The Blood-stained Belt (20 page)

‘Do you mean
more attacks on their cities, as with Asjolorm?’

‘That is a
possibility, your majesty. But we were thinking of other
things.’

‘Such as?’

Sharma replied,
‘Your majesty, my comrade Jina has a suggestion.’

‘Well, let’s
hear it.’

Sharma looked
at me, inviting me to speak. I would rather have left right then,
without any more talk but I swallowed my feelings and said, ‘We
should be more mobile so that we can harass the Dornites. We need
to keep them off balance. They should never know where the next
attack is coming from.’ Vaxili raised an enquiring eyebrow at me
and I continued, ‘Your majesty, you have been importing horses from
Kitilat. We could use more of them.’

Jainar sat
forward, looking interested, and asked, ‘Are you proposing that we
should raise a cavalry regiment?'

Sharma said,
'Your honour, we were thinking more of a light mounted force that
could harass the Dornite's supply lines or attack them in the rear.
If we use the force well, it would destabilise the Dornites. We
could divert their attention and divide their forces.’

Vaxili rubbed
his chin and said, 'Keirineian forces have never fought on
horseback.’

Jainar replied,
'Your majesty, the Dornites have changed their tactics. Perhaps
it's time that we did the same.'

Vaxili rubbed
his chin and asked, ‘What do you think, General Jainar?’

‘The idea has
merit, your majesty. We should consider it.’

Still looking
thoughtful but not fully convinced, Vaxili said, 'Well, there's no
harm in considering an idea, even if it might not be practical.' He
waved a hand and said, 'Thank you. We will consider your
suggestions.' He turned his head to look at the wall with the
drapes and Jainar moved us towards the door. As we were leaving the
room, Vaxili called out sharply, ‘Deputy Commander Sharma!’

‘Your
majesty?’

‘Remember what
I said. I would not want to hear any more about you and my
daughter.’

‘Yes, your
majesty.’

Vaxili turned
his head away again, we saluted, and Jainar ushered us out of the
room.

Outside the
building, we took a few deep breaths and exhaled hard and long as
the tension ebbed. We didn't speak for a while. Then, after a few
minutes, Sharma exhaled again and said, ‘What a bastard!'

I replied, 'Did
you hear that -- wouldn't we rather serve Lower Keirine? Damn him!
Does he think we're spies or infiltrators, or what?'

Sharma said
somberly, 'If that's what he really thinks, then it's bad news for
Keirine.'

We walked for a
while in silence, each busy with his own thoughts. Then Sharma
asked, 'Was Vaxili interested in our ideas? I don't know how to
read him.'

'Maybe he just
didn't want to commit himself or maybe he really wasn't much
interested -- I don't know.'

Sharma snorted
dismissively. 'I’ll tell you something that I saw at first hand --
Vaxili doesn't have a head for military matters. I thought so
earlier but now I know it. It's a good thing that Jainar was there.
He understands what we’re talking about, whereas Vaxili ...' Sharma
swore and shrugged eloquently.

Just before we
reached the camp, I asked the question that was uppermost in my
mind: 'What are you going to do about Mecolo?'

Sharma said,
‘We will have to be more careful.’

‘Careful? Just
be more careful? By Zabrazal, more than just careful, I would say.
If I were you, I'd lie low. In fact, I'd lie so low that they'd
think that you'd gone underground like a mole.’

Sharma pursed
his lips and his face took on the stubborn, I-won’t-be-diverted
look that I knew so well. I sighed inwardly. The flecks in his eyes
gleamed as he said, ‘Don't worry about me. I can handle the
situation.’

‘Is that what
you think?’

‘For sure – I
can handle it. Quit worrying.’ Sharma clapped my shoulder
reassuringly and said cheerfully, ‘Hey, let’s go and get some food
in the canteen. I’m hungry. I bet you are, too.’

CHAPTER
TWELVE: I WANT HER

Three months
later, Sharma and I were out riding at a site about two hours'
march north of Koraina. Sharma reined in his horse and patted its
neck, saying to it, 'Stand still while I get off. All right?' He
dismounted cautiously, groaned, and said, ‘Damn it, shepherds
weren’t made to ride horses.’ He rubbed his backside, flexed his
shoulders, and grimaced.

