“Hand cannons,” said Menander excitedly. “That’s what you’d have. Something small enough for a single man to fire—or maybe two.”
“One man,” pronounced Belisarius.
“I haven’t seen any such weapons among the Malwa,” said Valentinian uncertainly. “Maybe—” He fell silent, coughing. There was a soft wind blowing, and the cloud of gunsmoke emitted by the recent cannonblast had finally wafted over the Romans.
“God, that shit stinks,” he muttered.
“Better get used to it,” said Anastasius, rather unkindly. For a moment, the giant Thracian seemed on the verge of uttering one of his frequent philosophical homilies, but Valentinian’s ferocious glare made him think better of it.
“You haven’t seen any handcannons, Valentinian, because the Malwa don’t have any.” Belisarius’ voice was soft, but filled with confidence. “They’re not hiding them from us. I’m sure of that. They’ve kept us far from the battlefield, but not that far. If they had any handcannons, we’d have spotted them by now.”
He waited for the roar of another cannonblast to subside before continuing.
“And that’s the wave of the future. Handcannons. If we can get back to Rome—if some of us can make it back to Rome, and get this information to John of Rhodes, then we’ve got a chance. We’ll have better powder than the Malwa, and our artisans are more skilled than theirs, on balance. We can build an entirely new kind of army. An army that can defeat this colossus.”
For a moment, he considered adding some of the ideas he had been coming to, of late, concerning the structure and tactics of such a future army. But he decided against it. His ideas were still only half-formed and tentative. They would confuse the cataphracts more than anything else. Belisarius needed more time. More time to think. And, most of all, more time to learn from the strange mentality that rested, somehow, in the bizarre “jewel” that he carried in the pouch suspended from his neck. The mentality which called itself Aide and said that it came from the far distant future.
His musings were interrupted by Valentinian.
“Careful,” muttered the cataphract. “The Rajputs are coming.”
Belisarius glanced over, and saw that a small group of Rajputs had detached themselves from the main body of the elite horsemen and were trotting toward them. At their head rode the leader of the escort, one of the many petty kinglets who constituted the upper crust of the Malwa’s Rajput vassals. This one belonged to the Chauhar clan, one of the most prominent of the Rajput dynasties. His name was Rana Sanga.
Watching Sanga approach, Belisarius was torn between two sentiments.
On the one hand, he was irritated by the interruption. The Rajputs—following orders, Belisarius had no doubt—never allowed the Romans to get very close to the action, and never for very long. Despite the limitation, Belisarius had been able to glean much from observing the siege of the rebel city of Ranapur. But he would have been able to learn much more had he been allowed closer, and if his observations were not always limited to a span of a few minutes.
On the other hand—
The fact was, he had developed a genuine respect for Rana Sanga. And even, in some strange way, the beginning of friendship, for all that the Rajput lord was his future enemy.
And a fearsome enemy at that, he thought.
Rana Sanga was, in every respect except one, the archetypical model of a Rajput. The man was very tall—taller, even, than Belisarius—and well built. The easy grace with which Sanga rode his mount bespoke not only his superb physical condition but also his expert horsemanship—a quality he shared with every Rajput Belisarius had so far met.
His dress and accouterments were those of a typical Rajput as well, if a little finer. Rajputs favored lighter gear and armor than either cataphracts or Persian lancers—mail tunics reaching to mid-thigh, but leaving the arms uncovered; open-faced helmets; tight trousers tucked into knee-high boots. For weapons, they carried lances, bows, and scimitars. Belisarius had never actually seen Sanga wield those weapons, but he had not the slightest doubt the man was expert in their use.
Yes, the ideal image of a Rajput in every sense, except—