Black Amazon of Mars, Page 4

  IV

  He stood in a large square, lined about with huckster's stalls and thebooths of wine-sellers. Beyond were buildings, streets, a city. Starkgot a blurred impression of a grand and brooding darkness, bulking hugeagainst the mountains, as bleak and proud as they, and quite as ancient,with many ruins and deserted quarters.

  He was not sure how he had come there, but he was standing on his ownfeet, and someone was pouring sour wine into his mouth. He drank itgreedily. There were people around him, jostling, chattering, demandinganswers to their questions. A girl's voice said sharply, "Let him be!Can't you see he's hurt?"

  Stark looked down. She was slim and ragged, with black hair and largeeyes yellow as a cat's. She held a leather bottle in her hands. Shesmiled at him and said, "I'm Thanis. Will you drink more wine?"

  "I will," said Stark, and did, and then said, "Thank you, Thanis." Heput his hand on her shoulder, to steady himself. It was a suppleshoulder, surprisingly strong. He liked the feel of it.

  The crowd was still churning around him, growing larger, and now heheard the tramp of military feet. A small detachment of men in lightarmor pushed their way through.

  A very young officer whose breastplate hurt the eye with brightnessdemanded to be told at once who Stark was and why he had come there.

  "No one crosses the moors in winter," he said, as though that in itselfwere a sign of evil intent.

  "The clans of Mekh are crossing them," Stark answered. "An army, to takeKushat--one, two days behind me."

  The crowd picked that up. Excited voices tossed it back and forth, andclamored for more news. Stark spoke to the officer.

  "I will see your captain, and at once."

  "You'll see the inside of a prison, more likely!" snapped the young man."What's this nonsense about the clans of Mekh?"

  Stark regarded him. He looked so long and so curiously that the crowdbegan to snicker and the officer's beardless face flushed pink to theears.

  "I have fought in many wars," said Stark gently. "And long ago I learnedto listen, when someone came to warn me of attack."

  "Better take him to the captain, Lugh," cried Thanis. "It's our skinstoo, you know, if there is war."

  The crowd began to shout. They were all poor folk, wrapped in threadbarecloaks or tattered leather. They had no love for the guards. And whetherthere was war or not, their winter had been long and dull, and they weregoing to make the most of this excitement.

  "Take him, Lugh! Let him warn the nobles. Let them think how they'lldefend Kushat and the Gates of Death, now that the talisman is gone!"

  "That is a lie!" Lugh shouted. "And you know the penalty for telling it.Hold your tongues, or I'll have you all whipped." He gestured angrily atStark. "See if he is armed."

  One of the soldiers stepped forward, but Stark was quicker. He slippedthe thong and let the cloak fall, baring his upper body.

  "The clansmen have already taken everything I owned," he said. "But theygave me something, in return."

  The crowd stared at the half healed stripes that scarred him, and therewas a drawing in of breath.

  The soldier picked up the cloak and laid it over the Earthman'sshoulders. And Lugh said sullenly, "Come, then."

  Stark's fingers tightened on Thanis' shoulder. "Come with me, littleone," he whispered. "Otherwise, I must crawl."

  She smiled at him and came. The crowd followed.

  The captain of the guards was a fleshy man with a smell of wine abouthim and a face already crumbling apart though his hair was not yet grey.He sat in a squat tower above the square, and he observed Stark with noparticular interest.

  "You had something to tell," said Lugh. "Tell it."

  * * * * *

  Stark told them, leaving out all mention of Camar and the talisman. Thiswas neither the time nor the man to hear that story. The captainlistened to all he had to say about the gathering of the clans of Mekh,and then sat studying him with a bleary shrewdness.

  "You have proof of all this?"

  "These stripes. Their leader Ciaran ordered them laid on himself."

  The captain sighed, and leaned back.

  "Any wandering band of hunters could have scourged you," he said. "Anameless vagabond from the gods know where, and a lawless one at that,if I'm any judge of men--you probably deserved it."

