The Towers of Samarcand (8 page)

But he’d been seen.

In his hurry, he’d slipped on a stone and landed headlong in the water. When he looked up, pushing hair from his eyes, he saw a rider a hundred paces to his front, watching him. At least he assumed that he was watching him. It was difficult to be sure for the man wore a long mask of painted wood that obscured all of his face and much of his chest. The masked man raised his bow, an arrow on its string, and pointed it directly at Luke.

Very slowly, Luke got up, his arms raised in the universal sign of submission. The rider didn’t move. Luke looked hard at him. The mask was very large and the eye-slits narrow. Firing accurately would be a challenge at that range. He could either flee or advance. He didn’t have much time and he wanted the horse. He began to advance.

The rider did nothing. Luke was making his task easier; the range was narrowing with every step. Luke held his head high. He was watching the horse and the horse was watching him. It was young and skittish and nervous of the currents flowing about its feet. The sudden glance of sunlight breaking on stone wasn’t part of its life on the steppe. Still Luke watched it.

I, too, am afraid. I will come to you and we will master our fear together
.

Their eyes were locked. The space between them was fifty paces, then forty.

But there’s something I want you to do
.

It was twenty paces now and still the man aimed the bow at Luke. At this range, he couldn’t miss.

Now!

The horse reared. For a moment it looked as if the rider would keep to his saddle. Then it reared again and the man came down. The bow fell and its arrow glanced against a rock. Luke sprang forward as the horse scrambled to the bank, water exploding around its hooves. The rider thrashed about, trying to draw his sword, but the current was too strong and the water too cold. Then Luke was upon him and the mask had been pulled away and the man’s head was between two powerful hands that were pushing it under.

The fight was short and vicious. The man was strong and wanted to live and he gripped Luke’s forearms with a force that seemed beyond human. Twice his face came up, eyes bulging with defiance as he choked and bit at Luke’s hands, but each time Luke forced him back beneath the water. The heaving chest rose a last time and told of lungs full of water and the man’s hands fell away. Then he was still and the bubbles rose from purple lips and Luke knew that he was dead. Exhausted, he rolled away into the water.

The horse
.

He looked up at the bank and the horse was there, calmly cropping the grass. Luke whistled softly. The animal raised its head, grass hanging slack from its mouth and recognition in its eye. A fly settled on its nose and was shaken away but the horse remained still. Luke rose, picked up the bow and walked unsteadily to the bank, opening and closing his fists to restore
the circulation. He felt suddenly exhilarated by the prospect of climbing on to the back of this horse. Then he was beside it and his hands were deep within the thick hair of its mane and his mouth was next to its ear and the bond that was without explanation was being made. He put his foot in the stirrup and pulled himself up into the saddle.

We will master our fear together
.

It was half a mile to the camp and he knew the raiders were ahead of him. He dug his heels into the horse’s sides and it leapt forward, relieved to be free of the water. They found a path that ran beside the riverbank and Luke urged the horse into a canter. By now it was nearly night and the rim of the escarpment was outlined by the sun that had just gone down behind it. He reached the junction of the two valleys and turned north for the camp. Up ahead there was fire in the sky.

Luke kicked harder, breaking into a gallop even as the sides of the valley grew steeper. There were trees in front of them with a halo of light above them. Then he was in the trees and the smell of burning was among them and the sound of fighting only just beyond. He emerged from the wood and before him was chaos. Ahead were the ribbed skeletons of tents aflame and silhouettes between. Arrows flew and people were running and falling. He saw swords arc and heard the screams of men as they fell. There was an explosion of flame as a tent collapsed.

‘Lug!’

It was a girl. He strained to see who but was blinded by the glare. Then he saw Arkal, hand in hand with Tsaurig, running towards him as fast as she could. The pair reached him and Arkal bent double to regain her breath. She was holding her leg, obviously in pain. Dismounting, Luke wondered fleetingly why he’d never asked her about it.