I dismounted as
well, slung the reins over a shoulder, and walked next to Sharma. I
couldn’t help grinning at his stiff-legged gait while I said,
‘Shepherds weren’t made to ride, eh? That’s also what the Dornites
think.’

Sharma grinned
ruefully. ‘All part of the plan to catch them by surprise, not so?’
He groaned and leaned forward, flexing his back.

‘You said it,
my friend.’ I wanted to rub my backside as well but I didn’t,
because even more than soothing my aches, I wanted to go one up on
Sharma. But, by Zabrazal, I had to admit that it was difficult to
keep a straight face and a straight back. The ache in my muscles
was so deep-seated – no pun intended – that it felt as if it had
established itself as a permanent fixture.

Sharma
stretched, flexed his shoulders and asked, 'What were we talking
about?'

'You mean,
before you nearly fell off your horse?' Sharma grinned at me
ruefully and nodded. I said, 'We were talking about Vaxili.'

Sharma replied,
‘And I said that Vaxili isn’t a military leader -- he never was and
he never will be.’

‘To which I
replied that maybe he needs more time. He’s still learning, like
the rest of us.’

Sharma said
forcefully, ‘He sacrificed the army at Gandonda. Is that the price
we have to pay while he learns?’

‘Sacrifice?
That’s a strong word.’

‘Huh! What else
can you call it? Vaxili exposed us to a superior force in a place
where we didn’t have a chance to defend ourselves.’ Sharma
stretched, groaned, and then said, 'What's worse is that Vaxili is
a tribalist. You heard him. He might be King of Keirine in name but
he's not King of Keirine in his head and his heart.' Sharma snorted
and said flatly, 'Vaxili is a typical Orifinrian. That's what he is
-- a typical Orifinrian. They think they're better than the rest of
us and they think that they can call the shots for the rest of
Keirine.'

‘Calm down,
man! The fact is that he’s also the king. We have to live with
it.’

Sharma said
flatly, 'Vaxili isn't what Keirine needs. He's a tribalistic
weakling. By now that's clear as daylight.’

'What is the
alternative?'

Sharma replied
forcefully, 'We need someone like Jainar. He's a soldier through
and through.' He hitched his horse's reins around a branch and sat
down gingerly. Then he said, ‘The problem is that we think that
kings and military leaders always have to be one and the same. You
remember Aggam's history lessons?' Sharma mimicked Aggam's
high-pitched nasal tones: 'And then there arose another great
leader in Keirine.' He snorted. 'And what sort of great leader
arose? It was always another military leader, swift of foot and
strong of arm – if Keirine was that lucky -- but with the political
experience of a grasshopper. Not so?' Sharma winced, rubbed his
thighs, and said, ‘I ask you -- who says that kings have to be
military leaders? Who says that military leaders have to be kings?
Look at the Dornites: they have the good sense to separate
political rule from military command.’

As often
happened when I had an exchange of views with Sharma, I found
myself saying, ‘I guess you’re right.’

‘It’s as clear
as daylight! Vaxili should handle political affairs –
administration, taxation, law and order, that sort of thing – if
he's up to it, which in fact I doubt. Anyway, whatever he does, he
should leave the army to someone who can handle it – someone like
Jainar. He thinks like a soldier. He understands strategy. The men
have confidence in him. Everyone knows he's the one who really runs
the army. Vaxili should just acknowledge it openly and leave
military matters to Jainar’

I responded,
‘Someone ought to tell Vaxili that. I reckon he’d be pleased to
hear it.’

Sharma grunted.
'You tell him, my friend. I'd rather stay far away from him.'

We were sitting
out in the countryside resting our mounts because someone, probably
Jainar, had taken our advice and established a light mounted unit.
It was flattering to see our ideas being taken seriously. However,
we had mixed feelings about the fact that that we had been included
in the first batch of recruits. We certainly hadn't had much fun
since we joined the unit. In fact, we’d been working harder than
ever. Before the horses arrived, we moved equipment, cleared bush
and grass and leveled the site. We dug a protective ditch, pitched
tents, and constructed latrines and a kitchen block. Then we built
the stables, which were solid structures of brick and wood with
individual stalls. It galled us to see that the horses were better
accommodated than we were in our tents where we had just about no
protection from the heat and the cold and had to endure gusting
winds and dust whipping into the tent between the flaps and under
the sides.

