‘Where did you learn all this?’ asked Druss.
‘I have just spent an informative afternoon with the Princess Asha – Gorben’s sister.’
‘What?’ stormed Druss. ‘What is it with you? Did you learn nothing from what happened in Mashrapur? One day! And already you are rutting!’
‘I do not rut,’ snapped Sieben. ‘I make love. And what I do is none of your concern.’
‘That’s true,’ admitted Druss, ‘and when they take you for disembowelling, or impaling, I shall remind you of that.’
‘Ah, Druss!’ said Sieben, settling back on the bed. ‘There are some things worth dying for. And she is very beautiful. By the gods, a man could do worse than marry her.’
Druss stood and turned away to the window. Sieben was instantly contrite. ‘I am sorry, my friend. I wasn’t thinking.’ He approached Druss and laid his hand on his shoulder. ‘I am sorry about what happened with the priest.’
‘It was her voice,’ said Druss, swallowing hard and fighting to keep his emotions in check. ‘She said she was waiting for me. I thought that if I went to the wall I might be killed, and then I’d be with her again. But no one came with the skill or the heart. No one ever will. . . and I don’t have the courage to do the deed myself.’
‘That would not be courage, Druss. And Rowena would not want it. She’d want you to be happy, to marry again.’
‘Never!’
‘You are not yet twenty, my friend. There are other women.’
‘None like her. But she’s gone, and I’ll speak no more of her. I’ll carry her here,’ he said, touching his chest, ‘and I’ll not forget her. Now go back to what you were saying about Eastern warfare.’
Sieben lifted a clay goblet from a shelf by the window, blew the dust from it, and filled it with water which he drained at a single swallow. ‘Gods, that tastes foul! All right . . . Eastern warfare. What is it you wish to know now?’
‘Well,’ said Druss, slowly, ‘I know that the enemy can attack four times in a day. But why did they only attack one wall? They have the numbers to surround the city and attack in many places at once.’
‘They will, Druss, but not in the first month. This is the testing time. Untried new soldiers are judged on their courage during the first few weeks; then they will bring up the siege-engines. That should be the second month. After that perhaps ballistae, hurling huge rocks over the walls. If at the end of the month there has been no success, they will call in the engineers and they will burrow under the walls, seeking to bring them down.’
‘And what rules over the besieged?’ asked the axeman.
‘I don’t understand you?’
‘Well, suppose we were to attack them. Could we only do it four times? Can we attack at night? What are the rules?’
‘It is not a question of rules, Druss, it’s more a matter for common sense. Gorben is outnumbered by around twenty to one; if he attacked, he’d be wiped out.’
Druss nodded, and lapsed into silence. Finally he spoke. ‘I’ll ask Oliquar for his book. You can read it to me, then I’ll understand.’
‘Can we sleep now?’ asked Sieben.
Druss nodded and took up his axe. He did not remove his boots or jerkin and stretched out on the second bed with Snaga beside him.
‘You don’t need an axe in bed in order to sleep.’
‘It comforts me,’ answered Druss, closing his eyes.
‘Where did you get it?’
‘It belonged to my grandfather.’
‘Was he a great hero?’ asked Sieben, hopefully.
‘No, he was a madman, and a terrible killer.’
‘That’s nice,’ said Sieben, settling down on his own bed. ‘It’s good to know you have a family trade to fall back on if times get hard.’
Chapter Six
Gorben leaned back in his chair as his servant, Mushran, carefully shaved the stubble from his chin. He glanced up at the old man. ‘Why do you stare so?’ he asked.
‘You are tired, my boy. Your eyes are red-rimmed and there are purple patches beneath them.’