146 - The same that shone on Yeola-e

“So we capture him,” said Simmas. “But how? We can’t stun-dart him where he is or else he’s dead, and then his value is getting docked from our pay.”

“His value to the Imperator,” someone else added.

“You should probably know, I’d rather die than let you capture me,” I said, “so don’t think you’re going to talk me into surrendering.” It shouldn’t be true—semana kra, there always might be another chance, and I knew Kurkas meant to ransom me—but the way I felt, I wasn’t sure it wasn’t. To hearten myself, I thought of my child, in Niku’s womb, in the sky. I will find a way to be father to you.

“We should be reporting this to the Marble Palace right now,” said the commander. “Jimasas, Harenas, go. Use the lefaetas Minandine.” The two ran off, and I added up the time in my mind. Get there, get down, get to the Marble Palace… I had four tenths, perhaps.

“Let’s give him a chance against us,” one of the guards said. “We’re twenty to his one. That way we, and not any black-shadow perverts, get the reward for catching him, which is going to be, you know… lots.”

“You don’t go to the Mezem much, do you?” said another. “Tell you what, we’ll put you in front, how’s that?”

“We all have spears, he just has a sword!”

“Selinae 24^th, Judge’s Clemency, him with that same sword against Seliko of Curlionaiz in full armour, shield, sword, spear and two daggers. For mercy, he begs for his Yeoli warrior-bracelets—which, you might notice, he’s wearing now. It didn’t even go one round.” The guard who’d spoken held up a pendant that winked gold. “How’d you think I got this—a Jitzmitthra bonus?” That got a dry how-cruelly-we’re-underpaid laugh from all of them.

“My worst danger is Simmas’s dart-tube and the bows,” I said. Let them think I didn’t know how many more of them had tubes, and put the idea in their mind of surprising me; that way, I could surprise them.

“Simmas’ dart-tube, yes, and the bows, yes, yes,” a few said, giving each other meaningful looks. “Hold what you’ve got in reserve,” the commander snapped, knowing they’d know what he meant.

“We could just leave him there for long enough that his arms get so tired that he’s no good in a fight, then do it,” a guard suggested.

“Then do what?” the commander said. “We do that, he’s just going to slide right back down that cable and sit on the platform to get some rest, knowing that it has to come all the way up sooner or later.”

“But then the Mahid are here and we don’t get the reward.”

“We’ve been not badly rewarded already.”

“Some of us have.”

“Hey, we can spread it around.”

“Fik that… this is an emerald, I’ve always liked emeralds!” Could life be so sweet, that they might start fighting among themselves?

“No, you fools!” barked the commander. “If, when they’re truth-drugging him, they ask about money and we’ve kept some, our necks are stretched for taking bribes. Shen… that’s true regardless.” He took his gem back out of his pocket and gazed at it sadly.

“Maybe…” This was one of the pair who wanted to retire to Kassabria. “We should go back to our first plan and let him go?”

“When we’ve reported to Mahid, fikken brilliant.”

“You know,” someone said, finally, “maybe we shouldn’t be making all our plans with him hanging there listening.” How long they’d been doing that was already almost too good to be true.

Keeping their eyes on me, and with Simmas keeping his dart-tube in his hand, they backed off to nearer the wall, and dropped their voices to murmurs. My arms were tired; spurred by that, I realized that I could climb to the top of the cable, and its support, and they still would not be able to stun-dart me without killing me.

The platforms of the lefaetas Inodem hang from two giant beams, themselves buttressed by several more giant beams, and joined at their end by a lighter beam along which the cable runs; the master’s booth sits in the middle, so that he can work the lever that clamps on the cable, like a carriage-brake. It is all decorated with painted relief work, in the more modern style, of suns, moons and stars.

The support beam was big enough that I could easily sit on it and so rest my arms entirely. I could even lie on it. Every sinew in me suddenly wanted that desperately, now I’d thought of it.

I started climbing. “Ai! Eh! Alarm!” they all started yelling, and a few more tubes were drawn; so much for surprise. “No darts!” the commander bellowed over all the other voices. “Not yet, he’s still over the drop!” I climbed up past the huge pulley-wheel, and it occurred to them that I could crawl along the beam, with it mostly between me and their darts, to the stonework that supported it, so the commander ordered six of them, including four with stun-darts, to climb up so as to cut off that route. They positioned themselves far enough back that I’d be over the dock well before I got to them, so they’d be able to dart me without killing me.

