“Well, the gate opened up and we marched in and it was a bad night for Sabahnahpolis, it was. After we’d killed all the gate guards, we headed for the river gate to let in the shipload of reavers an’ swampers what had come upriver in my ship an’ Yahnekos’. We come to the marketplace and here sat this fat man in gold armor on a big, pretty horse. Behind him was what looked like five hundred pike-pushers and we figgered we’d fought our last fight, but we charged ’em, anyhow. But it turned out they was nothin’ but merchants and wharfmen and factors and such like, all dressed up in old armor. They didn’ know one end of their pikes from t’other, an’ when it looked like they might have to use them overgrowed spears, they throwed ’em away and scattered.
“Well, our boys killed as many as they could catch, and ol’ Yahnekos, who was still aboard the horse, went after the feller in the gold armor an’ he damn near lost him, too, an’ I can’t but feel sorry for them two poor horses with them two tubs o’ blubber a bouncin’ and a jouncin’…”
“Enough, you red-faced pig!” Captain Yahnekos slammed a hard hand upon the table. “You call me garrulous, yet you’ve strung a short tale out over the best part of a quarter hour.”
He addressed Mara. “My lady, my captive proved to be the Royal Governor of Sabahnahpolis, one Daidos. At hia order, the city stronghold was opened and, when we’d disposed of all the garrison, Daidos showed us to the treasure that made our voyage so profitable—thirty pounds of silver coin and nearly twelve pounds of gold, taxes and excise monies destined for the capital.
“Our boys gleaned a good bit more from within the town, then took time to knock down the main gates and smash in all the boats, after driving every horse they could find into the swamps. Slows up pursuit, that does.
“Daidos told me that he could bring a goodly ransom from his king or his family, so I had him put in Captain Vanskeleeg’s forepeak, as it’s bigger than mine. I’d taken
a fancy to Daidos’ daugher and Vanskeleeg to some merchant’s spawn, so we let the boys grab some wenches to keep them happy on the return voyage and pulled out for the Sea Isles.” He showed strong, yellow teeth in a crooked grin.
Alexandros took over the narrative. “By the time I first interviewed Governor Daidos, he was in poor shape, both physically—he’d never been to sea before, and a bireme is not the most comfortable of ships in a rough sea—and mentally. He spoke to me without attempt at prevarication, as one Ehleenoee gentleman to another. He told me that he had lied to Captain Yahnekos. His family had been impoverished by the civil war and he knew his king to be far too busy with certain plans to see to the ransom of one minor official. In return for his life, he pledged upon his honor and the honor of his house to impart to me information that could very well save my kingdom. His words had piqued my curiosity, so I agreed not to kill him if his story proved true.
“Daidos said that all the ships of the Eastern Fleet and a third of the Western Fleet were assembling at Neea-heeopolis, their great port just north of the Death Swamp, which separates the Southern Kingdom from the Witch Kingdom. Meanwhile, Zastros is gathering a huge army, calling troops from as far west as the Ocean River. After five years of a kingdom-wide war, you know that his realms must be aswarm with veteran soldiers, and Zastros is offering them anything that he feels might tempt them—amnesties and lands to” nobles who fought against him, manumissions to escaped slaves, excellent wages to mercenaries, and mountains of loot for all. And they’re flocking to his standard in .droves. A week before his capture, Daidos had reliable word that Zastros already has near one hundred twenty thousand men! His cavalry alone number some forty thousand, and he has five hundred armored war carts, each drawn by a pair of Northhorses. Too, he has units of another animal—I cannot now recall what Daidos called them—the description of which he gave sounds like a huge, deformed boar. If he wasn’t exaggerating, they are more than three meters high, have four legs as thick as trees, tushes as long as a tall man, and a long nose that drags the ground but is flexible as a snake and can be used to throw darts or stones or slash with a three-meter sword blade! Sounds utterly fantastic, does it not? Yet Daidos swears it all to be true.”