The Lightning Horse by N.L. Holmes

Author:N.L. Holmes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical, Late Bronze Age, Charioteers, Hattushili III, identity, Anatolia, Hittites, Luwians, 13th c. BC, Puduhepa, vengeance
Publisher: WayBack Press
Published: 2020-02-29T00:00:00+00:00

IN FACT, THE ROYAL party delayed their departure from Waliwanda, so the crown prince and the tawananna did not leave immediately as foreseen. Instead, the king summoned by messenger Tashmi-sharrumma and his cousin. The former was hoping to see his first battle or at least learn, at his father’s side, the art of war.

Tiwatipara’s service had been changed from Nerikkaili to Nerikkaili’s little brother, thus assuring that he would remain on the frontier. This came as a relief to him, not only because he looked forward to an eventual confrontation with the Luwians but also because he feared mightily having to tell Lalantiwashha that his suit had been rejected. How could he explain it, when he didn’t understand it himself?

Rather than butting his head against the loss of Lalantiwashha, he applied himself to trying to figure out who had killed Pawahtelmah. Again and again, he let his memory roam the crowds that had stood around the field that afternoon. The king. Benteshina. Nerikkaili. Hishni and Lurma-ziti. Zuzuhha. All the grooms and drivers and stable boys not in service elsewhere. Fifty or more men, their eyes fixed on the field, laughing, yelling, and making noise. Then there was Zidanza, leaning with his back against the chariot while Tiwatipara led up the two horses. It was typical of Zidanza never to stand when he could lean.

I’m going to have to ask Zidi point-blank if he left the chariot for even a moment, thought Tiwatipara finally. They had avoided each other to some extent since his faux pas in the mess, and Tiwatipara hesitated to beard the groom about this lest he seem to be accusing Zidanza of laxity. He hated to trouble his friend, who seemed so troubled already. What a bastard his father must be, priest or not. But if I don’t ask him about this, I’ll never get any further. I just don’t see how it could have happened any other way. He wondered whom else he could ask. Maybe the tuhkanti had seen someone slipping away as the first horses ran, but he had said nothing. In the back of Tiwatipara’s mind also lay the possibility that Prince Nerikkaili was at the bottom of the attempt.

As soon as he had brought back his team from the morning’s moving-archery practice, Tiwatipara roamed the governor’s stables in search of his curly-haired friend. He found him cleaning out the boxes of the king’s personal horses. His back was to the door, and he didn’t turn when the charioteer approached.

Tiwatipara watched him raking at a dreamy pace and, in a sudden fit of mischief, shouted, “Attack!”

Zidanza jumped and jerked around, his round face agape with terror, the stallion shying away uneasily from the frightened human. Then the groom’s eyes widened in recognition, and he laughed ruefully. “Gods, Tipa, you could scare a man to death. What is it?”

Tiwatipara clapped him apologetically on the arm. “Sorry, old man. I didn’t mean to make you startle Wrath.” His voice dropped. “Listen, I have a question to ask you about.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.