  He reached for wine, and smiled. "Look you, stranger. In the Norlands,no one makes war in the winter. And no one ever heard of Ciaran. If youhoped for a reward from the city, you overshot badly."

  "The Lord Ciaran," said Stark, grimly controlling his anger, "will bebattering at your gates within two days. And you will hear of him then."

  "Perhaps. You can wait for him--in a cell. And you can leave Kushat withthe first caravan after the thaw. We have enough rabble here withouttaking in more."

  Thanis caught Stark by the cloak and held him back.

  "_Sir_," she said, as though it were an unclean word. "I will vouch forthe stranger."

  The captain glanced at her. "You?"

  "Sir, I am a free citizen of Kushat. According to law, I may vouch forhim."

  "If you scum of the Thieves' Quarter would practice the law as well asyou prate it, we would have less trouble," growled the captain. "Verywell, take the creature, if you want him. I don't suppose you'veanything to lose."

  Lugh laughed.

  "Name and dwelling place," said the captain, and wrote them down."Remember, he is not to leave the Quarter."

  Thanis nodded. "Come," she said to Stark. He did not move, and shelooked up at him. He was staring at the captain. His beard had grown inthese last days, and his face was still scarred by Thord's blows andmade wolfish with pain and fever. And now, out of this evil mask, hiseyes were peering with a chill and terrible intensity at thesoft-bellied man who sat and mocked him.

  Thanis laid her hand on his rough cheek. "Come," she said. "Come andrest."

  Gently she turned his head. He blinked and swayed, and she took himaround the waist and led him unprotesting to the door.

  There she paused, looking back.

  "Sir," she said, very meekly, "news of this attack is being shoutedthrough the Quarter now. If it _should_ come, and it were known that youhad the warning and did not pass it on...." She made an expressivegesture, and went out.

  Lugh glanced uneasily at the captain. "She's right, sir. If by chancethe man did tell the truth...."

  The captain swore. "Rot. A rogue's tale. And yet...." He scowledindecisively, and then reached for parchment. "After all, it's a simplething. Write it up, pass it on, and let the nobles do the worrying."

  His pen began to scratch.

  Thanis took Stark by steep and narrow ways, darkling now in theafterglow, where the city climbed and fell again over the uneven rock.Stark was aware of the heavy smells of spices and unfamiliar foods, andthe musky undertones of a million generations swarmed together to spawnand die in these crowded catacombs of slate and stone.

  There was a house, blending into other houses, close under the loom ofthe great Wall. There was a flight of steps, hollowed deep with use,twisting crazily around outer corners.

  There was a low room, and a slender man named Balin, vaguely glimpsed,who said he was Thanis' brother. There was a bed of skins and wovencloths.

  Stark slept.

  * * * * *

  Hands and voices called him back. Strong hands shaking him, urgentvoices. He started up growling, like an animal suddenly awaked, stilllost in the dark mists of exhaustion. Balin swore, and caught hisfingers away.

  "What is this you have brought home, Thanis? By the gods, it snapped atme!"

  Thanis ignored him. "Stark," she said. "Stark! Listen. Men are coming.Soldiers. They will question you. Do you hear me?"

  Stark said heavily, "I hear."

  "_Do not speak of Camar!_"

  Stark got to his feet, and Balin said hastily, "Peace! The thing issafe. I would not steal a death warrant!"

  His voice had a ring of truth
. Stark sat down again. It was an effort tokeep awake. There was clamor in the street below. It was still night.

  Balin said carefully, "Tell them what you told the captain, nothingmore. They will kill you if they know."

  A rough hand thundered at the door, and a voice cried, "Open up!"

  Balin sauntered over to lift the bar. Thanis sat beside Stark, her handtouching his. Stark rubbed his face. He had been shaved and washed, hiswounds rubbed with salve. The belt was gone, and his blood-stainedclothing. He realized only then that he was naked, and drew a clotharound him. Thanis whispered, "The belt is there on that peg, under yourcloak."

  Balin opened the door, and the room was full of men.

