“Only a day,” Ammi said, looking out at the ships that lay along the stone quay.
For a moment, Daniel thought she meant the enemy had been gone for only a day, and he said, “Why, it’s been a week since… oh, I see.” He slipped his arm around her. “I’m sorry, girl, but there was so much to do, till now. And I want to make all the haste I can, to reach the east before more trouble begins.”
“I did not complain,” she said quietly. She stared at the dark water. “In Alvanir, it would be the season of the dancing, under the sea.”
“They do not do that, here,” Daniel said. “They are afraid, now. Some of the sea folk…”
A long time ago, Ammi thought, we in Alvanir would swim out to the deeper water, and the child would be born there… and the mother would return, holding the newborn up out of the waves. But that was long ago, and Alvanir was dying. She would never see it again, she thought.
“You must not look so grim,” Daniel said and smiled at her.
She looked back at him steadily.
“You dreamed, last night,” she said.
He nodded. “Did I call out again? I’m sorry. It was…” He shrugged. “We called it a nightmare, in my language, a ghostly horse on which a man rode in the night.” He chuckled.
“A good way to put it.
I dreamed… very realistically, too… that I was in the world I came from. I no longer liked being there, though. It seemed like a world of monsters. That must be why I cried out.”
She said nothing, but pressed his arm with her hand.
They sat on a stone cathead at the end of a deserted quay, watching the sun setting across the sea’s rim. There-were no more threatening masts out there; the galleys of Esmare were gone from this part of the sea, at least. But ships of Numith did not come and go as they had usually done; the harbor was quiet, still.
Then, suddenly, a ripple broke in the dark water, nearly at their feet. A sleek dark head emerged, and eyes regarded them.
“Man!” the voice bubbled. “Are you he who is named Daniel?”
Daniel stood and his hand went automatically to the short sword under his cloak.
“I… know the one you speak of,” he said slowly.
The dolphin’s bubble of laughter came. “You speak not true,” it said. “We have watched for you, every day. You are Daniel.”
“Well, then?”
“He who is lost, the Great One, sent me to find you,” it said. “He sends a message.”
Daniel said nothing. After a moment, the dolphin went on.
“He says that you may open the wall, and let in the sea, man. You will harm
none,
there will be much time to warn all the land dwellers to go. Then, he will be free, to return to his clan, the Morra-ayar. And the new sea will be ours, but there will still be much land for your people.”
“That’s nonsense,” Daniel said. “Why should I do this?”
“He has said that he will give you many things, he will make you wiser and stronger. He has shown us, in the sea, already… his messengers came, and many of us listened. He is very wise. He said that a time will come when you of the land will slay all things that live in the sea, and showed us visions that proved this. He said that you would know that this was true, and that you could not lie if we asked.”
Daniel bit his lip painfully. After a moment he said, “That part might be true, some day. But not if the wall remains.”
“It cannot remain,” the dolphin said. “It will be broken, by other means, some day. He said that you would know this, too. How could you exist, if the wall were not broken?”
That was the damnable paradox, Daniel thought. He remembered a real world, a world that had a Mediterranean sea in it. But he knew also that he would not open that gateway and destroy the wall. The Morra-ayar said that if he refused, he would cease to exist. That was perfectly logical… and damned hard to swallow.
“He’s not one of
our
sea folk,” Ammi said suddenly. “Daniel, be careful.”
“Woman, speak to your man,” the dolphin said. “Our Master will reward
him,
and you too. If you open the wall, the men of the other nations will cease to fight; the Great One caused them to fight, and he can make them cease. Woman, dead men float in our sea, and there is much blood. You do not wish to see your young killed…”
“I don’t wish to be told such lies, either,” Ammi said. Her hand went under her cloak.
“Soon, there will be much killing,” the dolphin boomed. “Many men will come, and Numith will fall; then, the gates will be opened by others, and you will die.”
“No,” Daniel said. “Tell your master that I say no. That’s the only answer I can give.”
“I have a message for him, too,” Ammi said in a cool voice. Her hand came out and moved swift as lightning. The heavy bronze knife struck, and flew off the dolphin’s tough hide, though she had thrown it with all her force.
