The Blood-stained Belt (14 page)

Sharma gave a
short laugh. ‘Already? What have we done?’

‘You remember
when Mecolo joined the procession?’ Sharma nodded. I continued,
‘Well, you’ll also remember that she wasn’t exactly forward in
greeting Vaxili, not so?’

Sharma shrugged
dismissively. ‘So what? Vaxili had a lot on his mind. Like I said,
he wouldn't even have noticed us.’

‘What – not
notice us? He spoke to us and asked our names, or have you
forgotten? Then we marched into Koraina waving Drunuk's head on a
spear with his daughter dancing before us singing our praises. And
you still think Vaxili hasn't noticed us? Man, Sharma, come down to
earth!’

Sharma's eyes
narrowed and he said sullenly, ‘Huh! I guess that Dana’s been
speaking to you.’

‘So what if she
has? Do you think she doesn't know what's going on just because she
isn't a king's daughter?’

The
conversation ended without conclusion. I knew Sharma well enough to
see that he wasn’t going to take my advice on this matter, no
matter how hard I pressed him. Sharma and women! How could someone
as cool-headed and resourceful as Sharma become so short-sighted
and pig-headed when he set his sights on a woman? In all the years
that I have known Sharma, I have never found a satisfactory answer
to that question. Now I never will – not that it will matter,
anyway.

Later, I asked
myself if Sharma was playing a deeper game than the ancient one
that men and women always play. Did Sharma think that he could kill
two birds with one stone: land the fish safely and net Vaxili’s
goodwill as well? Did he think that he could play for big stakes
against heavy odds and win the grand prize? Yes, it looked like he
did. But how did he think he was going to do it? I shook my head
and tried to stop worrying about the matter. After all, it was
Sharma’s business and his alone. He would suffer the consequences
or reap the rewards, not me. At least, that is what I told
myself.

Five days
later, Dana told me that she would be going away for about a week.
Vaxili’s mother would be celebrating her sixtieth birthday and
Vaxili was sending Mecolo and his two younger sons to attend the
occasion while Dana had been selected accompany Mecolo as her
personal attendant.

I said, ‘I
didn't know that you were one of Mecolo’s attendants.’

Dana said with
affected nonchalance, ‘I'm not one of Mecolo's official attendants
but she's selected me for this occasion.’ She couldn't hide the
note of self--satisfaction in her voice.

‘Selected for
services rendered?’

Dana’s eyes
flashed. She put up a finger and said, ‘Watch your words, Jina! You
think I’m not suitable to be an attendant, don’t you?’ Dana put her
hands on her hips and thrust the words at me. ‘You think just
because my father is a cook –‘

‘That’s not
what I meant.’

‘What did you
mean, then?’

I took Dana's
hand and said, ‘I don’t want you to go. I’m going to miss you,
Dana.’

Dana softened.
She said, ‘I’ll miss you too. But this is a big opportunity for me.
It could result in a permanent appointment.’

‘I know that,
Dana. I’m happy for you. But I’m not happy for myself.’

‘It'll only be
for a week, Jina.’ She kissed me on my cheek and whispered, 'I'll
make up for lost time when I get back – you'll see.'

The party left
early next morning. Because their destination was near the Great
River, at a place where the river was at the apex of its wide sweep
westwards, the journey would only take them a day. It would be a
long day but they should reach their destination before
nightfall.

As fate would
have it, they didn’t reach their destination at all. The first that
we knew about it was when Vaxili's adjutant woke us just after
midnight. He shook us urgently, shouting, ‘Sharma and Jina! Out of
bed! Get dressed!’

We fumbled
around for flints and candles amidst yawns and complaints from all
around us. The adjutant roared at our companions, ‘Shut your mouths
or I'll put the whole lot of you on a charge for disrespect.' To
Sharma and me, he said, 'I want the two of you on the parade ground
in less than ten minutes. Take light packs and your swords. Get
moving!’

About thirty
men from various units assembled, stamping and shivering in the
chilly night air. The adjutant called us to attention, counted us,
stood us at ease, and said, ‘You’ve been selected for a special
assignment. An Usserdite raiding party captured Princess Mecolo,
her brothers, and the rest of the party. You will rescue them.’

