Seventh Sword - The Reluctant Swordsman Part 28

Red fog faded. Yelling stopped. The sword was withdrawn.

The Second fell forward in a dead faint.

More or less conscious again, but still twitching and jigging, chest heaving hugely, Wallie stared down at him. The events of the past few minutes felt like something remembered from long ages past. Had that been him? That screaming, murdering fiend? He flopped on the gra.s.s to catch his breath. His throat was sore.

It was over!

Tarru was dead and the last junior was tearing up the trail as though h.e.l.l itself were still on his heels.

He had won.

Praise to the G.o.ddess!

Feeling strangely removed from events, like an onlooker, Wallie wiped his sword on the turf. The Second opened his eyes and twitched with renewed terror on seeing him.

"It's all right," said Wallie, smiling. "It's all over." He rose and sheathed his sword, held out a hand to the kid and helped him up. He was shivering like an aspen with ague. "Relax!" Wallie insisted. "Tarru is dead. You're alive and so am I. That's all that matters. Come on."

He put an arm on the Second's shoulders and led the way back to the shed, not quite sure who was supporting whom. Just outside the doorway was the body of another Second, the one he had cut down. That was bad, very bad. That was the worst thing that had happened in the whole horrible day, for the youngster had been no threat. Even Janghiuki had been a threat, but this one had been running away. He had fallen victim to the berserk frenzy that Wallie had not brought under control in time. Almost it made the whole thing seem not worth while if he had done that.

Inside the door were five more bodies, but those Wallie did not mind so much -- especially Ghaniri and the other Fourth whom Nnanji had killed, for their deaths meant that Nnanji was all right. The killer earthworm had not returned. And Nnanji had not done that as a va.s.sal, he had done it for his friend Shonsu. That felt good.

He saw Jja and Cowie and the old man sitting on the floor, backs against the wall, and he smiled at them. He got no answering smiles. Honakura had his eyes closed and seemed to be unconscious. Cowie, as usual, was blank. Jja was staring at him with an expression that surely was meant as a warning.

He looked around groggily. He felt mildly surprised that there were so many men standing there, but they were against the light of the far doorway, and for a moment he could not make them out. Then he distinguished Nnanji.

Nnanji was standing between two swordsmen, quite obviously under arrest.

*6*

"I am Imperkanni, swordsman of the seventh rank, and I give thanks to the Most High for granting me this opportunity to a.s.sure your beneficence that your prosperity and happiness will always be my desire and the subject of my prayers."

"I am Shonsu, swordsman of the seventh rank; I am honored by your courtesy and do most humbly extend the same felicitations to your n.o.ble self."

He was a big man, broad and masterful, probably in his late forties. Experience and achievement had sculpted the leathery, square-jawed face into a mask of arrogance and authority. He had bushy salt-and-pepper eyebrows, but his hair had been bleached with lime, giving him a magnificent white ponytail, which he wore longer than most. The only other sign of vanity about him was his poverty -- his blue kilt was patched and threadbare, his boots scuffed, his harness positively shabby. Poverty was an affectation of the frees, to show their honesty. Yet his sword was bright and shiny, the heavy arms were scarred, and there were at least a dozen notches in his right shoulder strap.

Here was a true swordsman, a veteran, a professional. Compared to this, Tarru had been garbage. Commander of a private army, owing allegiance to no man, guided only by his own conscience and his G.o.ddess, Imperkanni was one of the powers of the World.

His eyes were the palest Wallie had yet seen among the People, even paler than Nnanji's. Those amber eyes observed the seventh sword and the sapphire hairclip and they narrowed in disapproval. They were very cold, no-nonsense eyes.

"May I have the honor of presenting to the n.o.ble Lord Shonsu my protege, Honorable Yoningu of the Sixth?"

Yoningu was a little younger and slighter, with curly brown hair and quick eyes. His face was oddly lopsided, giving the impression that he might be a fun guy at a party. The fun side of him, if there really was one, was being suppressed at the moment, for he looked as hostile as his leader. He was another fighter, scarred like a butcher's block.

Wallie accepted the salute and glanced across at his former va.s.sal, standing with his head down, looking beaten and crushed.

