The Torian Pearls

Chapter 24

A hundred-pound ball of stone plunged out of the sky, to crash into the corner of a house in the Street of the Tailors. Half of the house shivered, sagged, and crumbled in a swelling roar of falling masonry and a billowing cloud of dust. The rescue workers moved toward the ruins, their dust-coated faces drawn, their steps slow and shuffling. Not even the eyes of their queen upon them could make them move swiftly. The siege of Tordas had gone on too long.

Kayarna gentled her horse with one hand and brushed the dust from her face with the other. At least horses no longer bolted at the crash and thunder of the stone-belching Vodi smoke tubes. Many of them were so gaunt they could hardly have had the strength; fodder was running short. A few more days and none of the horses in the city would have the strength to charge. A few days after that, and it would be time to slaughter and eat them. By eating the horses that had once carried its fighting men proudly across the plains, Tordas might last another week or two-if the smoke tubes didn't batter it into ruins first.

Kayarna urged her horse forward. As she did, two riders came trotting out of the dust cloud filling the street ahead and reined in on either side of her. She recognized two of the captains who'd been among the boldest in getting messages in and out of the city.

«Your Majesty,» one of them gasped. «We are lost! The wagon people are advancing upon the city. Their army is in sight from the walls. In another hour they will be joining the Vodi, and then…»

Kayarna cut off the man's babblings with a sharp gesture, although a sickening feeling was rising in her too. If the wagon people had indeed come west to join the Vodi, Tordas had only a few more days to live. For a moment she thought she would be physically ill with despair.

Then she straightened in her saddle. Whatever this meant for Tor, she wanted to see it with her own eyes. «Let us go to the wall,» she said. She spurred her horse forward, and the two pale-faced messengers fell in with her escort to follow her.

Richard Blade climbed to the platform set on top of his command wagon and looked at the scene spread out before him. Visibility was nearly perfect, except where the siege guns belched smoke and their shot threw up clouds of dust. He could see every last detail of the situation in front of him.

On his right rose the battered walls of Tordas, the tops bristling with defenders. A thin line of Vodi mounted on captured Torian horses was thrown completely around the city. These men could watch the gates, intercept messengers, and warn of the Torians trying to come out. They were not strong enough to do much more.

In the center, the Vodi had a strong siege camp, where their heavy guns blazed away at Tordas from behind earthworks. The commanders and the supplies might be in that camp, but the earthworks could make it too tough a nut to crack-unless something was happening elsewhere at the same time, to distract the Vodi.

On the left more tents stretched away in an arc toward the beach, unprotected except by a light palisade of stakes. That was the main camp, where the soldiers lived.

Beyond the camps and camp defenses was the beach and the ships. Many boats and a number of the smaller ships were drawn right up on the shore. The rest were anchored in a ragged line stretching for several miles. The Vodi did not seem to be worrying much about an attack from the sea.

All of this was just as Blade had heard from the reports of his scouts. That was good. He'd made his plans on the basis of those reports, and now he wouldn't have to change anything. With an army like this one, enthusiastic but not well disciplined, the fewer changes of plan the better. Changes of plan also took time, and Tordas could not hold out much longer.

The Vodi didn't seem to be moving out to meet him, although his advanced guard was in plain sight. That was as he'd expected. The Vodi were infantry, and infantry fought cavalry by letting the cavalry come to them. That meant he had the initiative for the time being.

So a quick thrust with his own mounted men, to scatter the Vodi watching the gates. That would link up with the Torians, and perhaps draw the Vodi into a hasty move. Once the Torians and their new and unexpected allies had fought a battle side by side, it would be easier to arrange things for the next stage of the campaign. The Torian leaders would be much more willing to trust the Kargoi and listen to their High Baudz.

Blade scrambled down from the platform and leaped into the saddle of his captured Torian horse. He rode at a canter out in front of the mounted troops. There were about four hundred of them-half mounted like him, on captured horses, the other half mounted on drends. Blade waved an arm and heard the sound of horse hooves and drend hooves swell behind him as he galloped forward.

Queen Kayarna reached the top of the stairs and burst out into the daylight. She ran along the wall, ignoring the sentries, leaving her own guards behind, paying no attention to occasional enemy shots whistling past. She ran until she came to the corner of the wall that offered the best view toward the army of the new enemy.