Sharma and I
looked at each other. We could hardly make out each other's faces
in the dim light but each knew what the other was thinking.

Someone asked,
‘Where did this happen, commander?’

‘West of
Erlata, on the road to the Great River. Any more questions?’

‘Won't they be
over the river in Usserdite territory by now, commander?’

‘Perhaps they
will be, perhaps they won’t be. Probably not, because they'll be
slowed down by captives and baggage. But wherever they are, this
side of the river or on the other side, you will find them and you
will bring our people back safely. You will also bring back as many
prisoners as possible. Is that clear?’

‘Commander
–‘

‘No more
questions!’ The adjutant peered at the squad and asked, ‘Where is
Sharma?’

‘Here,
commander.’ Sharma stepped forward.

‘Good! You will
command the unit. Do you understand?’

‘Yes,
commander.’

‘Do you
understand what you have to do?’

‘Yes,
commander.’

‘Any
questions?’

‘No,
commander.’

The adjutant
peered at us again and barked, ‘Where is Jina?’

‘Here,
commander.’

‘You will act
as deputy commander of the expedition. Is that clear?’

‘Yes,
commander.’ I tried to keep my voice calm but my pulse began to
race at the realisation that I had just received my first promotion
even if it was only a temporary one.

The adjutant
said, ‘You will move immediately. Leave your packs here for the
logistics unit to pick up. They’ll follow you.’ He saluted Sharma
and said, ‘Take over, acting commander.’

Sharma stepped
forward, saluted, and shouted an order. With swords secured across
our backs we set off at a quick trot. After an hour and a half, we
took a short break at a village. Just under three hours later, as
the sun was rising, we reached Erlata. It was a medium-sized
village, with the main track – the one that we were following –
running straight through it from east to west. The village elders
told us that the attack took place about half an hour’s travel to
the west at a place where the country became more broken and rugged
before the escarpment tumbled down to the Great River.

In Erlata we
found someone who had witnessed the incident. He said that the
attack took place where the track narrowed to pass between rocky
hillocks in the sort of broken countryside that was common on the
rim of the escarpment. The man said that he came around a corner in
the track, saw the start of the attack, and concealed himself where
he could watch without being seen. He said that there were about
twenty Usserdites. The bandits killed all of the soldiers and some
of the servants and took the rest of the party captive. As far as
he could tell, about five of the bandits were killed during the
attack.

Sharma asked,
‘Were any of them mounted?’

‘I saw some
donkeys carrying packs but I didn’t see any horses.’

Sharma nodded
in satisfaction and said, 'That means that they won't be moving
quickly. We can catch them before nightfall.'

One of the
elders said dourly, ‘You'd better do a good job. If they get the
captives back to Usserd, they’ll either be ransomed or they’ll be
sold as slaves.’

Another elder
said, equally dourly, ‘If the women are young enough, their chiefs
use them in their harems to breed men for their bodyguards.’

Once again,
Sharma and I exchanged glances. Once again, each knew what the
other was thinking.

We pressed on
at a fast pace and, after about thirty minutes, reached the site of
the attack where we found that the bodies were still lying next to
the road. Their faces were bloody and disfigured as if a drunken
butcher had hacked at them. This was an Usserdite trademark: they
always cut out their enemies’ tongues and ears as offerings to
their gods. Once they used to offer human sacrifices but now that
they were more civilised, they only offered body parts from dead
enemies.

Sharma ordered
us to give the bodies a provisional burial while he scouted around.
After ten minutes, he came back and said, ‘They’ve taken their dead
with them. That will also slow them down.’

I asked, ‘Any
sign of horses?’

Sharma shook
his head. ‘No, I can only find donkey tracks.’ He hitched up his
sword and said tersely, ‘We should catch up with them before
sunset. Let's get moving.’ He pointed south-west to a break in the
jumble of rocks where a path snaked up the slope towards a ridge.
‘They’re travelling across country, away from the regular trails.
With the donkeys carrying loads and with wounded men, they won’t be
moving fast.’ Sharma hitched his sword over his back and asked,
‘Any questions?’

Someone asked,
‘Do we kill them or do we capture them alive.’

