Shardik (59 page)

‘Of course,’
Elleroth
was saying to the governor, ‘I cannot tell you what the Commander-in-Chief will decide. But clearly, whether the army remains here and for how long will depend not only on the movements of the enemy but also on the state of our own supplies. We’re quite a long way from Ikat’ - he smiled - ‘and we shan’t be loved up here much longer if we eat everybody out of house and home. The Ortelgan army are in the middle of their own country -or what they call their own country. I dare say we may decide to seek them out and fight them soon, before the balance begins to tip against us. I can assure you that General
Erketlis
has all this very much in mind. At the same time, there are two excellent reasons why we should like to stay here a
little
longer, provided you can bear with us - and I assure you that you would not, in the long run, be losers. In the first place, we are doing what we intended - what the enemy supposed we could never do and what we could not have done without help from Deelguy.’ He bowed sli
ghtly
to the baron, a heavy, swarthy man, showy as a macaw. ‘We think that if we continue to hold the reservoir, the enemy may feel driven to attack us at a disadvantage. He for his part is probably waiting to see whether we shall stay here. So we want to look as though we shall.’

‘You are not going to destroy the reservoir, my lord?’ asked the governor anxiously.

‘Only in
the
very last resort,’ answered Elleroth cheerfully. ‘But I’m sure that with your help we shall never come to that, shall we?’ The governor replied with a wry smile and after a few moments Elleroth continued.

‘The second reason is
that
we are anxious, while we are here, to hunt down as many slave-traders as we can. We have already caught not only several who hold warrants from the so-called king of Bekla, but also one or two of those who do not. But as you know, the country beyond the Vrako, right across to Zeray and up as far as the gap of Linsho, is wild and remote. Here, we are on its doorstep: Kabin is the ideal base from which to search it. If only we can gain the time, our patrols will be able to comb out the whole of that area. And believe it or not, we have received
a reliable offer of help from Ze
ray itself.’

‘From
Zeray,
my lord?’ said the governor incredulously.

‘From Zeray,’ answered
Elleroth
. ‘And you told me, didn’t you,’ he went on, turning with a smile to Tan-Rion, who was
still
waiti
ng near by, ‘that you had information about at least one unlicensed slav
e-trader who is believed to be e
ither beyond
the
Vrako at this moment or else making towards it from Tonilda ?’

‘Yes, my lord,’ replied Tan-Rion. ‘The child-dealer, Genshed
-a most cruel, evil man, from Tereke
nalt. But Trans-Vrako will be difficult country to search and he might very well give us the slip, even now.’

‘Well, we shall have to do the best we can. So you see -‘

‘Any news of your own trouble, my lord?’ broke in the Yeldashay officer impulsively.

Elleroth
bit his lip and paused a moment before answering.

‘I’m afraid not
- for the time being. So you see
,’ he resumed quickly to the governor, ‘we
are
going to need all the help you can give us; and what I would like to learn from you is how we can best feed and supply the army while we stay here a little longer. Perhaps you will be so good as to think about it and we will have a talk with the Commander-in-Chief when he returns. We sincerely want to avoid making your people suffer a
nd as I said, we will pay honestl
y for your help.’

The governor was about to withdraw when
Elleroth
suddenly added, ‘By the way, the priestess from the
Telthearna
island -
the
wise woman - you gave her a safe-conduct, as I asked you?’

‘Yes, my lord,’ replied
the
governor, ‘yesterday at noon. She has been gone these twenty hours.’

‘Thank you.’

The governor bowed and went away through the trees. Elleroth stood still, watching a trout that hung on the edge of the current, motionless save for the flickering of its tail. It darted upstream and he sat down on a stone bench, easing his hand in the sling and shaking his head as though at some
thought
that
preoccupied and distressed him. At length, recalling Tan-Rion, he looked up with a questioning smile.

“Sorry to bother you, sir,’ said Tan-Rion briskly. ‘Yesterday evening one of our patrols brought in a wandering
Ortelga
n who kept talking about a message to or from
Bekla
. This morning we found this on him and
1
thought best to come and show it to you at once.’

Elleroth took the stag emblem, looked at it, started, frowned and then examined it more closely.

‘What does he look like, this man?’ he asked at length.

‘Like an
Ortelga
n, my lord,’ replied Tan-Rion, ‘spare and dark. It’s hard to say much more - he’s pretty well exhausted - half-starved and worn out. He must have had a very bad time.’

‘I will see him immediately,’ said Elleroth.

At the sight of Elleroth
Kelderek
‘s memory, by this
time
half-restored - like the safety of
a
swimmer whose limp feet, as he drifts, have already touched bottom here and there; or
the
consciousness of an awakening sleeper whose hearing has caught but who has not yet recognized for what they are the singing of the birds and
the
sound of rain - cleared as immediately as the misted surface of
a
mirror wiped by an impatient hand. The voices of the Yeldashay officers,
the
starred banner floating on the walls above the garden, the cognizances worn by the soldiers standing about him - all these assumed on the instant a single, appalling meaning. So might an old, sick man, smiling as his son’s wife bent over his bed, grasp in
a
moment the terrible import of her look and of the pillow poised above his face. Kelderek gave
a
quick, gasping cry, staggered and would have fallen if the soldiers had not caught him under the arms. As they did so he struggled briefly, then recovered himself and stood staring, tense and wide-eyed as
a
bird held in a man’s hand.