A solid column of mounted men was moving out from that army. Some rode like the Vodi, on captured Torian horses, while others rode the great battle oxen of the wagon people. The horses were slowly drawing away from the oxen, although their captain was obviously trying to slow them down. He was easy to pick out-a huge dark man, riding a horse with almost arrogant skill and handling a Torian lance as if he'd been born with one in his hand. He could not be very wise, though, considering what he was doing. What sense was there in leading a wild charge against nothing but the walls of Tordas?

Kayarna laughed. Were the oxen going to butt down the walls with their heads and…?

Then she stopped, and her eyes and mouth both opened wide, as all around her the soldiers began shouting in wild amazement. The charge was sweeping over the mounted Vodi, and they were going down before it!

This was happening, or her eyes were betraying her beyond all reason. She saw the big captain ride at one of the Vodi and lift him from the saddle with a lance thrust. The man crashed to the ground and was trampled out of sight under fifty sets of hooves. The charge swept on.

Now the captain was thrusting through another of the Vodi, but this time his lance broke off. He dropped the butt, drew one of the wagon people's long swords, and began slashing in deadly arcs around him as he rode on. Behind him hundreds more of his men were coming on, and before them the Vodi were disappearing like morning dew sucked up by the sun.

Kayarna screamed out her triumph and joy, then turned and ran back for the stairs. She had to get into the saddle and ride out to meet this captain and his men. She had to ride out, to see these men sent by the gods themselves to save Tor!

Blade rode at one of the Vodi who was foolishly trying to swing a two-handed axe from the back of a skittish horse. His own sword slashed down, cutting off both the man's arms at once. The arms and the axe fell to the ground on one side of the horse, the man himself fell with a scream on the other side. Blade's horse shouldered the dead man's mount aside and he rode on.

Now Blade found himself free of enemies for long enough to look about him. The mounted Vodi were either down, scattering wildly, or being driven into small clusters. Around each cluster swarmed Kargoi, both mounted and on foot, slashing with their swords and thrusting with their pikes. The Vodi were obviously not horsemen by inclination; their cavalry was entirely improvised. It was fighting no worse than usual for such an improvised force, but no better either.

So on Blade's left the way was open to the gates of Tordas. In the center the Vodi were assembling the rest of their cavalry. Some of these carried muskets, but there were no more than a few hundred of them altogether. They didn't worry Blade.

What did worry him was the mass of men he saw assembling behind the Vodi cavalry. The Vodi were gathering their infantry, two or three thousand at least. It would not be long before they advanced, and most of the Kargoi pikemen weren't up yet. Even when they came, would they stand up against the muskets of the Vodi? Dust and distance made it impossible to tell if the Vodi infantry were carrying muskets, and if so, how many. A primitive army's first encounter with gunpowder was always a chancy business, no matter how much they'd been told about it beforehand. The Kargoi….

Blade suddenly realized that a new cloud of dust was spreading around one of the gates of Tordas. For a moment he thought one of the gate towers or a section of wall had collapsed. Then he saw horsemen streaming out of the gate under the umbrella of dust. They were all riding in a hell-for-leather style rare even among the Torians. A white standard streamed out from a lance held by one of the leading riders.

Blade pulled his mount's head around and cantered toward the approaching Torians. He'd just started when someone among the Vodi also noticed the Torian riders. The enemy cavalry lurched into motion. A few fell off, many grabbed saddles to keep themselves on, but the whole mass went staggering toward the Torians. Blade saw the leading Vodi raising muskets.

Suddenly Blade recognized the white standard floating above the Torian horsemen. It was the royal standard of Tor. One of those charging riders must be Queen Kayarna herself! Blade couldn't understand why she'd ridden out like this, but she had. By doing so she'd given the Vodi a chance at complete victory in one easy stroke, before Tor's new allies could make a bit of difference!

Blade shouted to all the Kargoi within earshot to follow him and spurred on his own horse. It leaped forward, with Blade waving his sword and cursing Kayarna's badly timed courage. Some of the Kargoi followed Blade because they heard him, others because they saw him moving out and wanted to be part of whatever the High Baudz was about to do. Now there were three ragged masses of mounted men all moving across the plain as fast as their mounts would go, heading straight for the common collision point.