When the horses
arrived at the camp, Zaliek was with them. He dismounted, gave us a
broad, knowing grin, and said, ‘Well, well, Sharma and Jina! What
are you doing here, of all places?’

‘Someone
drafted us, commander.’

‘Now I wonder
who could have done that?’ Zaliek looked us up and down
appraisingly and asked, ‘Have you collected any good Dornite heads
lately?’

Sharma
answered, ‘Not since you assisted us at Gandonda, commander.’

Zaliek gave
Sharma a keen glance. He growled, ‘I hear that you’ve been quite
busy since then, eh?’

‘Just keeping
out of mischief, commander.’

Zaliek looked
around with an amused air, gestured at the camp, and remarked,
‘Back to basic training, eh?’

‘It looks like
it, commander.’

Zaliek patted
his horse’s neck affectionately and asked, ‘You didn’t know that I
could ride, did you?’

‘No, commander,
we didn’t.’

‘There are lots
of things you don’t know about me. Well, I’ll tell you another
thing you don’t know about me. I learned to ride almost before I
learned to walk.’

‘Where was
that, commander?’

Zaliek started
to rub down his horse. Over his shoulder, he growled, ‘Never mind
that. Like I’ve told you a few times already, I get paid to make
soldiers out of you, not to tell you my life story.’ He flicked an
eyelid in what could have been a wink before he straightened and
barked, ‘What are you looking at? Get busy rubbing down those
horses.' Catching the looks on our faces, he asked, 'You know how
to rub down a horse, don’t you?’

‘No, commander,
we don't.’

‘Damnation!
This is supposed to be a mounted unit! Are they scraping the bottom
of the barrel, or what?’ Zaliek jerked a thumb at the men who
arrived with him and said, ‘Ask them how to do it. They’ll show
you. Well, what are you waiting for? Don't just stand there with
your mouths open, looking at me like I'm a stark naked whore that
just descended out of a passing cloud.’ He looked at us
suspiciously and asked, 'Do you know anything at all about horses
-- anything at all? Hey?'

'No, commander.
Nothing at all!'

‘Then you’d
better learn fast or I'll kick your backsides quicker and harder
than a rock falls down a cliff. Well, move your arses! Get
going!’

Zaliek taught
us how to care for a horse, how to ride it, and how to fight while
mounted. He taught us maneuvers, tactics, and strategies. He also
showed us how to look after a horse better than we would look after
our own mothers. It turned out that Zaliek knew what he was doing
and, as was the case during basic training, he did everything
better than we did. Mind you, that wasn’t surprising, considering
that most of us had never been within touching distance of a horse
before we were assigned to the unit.

Now, three
weeks after Zaliek's arrival, here we were, exercising our horses
and still feeling the effects on our long-suffering muscles. I lay
next to Sharma on the ground, stretching my legs and wriggling my
shoulders. Sharma asked, ‘Do you think being with a mounted unit is
a good deal?’

I replied,
‘It’s all right. It’s interesting. What's more, it's better than
walking.’

Sharma grunted
as if he was unconvinced. He flicked a pebble with his thumb,
watched it arch and drop into the grass, and asked, ‘Do you like
horses?’

‘I don’t know
yet. Give me another week or two and I’ll be able to tell you.’ I
stretched again, shifted my position, and said, 'I don't even know
whether horses like me.'

Sharma groaned.
‘I can’t say that I’ve conceived any affection for them.’ He stood
up gingerly, rubbed his backside, and said half humorously and half
resentfully, ‘Feed them, saddle them, bridle them, sponge them, rub
them down, cover them with a blanket, talk to them as if they’re
your best friends – damn it, man, we’re going to spend more time
caring for the creatures than we spend looking after
ourselves.’

I replied with
a straight face, ‘Well, it’s your own doing.’

‘I didn’t ask
them to assign us to the unit, did I?’ Sharma stretched, groaned
again, looked at me ruefully, and complained, ‘Convenient, eh?’

‘Convenient for
whom?’

‘Convenient for
Vaxili, that’s who.’

‘Well, what did
you expect? Did you think he would give you a position at
headquarters to show his appreciation of your affectionate concern
for his daughter?’’ Sharma grunted despondently. I asked, ‘Are you
still seeing her?’ Sharma grunted again. I said, ‘For an
intelligent man, you’re a damn fool, Sharma!’