‘How do you come to be here, Crendrik?’ asked Elleroth.

Kelderek made no reply.

‘Are you seeking refuge from your own people?’

He shook his head mutely and seemed about to faint.

‘Let him sit down,’ said Elleroth.

There was no second bench and one of the soldiers ran to bring
a
stool from the house. As he returned, two or three of the guard off duty followed him and stood peering from among the trees, until
their
tryzatt ordered
them
sharply back to the house.

‘Crendrik,’ said
Elleroth
, leaning towards him where he sat hunched upon
the
stool, ‘I am asking you again. Are you here as
a
fugitive from Bekla ?’

‘I -
I
am no fugitive,’ replied
Kelderek
in a low voice.

‘We
know that there has been a rising in Bekla. You say that that has nothing to do with your coming here, alone and exhausted?’

‘I know nothing of it. I left Bekla within an hour of yourself -
and by the same gate.’

‘You were pursuing me?’

‘No.’

Kelderek’s face was set The guard commander seemed about to strike him, but Elleroth held up his hand and waited, looking at him int
ently
.

‘I was following Lord Shardik. That is my charge from God,’ cried Kelderek with sudden violence and looking up for the first time. ‘I have followed him from
Bekla
to the hills of Gelt’

‘And then-?’

‘I lost him; and later came upon your soldiers.’ The sweat was standing on his forehead and his breath came in gasps.

‘You thought they were yo
ur own?’ ‘It’s no matter what I
thought’

Elleroth
searched for a moment among a bundle of scrolls and letters lying beside him on the bench. ‘Is that your seal ?’ he asked, holding out a paper.

Kelderek
looked at it. ‘Yes.’

‘What is this paper?’

Kelderek made no reply.

‘I will tell you what it is,’ said Elleroth. ‘It is a licence issued by yourself in Bekla to a man called Nigon, authorizing him to enter Lapan and take up a quota of children as slaves. I have several similar papers here.’

The hatred and contempt of
the
men standing near by was like the oppression of snow unfallen from a winter sky. Kelderek, hunched upon the stool, was shaking as though with bitter cold. The scent of the planella came and went evanescent as the squeaking of bats at twilight.

‘Well,’ said Elleroth briskly, getting up from the bench, ‘I have recovered this trinket, Crendrik, and you have nothing to tell us, it seems; so I can resume my work and you had better return to your business of seeking the bear.’

Tan-Rion drew in his breath sharply. The young Yeldashay officer started forward.

‘My lord-‘

Again Elleroth raised his hand.

*I have my reasons, De
thrin. Surely if anyone has the right to spare this man, it is I?’

‘But, my lord,’ protested Tan-Rion, ‘this evil man -
the
priest-king of Shardik himself - Providence has delivered him into our hands - the people -‘

‘You may take my word for it that neither he nor the bear can harm us now. And if it is merely a matter of retribution that is troubling you, perhaps you will persuade the people to forgo it, as a favour to me. I have certain information which leads me to conclude that we should spare this man’s life.’

His mild words were spoken with a firm directness which plainly admitted of no further argument. His officers were silent.

‘You will go eastward, Crendrik,’ said Elleroth. ‘That will suit us both, since not only is it in the opposite direction from Bekla, but also happens to be the direction your bear has taken.’

From the square outside could now be heard a growing hubbub - murmuring, broken by angry shouts, raucous, inarticulate cries and the sharper voices of soldiers trying to control a crowd.

‘We will give you food and fresh shoes,’ said Elleroth, ‘and that is as much as I can do for you.
I
can see well enough that you are in poor shape, but if you stay here you will be torn to pieces. You will not have forgotten that Mollo came from Kabin. Now understand this plainly. If ever again you allow yourself to fall into the hands of this army, you will be put to death.
I
repeat, you will be put to death.
I
should not be able to save you again.’ He turned to the guard commander. ‘See that he has an escort as far as the ford of the Vrako, and tell the crier to give out that it is my personal wish that no one should touch him.’

He nodded to the soldiers, who once more grasped Kelderek by the arms. They had already begun to lead him away when suddenly he wrenched himself about.

‘Where is Lord Shardik?’ he cried. ‘What did you mean - he cannot harm you now?’

One of the soldiers jerked back his head by the hair, but Elleroth, motioning them to let him go, faced him once more.

‘We have not hurt your bear, Crendrik,’ he said. ‘We had no need.’

Kelderek stared at him, trembling. Elleroth paused a moment. The noise of the crowd now filled the garden and the two soldiers, waiting, looked at one another sidelong.

‘Your bear is dying, Crendrik,’ said Ellerodi deliberately. ‘One of our patrols came upon it in the hills three days ago and followed it eastward until it waded the upper Vrako. They were in no doubt. Other news has reached me also - never mind how - that you and th
e bear came alive from the Stree
ls of Urtah. Of what
befell you at the Streels you know more than I, but that is why your life is spared. I have no part in blood required of God. Now
go!’