As they saw that collision looming, the leading Vodi tried to rein in. Some couldn't and kept right on going. Most slowed enough to raise their muskets and fire at the Torians. A Vodi musket wasn't accurate under the best conditions. Fired from the back of a nervous horse by an unskilled rider, it was about as accurate as spitting into the wind. The Torian horsemen, though, were a target no one could miss. The ragged volley of musketry emptied saddles and brought down horses at a full gallop. The Torians piled up into a horrible screaming shambles. The royal standard wavered but somehow remained aloft. The Vodi cavalry slung their muskets and rode forward to finish off the Torians in hand-to-hand combat at close range.

They were so busy closing that they forgot about the approaching Kargoi. In particular, they forgot about Blade. He reminded some of them of his existence by smashing into them at a gallop. The Vodi riders had left off their armor to reduce the strain on their horses. Blade's sword whirled in a deadly circle around him, lopping off unprotected arms and heads like a mowing machine harvesting ripe wheat. A dozen Vodi were down before the rest realized that they were under attack. They tried to reform and surround this lone madman who was carving a path through their ranks. As they did, the Kargoi who'd been galloping on Blade's heels struck, and behind them came more Kargoi lumbering along on drends. Some of the drend riders shot arrows, others carried fifteen-foot pikes that they used like Torian lances.

Blade saw only snatches of all this. He himself was riding straight for the Torians. Beside the body of a horse so dark blue it was almost black stood a tall woman. She held up a long knife in one hand and was using her sword as a crutch to support an injured leg.

Two Vodi rode at her, crossing in front of Blade. She slashed at one man's horse; the knife left a red line across its chest and it reared with a scream. Its rider slid backward out of the saddle as his horse bolted. The other attacker was about to bring his axe down when Blade caught up with him from behind. Blood-dripping steel bit into the man's neck; his headless body sagged forward and thudded to the ground. Blade prodded the man's horse clear with the point of his sword and rode up to Queen Kayarna. He let his sword dangle and reached down with both hands to swing her up. A mighty heave and she was perched in front of him. Blade dug in his spurs and turned his horse away, out of the heart of the battle.

The light Torian horse couldn't carry double as well as a drend, but its strength lasted long enough for Blade and Kayarna to get well out of harm's way. He left the Queen among the Kargoi for the time being, in charge of Paor and two other trusted baudzi. He himself got a fresh horse and rode back into the battle.

The Kargoi infantry were coming up now, two or three on the back of each drend. They rode in, then dismounted to form the solid lines Blade had taught them, their drends behind them. They would not need many orders, but they might need a little encouragement if they had to stand up under the musketry of the Vodi. Blade was not worried about the enemy's heavy guns-they were far out of range and about as easily moveable as the pyramids of Egypt. All he feared was the muskets.

Three thousand infantry of each side glared at each other across half a mile of plain, bare except for the bodies of a few men and horses. They glared, and they went on glaring as the minutes lengthened into one hour, then two. Blade noticed a number of the Vodi collapsing where they stood, or stumbling like drunken men out of the ranks toward their camp. They could not stand the broiling sun of the plains as well as the Kargoi or the Torians.

Now Blade could see that only the Vodi in the front ranks had muskets, and no more than one-third of the men there. He could also see that the walls of Tordas were dark with spectators, waiting for the collision between their enemies and their new allies. Blade hoped the waiting would not go on much longer. He pulled off his helmet and tried to fan himself with it. He was slowly steaming inside his reptile-hide armor, like a potato in its jacket. Besides, there was no way of curing the reptile hide that could keep it from smelling to high heaven in weather this hot.

The waiting went on for another bout-then suddenly it ended, in a totally unexpected fashion. Drums and trumpets sounded, and the Vodi began to back away. They kept their faces turned toward their enemies and their few remaining horsemen darting about like wasps, but they were unmistakably refusing battle.

Blade stared, unable to believe his own eyes until the Vodi had covered half a mile. Then he took off his helmet again and drank deeply from his water bottle. As he rode off, the cheering started, both from the Kargoi and from the Torians on the wall.

Blade hoped the cheers wouldn't die when both Kargoi and Torians learned the fighting wasn't over yet.

He found Queen Kayarna in a tent set up for her next to Paor's. The guards around her tent were all Torians, but that didn't worry Blade. The two new allies were obviously getting along well-drinking from each other's water bottles, comparing weapons, exchanging stories or boasts of their deeds in battle.

Paor greeted Blade as he rode up, his face one huge grin and his body poised as if he was ready to dance for joy.

