the northern oaks. Akkad’s gates were constructed from such timber floated down the Tigris, as were the beams that supported the upper chamber of Eskkar’s house where the three now sat.

“You will have more than enough.” Trella turned to her husband. “One of my clerks can carry the gold and go with Jahiri. He will need to be protected and guarded as well.”

“Draelin will see to it,” Eskkar said.

“Then as soon as you can provide an escort,” Alcinor said, “I must return to the Jkarian Pass. I’ll stay five or six days at the site, to study the cliffs. As soon as I am certain, one way or the other, I’ll come back.”

Trella reached out and touched Alcinor’s arm. “This is important, Alcinor, even more than you know. Make sure you have everything you require. The Elamites must not be allowed through the Jkarian Pass. We will be stretched thin here at Akkad, and need every soldier we can find.”

Eskkar laughed. “When he built the ditch at Isin, I complained about all the tools and men he demanded. Now, if Alcinor says he can move a mountain to block our enemies, then I believe he will do it. Trella and I will ensure you have everything you demand.”

“I’ll use all my skills to make certain the mountain comes down.”

“And no one must know what you intend,” Trella cautioned. “Your plan must remain a secret for as long as possible.”

“Only Jahiri knows, and Corio, my father.”

Trella nodded in satisfaction. “No man has ever moved a mountain before,” she said. “But if anyone can do it, it will be Akkad’s first and foremost Engineer.”