Empire Rising (30 page)

Every man and woman in the square seemed to have a personal grievance against the bandit. The sun had marched nearly to the top of the sky before Sisuthros rose and announced that the council had heard enough, and that Lord Eskkar wished to speak. For the fi rst time the villagers quieted down, not knowing what would come next.

Eskkar stood and walked toward the elders. When he reached the tables, he climbed smoothly atop one and turned to face the people. He hated talking to crowds, but he had prepared his words while the villagers spoke. A breeze pushed his hair against his cheek, and he brushed it back, waiting until everyone stopped talking.

For the first time, the inhabitants of Bisitun got a good look at their Empire Rising

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new lord. They stared open-mouthed at the tall warrior, one hand resting on the hilt of the great sword, a man clearly born in the northern steppes, and who now ruled their lives. Eskkar’s eyes slowly scanned the square, gazing, it seemed, at every single person who faced him. When he spoke, his deep voice carried even to those farthest away.

“People of Bisitun, I, too, have grievances against Ninazu. I will speak for the people of Dilgarth, who have none here to represent their wishes.

At Ninazu’s order, his brother raided and killed many in Dilgarth, and their spirits cry out for vengeance as much as any here. A peaceful village, they had no fighting men to guard them. Today Dilgarth is under the protection of Akkad, as all here are now under the protection of Akkad. I tell you what I told the people of Dilgarth. The days of bandits raiding this countryside are over. From today on, they will be hunted down and killed.

The few still left will soon learn to leave alone any who live under Akkad’s safekeeping. You will be safe in your homes and on your farms. The prosperity that you enjoyed before the coming of the Alur Meriki will return, and this time it will be even greater because of Akkad’s protection.”

He paused to take a breath. Clearly in awe of him, the crowd remained silent, and he felt glad that he had left all the petty details to Sisuthros. It made it easier to play the role of a distant guardian, handing out decisions from above. “Akkad, Dilgarth, and Bisitun, as well as the other small villages, will all work together, trade together, and defend themselves together.”

Eskkar turned to Grond. “Bring Lani and Tippu out.” He raised his voice again. “There are two more to accuse Ninazu. I want all to hear what he has done.” Lifting his arm, he pointed at Lani and Tippu as they walked into the center of the square. Grond supported Tippu, his arm around her waist, but Lani stood alone, her head high, holding Tippu by the hand.

Some in the square called out their displeasure at the sight of the women, a few shouting that they, too, deserved punishment.

“Silence!” Eskkar bellowed the single word, the force of his voice shocking the crowd into stunned silence. He glanced about the square, but none of the villagers dared to meet his eyes, all of them suddenly fearful of his wrath. “Come forward, Lani.”

Ignoring the crowd, she kept her eyes on Eskkar until she reached the tables. Finally the two sisters stood directly in front of Ninazu.

In a clear voice, Lani listed the crimes the bandit leader had done to her and her family. She told the whole story, what had been done to 164

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her, giving the names of those murdered and tortured. When she finished, Lani took her sister’s arm, and held her while Tippu added her own grievances, the murder of her betrothed, her rape, and enslavement. Tippu’s tears flowed as she spoke, and only those close by could make out her halting words, spoken in a barely audible voice.

After Tippu finished, Eskkar spoke, raising his voice to make sure everyone heard. “Lani and Tippu are under my protection. Because of them, much of the gold stolen from you was recovered, so all of you should give them thanks. And although they are not from this village, they are to be treated as honorably as anyone here.”

Eskkar jumped down from the table, and this time the crowd shouted approval. He returned to his spot near the wall, while Grond escorted the two sisters back into the house. Meanwhile, Sisuthros queried each council member and asked for his decision.

“Death!” Each in turn called for Ninazu to be put to the torture until he died.

Sisuthros nodded his assent. “Death, at the hands of those whose kin he murdered,” he pronounced in a loud voice, so that everyone present could hear the council’s just decision, one clearly approved by the gods.

“Let the torture begin.” The crowd’s roar of approval filled the square.

