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dropped stones and poured boiling pitch from the wall. They kept up a steady
rain of javelins and arrows.
"My king," said Jochim one morning, "this is an incredibly stupid way to
fight."
"I can only agree," Hael assured him. They sat around a campfire, the king and
his higher officers. There had been little for them to do since the siege
began.
"Then let us return home," said Bamain. "We have had one fine battle, and now
we are feared
from the plains all the way to the sea. But this is not real fighting that
goes on here."
"That is true," Hael said. "This is a sort of mass labor that involves
killing. But I came here to help Pashir against the man in that city. If we
leave now, they will come out of there and massacre this army. All that keeps
them inside is fear of us. And I have a score to settle with Gasam. Be
patient. It cannot be long now, and there is plenty of time to reach the
mountains before the passes are blocked with snow. I want to collect our pay
from King Pashir."
"He had better pay well," Jochim said.
"He shall. And you can tell the men that the journey back will be far more
pleasant than the one hither. We will not go back through the desert, but
through Omia. I will exact payment from King Oland for the trouble he put us
through. We can always use more cabos and other livestock, and our path will
take us through many of his estates."
At this his officers regained their good humor. Their only true grievance
through this whole campaign had been the lack of opportunity for raiding. The
prospect of pillage in Omia was a pleasant one. It was more the honor of it
than the plunder that attracted them. They all counted themselves rich since
Hael had become their king. Their herds had grown phenomenally and dominating
their huge domain in organized armies was even more enjoyable than the old
small-scale raiding against neighbors.
There were those who missed the days of war between tribes, and a few
plainsmen sometimes lamented that they could no longer go into the hills on
slave raids, but these complaints were
few. When Hael pondered it, it occurred to him that he had done for the people
of his domain much the same thing Gasam had done for the Islanders. But he had
done it without the wholesale destruction and enslavement that Gasam seemed to
delight in. Hael believed he had made his subjects happier and more secure.
But did Gasam believe the same thing? Could Hael himself be just as
destructive without knowing it? These were questions that could torment him on
sleepless nights, but all his life he had felt a destiny that he had to
fulfill, later on knowing that he was one of the rare men who had the power to
move nations and races into new paths, to change everything. He could no more
avoid that destiny than change places with Gasam.
A day came when Harakh asked Hael to accompany him to the command tent. When
the two arrived, the tent was occupied only by Pa-shir and Choula. The king
looked up and smiled.
"Welcome, Hael. You will be pleased to learn that, tomorrow, we take back
Floria."
"That is good news indeed," Hael said. "But, how do you know that tomorrow is
the day?"
It was Choula who explained. "We have had an unexpected success in tunneling
beneath the wall. This low-lying coastal area is made up mostly of loose soil,
sand and soft stone. Our chief of mining operations reported that this morning
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his miners broke through to the basement of a disused house in the city. It
seems that the city wall at that point is built on a foundation of the soft
stone. The miners cut through it and passed beneath the wall without even
knowing it."
"We have kept this a strict secret," Pashir said. "The tunnel is now being
widened. Tomorrow we shall mount a heavy attack against the walls. But while
Gasam concentrates his defenses on the battlements, we will be infiltrating
the city by way of the tunnel. A picked force will enter and secure the gate,
opening it for the army outside. Once we are in, the city will be ours. No
skillful maneuver or warrior spirit will save Gasam then. In taking a city
street by street, nothing counts except weight of numbers and good, heavy
infantry."
"This sounds promising," Hael said. "My army could only tarry here a certain
time before we must return home." He looked down at the table, where a map of
the city lay. The place where the tunnel broke into the city was marked. "I
will go in tonight," he said.
The others were aghast. "What?" said the king. "Why should you do such a
thing?"
"Two reasons. One, I have sworn to kill Gasam and I intend to do it. The other
is to find Shazad and bring her out, if she is still alive. Once the city is
breached, Gasam might kill her out of spite."
"I fear terribly for my daughter, my friend," Pashir said. "But I would not
have you put yourself at risk when her plight is none of your doing."
"This I must do," Hael insisted. "With Gasam slain, his army will collapse.
They think he is a god and they will not recover from his loss."
"You will be seen and recognized," Harakh protested.
"Once inside the city I will be just another Shasinn warrior," Hael said. "It
will be dark,
and there can be very few who would know me instantly by sight."
Choula did not try to dissuade him. "Gasam and his queen, we are told, have
established themselves in the finest house in the city, here on this hill." He
pointed to a spot on the map. "It was the royal governor's house. As you can
see from the elevations on this map, all the ground in the city slopes upward
to this place. Even in the dark, you can find it by simply going uphill."
Choula looked at him very seriously, as if he expected it to be for the last
time. "Of course, we have no way of knowing if that is where the princess is
being held."
"If I find Gasam," Hael promised, "then I shall find Shazad."
In his tent, Hael removed his jacket and trousers and boots. He donned a plain
loincloth and chose a selection of the sort of ornaments favored by the
Shasinn. He gathered his long hair at his nape with a silver ring, one of
several styles used by senior warriors. He decided against taking his
longsword. He had won it in his very first battle and had worn it during his
last days among the Shasinn, but it was too large and distinctive, and it
might attract notice. He retained his dagger. Then he waited until nightfall.
With the onset of night, he left his tent and took his spear from its place by
the doorway of his tent. He walked silently through the camp. The men were
mostly gathered around camp-fires and none took notice of him. He came to a
place where men were toiling by torchlight. A man-made tunnel slanted into the
ground and from this came a steady line of men bearing
baskets of earth on their shoulders. Others entered with empty baskets. This
earth was taken to places where it would not be seen from the walls lest the
enemy suspect the extent of the undermining.
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