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"Into Mezpa!" Kairn shouted.
"And that should take care of this proposed alliance," Hael said. The glee was
general now, the chiefs, never need-big much persuasion to take part in a war,
wholly with him. Jochim stood and signaled for silence.
"What are your commands, my king?"
"First, no word is to be spoken of our plans until the host
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213
is together at the foot of the mountains. When this fair is over, those
merchants out there will scatter all over the world. I've no doubt that
Larissa has spies among them. They will know something is happening, but they
won't know what. I want word to go out to the chiefs who are not here. I want
you all to round up all your warriors and they are to meet me at the foot of
the first pass with all their cabos and all their equipment, ready for the
biggest, fastest war anyone has ever seen. Our tribes will sing about this one
for a thousand years!"
At this, a ferocious cheer went up. When it died down Hael spoke again.
"We must be through the passes before they are snowed in. That means we have
little more than a month. We cannot waste time."
The council broke up. There were no protests against the war, despite its epic
scope. Rather there was a sense of exaltation, the warriors knowing that they
would take part in an adventure like nothing ever mentioned even in the oldest
legends. To them it was further proof that their king was touched by the
spirits, and that they were uniquely fortunate to be living in his time.
When they left the tent, the chiefs went among their warriors, warning against
any excited demonstrations before the foreigners. It was painful to the young
warriors, but the young men managed to contain themselves.
Hael and his sons returned to the royal tent, where Queen Deena had dried her
tears and determined to put the best face on matters. They ate together, and
after the meal Ansa told his father about his time in the south the previous
year.
"She is obsessed with restoring her youth, Father," Ansa said, "and she
believes the Canyoners can do it. They are a very strange people, the
Canyoners, and I was never able to determine whether they are truly sorcerers.
But Fyana can do things that do not look natural. She brought King Ach'na of
Gran back from the brink of death. She read what was going on in his body by
touching his brow."
"Much good did it do him," Kairn said. "The city has
214 John Maddox Roberts
probably fallen by now, and no ruling family ever survives one of Gasam's
conquests."
Ansa shrugged. "I cannot say that I liked the Granians. They are too foreign.
But anything is better than Gasam and his horde. Wait until you see his women
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warriors, little brother. They are like something from a nightmare. They are
torturers and cannibals and the Shasinn are as bad, just better-looking."
Hael shook his head. "Of all the things Gasam has done, I think the worst is
the way he has perverted our people. The Shasinn were noble warrior-herdsmen,
back in the home islands. Our customs were rigid, but they were good ones. To
be a warrior of the Shasinn was to be the finest creature beneath the sky. Now
they are mindless murderers, feeding Gasam's monstrous ego and ambition. How
can self-respecting warriors surrender themselves to a single man?"
Deena snorted delicately. "About fifty thousand mounted young fools are about
to do the same for you."
"This is not for my greater glory," Hael said with unaccustomed heat. "This is
to save us as a people."
"It's all the same to them," she said. "They are going because you will it,
and for the sheer joy of the thing."
Hael sighed. "That may be true. Gasam and I may be the greatest disaster that
has ever befallen the world. We are two sides of the same coin."
"You are nothing like him!" Ansa said. "I have met Gasam at last, to my own
grief, and he is evil incarnate. You are the world's only hope, Father. Never
doubt it."
"And I've met Deathmoon," Kairn said. "Ansa is right."
The queen smiled ruefully. "I can see that I am outnumbered. Very well, go off
and have your war. I will stay at home with my daughter and we will count the
moons until you come back."
"We have a while before the war host is gathered," Hael said. "I intend to
return to the hills and get reacquainted with Kalima."
"Excellent," Deena said. "From the sound of it, by the
r
THE STEEL KINGS
215
time you finish with this war, she will be grown and married."
"You exaggerate. This war will be huge and we will cover great distances, but
it will be swift. I plan to have it over with in a single season. We will be
through the passes before the snows fall. Look to see us again before the next
rainy season."
"Less than half a year to make a circuit of the world?" Ansa said.
"I must remind my daughter," Deena said, "never to marry a visionary
spirit-warrior."
FOURTEEN
Larissa did not like the low coastal country, but after the steel mine
anything was an improvement. She had followed her husband through every sort
of terrain in his career of conquest, and this hot, humid, insect-ridden
coastal swamp was far from the worst.
Besides her personal guard, she now had an escort of local foot soldiers. This
land was the small but defiant kingdom of Thezas, the last independent nation
between Gasam's empire and the Mezpan province of Delta. He could have overrun
Thezas easily, but for the moment, Gasam preferred to leave the buffer state
between his lands and Mezpa. As always, he assured the king of Thezas of his
peaceful intentions, claiming that he had made his last territorial gains and
wanted only peace and brotherhood with his neighbors. Larissa doubted that the
king was fool enough to believe it, but he had no choice but to put the best
face on it. Before coming hither, Larissa had written to the man in the most
flattering terms, begging the favor of a safe-conduct through his kingdom. He
had agreed, insisting that she have an honor guard of his warriors.
THE STEEL KINGS
217
Now she studied those warriors, and she liked what she saw. They were men of a
different race from the Granians next door, taller, paler of skin, many with
blue eyes. Their hair ranged from near-black to light brown and they had
angular, hard-edged facial features. They eschewed the paint, feathers and
colorful uniforms of their neighbors, wearing reptile-hide cuirasses buckled
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