  Stark recognized the captain. There were others, four of them, young,old, intermediate, annoyed at being hauled away from their beds andtheir gaming tables at this hour. The sixth man wore the jewelledcuirass of a noble. He had a nice, a kind face. Grey hair, mild eyes,soft cheeks. A fine man, but ludicrous in the trappings of a soldier.

  "Is this the man?" he asked, and the captain nodded.

  "Yes." It was his turn to say Sir.

  Balin brought a chair. He had a fine flourish about him. He wore acrimson jewel in his left ear, and every line of him was quick andsensitive, instinct with mockery. His eyes were brightly cynical, in aface worn lean with years of merry sinning. Stark liked him.

  He was a civilized man. They all were--the noble, the captain, the lotof them. So civilized that the origins of their culture were forgottenhalf an age before the first clay brick was laid in Babylon.

  Too civilized, Stark thought. Peace had drawn their fangs and cut theirclaws. He thought of the wild clansmen coming fast across the snow, andfelt a certain pity for the men of Kushat.

  The noble sat down.

  "This is a strange tale you bring, wanderer. I would hear it from yourown lips."

  Stark told it. He spoke slowly, watching every word, cursing theweariness that fogged his brain.

  The noble, who was called Rogain, asked him questions. Where was thecamp? How many men? What were the exact words of the Lord Ciaran, andwho was he?

  Stark answered, with meticulous care.

  Rogain sat for some time lost in thought. He seemed worried and upset,one hand playing aimlessly with the hilt of his sword. A scholar's hand,without a callous on it.

  "There is one thing more," said Rogain. "What business had you on themoors in winter?"

  Stark smiled. "I am a wanderer by profession."

  "Outlaw?" asked the captain, and Stark shrugged.

  "Mercenary is a kinder word."

  * * * * *

  Rogain studied the pattern of stripes on the Earthman's dark skin. "Whydid the Lord Ciaran, so-called, order you scourged?"

  "I had thrashed one of his chieftains."

  Rogain sighed and rose. He stood regarding Stark from under broodingbrows, and at length he said, "It is a wild tale. I can't believeit--and yet, why should you lie?"

  He paused, as though hoping that Stark would answer that and relieve himof worry.

  Stark yawned. "The tale is easily proved. Wait a day or two."

  "I will arm the city," said Rogain. "I dare not do otherwise. But I willtell you this." An astonishing unpleasant look came into his eyes. "Ifthe attack does not come--if you have set a whole city by the ears fornothing--I will have you flayed alive and your body tumbled over theWall for the carrion birds to feed on."

  He strode out, taking his retinue with him. Balin smiled. "He will doit, too," he said, and dropped the bar.

  Stark did not answer. He stared at Balin, and then at Thanis, and thenat the belt hanging on the peg, in a curiously blank and yet penetratingfashion, like an animal that thinks its own thoughts. He took a deepbreath. Then, as though he found the air clean of danger, he rolled overand went instantly to sleep.

  Balin lifted his shoulders expressively. He grinned at Thanis. "Are youpositive it's human?"

  "He's beautiful," said Thanis, and tucked the cloths around him. "Holdyour tongue." She continued to sit there, watching Stark's face as theslow dreams moved across it. Balin laughed.

  It was evening again when Stark awoke. He sat up, stretching lazily.Thanis crouched by the hearthstone, stirring something savory in ablackened pot. She wore a red kirtle and a necklet of beaten gold, andher hair was combed out smooth and shining.

  She smiled at him and rose, bringing him his own boots and trousers,carefully cleaned, and a tunic of leather tanned fine and soft as silk.Stark asked her where she got it.

  "Balin stole it--from the baths where the nobles go. He said you mightas well have the best." She laughed. "He had a devil of a time findingone big enough to fit you."

  She watched with unashamed interest while he dressed. Stark said, "Don'tburn the soup."

  She put her tongue out at him. "Better be proud of that fine hide whileyou have it," she said. "There's no sign of attack."