The three villagers selected by the elders to administer the torture came forward, eager to get to their task, and wielding small knives such as used for carving, and the mallets and bronze-tipped chisels used by the tanners to decorate their leather goods; the implements would work equally as well for inflicting pain. The guards moved farther apart as the torturers began their work, so that all could see. The crowd called out their curses on Ninazu, and shouted for the pain-givers to hurry their work.

They removed Ninazu’s gag and the torment began. Soon his screams echoed throughout the square. The broken leg made things easier. The slightest touch there instantly overcame any of Ninazu’s efforts to hold in his pain. He passed out several times, but they always revived him by fling-ing a bucket of water in his face. They forced more water down his throat to refresh him, before they started in again, urged on by the crowd.

By then, Eskkar had had enough. Unnoticed, he returned into the house, followed by his bodyguard. He and Grond sat down at the big table.

“You don’t feel like watching, Captain?” Grond filled two cups with water.

“I’ve seen enough of death and torture in the last few months.” Eskkar Empire Rising

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felt glad to be away from Ninazu’s ordeal. “Besides, it always makes me wonder how long I’d last under the knife.”

“I was put to the torture once,” Grond said. “Just because my master caught me looking at him. Said I wasn’t respectful.”

Eskkar didn’t bother to ask if Grond had screamed. Everyone did.

Again Eskkar wondered what he would do if he were the one being tortured, how well he would stand the pain, or how long it would take before he began to plead for mercy or death. Some men resisted to the last, but most begged for the pain to stop long before the end.

The thought sent a shiver through his frame. In all his days of fighting, he’d only been captured once, and that day death had come close. The memory of being helpless before his enemies still troubled him. Eskkar swore to himself that he would never be taken alive. Better to fall on your own sword than go through that horror.

“If the assault on Bisitun had gone badly, Grond, I might have ended up dead on the cart, and Ninazu might be standing over me.”

“Well, Captain, I would’ve avenged your death. Or at least buried your remains.”

He looked at Grond and had to smile.

They were alone in the house, except for the two sisters huddled in their room, trying to block out the noise from the crowd. Everyone else was outside enjoying the spectacle. The screams from the square seemed almost as loud inside.

Eskkar finished a handful of grapes from the platter.

“Would you like some wine, lord, or something to eat?” Lani had come out of the bedroom.

“You don’t care to watch Ninazu take the torture, Lani?”

“No, lord. I have seen enough of people being tortured. Now that it’s his turn on the wheel, I know what will happen.”

Eskkar looked around the room. “Where is your sister?”

“In our room, her head under the blanket. Tippu cannot watch such things. It sickens her even to hear it.”

Grond stood up. “Perhaps I should go to her, Lani. Do you think it would help?”

Eskkar wondered about Grond and Tippu, and what had happened last night, or not happened, as it seemed. He would ask his bodyguard about it later, when they were alone.

But Lani mentioned it herself. “I think it would be good for her to be 166

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with someone besides myself for a little while, at least until this horrible day is over.” She looked at Grond. “Can you restrain yourself as you did last night, for a while longer?”

“When you’ve been a slave, Lani,” Grond answered, “you know what is needed. I’ll just hold her for a while.” He looked at Eskkar. “If I may, Captain?”

Eskkar nodded, surprised at the serious tone of Grond’s voice. The bodyguard left the table and went to the woman’s room. Eskkar looked at Lani for an explanation.

“That’s what he did last night, lord. He held her, and told her she was safe. She cried in his arms for a long time, until she fell asleep. Your bodyguard didn’t take her. Was he a slave in Akkad?”

“No, not in Akkad. He told me that he’d been a slave in the lands to the west, but he never said much about it, only that he escaped. He has the marks of the lash on his back, and even in Akkad, he might have been put back into slavery, except that we needed soldiers to fight the Alur Meriki.”

“But you did not put him back into bondage when the danger passed?

Did not those in the village declare him a runaway slave?”

“I was born a barbarian, Lani. The ways of the village are not always my ways. Besides, he saved my life, more than once. Do you think I could repay him for that by making him a slave again?” He pushed his wine cup toward her, and she took a small sip before handing it back.

