From each of the twenty-odd poles a human body hung head down, naked, bloody, and so thoroughly disemboweled that from throat to waist they were only a huge gaping cavity. Blade could not be sure of the color of their skins, but it seemed to be lighter than that of the Zungans, and each man wore a full beard. At the foot of each pole, metal reflected the firelight-a sword stuck point down in the earth, a conical hemlet with temple pieces, and a back and breast plate.
«It was a good kill for the prince before he died,» said Nayung, his white teeth bared in a savage grin. «I wonder if they died well.» He sniffed the wisps of smoke drifting across from the fire. «Yes, they died well. The pigs will go hungry tonight.» Blade sniffed also, and caught the unmistakable odor of burning flesh in the smoke.
«You burn their-«
«If they die well, we cut their insides out and burn them as an offering to the Sky Father, that he may eat of their courage. If they die badly, we feed their guts to the pigs!» He fixed Blade with a stare rather less than friendly. «Take a good look at those bodies, and remember what I said about keeping quiet. But do not worry,» Nayung added. «I will see to it that you are treated as one who died bravely, no matter what. It will be better for you, and more worthy of a warrior.»
«It will be best of all for me to stay alive and serve as a warrior of the Zungans,» said Blade with a thin smile. «I will do my best to make that happen.»
«Good.»
Nayung led Blade and the others the rest of the way across the field. Beyond the field stood row on row of mud and sod huts, roofed with interlaced branches. A good many warriors were standing about with sober faces, drinking from clay or wooden bowls, but there were no women or children visible.
Once again faces hardened and spears snapped up as Nayung led Blade past, and once again Nayung's explanations got the spears lowered. Blade did not entirely like some of the looks that followed him, however. He was becoming even more aware than he had been before that among the Zungans he would be very much on probation for the time being.
They plunged into the narrow, foul-smelling lanes that wriggled and wandered their way among the huts. Chamba and the other three warriors left them at the door of a compound within a compound, filled with long buildings that appeared to serve as barracks for the younger warriors. Nayung gave Chamba a final warning in parting. «Remember-no women or beer until you have seen the Ulungas.»
Chamba grunted. «With the prince dead, the Ulungas will be so busy with the death rites it will be a week before they have time for a hunter returning from the Ivory People. I am a man, Nayung. How long am I supposed to wait? Until my balls dry up and wither away like a stalk of grass?» He turned his back contemptuously and stamped away into the barracks compound.
Nayung shook his head, then shrugged. «He is usually much more reverent toward the Ulungas. Well, if he goes on like this, the Ulungas will hear of it, and then his past reverence for them will not save him. And we will be rid of him.
«I think that it would be wise for you also to take no women or beer until the Ulungas have seen you and I have explained to them what and who you are. You are not bound by a hunter's oath as we are, but for a man returning from the lands of the Ivory People it would look well to obey our customs.»
«Nayung,» said Blade with a weary grin, «right now I don't want either beer or women. I want food, water, and many hours of sleep.»
Nayung smiled. «I think I can provide that. If you will follow me to my house…»
CHAPTER SEVEN
In Nayung's house, Blade ate and drank, then slept peacefully for many hours. He was awakened by Nayung gently prodding him in the ribs with a toe.
«Wake up, Richard Blade,» said the Zungan. «We must go before the Ulungas as soon as possible, in case King Afuno arrives today. Without the blessing of the Ulungas, a warrior cannot go before the king.»
Blade nearly suggested that the Ulungas could go to the devil and take anybody who bowed to them along, but controlled himself in time. When in Rome, he thought, even if ignoring local customs hadn't been so dangerous. He recalled those gutted bodies swinging from poles. And this would be as good a chance as any to size up the Ulungas, who seemed to have this whole nation of warriors more or less under their thumbs. Always know your enemy-and he was almost certain the Ulungas were going to turn out to be an enemy. If the Ulungas were not, Chamba in any case certainly was, and it would be well to get the Ulungas' blessing before he locked horns with Chamba.
Custom required that one go before the Ulungas without either food or drink, so it was with dry throats and empty stomachs that Blade and Nayung left the house. Blade wore one of the leather loincloths, sandals, and an improvised turban to protect his head from the sun.
The House of the Ulungas was the most imposing building in all of Brona, with a second story built of wood rising above the usual first floor of mud and turf. The second floor was adorned with high gables and ornately carved balconies as well. It represented a fantastic amount of effort, considering that nearly all of the wood must have been hauled many miles across the plains from the nearest stand of large timber.
The entrance to the house was framed in particularly intricate carvings, some unmistakably gilded, others set with semi-precious stones, uncut but dazzling. Outside the entrance stood twelve warriors in two lines as rigid and perfect as the formation of the guards at Buckingham Palace. All of them had black feathers decorating their spears, and delicate figures of clouds and birds painted on the spearheads.
They raised their spears into the air and slammed the butts down on the hard earth as Nayung approached. He strode forward, made the Peace Hand, and said, «I bring the warrior Richard Blade of the English before the Ulungas.» The twelve nodded, raised their spears again, and formed an arch with them. Nayung motioned Blade forward.
They had just stepped into the smoky gloom inside the entrance when the inner door opened and Chamba came out, followed by a second warrior of the hunting party. Nayung and Blade could not keep from shooting sharp looks at Chamba. He made the Peace Hand to them, but there was an unmistakably triumphant grin on his face and on that of his companion. Without speaking, they passed on out into the sunlight.
As the outer door closed behind Chamba, Blade turned to Nayung, his face sober. Before he could speak, a dim yellow light broke the darkness of the chamber. A moment later a thundering voice also came down at them from the ceiling.
«Who are you?»
«I am Nayung of Brona, D'bor and sworn hunter. I come before the Ulungas.»
«Who is the man with you?»
Blade spoke up. «I am Richard Blade, a warrior of the English. I encountered the D'bor Nayung and his fellow hunters in the forest during their hunt for the Ivory People, and-«
«This is known,» broke in the voice. There was a long silence. Blade fancied his ears caught the sound of distant whispers and the stamping of feet, as the Speakers for the Ulungas frantically tried to remember their next lines.
«This is known,», the voice repeated. «Nayung, you come before the Ulungas to be relieved of your hunter's oath. And you bring this man Richard Blade of the English with you, that he may be seen by the Ulungas. You wish that he may be judged fit to go before the king.»
There was another silence, in which the voice appeared to be waiting for an answer. Finally Nayung gave it. «That is all true.»
Apparently that was a cue for the speakers. «You may not come before the Ulungas, Richard Blade. It is not good that one who does not understand the laws of the Zungans as the Sky Father has given them be made fit to come before the king. This shall not be.