It uttered a strange snort, half laughter and half threat; and slid silently out of sight.
The company of Numithians moved swiftly eastward, along the roads that ran beside the Salt River at first; these were still the lands of Numith. Beyond, the road was less good for many miles, since few chose to live in the moorland.
There would be no use in taking a large force, Daniel had argued. Too many would merely slow their journey, without giving any better protection. Once in the lands held by Cohanar’s king, they would be safer; Iskarth maintained a peace with these lands. So, there were only twenty-five in all; Numith’s best warriors, well-mounted on good horses. Haruths would have made as good mounts, but the great beasts did not wish to go beyond their own lands these days. They were not afraid; rather, most of them wanted to slay the Iskarth men, when they came again.
Cohanar was small, a low-roofed city without walls; only a palisade which would not hold against any real assault, Daniel thought. The men of Numith were greeted with loud cheers by the people, small-size folk with darker skins than any Daniel had yet seen. But the king and his chiefs were not quite as glad.
The king of Cohanar went through the motions of a polite welcome, of course. Numith stood still, and was strong. Yet, there might be Iskarth, later; the thought was all too plainly in his mind. When Daniel spoke of the dangers of an Iskarth victory, and of the possible destruction of the wall, they were not much disturbed.
“It would be foolish,” one of the Cohanarian nobles said with a shrug. “The kings of Iskarth and Esmare value
wealth,
and wealth is not gained thus. What tribute can men give when they are drowned?”
“Has Numith required that you pay tribute to them?” Daniel demanded. In the silence, he looked at them, and suddenly knew what they were thinking. Numith had required
nothing,
therefore Numith was weaker than Iskarth, which demanded gifts from them. It was the way they thought, Daniel decided bitterly. These would be of no use.
Yet he remained for a day and did his best. In the end, before he left Cohanar, certain of the chiefs spoke to him in private. They were worried, they said. Yet, under the circumstances, it would be difficult to change the king’s mind. But if a small gift or two would be possible…
Many days later, Daniel rode beside the captain of his little troop, a man named Eshtak. Eshtak was a sardonic, acid-tongued fellow whose biting humor had kept Daniel from losing his own temper a hundred times so far. He was also a gambler, and therefore had no wealth at all. Daniel taught him several ways to manage dice; it seemed that even in this age there were small blocks on which numbers were painted. And though they were a little different from those of Daniel’s time, he had clear memories of how they could be used… honestly or otherwise.
So, Eshtak had become Daniel’s friend as well as his servant. But sometimes Daniel thought, with wry amusement, that he had done a great deal to this new world in which he lived, and not much to improve it. Teaching Eshtak to rebalance a pair of dice might be a step toward civilization, at that, Daniel thought.
“We’ve seen five towns, and the moon’s full again,” Eshtak observed. They rode beside a broad lake, toward low hills that were blue against the sky. “Six is the lucky throw. Kratonis is no huddle of peasant huts, but a kingdom; maybe they’ll hear us.”
Daniel looked critically at the land about them. The rolling land was dark green, the color of the olive trees that lined the way. They had seen white-walled villas on the hills, and the land looked rich.
Now, as the troop came within sight of the city itself, Daniel began to hope Eshtak was right. The place was large and well-built. He could see a bustle of traffic through the gates, and wide streets beyond. There were few guards in sight; Kratonis seemed secure and peaceful.
They were met on the road by messengers and heralds, and once more they rode through streets lined with cheering people.
“They cheered us in the other cities, too,” Eshtak observed as they clattered up a roadway and under an arch. “When their chiefs cry out good wishes on our heads, then I’ll feel better.” He glanced around the wide courtyard as they dismounted, and most sharply at the line of brilliantly armored guards around it “Perhaps I’d be satisfied if I merely keep my head on my shoulders, without the good wishes,” he added. “There’s something about those guardsmen that makes me feel strangely nervous, Lord Daniel.”
Daniel glanced at them and grinned.
“I can see why,” he told Eshtak in a carefully lowered voice. They walked behind the King’s heralds, and the guards clanged their spears to the ground, saluting as they came. “Look more closely at the King’s guards,” Daniel said quietly.