  Stark was aware of sounds that had not been there before--the pacing ofmen on the Wall above the house, the calling of the watch. Kushat wasarmed and ready--and his time was running out. He hoped that Ciaran hadnot been delayed on the moors.

  Thanis said, "I should explain about the belt. When Balin undressed you,he saw Camar's name scratched on the inside of the boss. And, he canopen a lizard's egg without harming the shell."

  "What about you?" asked Stark.

  She flexed her supple fingers. "I do well enough."

  * * * * *

  Balin came in. He had been seeking news, but there was little to be had.

  "The soldiers are grumbling about a false alarm," he said. "The peopleare excited, but more as though they were playing a game. Kushat has notfought a war for centuries." He sighed. "The pity of it is, Stark, Ibelieve your story. And I'm afraid."

  Thanis handed him a steaming bowl. "Here--employ your tongue with this.Afraid, indeed! Have you forgotten the Wall? No one has carried it sincethe city was built. Let them attack!"

  Stark was amused. "For a child, you know much concerning war."

  "I knew enough to save your skin!" she flared, and Balin smiled.

  "She has you there, Stark. And speaking of skins...." He glanced up atthe belt. "Or better, speaking of talismans, which we were not. How didyou come by it?"

  Stark told him. "He had a sin on his soul, did Camar. And--he was myfriend."

  Balin looked at him with deep respect. "You were a fool," he said. "Lookyou. The thing is returned to Kushat. Your promise is kept. There isnothing for you here but danger, and were I you I would not wait to beflayed, or slain, or taken in a quarrel that is not yours."

  "Ah," said Stark softly, "but it is mine. The Lord Ciaran made it so."He, too, glanced at the belt. "What of the talisman?"

  "Return it where it came from," Thanis said. "My brother is a betterthief than Camar. He can certainly do that."

  "No!" said Balin, with surprising force. "We will keep it, Stark and I.Whether it has power, I do not know. But if it has--I think Kushat willneed it, and in strong hands."

  Stark said somberly, "It has power, the Talisman. Whether for good orevil, I don't know."

  They looked at him, startled. But a touch of awe seemed to repress theircuriosity.

  He could not tell them. He was, somehow, reluctant to tell anyone ofthat dark vision of what lay beyond the Gates of Death, which thetalisman of Ban Cruach had lent him.

  Balin stood up. "Well, for good or evil, at least the sacred relic ofBan Cruach has come home." He yawned. "I am going to bed. Will you come,Thanis, or will you stay and quarrel with our guest?"

  "I will stay," she said, "and quarrel."

  "Ah, well." Balin sighed puckishly. "Good night." He vanished into aninner room. Stark looked at Thanis. She had a warm mouth, and her eyeswere beautiful, and full of light.

  He smiled, holding out his hand.

  The night wore on, and Stark lay drowsing. Thanis had opened thecurtains. Wind and moonlight swept together
into the room, and she stoodleaning upon the sill, above the slumbering city. The smile thatlingered in the corners of her mouth was sad and far-away, and verytender.

  Stark stirred uneasily, making small sounds in his throat. His motionsgrew violent. Thanis crossed the room and touched him.

  Instantly he was awake.

  "Animal," she said softly. "You dream."

  Stark shook his head. His eyes were still clouded, though not withsleep. "Blood," he said, "heavy in the wind."

  "I smell nothing but the dawn," she said, and laughed.

  Stark rose. "Get Balin. I'm going up on the Wall."

  She did not know him now. "What is it, Stark? What's wrong?"

  "Get Balin." Suddenly it seemed that the room stifled him. He caught uphis cloak and Camar's belt and flung open the door, standing on thenarrow steps outside. The moonlight caught in his eyes, pale asfrost-fire.

  Thanis shivered. Balin joined her without being called. He, too, hadslept but lightly. Together they followed Stark up the rough-cut stairthat led to the top of the Wall.

  He looked southward, where the plain ran down from the mountains andspread away below Kushat. Nothing moved out there. Nothing marred theempty whiteness. But Stark said,

  "They will attack at dawn."