"We have already met Adept Nnanji," Imperkanni said icily. He turned to Yoningu. "You are willing to do this, protege?"

"I am, mentor," Yoningu said. He glanced briefly at Wallie and then Nnanji, then said loudly, "I also denounce Lord Shonsu for violations of the seventh sutra."

So he had already denounced Nnanji. Imperkanni would be judge, Yoningu prosecutor. It was primitive justice by Wallie's standards, for both men were also witnesses, and they were probably buddies of many years' standing, but it was better than nothing.

These were the pa.s.sengers who had disembarked from the boat -- about a dozen of them, two slaves and ten or so swordsmen ranging in rank from Second to Seventh. They had arrived just in time to see the fight, a company of the free swords of whom Nnanji spoke with such admiration and longing -- the enforcers, the peacekeepers -- those who supported, regulated, and, if necessary, avenged the swordsmen of garrison and guard.

Imperkanni glanced out at the meadow and called over his shoulder to one of his men. "Kandanni, make sure those mules don't go without us."

A Third trotted quickly out of the shed.

"Good idea," Wallie said. "Perhaps, my lord, you would be kind enough to detain the boat also."

Imperkanni raised a skeptical eyebrow, but he nodded to a Second, who went running along the jetty. He might be convinced already of the accused's guilt, but he was willing to observe the formalities.

Wallie was so weary that his knees were trembling, but if they were not going to sit down, then he was not going to suggest it. The swordsmen had carefully sealed off the entrance to the meadow in case the prisoners tried to escape and, while both prisoners had been allowed to retain their swords, Wallie was quite certain that it was a mere courtesy. These men would not be pushovers like the temple guard. These men were fighters.

He was to be tried, here and now, in the echoing and blood-spattered guardhouse. It was a strange courtroom: a big wooden shed with a wide cobbled floor like a street running through the middle of it. The horse stalls along one side were open to the high timber ceiling, but the opposite wall was solid, pierced by a few ordinary doors. Barn swallows swooped in and out the archways at the ends, soaring upward to their nests in the rafters, twittering angrily at the men below. If it reminded Wallie of anything at all, it was of a theater stage seen from the rear, the beams and bare flats exposed, and all the bodies from the last act of _Hamlet_ strewn over the ground.

The skinner and the boat captain were marched in and made to sit, close to Jja and Cowie. Swordsmen preferred action to argument. Not that any sane civilian would argue.

Katanji was standing behind his brother, staring at Wallie with big, scared eyes. The low evening light was pouring in the River door, floodlighting Trasingji's body. Horses were chomping behind the stall doors.

"You may begin, Honorable Yoningu," the judge said.

The prosecutor led the way over to Trasingji. Imperkanni and Wallie walked beside him.

"I observed Lord Shonsu strike this man from behind, and with a dagger."

They paced back to Tarru. Wallie was staggered to see that he had cut the man almost in half, and that the cobbles were drenched with blood all around, as though he had exploded.

"I observed Lord Shonsu attack this man from behind."

Then the group of five corpses, and Yoningu paused for a moment, to refresh his memory, or to make sure that he had significant charges to lay. His wry expression was caused by a scar, pulling the corner of his mouth up -- perhaps he had no sense of humor at all. If his mentor ruled against Wallie, would Wallie then become this man's slave? No, these were capital offenses.

"I observed Lord Shonsu attack these men without formal challenge. I observed Lord Shonsu strike this one with a dagger, and this one also." He shrugged, implying that those charges would do for now.

Imperkanni turned to Wallie. "Do you have any defense?"

"A great deal, my lord." Wallie smiled to show that he was not feeling guilty. "Honorable Yoningu has missed one, I think." He pointed between the guarding swordsmen to the body of the Second outside. That one _was_ a capital offense in Wallie's eyes, and the only one.

Yoningu glared at him angrily, as though Wallie were wasting the time of the court with trivialities. "That man was running away," he said.

A wave of culture shock broke over Wallie, temporarily choking him. By running away, the boy had forfeited his right to be avenged. Yet, after a moment, Wallie found some comfort in that, because the other Second had stopped and made obeisance, and that had been enough to trigger Shonsu's controls and halt the berserker. Not much comfort, but a little. The first kid would still be alive, had he remembered his training.

