Nomads of Gor (81 page)

 
possible, suddenly plummeted downward, its wings high,
    

opening them only at the last minute to land on the top of

 
the keep, beyond accurate crossbow range.

 
"Saphrar may escape," I pointed out.

 
"No," said Kamchak, "there is no escape for Saphrar."

 
I said nothing.
                              

 
"His blood is mine," said Kamchak
             

 
"Who is the rider?" I queried.
               

 
"Ha-Keel, the mercenary," said Kamchak "He is coming

 
to bargain with Saphrar, but I can better whatever terms he
    

 
is offered for I have all the gold and women of Turia, and

by nightfall I will have the private hordes of Saphrar him

 
self."

"Beware," I warned, "the tarnsmen of Ha-Keel they

might yet turn the brunt of battle against you."

 
Kamchak did not respond.

"The thousand tarnsmen of Ha-Keel," said Harold, "left

before dawn for Port Karl Their tower is abandoned."

 
"But why?" I demanded.

"They were well paid," said Harold, "with Turian gold of

which substance we have a great deal."

 
"Then Saphrar is alone," I said.

 
"More alone than he knows," remarked Harold.

 
"What do you mean?" I asked.

    
"You will see," he said.
  

It was now clearly light in the east, and I could see the ,

faces of men below me, some of them carrying rope ladders

 
with metal hooks at the ends, others scaling ladders.

 
It seemed to me that a full storming of the compound

 
would take place within the Ahn.
               

The House of Saphrar was encircled literally by thousands

      
of warriors.

      
We would outnumber the desperate defenders of his walls

      
perhaps by twenty to one. The fighting would be fierce, but it

      
did not seem that the outcome would be in doubt, even from

      
the beginning particularly now that the tarnsmen of Ha-

      
Keel had left the city, the saddle packs of their tarns bulging

      
with Turian gold.

      
Then Kamchak spoke again. "I have waited long for the

      
blood of Saphrar of Turia," he said. He lifted his hand and

      
one who stood near him climbed to the wall of the roof and

      
blew a long blast on a bask horn.

      
I thought this might signal the beginning of the storming of

      
the compound, but none of the men below moved.

      
Rather, to my astonishment, a gate of the compound itself

      
opened and wary men-at-arms, their weapons ready, each

      
carrying a cloth sack, emerged. They filed before us in the

      
street below, each under the contemptuous eyes of the war-

      
riors of the Wagon Peoples, each in turn going to a long

      
table whereon were placed many pairs of scales, and each at

      
that table was weighed out four Gorean stone of gold, about

      
six Barth pounds, which he put in his cloth sack and scurried

      
away, through an avenue opened for him between the war-

      
riors. They would be escorted beyond the city. Four Gorean

      
stone of gold is a fortune.

      
I was utterly startled, overcome. I was shaking. Hundreds

      
upon hundreds of men must have passed thus before us.

        
"I, I do not understand," I stammered to Kamchak.

      
He did not turn to face me, but continued to stare at the

      
compound. "Let Saphrar of Turia die by gold," he said.

      
Only then did I understand with horror the depth of

      
Kamchak's hatred of Saphrar of Turia.

      
Man by man, stone by stone of gold. Saphrar was dying,

      
his walls and defenses being taken grain by grain from him,

      
slipping away. His gold could not buy him the hearts of men.

      
Kamchak, in his Tuchuk cruelty, would stand quietly to one

      
side and, coin by coin, bit by bit, buy Saphrar of Turia.

      
Once or twice I heard swords ringing from within the

      
walls, as perhaps some men, loyal to Saphrar, or to their

      
codes, attempted to prevent their fellows from leaving the

      
compound, but I gather, judging from the continued exodus

      
from the walls, that those who were this loyal were scattered

      
and few in number. Indeed, some who might have fought for

      
Saphrar, seeing their fellows deserting in such numbers, un

 
doubtedly realized their own imminent danger, now increased
    

 
a hundred fold, and hastened to join the deserters. I even saw

 
some slaves leaving the compound, and these, though they
  

 
were slave, were given the four stone of gold as well, perhaps
 

 
the more to insult those free men who had accepted the
    

 
babes of Tuchuks. I gathered that Saphrar, in the years he

 
had built his power in Tuna, had for his own purposes

 
gathered such men about him, and now he would pay the

 
pace ---with his own life.