“And now you rule the greatest village in the land, so you’re not a barbarian any more, else the villagers would not follow you.”

Eskkar smiled at that. “They’re still having trouble accepting me as their ruler. And I do not rule alone, Lani.”

“It seems even stranger that the nobles of Akkad would accept a woman to rule over them.”

So Lani had heard about Trella’s true role in Akkad. Well, that made things easier. “She was a slave herself, given to me to help manage my household.” He smiled at the thought. “Trella is what my people call a

‘gifted one.’ She sees much, knows the mysteries of farm and village, and understands the ways of men. Without her, I might not even be alive, let alone ruler of Akkad.”

“I heard that she is young, only fifteen seasons. She must be gifted indeed. You must care for her a great deal.”

Eskkar nodded. “More than you can know, Lani. She’s very special to me.

And she carries our child now, the child that will rule in Akkad after us.”

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“Then I bless her name. And I will not allow myself to be jealous of your love for her.”

“Don’t be, Lani. It’s because of her that I am here, and that you’re under Akkad’s protection.” He reached across the table and touched her hand. “And yet you are much like her, I think. Your wits are quick, and you understand the ways of men. How old are you, Lani?”

“In the spring, I will have twenty-four seasons, lord. But much of what I have learned is what I would soonest forget.”

Ninazu’s cries of agony rang throughout the square. They’d managed to ignore the noise outside for a few moments. Suddenly the screams ended, cut short, replaced by a loud groan of disappointment and disapproval from the crowd.

“Ninazu must be unconscious, or dead,” Eskkar said. “I’ll go see.”

He went to the doorway, and called to one of the soldiers. In a few moments Eskkar returned to the table and sat down again. “Ninazu is dead, Lani. The torturers were too careless. The villagers think he scarcely suffered.”

Lani bowed her head. “I’m glad he’s dead. My husband’s life has been avenged. Now I can bury him, at least in my thoughts.”

Everyone had to deal with grief and loss in their own way, and Eskkar had already done all he could to help her. “You will not be needed for the rest of the day, Lani. Stay inside, until everything is finished.” He turned away, and went back out into the square.

The crowd regained its voice. With Ninazu dead, the villagers started arguing again. Many wanted all prisoners to be tortured and killed, and Eskkar watched as Sisuthros pounded his sword hilt on the table to shut them up. Before Sisuthros finished reckoning with the rest of Ninazu’s men, the sun passed midday.

The Akkadians had captured thirty-one men, and each one needed to be dealt with individually. Eskkar knew those who had committed the worst misdeeds would make poor slaves. Too ignorant or intractable, they would have to be watched and guarded for the rest of their days, always seeking to escape and more trouble than they were worth. The villagers denounced nine of these, and the council sentenced them to death. Four had committed particularly atrocious acts, and were put to the torture, giving each of them added pain before they died. A quick sword thrust to the heart took care of the others.

Sisuthros condemned those remaining, the ones docile enough to ac-168

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cept their punishment, to slavery, to be branded with the mark of Akkad and to labor for the rest of their lives. He ordered fifteen to be sent to Akkad as soon as possible. Akkad needed laborers more urgently than Bisitun, to work on the expansion of the walls. Corio and his builders would put the extra workers to good use.

Despite Akkad’s need, Eskkar shook his head at the thought of sending the slaves there. Some of his precious soldiers would be needed to guard and transport them, more food would have to be found and sent with them, along with horses, ropes, and everything else needed for at least a week’s march back to Akkad.

Sisuthros spent the remaining daylight dividing up the goods and animals recovered from Ninazu. Despite recovering much of what Ninazu’s men had taken, many valuables couldn’t be located. Of course several villagers claimed the same items, causing arguments to erupt. Even with fair dispositions, the rightful owners argued about the part taken by Akkad.

Everyone claimed that two-tenths for Akkad was far too great a portion, until Sisuthros threatened to take everything from the next man who protested. He reminded them that they would have nothing if the Akkadians had not rescued both them and their goods, and that Akkadian soldiers had died freeing them.