The Sword Lord by Robert Leader

Author:Robert Leader
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2007-08-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

For three days, Kaseem fretted and worried about the fate of his young princes. He knew that, despite his youth, Kananda had been well trained in the use of weapons and the command of men. The old warmaster Jahan had seen to that. But Kananda’s force was small and still vulnerable. Ramesh and his group were even more so. They were just children in Kaseem’s eyes. Like newborn deer, a ready prey for any predator, even the lowest jackal. His anxiety grew when they did not quickly return together and he was haunted by his fears of what might have befallen them.

He took some comfort from the fact that Kananda had the support of Zela and her lightning-bolt weapon. However, Zela’s absence meant that the only woman left in the camp was Laurya, the cause of the other anguished turmoil of his thoughts and emotions. The voluptuous Alphan was totally unlike any of the dusky-skinned, dark-haired Hindu women of India and yet he could not rid himself of the disturbing certainty that he had seen her somewhere before. He dared not look into her eyes, although he felt a desperate desire to do so. It was as though they held all the secrets of her soul, secrets which he knew he must unlock, and yet he was terrified of what he might find.

He avoided her as much as possible and yet he could not help but be constantly aware of her presence. Gujar and the young lords competed with each other to offer her small services, which she accepted with endless good grace and easy smiles. She and the Alphan, Kyle, were clearly lovers and so secure in their love that neither felt any real threat from her new admirers. Kaseem watched covertly from a distance and realized that he felt jealous.

It was a ridiculous notion. He was an old man, old enough to be her grandfather, and he was the High Priest of Karakhor. He had forsaken the lures of the flesh many years before. His manhood was a wrinkled thing of no further interest to him and no possible attraction to any woman. And yet he was envious of Gujar and the young lords whenever they won the smallest of Laurya’s smiles. To see her hand-in-hand with Kyle was even worse, and when the two Alphans left the glade together, as they often did to be alone, he felt an almost violent urge to chase after them and knock the young man away with his staff.

He did not understand these crazy frustrations and feelings and tried to ignore them. His refuge was prayer and ritual, sitting cross-legged for many hours and struggling to concentrate on his recitations of the Vedas.

By the fourth day he knew that something more was necessary. He made his needs known to Gujar, who promptly sent one of his warriors off into the forest. The man returned two hours later with a live jungle cock he had captured in a snare. Kaseem took

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