Empire Rising (43 page)

The other two guards, curious at this new ritual, moved closer, as the bodyguard knelt to open his bundle. Korthac stepped behind them, hand on his knife. As the blanket came open, Korthac struck, moving so quickly that he’d stabbed the two guards before either could react, and with only the sound of their moans escaping. The watch commander died at the same moment, a stunned look of surprise on his face, as Korthac’s bodyguard snatched up a sword from the sack and drove it into the soldier’s stomach. The man died without even reaching for his sword, and, more important, without sounding the alarm.

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Pushing the bodies aside, Korthac reached down and took a short horseman’s bow from his bodyguard’s hand. It took but a moment to string it and nock an arrow, but there was no need. The soldiers guarding the other side of the gate had died, struck down by his Egyptians who’d moved into place just under the steps as their leader mounted. Some of the dead had cried out, but there’d been no loud clash of weapons. Nevertheless, a few citizens looked about in surprise, wondering what had happened, too confused to understand what they’d witnessed.

Korthac didn’t worry about them. All that mattered was that the alarm hadn’t sounded, and by now one of his men had secured the trumpet.

More Egyptians guarded the two lanes leading away from the gate, ready to stop any messenger rushing toward the soldiers’ barracks with a warning. Instead, Korthac leaned out over the wall and waved the bow. He couldn’t see far into the darkness, but he knew his men waited there, close enough to see the signal and would relay it to Takany and Ariamus’s men.

Looking down into the well of the gate, he saw the rest of his men moving into position, taking station just inside the opening, to make sure no one attempted to shut the portal.

From the darkness, he heard the rumble of many sandals approaching and looked back toward the river. The moment Korthac saw his men running toward the gate, he descended the steps. Takany and Nebibi led the first group of men through without stopping. Fifty Egyptians and an equal number of recruits followed him, all moving at a run directly toward the barracks.

Ariamus, leading another forty men, followed them in, pausing only long enough for Korthac and his six Egyptian bodyguards to fall in step beside him. Korthac had belted his sword about him, and strapped on a bronze helmet, both taken from the same bundle that concealed the swords and bow. The invaders jogged steadily, moving fast enough to cover the ground quickly but not too fast to leave the men exhausted.

Korthac’s force of nearly fifty men headed straight toward Eskkar’s house. Korthac needed to capture it and those inside without a major struggle. He’d seen that the house was strongly built. Given enough warning, even a handful of men could hold out there for some time. His con-tingent had farther to go than Takany and those moving to the barracks, which were closer to the river than Eskkar’s house. Hathor would be positioned there, with orders to wait as long as he could before attacking, to let his leader reach his destination.

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The alarm sounded while they still had another lane to traverse.

Korthac broke into a run, his men speeding up behind him. He turned into Eskkar’s lane. A torch burned next to the gate, and he saw a knot of men fi ghting. Hathor and his men had orders to keep that gate open. A clamor rose up from behind the courtyard wall, another trumpet sending its warning up into the darkness, overriding the noise and confusion. The clash of bronze on bronze told everyone fighting raged, and inside the compound Eskkar’s soldiers fumbled for their weapons and rushed to close the gate.

Two of Hathor’s men died fighting, but they held it open long enough for Korthac’s men to reach it. Korthac stopped just outside and ordered them in. Ariamus led the way, bursting through the opening, shouting his war cry. Korthac let a dozen men pass through, then followed them in, guarded by the same two bodyguards who helped kill the soldiers at the river gate.

Another torch still burned in the courtyard, lighting the dead bodies scattered about. Two more of Ariamus’s men had died forcing their way in. The rest of Korthac’s Egyptians formed up around him. He hurried along the house wall toward the house. Ariamus had orders to break in if necessary, and two of his men carried hammers and stakes for that purpose. If necessary, they would drive the stakes into the door and wrench the wood apart.

Korthac saw the tools wouldn’t be needed. The thick door stood wide open. Sounds of fighting came from the house, though that noise ended by the time he reached the entrance.

Ariamus, blood on his sword, met him just inside the door. “They’re in the upper rooms. We’ll have to force the door.” Two men pulled hammers from their packs, and rushed toward the stairs.