‘Lug …’ She was panting hard and the words came in spasms. ‘Lug, you must not go on. They …’ She looked behind and then up at him and there was desperation in her eyes. ‘They’re looking for someone … someone not from our tribe.’

She straightened. ‘They were looking for
you
, Lug.’

Tsaurig began to cry. Big tears ran down his cheeks and pooled in the folds of his deel. He grabbed his sister’s hand again.

‘Where are your parents?’ Luke asked softly.

The girl didn’t answer.

‘Arkal, are your parents alive?’ he asked, taking her free hand.

Arkal shrugged. She pushed hair from her eyes. There was blood on her forehead. ‘Lug, why do they want you?’

‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘But I will find out. Where have they gone?’

‘They have taken our horses and gone back to where they came from.’

Luke looked beyond her to the remains of the camp. The flames were dying now. There were no horses. He let go of her hand. ‘Arkal, take Tsaurig into the wood and stay there until it’s safe to go back. If the camp has lost its horses then I must go after them myself.’

Arkal began to protest, then slowly nodded her head. ‘Be careful, Lug.’ She turned and began to walk towards the trees, Tsaurig behind her. She stopped. Looking back, she asked: ‘You’ll come back, won’t you?’

Luke smiled. ‘Of course.’

Then he mounted and pulled the horse’s head towards the slope. He kicked and rode up the valley’s side, pausing once to see Arkal reach the wood. At the top, he reined in and looked out at the vast connected shadow of land and sky. The stars
blinked and shimmered and fell like snow over the steppe. Luke patted the neck of his pony and leant down.

Which way did they go?

There was wind here, a soft, soothing thing that came from far, far away and had begun in the east. Luke lifted his head and breathed deeply. The smell of horse was faint but unmistakable.

They have gone east
.

He looked again at the stars and turned his pony into the wind and pressed his heels to its sides. The land was flat and the grass new and the going easy. He rode with his head low on the animal’s neck and he talked all the while as it covered the ground in its short, uneven strides.

*

It was halfway through the night when the raiders stopped to rest. The Germiyan horses were spread out across the plain and being herded together. Luke could see them quite clearly in the light of the moon that had risen above the mountains to the west. He dismounted and slapped his horse away and lay down on the dark side of a low hill to watch. The riders were erecting a makeshift pen around the horses, their bows slung across their shoulders. They were many miles from the camp by now, too far for anyone to reach them without horses, and they spoke in loud, excited voices.

Some of them had made a fire and food was being taken from saddlebags to cook. Luke heard song and saw the silhouette of an airag sack being passed around. He looked over to the pen where there were men posted at each corner. One of them shouted to his friends and the airag was brought over. Laughter rose into the night, the smell of spiced mutton rising with it, and drink was passed between men who laughed louder as it did its work.

Luke was cold and hungry. The ride had been fast and hard and his horse had stumbled in marmot holes towards the end. The animal was sick. He’d looked into those white-rimmed eyes and seen fever. He glanced behind him.

Stay with me, friend. We have work to do
.

Much later, when the fire had died down and men were sleeping around its embers, he moved. Three of the men guarding the horses were asleep, the other mumbling to himself. He could see that all of the horses had been penned together.

That’s good
.

Cursing the moon, Luke began to crawl towards the horses, the tall grass covering him. The sleeping guards were snoring and the one that wasn’t was sitting with his back against a post. Then his head nodded and fell forward. Luke could see a dagger glinting at his waist. The moon was still undimmed by cloud and if the man woke, Luke would die. Rising to a crouch, he waited to hear some noise within the pen before making his rush. A horse whinnied and another answered and he ran. He was as fast and silent as his Varangian father had taught him to be. Before the guard could awake, Luke had ripped the dagger from his belt and slit his throat from side to side. There was no sound beyond the slither of metal breaking skin.

Now he was moving quietly along the rope, talking and soothing as he went and looking for the signs in each horse that marked it out as leader. Luke crept up on the second guard from the side, clamped his hand over his mouth and drove the knife between his ribs. Blood splashed over his hand and the man jerked in tiny, gurgling spasms before he died. Luke wiped his hand on the ground and rolled into the pen. The horses stood around him and he looked at each in turn.

