«l, on the other hand, can ride any horse the Maghri may offer me. I stand in my brother's place, and I offer challenge to Sigluf. Meet me on horseback, at a time and place of your choosing, and prove whether you are fit to call Khraishamo ugly names and claim Khraishamo's woman.
«Warriors of the Maghri, what say you?»
What they said wasn't clear, because all of them were talking at once. What they thought was obvious. Blade had their attention and even some of their sympathy. Perhaps not much, but if he'd got any, his gamble might be a winning one.
Sigluf apparently heard what his men were saying more clearly than Blade, and didn't like it. His face twisted, and his hands gripped his belt until Blade thought the heavy leather would tear like paper. Then he spat on the ground.
«I will spit on your body like that, when we have met and I have cut off your manhood,» he snarled. «Tomorrow, at dawn.»
Gribbon cursed and with a sudden jerk pulled himself free of Blade's grip. He strode over to Sigluf. «No, damn it! We can't afford to wait for you to get your quarrels done. We've got to meet up with the others, and-«
«Blood is between us, and such a quarrel will not wait.»
«It must.»
«It must not. You dishonor not just me but my-«
«Damn your honor. Is there honor in putting all your men as well as mine in danger?»
Gribbon now seemed to be angrier at Sigluf than he'd been at Blade or even at Khraishamo. It looked as though the argument was going to continue for a while, whoever won. Blade motioned his two friends to step aside with him, into the shadow of the back porch of the farmhouse.
Even in the darkness, Blade could see Rhodina was as pale as chalk. Yet she shook off Khraishamo's supporting hand and faced Blade almost defiantly.
«Blade, why'd you do this? Why save me from someone like him? You know what I've been. You know I've had worse in-«
«I do know. That's one reason why I spoke up. You shouldn't have to face any more trouble like that.» Blade's words reduced Rhodina to silence and gave Blade a chance to turn to Khraishamo.
«As for you, my quick-tempered friend-«
The pirate looked on the edge of tears. «Blade, I've put you in danger because I didn't think. What can I say?»
«As little as possible, until we've settled this matter one way or another.»
Khraishamo looked grim. «If he kills you, I'll-«
«Do nothing. We'll have to accept the outcome of the fight, or break up this whole alliance between the Maghri and the rebels. The alliance may not do us much good, but it can shake Gohar's rule over Mythor.
«In any case, I don't think it's my friends who have to worry about this duel. The English ride with foot-straps like the Maghri, and so do many other peoples I've met in different ages. I wasn't boasting about my riding.»
«It was still a gamble, challenging him in the first place,» said Khraishamo.
«Maybe, but I was using my own dice. I don't know much about the Maghri. I do know that people like them are always foolish about duels. Sigluf couldn't refuse my challenge.
«Also, I don't think he's too popular with his own people. A blowhard like that-«
«A what?» said Rhodina.
«Blowhard. You know-a man full of wind, like the storm we went through.» The others laughed. «Anyway, a man like that, who insults total strangers and grabs for every good-looking woman he sees-even his own men might like to see him lose.»
Rhodina let Khraishamo put an arm around her and pull her against him. «I hope you're right,» she said, her mouth muffled against the pirate's broad chest.
Blade hoped so too. He hadn't been lying at any point, but he'd be happier when this quarrel was sorted out. Damn Khraishamo's temper! There'd been a moment when he was almost sorry he'd used the flat of his sword instead of the edge, in the fight aboard Blue Swallow.
Now Gribbon came over to them, looking like a man who'd just swallowed a large dose of life-saving, foul-tasting medicine. «He'll fight after we meet the others,» he growled.
«What others?» said Blade.
Gribbon glared at him. «Don't ask for too much, Man from the Future. Just get yourself ready to move out. I wasn't joking about that.»
«And Khraishamo wasn't joking about not being able to ride,» said Blade sharply. «Are you taking any wagons?»
«Yes.»
«Then Khraishamo can ride in one of them. After what Sigluf said, you can't expect him to use a litter.»
«Blade-«
«Gribbon-Khraishamo rides in a wagon, or I go to Sigluf and tell him we'll fight here, tomorrow morning. Take your choice.»
Gribbon didn't draw his sword, but he looked as if he wasn't sure whether to commit murder or suicide. Then he growled, «All right. Get in the wagon,» and stamped off, muttering to himself.
«You heard him,» said Blade. «I'll get you weapons by daylight, but guard your back until then.»
«You too, Blade.» They gripped shoulders, then Khraishamo and Rhodina moved off toward the barn as Blade turned toward the stables.
Chapter 21
They were on the move within an hour. Khraishamo and Rhodina sat on the sacks in a cartload of grain, while Blade rode beside them on a borrowed horse. Blade had a sword, a Maghri club, and two spears. He gave one spear to Khraishamo. Gribbon flatly refused to give any of the three a bow and arrows, and Blade didn't think it wise to press the matter.
«He'll do what he calls justice to us,» said Blade. «I'm not sure what that will be, so I won't ask for more than we need.»
What Gribbon called justice to his three unwelcome guests became clear in the next few days. He gave them enough food and drink, but let them make their own sleeping arrangements, spoke to them as seldom as possible, and didn't lift a finger to protect them from the Maghri. His attitude was unmistakable: «You bastards made trouble for us. I don't dare make trouble for you, but I won't go out of my way to prevent it either.»
Blade refused to worry. They knew exactly where they stood with the rebel leader, and they were in no danger from the Maghri. The warriors made that very clear to Blade, even before dawn on the first day of the march.
Blade's courage in challenging Sigluf made a good impression. Nor did most of the warriors mind that Blade was blood-brother to one of the Sarumi.
«The Sarumi-we hear they fight well,» said one warrior. «So it is no shame, being brother to one.»
The warriors also had their own opinion of Sigluf. «He fights well, and leads well. I would follow him anywhere in a battle,» said another warrior. «In camp, he goes on fighting, with his mouth and-«He pointed at his groin, and all the others laughed. «He takes too many women. If you beat him, and want some of his…?»
Blade shook his head. «Thank you, but I don't need his women.»
«You share Rhodina with Khraishamo?» Among the Maghri two or three brothers or sworn comrades frequently shared the same wife.
«No. I am from-far away. I will be returning to my home when this war is over. I could not be a good man for a woman of the Maghri.» They all admitted that under the circumstances he'd made a wise choice.
Meanwhile, the army of the Mythoran rebels was growing. Blade gave up asking Gribbon for information about the army and its plans, and instead watched it grow while he listened to the men talk. In five days he had a roughly accurate idea of what was going on around him.
To start with, it was a mistake to speak of «the free Mythorans» or «the rebels,» as if they were a single group united against Goharan rule. There was one group of rebels among the merchants and craftsmen of Mythor, and another among the farmers inland. The merchants had more money, and it was they who'd made contact with the Friends of Mythor in the north. The farmers didn't have much money, but they had more men and more weapons even without the Maghri.