“Perhaps not. Bring another torch.” Stepping over the dead body of a soldier, Korthac passed inside and ascended the steps, stopping just below the landing. He rapped on the door with the point of his sword. “Lady Trella,” he called out. “Tell your men to open the door. Otherwise we’ll have to break it down and kill everyone inside.”

Shouts answered him, and from behind the door, he heard men arguing.

“Soldiers of Akkad, the house has been taken.” Korthac waited a moment, while the sounds of men cursing sounded through the door. “Lady Trella, tell your men to surrender. Your soldiers are all dead, and more of my men have captured the barracks. There won’t be any help. If you don’t want your followers to die, open the door.”

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He let the arguing go on for a few moments. They had no choice. As soon as they realized no one would come to their rescue, they’d surrender.

Korthac’s men filled the courtyard, some already busy looting the soldiers’

quarters. Behind the door, the defenders kept arguing, their voices rising as they shouted at each other. Some wanted to hold out, others wanted to talk.

“Open the door now, Trella. You need my protection for you and the child.”

“You’ll let the soldiers live?” Her question carried over the bickering, which quieted at her words.

Korthac detected no panic in her voice, only acceptance of the inevi-table. “Yes, as slaves. It’s that or they die.”

They had no choice, and it didn’t take Trella long to convince her guards. He heard the sound of the table dragging across the floor, and in a moment, the bar lifting from its braces. The door swung open to reveal Annok-sur standing there. Behind her stood four men, swords at the ready.

Korthac saw another man, wounded, lying against the wall.

“Tell them to put down their weapons and come out. You and Lady Trella will stay here.”

“Drop your swords, and obey him.” Lady Trella’s voice came from behind the men.

She sounded unafraid, but he’d soon change that.

The soldiers looked at each other, then tossed their swords to the floor in surrender.

“Tie them up, Ariamus. We’ll need good slaves.” Korthac meant his words. A few weeks working as tethered captives under the whip would find them more than willing to join his forces. With Eskkar dead and forgotten, trained fighting men would willingly join him.

Korthac watched as Ariamus and his men secured the soldiers, binding their hands and pushing them down the stairs, to join the other prisoners. In moments, only Trella and Annok-sur remained.

“I’ll send your servants up here, Trella. If you want them to stay alive, you’ll remain in the bedroom.”

“Why are you doing this?” Trella said.

Ignoring her question, he gave orders to have both the upper rooms searched and all weapons removed. Korthac left six of his men to watch over Trella, telling them in Egyptian to kill her if anyone attempted a rescue.

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Moving downstairs, he found Ariamus and Hathor waiting for him.

“A messenger just came from Takany,” Hathor said, still holding a sword dripping with blood. “He’s taken the barracks and seized all the weapons. But men are holding out at the main gate.”

Hathor had done well, securing the entrance to Eskkar’s compound.

With Takany’s capture of the soldiers’ quarters, the most difficult objective had been achieved. The only real resistance could have come from the barracks. With that taken, the battle had ended. Korthac’s main goal had been to secure Trella alive and unharmed, so that he could use her to force the inhabitants to his will.

“Ariamus, leave twenty of your men here,” Korthac said. “Take the rest and guard the river gate. Make sure no horses leave the city. Watch the boats and the river as well.”

Korthac turned to Hathor. “Take your men to the main gate. Keep whatever soldiers are left penned up there. Put archers on the walls, to make sure no one leaves the city. When Takany gets here, we’ll bring our men to the main gate and finish the last of the resistance. Afterward, we can begin hunting down any who’ve escaped. By dawn, the city will be mine.”

Unsure of what to do, Tammuz and En-hedu stood there with a dozen others, even after the fighting ended, watching events unfold. Along with a few dozen of Akkad’s stunned citizens, Tammuz and En-hedu had seen Korthac capture Eskkar’s house. Whatever warning Tammuz might have given would likely have arrived too late. By the time he’d convinced anyone of the danger, Korthac’s men would have struck.

Just when Tammuz decided they’d best return to the alehouse, armed men poured out of Eskkar’s house.