I pulled myself over the enormous pulley and up onto the beam, then stretched out on it. Relaxing was beyond delicious. I was tempted to catnap.

When I’d rested for a tenth or so, I sat up to think. There were three routes, in truth; the beam before me, the catwalk from the master’s booth (if I went over or through the booth), and the beam holding the other platform.

While I’d been resting, they had been busy. First they’d decided that they should raise the lefaetas platform under me to its high position, right under me, as then they’d be able to stun-dart me, and so sent one of their number to fetch the lefaetas-master. Then it occurred to them that all I needed to do to frustrate that was walk along the joining beam, climb over the booth and go to the other side, and I’d still be over the drop; so they sent another of their number to catch the first man before he could wake up the master. That thinned their number to sixteen.

I got up and walked out onto the joining beam, to the booth, just to see what they would do. “Oh shen!” said the commander, which seemed a little jumpy for a commander; why their nerves seemed to be getting worse, I wasn’t sure, until it occurred to me that Mahid were coming soon, something which always makes Arkans nervous. With six men already perched, he split the last ten evenly, five on the beam, five on the catwalk.

What a delight of a commander he was, though, allowing such free talk among them. –“Fik… he doesn’t even care that there’s a Hayel-deep drop right under him.” –“Look at us, all shennen our kilts for one fikken wool-hair… no one tell my dad.” –“He’s going to make his move now, he’s not going to wait for the Mahid, why would he?” Whoever said that had it right.

The miserable truth was that no matter what I did, my odds were bad; all I could do was improve them. Once I’d worked out what I thought was the best way, I went back to the first beam, and put on the hooded cloak, which caused some consternation, since thick cloth affords a certain protection from darts. “Archers, nock arrows,” the commander yelled. “But when you shoot, it’s to wound, so no shooting if you aren’t sure you won’t kill him!” God-in-Me, never let me give a command like that.

I wrapped the cloak over my shield-arm, and threw it back from my sword-arm so it was free. I stilled my mind, breathed several very deep breaths to strengthen myself, and drew Chirel, which made a few of them yelp and all of them tense. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Try to come out of this with just bloodstains on your kilts,” I said. –“Fik you, Raikas,” one of them grumped.

It was going to take everything I had, to gain enough speed in just six or seven steps, so I set myself to give that. I must not slip, either. I looked up at the stars again, to remind myself that they were the same that shone on Yeola-e, ran through my mind the faces of everyone I loved and who loved me, and invoked the God-in-Me. Then I set myself like a foot-racer, fixing my fight-stare on the closest of the six guards, who had a dart-tube in his mouth, as if I were going to charge them. “Not till he’s close, not till he’s close,” one of them who didn’t have a tube was saying. I almost felt sorry for them, having to set their minds to half-action.

The dock of the lefaetas Inodem extends a little beyond the two beams, to each side, so there was a bit of dock to the sword-side of the one I was on, and from there it is about ten paces, past the stonework on which the beams are cantilevered, to the wall. I sprang up into running, letting out a long wordless yell for more strength, fast fast fast, get the distance right NOW and dove with everything in me off the beam, to the sword-side. Distantly, I heard a few of them yell aiigh! thinking I’d either committed suicide or slipped.

But I made the edge of the dock, rolling out of it and back onto my feet, and dashed flat out again for the wall, holding the cloak up and out from my head on the shield-side, and sheathing Chirel one-handed as I ran, suddenly thankful for the hundreds of times Azaila had made me practice that. They yelled in consternation again, realizing only four of the dart-men now had anything like a good shot at me. Two darts smacked harmlessly into the cloak hanging from my arm; another whiffed over my head.

The wall. I fixed my mind on it. Four more steps, three, two, one, go up it like a squirrel, kyash, one of them from the other side is fast, two now, they’re scrambling over the stonework an arrow crunched into the wall between my legs then fell clattering three more handholds two one kevyalin they’re both aiming I need both my hands to vault over I can’t parry I have to hope they’ll miss or hit where I’m covered—as I threw my legs over the top of the wall, to drop straight down on the other side, one dart whistled through my hair, and the other snapped stinging into my sword-side shoulder.

I rolled out of the landing well enough not to break anything, but weakness that seemed more like exhaustion and despair than stun-drug seized me as I was trying to get up. I ended up my back, gazing up at the stars, that twinkled until they faded. Fly high, love; run well, heart’s brother. Live well, child within; your father loves you. Strength, my people. With any luck, I’ll get killed somehow before I wake up.

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