 
Kamchak's face was impassive.
                 

 
At last, perhaps an Ahn after daylight, no more men came
 

 
from the compound and the gates were left open.

 
Kamchak then descended from the roof and mounted his
 

 
kaiila. Slowly, at a walk, he rode toward the main gate of the

 
compound. Harold and I, on foot, accompanied him. Behind

 
us came several warriors. On Kamchak's right there walked a

 
master of sleen, who held two of the vicious, sinuous beasts

 
in check by chain leashes.

 
About the pommel of Kamchak's saddle were tied several
         

 
bags of gold, each weighed out to four stone. And following

 
him, among the warriors, were several Turian slaves, dad in

 
chains and the Kes, among them Kamras, Champion of

 
Turia, and Phanius Turmus, the Turian Ubar, all of whom

 
carried large pans filled with sacks of gold.

 
Inside the gate of the compound I saw that it seemed

 
deserted, the walls emptied of defenders. The clear ground

 
between the walls and the first buildings was similarly empty,

 
though here and there I saw some litter, pieces of boxes,

 
broken arrows, patches of cloth.

 
Kamchak stopped inside the compound and looked about,

 
his dark, fierce eyes looking from building to building, examin

 
ing with great care the roof tops and windows.

 
Then he gently moved his kaiila toward the main portal. I

 
caught sight of two warriors standing before it, ready to

 
defend it. Behind them I was startled to see suddenly a

 
currying figure in white and gold, Saphrar of Turia. Then he

 
stood back from the door, holding something large in his

 
arms, wrapped in purple cloth.

 
The two men prepared to defend the portal.

 
Kamchak stopped the kaiila.

 
Behind me I heard hundreds of ladders and grappling

 
hooks strike against the wall, and, turning, I saw, climbing

 
over the walls, as well as entering through the open gates,

 
hundreds and hundreds of men, until the walls were swarm-

     
 
ing with Tuchuks, and others of the Wagon Peoples. Then,

      
on the walls and within the compound, they stood, not mov-

      
ing.

      
Astride his kailla Kamchak announced himself. "Kamchak

      
of the Tuchuks, whose father Kutaituchik was slain by

      
Saphrar of Turia, cads upon Saphrar of Turia."

      
"Strike him with your spears," screamed Saphrar from

      
within the doorway.

        
The two defenders hesitated.

      
"Give greetings to Saphrar of Turia from Kamchak of the

      
Tuchuks," said Kamchak calmly.

      
One of the guards turned woodenly. "Kamchak of the

      
Tuchuks ' he said, "gives greetings to Saphrar of Turia."

        
"Kill him!" screamed Saphrar. "Kill him!"

      
Silently a dozen Tuchuk bowmen, with the short horn

      
bow, stood afoot before Kamchak's Kaiila, their arrows trained

      
on the hearts of the two guards.

      
Kamchak untied two of the sacks of gold from the pom-

      
mel of his saddle. He threw one to one side for one guard,

   
   
and the other to the other side for the other guard.

        
"Fight!" cried Saphrar.

      
The two guards broke from before the door, each picking

      
up his sack of gold and fled through the Tuchuks.

      
"Sleen!" cried Saphrar, and turned and ran deeper within

      
the house.

      
Not hurrying Kamchak walked his kaiila up the stairs of

      
the house and, on kaiilaback, entered the main hall of the

      
House of Saphrar.

      
In the main had he looked about and then, Harold and I

    
  
following, and the man with the two Sleen, and the slaves

      
with gold, and his archers and other men, he began to walk

      
his kaiila up the broad marble stairs, following the terrified

      
Saphrar of Turia.

      
Again and again we encountered guards within the House

      
but each time, when Saphrar took refuge behind them,

      
Kamchak would throw gold to them and they would dissipate

      
and Saphrar, panting, puffing, clutching the large, purple-