Tammuz and En-hedu, like all the frightened villagers, shrank against the wall or into nearby homes while the fierce-looking Egyptians marched by, many with blood still on their swords. After all the invaders had passed, with En-hedu holding his left arm, Tammuz followed behind them, keeping back a safe distance. When they reached the open area before the main gate, he and En-hedu could see that the archers in the towers had refused to surrender. As they watched, shafts flew at the invaders, pushing them back into the lane.

“Wait here,” Tammuz said, nudging En-hedu into a doorway. He slipped as close to the rear of the Egyptians as he dared. He heard Ha-Empire Rising

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thor and Korthac talking, along with another man they called Takany, who seemed to be Korthac’s second in command. The three men spoke briefly, but always in Egyptian, and Tammuz had no idea of what they said.

When Korthac finished, Hathor raced off back up the lane toward Eskkar’s house. Tammuz watched as Korthac and Takany positioned their men, to make sure no reinforcements could reach the gate or towers, and to prevent the soldiers within from escaping. Then Korthac stood there, waiting.

Before long, Hathor returned, leading a dozen men carrying torches and escorting Lady Trella, her hands bound together with a leather thong and escorted by two grinning Egyptians who held her by the arms as they hurried her along. They took her directly to where Korthac waited. He spoke to her, then slapped her across the face before taking hold of her wrist and twisting it until she cried out.

Appearing satisfied at Trella’s reaction, Korthac pushed her into Hathor’s arms. “Take her to the gate,” Korthac ordered, speaking in Akkadian to make sure Trella understood his words. “If the soldiers don’t surrender, kill her.”

Stunned at Trella’s treatment, Tammuz watched as Hathor led Lady Trella out into the open space behind the gate.

“Soldiers of Akkad,” Hathor shouted, his powerful voice echoing throughout the area. “If you don’t lay down your weapons and surrender, Lady Trella will be put to death, and then we’ll kill everyone in the towers.”

Tammuz saw that Hathor stood beside Trella, an easy shot for most of the archers in the tower. But everyone knew what would happen to Trella if an arrow struck him down. Hathor waited a few moments, then called out again. “For the last time . . . surrender now, and you will live.”

He pushed Trella forward. “Tell them.”

“Soldiers, come down from the towers.” Trella’s voice carried easily to the walls. “Don’t resist. Save your own lives.”

Tammuz shook his head. Never had he thought such a thing could happen.

“Korthac’s too wise to stand out there in the open, where an arrow could take him,” En-hedu said, watching the spectacle. She’d ignored Tammuz’s order to stay behind and moved up to join him. “He lets Hathor take the risk of dying.”

“This is bad,” Tammuz said. “The guards will have to surrender.”

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“We should get back to the alehouse,” En-hedu whispered. “We can’t do anything here. They may start killing everyone in the streets.”

“As soon as I see what happens. I have to make sure.”

Shouting voices came from the towers, but the debate didn’t last long.

The twenty or thirty men, divided between the towers and outnumbered by at least five times their strength, had no choice but to yield. Without weapons, food, and water, they couldn’t hold out. At Trella’s urging, they put down their weapons and filed from the tower.

By then Tammuz had seen enough. With all resistance ended, the terror would begin. “Let’s get out of here, before the looting starts.”

He hurried En-hedu along, his knife held tight against his side. But they didn’t encounter any of Korthac’s men, and soon reached Tammuz’s establishment, as dark as every house on the lane. No one would burn even the smallest lamp tonight, afraid to attract any attention from their new masters.

A worried Kuri let them into the alehouse, sword in hand, and barred the door behind them. Only a faint glow from the fireplace embers gave any illumination.

Tammuz peered into the common room, but saw no one.

“I chased them all out, and told them not to return until morning,”

Kuri said. “They’ll be busy enough, picking up whatever they can steal in all this confusion.” Using a shard of pottery, he lifted a glowing ember from what remained of the fire, and carried it into Tammuz’s private room, where he touched it to the oil lamp.

He blew on it gently, until a tiny flame appeared, enough to reveal another presence waiting for them.

“What’s happening out there?” Gatus lay across Tammuz’s bed, one hand clutching his side, his voice weak and full of pain. His still-bloody sword lay beside him, close to his hand.