“Women!”
Eshtak muttered, wide-eyed.
Daniel had already heard something of Kratonian customs, including the King’s virgins; he merely looked warningly at Eshtak and shook his head slightly.
Past the guards, they entered a great hall where the court gathered; a crowd of gorgeously dressed people gazed at them with open fascination. From the murmuring voices, Daniel caught only a few words here and there, but they were words of approval. Maybe Kratonis would be the turning point, he thought.
At the dais, the two “Kings” waited; in the curious system by which Kratonis was ruled, the Kings were war-leaders, but had no power in peace. Behind them, the Queen sat on a high seat of gilded wood, watching them approach.
She was a good-looking woman, Daniel thought. He had heard that she was at least forty, but she did not look her age. She was tall, with flaming red hair that might be dyed, and jewels that were certainly real. Her green eyes were calm, catlike; she stared at Daniel, silently, until he began to feel a little uneasy.
“Greeting to you, Daniel of Numith,” she said at last. “I am Sabara, the Queen.”
He bowed and made his formal greeting; she allowed him to finish the courtly phrases, with a somewhat bored air. Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.
“Look, there, Lord Daniel,” Sabara said loudly enough to be clearly heard. He followed her gesture and saw a small group of tall, blond-bearded men who stood together a little distance from the throne.
“You see, the messengers of the King of Iskarth have come before you,” Sabara said. “They told me much about you. How you are a man of much cunning, well able to fool a poor simple woman.
Also a magician, and an evil one, skilled with poisons and drugs that destroy the mind.
By the way, have you any such with you?
I long to see them used, if you do.”
“I fear not, Queen,” Daniel said calmly.
“Well, then, these men of Iskarth offered gifts,” Sabara went on. She smiled at them.
“Pretty toys, which any woman might find pleasing.
They offered many other things, if I would only favor them with one small thing. I might throw filth on my honor, by seizing you and giving you to these, and gain all these good things. Otherwise, they told me, the mighty men of Iskarth would some day come and destroy Kratonis.”
There was a curious silence through the hall.
“It was not enough to offer a Queen
bribes
and threats,” Sabara said, a little more loudly now. She stared at the Iskarth men.
“Nor to ask that I act against honor.
It was also needful to offer gifts to the guards, who are the daughters of all the noblest clans of Kratonis. No doubt because they were women, these men of Iskarth thought them fools, as they thought me.” She rose and pointed. “Go. If you remain in Kratonis, you die.”
The blond men moved quickly, though with dignity, passing out of the court. Their faces were expressionless.
“Now, hear me,” Sabara said to Daniel. “I am most curious to hear your words, and to see these magical things you are said to have. But I have already sent to collect men and chariots, and Kratonis stands with Numith.”
Much later, in their quarters in the palace, Eshtak turned to Daniel with a puzzled look.
“I don’t understand women,” he said. “Why did
she
…”
“The men of Iskarth didn’t understand women, either,” Daniel told him. “They gave us this victory, not my own wits.”
“She was greatly taken with the gifts you brought,” Eshtak said.
“Especially the thing that explodes.”
Daniel had brought a bagful of the grenades, these made in Numith to his design. He had kept them for his own use, till now; but on displaying what one could do, the Queen had been so taken with them that he had given her twenty of them. Quite enough to last till the Kratonis artisans could make more. He had given her the simple recipe for black powder, as well.
“You don’t seem to fear that your bombs will be used against our own folk, Lord Daniel,” Eshtak said.
“If it ever happens, I’ll invent something better,” Daniel grunted. He was very tired, yet too wakeful. He poured wine and offered Eshtak a cup.
“Beware of those guards, Eshtak,” Daniel said. “In law, they’re all supposed to be virgins for the term of service.”
“That would make them dangerous to meet in battle,” Eshtak said. “But I’ve no taste for unbroken horses. I like ‘em with some skill, thanks.” He drank. “Lord, I noticed the Queen’s eyes on you. As I understand it, there’s no law in Kratonis to limit
her
choice, not even those two kings of hers. Now, if she happened to…”