‘You heard what
the adjutant said. Kill anyone who offers resistance but try to
take as many as possible alive.’

Someone said
heatedly, ‘We should eliminate every one of them.’

Sharma’s eyes
flashed when he replied, ‘We will obey our orders. But, if it helps
to know why we’ve been ordered to take prisoners, remember that
Keirine has a peace treaty with the Usserdite confederation. King
Vaxili wants to show good faith by letting their own people deal
with them.’ Sharma jerked a thumb towards the ridge. ‘That’s enough
talking. We can bother about killing and capturing once we’ve
caught up with them. Let’s go.’

In early
evening our advance scout reported that we had caught up with the
raiders and Sharma and I went forward to observe their position. We
crept up to the bushes that lined the top of a slope from which we
could look down onto the river bank and watch the Usserdites moving
about, lighting fires and laying out bedding rolls. Sharma touched
my shoulder and muttered, ‘There they are – next to the
donkeys.’

I grunted in
acknowledgement. I had also seen them. There were eight captives in
all – Dana, Mecolo, Mecolo’s two brothers, their attendants, and
two servants. They were lashed to trees and looked dirty and
uncomfortable but, thank Zabrazal, they all appeared to be
unharmed. As I looked at the small form of Dana, lashed against a
tree, trussed up like a bag of someone’s possessions, my anger rose
so high that it almost choked me. I wanted to rush down there, hack
my way past anything that stood in my way, and take her in my arms.
I wanted to feel her fear ebbing away while I whispered to her
that, while I was alive, nothing would ever harm her again. I
fought down the feeling, reminding myself of Zaliek’s words:
'Forget about revenge. Forget about resentment. They get in the way
of clear thinking.' Sure, I would do that. But that wouldn’t save
any Usserdite who stood in my way.

After a few
minutes, Sharma muttered, ‘We’ve seen enough. Let’s move back.’

We slid back
down the slope and rolled into the shelter of a small ravine.
Sharma asked quietly, ‘How many of them?’

‘I saw fourteen
Usserdites.’

Sharma nodded.
‘Good. We agree. A few of them could have been out of sight by the
river. Let’s say sixteen or seventeen at most.’ He looked at me
keenly. ‘What are our options?’

I said, ‘We
could wait for about three hours until they’re asleep and then we
could take them.’

Sharma shook
his head. ‘There's no moon tonight. If we attack in the dark, we’ll
be as confused as they are. What's more, some of them will escape,
for sure.’

‘What do you
suggest, then?’

Sharma tugged
at an ear. ‘I think that we should wait until just before sunrise.
We'll put five men on the other side of the river to deal with any
of them who might get away. The rest of us should be able to handle
them if we take them by surprise. You agree?’

I nodded,
trying to show composure. In fact, I was annoyed, not only because
Sharma had trumped my plan but also because he was correct. Also, I
was annoyed at myself. I had to admit that my eagerness to rescue
Dana as soon as possible had overcome my cooler reason. Damn it, I
thought, get a grip on yourself. You’re a soldier, not a schoolboy.
I swallowed my pride and nodded again in agreement.

The plan worked
almost perfectly. Our comrades took up their positions across the
river and at first light we launched our attack on the camp. We
encountered only one guard, but he was asleep against a rock. We
dealt with him with a sword thrust and within a few seconds we were
within the encampment. By Zabrazal, they were a slovenly and
negligent lot! They were lying around in disorder amidst wine jugs
and the remains of their meal, surrounded by a jumble of equipment.
Didn’t they think that they would be followed? Didn’t they even
know how to set up a proper camp? It felt good to be a soldier,
disciplined and orderly, when you came across scenes such as this
one. We went about our business so quietly and with such commitment
that eight of them were dead before anyone noticed our presence. By
then it was too late to offer resistance. The remaining Usserdites
had swords at their throats.

I turned my
attention to releasing the captives and stopped abruptly. One of
the Usserdites had been on guard duty and must have been alerted by
the noise from the camp. Sizing up the situation, he grabbed the
nearest captive, slicing through the rope that bound her to the
tree. He hauled her to her feet, backed behind her, and put a knife
to her throat. Then he called out, ‘Let my comrades go or I'll cut
her throat.’