Dawn of Empires by Sam Barone

Author:Sam Barone [Barone, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9780099536765
Publisher: Arrow
Published: 2009-12-31T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Eskkar was up before dawn the next morning. The day’s activities started at the breakfast table with his subcommanders. Afterward he and Sisuthros spent several hours with Corio inspecting the wall.

By now both the soldiers and the laborers understood their roles, and the work proceeded steadily. Corio needed only thirty soldiers to keep everyone at their tasks.

Eskkar spent more hours inspecting the soldiers still in training. That necessitated one more retelling of the battle in the hills. He didn’t mind.

These men needed to know as much about the enemy as possible, and the more confidence they had in their leaders the better. Eskkar answered many questions regarding Alur Meriki fighting techniques.

The sun had passed its high point when Trella rejoined him, wearing a scarf to shield her head from the sun. They walked through the village, greeting the people and talking to them, reassuring the villagers by their presence. But Eskkar had to grit his teeth and force a smile to his face when they visited the temple of Ishtar and knelt in the shadows before the gloomy image of the goddess, Trella at his side.

Eskkar gave thanks in a loud voice to Ishtar for his victory, repeating the words Trella had suggested that morning. He had never been in Ishtar’s temple, or any temple in Orak for that matter. Since his family’s death, Eskkar had no use for priests and their outstretched palms. He stood there stoically, hiding his impatience, while the priest offered his interminable prayers to the deity for Eskkar’s safe return.

At last the ceremonies ended. When Eskkar returned to the sunlight he felt as if he had escaped the demon’s dark underworld. His smile returned as he took Trella’s hand, and turned toward their home.

“Master, have you forgotten our visit with Rebba this afternoon?” she asked. “We’re already late, and there may be much to see before the sun goes down.”

Eskkar’s feeling of contentment vanished. He had forgotten about the meeting with Rebba. That was natural enough, because he really didn’t want to spend three or four hours with the noble responsible for the farms surrounding Orak, listening to him explain how to grow wheat or herd goats. Eskkar thought about postponing the meeting, but he’d done that several times before he departed on his scouting mission. He knew Trella considered it important, important enough to arrange the visit as soon as possible on his return.

With no convenient excuse, he forced another smile and changed his direction. Together they walked to the river gate, then turned north, two guards accompanying them.

Once outside the village, they increased their pace, and Eskkar’s muscles soon found the walk a good challenge after the weeks of hard riding. The sun shone brightly and the air off the river smelled clean and fresh. Within Orak a background smell of people and animals living too close together permeated the air. After a few days you didn’t notice it as much, but Eskkar had been breathing fresh air for several weeks.

Finally they crossed the last of the innumerable irrigation ditches and entered the grounds of Rebba’s farm.

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