Which of you is leader?

He moved further in, the horses parting before him, puzzled, curious. Luke looked from head to head, calling softly, cajoling, seeking out the one that would persuade the others. Then he saw him. A black gelding with white socks and a lozenge on his nose. There was space around him, which meant that he was held in respect by the others. The horse looked at Luke and Luke looked back.

I know you
.

He knew that he’d seen the animal before. Luke had spent as much time as he could getting to know the Germiyan horses. He’d fed them, watered them, talked to them; he’d done everything but ride them. And he’d marked this one out as special. Now, in the soft light, he looked into two big eyes with moons in them, eyes that were watching him without fear.

We know each other
.

He put out his arm and touched its nose, moving the flat of his palm down to cover the nostrils. He would have the smell of horse on that hand. He moved it down to the grooved rubber of its lips, cupping its chin and lifting the head so that their noses touched. The white lozenge shone as it met the moonlight and Luke looked straight down its silver path into those big, unblinking eyes.

There is something I want you to do
.

A minute later, Luke had mounted a different horse. With no saddle, he was able to lie almost flat along its back as he moved slowly through the herd, gently pushing animals out of their way. He reached the perimeter, slid to the ground and pulled up two posts, laying them flat on the ground. Then he led the horse down the side of the pen until he got to the corner and a good view of the sleeping raiders. They were lying close to
the dying fire. There didn’t seem to be any guards although a single horse stood in silhouette, tethered slightly apart.

Luke bent down and picked up the sack of airag. He pulled the stopper from its mouth and smelt its contents. Then he put it to his lips and drank. Fire burnt his throat and he buried his face in the pony’s mane to stop himself from coughing. He mounted the horse, the airag in his hand. The landscape around the fire moved; one of the raiders was sitting up. He’d heard something. Luke saw him turn to wake others.

Now
.

Luke started over the open ground and the man rose and reached for his bow. He was shouting and other heads came up. Then Luke was on top of them. He swung the airag sack twice above his head before hurling it into the fire. There was an explosion and burning debris flew into the air. A scream of pain came as a man’s clothes caught light.

Luke was already backing his horse away when he felt the wind of an arrow above him. He ducked and turned the horse’s head for flight. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone grab for the tethered horse. He kicked hard and struck the pony’s flank with his fist.

He looked up at the stars and found a plough. Above it would be the North Star. The pony was moving quickly now and Luke was skirting the pen, a hundred pairs of eyes watching his progress. When he reached the place where the rope had been lowered, he saw the horses already beginning to leave the enclosure, the gelding at their head. He whistled sharply, and turned to the west. The horse neighed and broke into a trot and then a canter. Luke’s heart lifted.

It’s working
.

He looked behind him. The horses were spreading out across
the steppe and the thunder of their two thousand hooves was like a storm rolling through the grasses. But there was a rider following him.

At first he thought it was a rogue horse that had broken free from the herd. Then he saw that there was a shape above the horse, a shape bent low for speed, a shape that included the curve of a bow. Luke looked down at his pony. It was no Eskalon. He cursed that he’d brought no bow. But then he hadn’t yet learnt how to shoot from the saddle. He’d have to outride his pursuer.

The gelding. I need the gelding
.

He steered his pony towards the gelding, which was now almost level with him. He looked at its gallop, its rhythm and the space between its hooves. He made the judgement.

One, two, three …

He’d begun the leap when his pony went down. Shot through the leg, it could do nothing but fall. It sank to the grass, twisting as it did so and bringing Luke with it. He was pinned. In seconds the herd would be on top of him. He closed his eyes and prayed.

The horses came on, jumping the obstacle one after another. Then one shied and was hit by those behind. Yet still they came on and Luke held his breath, waiting for the hooves that would trample him, feeling their thunder shake every part of his being.