«Blade, Blade, they have turned away from us. We have their measure now. Ah, such a victory, their riders dead and their footmen proved cowards.»

Blade shook his head. «I wish I could think that, but I can't and I won't. Remember our first meeting, when you turned away from a fight that did not seem necessary or wise. You were no coward then, and I do not think the Vodi are cowards now. Their captains merely do not think it wise to fight us here and now, when we are ready and they do not know the best way of meeting us. If they are given time, they will fight, and they will fight wisely and well.»

Paor's grin did not fade. «But we shall not give them time, shall we, Blade? No, the time they need is something they shall not have!»

«Probably,» said Blade. «I will know more after I have spoken to Queen Kayarna.»

The Queen of Tor was in her tent, lying back on a pile of cushions. She wore a skirt slit up the left side to make room for the bandage on her leg, and was bare to the waist. Blade's eyes wandered to the fine, ripe breasts, with a little rivulet of sweat trickling down between them on to her stomach.

The queen's eyes just as openly ran up and down Blade's body. Blade had never felt quite so strongly that he was being mentally stripped naked and inspected. He did his best to ignore it. Gradually he succeeded, and gradually the bedroom look left Kayarna's eyes. Instead of the lusting woman, Blade faced the formidable warrior queen.

He began briskly. «Our peoples have fought and shed each other's blood. But they have not shed so much that they cannot unite to shed the blood of the Vodi. After that-«

«Let us first talk of the 'before that,'» said Kayarna. «I make no promises until the victory is ours, and I will not ask you to make any either.»

«Very well.» Blade drew from his belt pouch a long piece of parchment, on which he'd sketched in charcoal a rough map and a list of the forces involved in his battle plan. Kayarna examined it, frowning.

«I see you have two plans here, one with only the Kargoi and the Hauri, the other with all three peoples together.»

«That is true,» said Blade. «I trust the Torian to fight beside us against the Vodi. But I could not be sure that you and I would be able to sit down and speak of this battle before the time came to fight it. So I was not sure that the Torians would be fighting beside us from the very first moment.»

«Against the Vodi, we will fight from the first moment to the last,» said Kayarna earnestly. «This I swear, and may the ghosts of my fathers haunt me and the Vodi use me for a camp whore if I am forsworn.»

Blade took both of her hands in his and squeezed them in a comradely fashion. She squeezed back, and although her eyes did not change, her gesture held an unmistakable sensuousness.

Why not? thought Blade. When the right time comes, it will be a fine symbol of the bond that unites our peoples. But Loya must not be hurt by it. I must see to that, if I have to push Kayarna off the wall of her own palace some dark night!

He returned to his map and plans, explaining each detail, each attack and maneuver. Kayarna asked few questions, but the few she asked showed that she understood clearly what he was saying.

«I see that you do not show the Hauri on this paper, although you say they will fight beside us,» Kayarna said. «Where are they?»

«The Hauri are in a place unknown to all except themselves and me. Above all, it is unknown to the Vodi. I would rather that place remain so unknown until the moment comes when the Vodi will learn for themselves where the Hauri are.»

Kayarna's face hardened momentarily. «You do not trust my silence or the loyalty of those around me?»

«I do. But you and they will be leading your warriors in this battle. If the Vodi should take you or one of your captains alive, are you sure the secret would not get out? Speak from your wisdom now, not from your pride.»

Reluctantly, Kayarna nodded. «I know what the Vodi have done to some of my people. Indeed, I might not remain silent, nor the captains either. Very well, the Hauri will do what they choose, when they choose. What about the smoke tubes, the-the goons-the Vodi carry?»

«They are dangerous,» said Blade. «Less so at night, however, when the Vodi cannot see well to aim them. Also, I doubt if they have too much more of the powder that makes the smoke in the guns. If they had more, I think they would have fought us today instead of running away. They are trying to save their powder, to defend their camp and to use in the big guns that fire at the walls of Tordas.

«In any case, it does not really matter. However much powder they have now, by tomorrow morning they will have a great deal less. Then it will be a battle of courage against courage, and that battle the Torians and their allies cannot lose.»

«It will be tonight?»

«Yes. The Vodi should not be given time to prepare any new tricks.»

«Tonight, then,» said Kayarna, with a smile. She might have been speaking of a rendezvous as lovers, rather than of a deadly battle as comrades in arms.