The court was waiting for him.

"May I hear the charges against Adept Nnanji, please? Then we shall present our defense."

Imperkanni nodded. Nnanji looked up from his study of the floor and gazed bitterly at the proceedings.

Yoningu hesitated over the first man Nnanji had killed, decided to ignore that one, and pointed casually to the body of Ghaniri. "I observed Adept Nnanji strike this man from behind when he was already fighting another."

Nnanji dropped his eyes again.

"Your defense, my lord?" Imperkanni asked Wallie. His manner implied that it had better be good.

"I think Adept Nnanji has some charges to bring against me, also," Wallie said recklessly.

That had a welcome shock effect, but Imperkanni recovered quickly. "Adept Nnanji?"

Nnanji looked up once more. He stared at Wallie with more pain and reproach than seemed humanly bearable. When he began to speak, he was so quiet that he stopped and started again. "I saw Lord Shonsu draw a sword on Adept Briu this morning without warning. I saw Lord Shonsu disguise himself as a female slave."

That had even more of a shock effect. Wallie was looking regretfully at Honakura. A priest of the Seventh would be an unimpeachable witness, but the old man was still sitting like a rag doll. His eyes were partly open, but showing only the whites. He might be dead, he might be dying, but he was in no condition to testify.

"We are waiting, my lord," Imperkanni said threateningly.

"Are you familiar with the legend of Chioxin?" Wallie asked.

"No," Imperkanni said.

_h.e.l.l!_ Then he noticed the Second he had spared. He was cowering beside a post, hunched and still shivering.

"Let's have an independent witness, my lord," Wallie said. "My story is unusual, to say the least, and I should prefer to have it corroborated. You! What's your name?"

The Second rolled his eyes and said nothing. One of the free swords, a Fourth, went over to him and slapped his face. The kid gibbered slightly, and drooled.

_h.e.l.l and d.a.m.nation!_ "Then I must tell it myself, I suppose," Wallie said. He needed food, drink, and about two nights' sleep. "The reeve of the temple guard, Hardduju of the Seventh, was a very corrupt man. The priests have long prayed that the G.o.ddess would send them a replacement..."

That replacement was obviously Imperkanni, but to mention that would sound like a bribe, or an attempt at flattery. It was ironic that the man whom Wallie had hoped might come to rescue him had instead turned up in time to threaten him with vengeance for winning the battle. This whole thing was infinitely ironic. He hoped that the little G.o.d was finding it amusing.

Halfway through the story he had to ask for a drink. Imperkanni was not a consciously cruel man. Now he noted Wallie's fatigue and ordered seats. His men jumped to search the rooms and produced stools. The court continued to meet at the scene of the crime, a circle of four in the midst of carnage -- Wallie, Nnanji, Imperkanni, and Yoningu. The other swordsmen moved in to stand around them, alert and impa.s.sive.

Finally, hoa.r.s.e and so weary that he wondered if he still cared, Wallie reached his conclusion. "There were abominations," he said, "but they were begun by Tarru. Once he imprisoned me within the temple grounds, this was no longer an affair of honor."

Imperkanni waited to be sure that that was all, then drew a deep breath. He looked questioningly at Yoningu, as though saying, "Your witness."

"Did you try to leave the grounds, my lord?"

Wallie admitted that he had not.

"You say that you were Honorable Tarru's guest. You were hardly still his guest when you reached here, were you?"

"Well, we hadn't said good-bye and come again!"

Yoningu was persistent. It was only his twisted mouth that made him look as though he were enjoying himself. It must be painful for him to denounce a man who had displayed such swordsmanship, but it had been illegal swordsmanship. "A guest who leaves without farewell does not remain a guest indefinitely. He was no longer your host, so he was within his rights in challenging Adept Nnanji. You interfered in an honorable pa.s.sage of arms."

That was ridiculous. Wallie was sure that there was an answer to all this somewhere, but even the fear of death seemed insufficient to get his brain working again.

"Nnanji," he croaked. "You talk for a while."

Nnanji looked up sadly. "I admit the charge," he said. Then he leaned his elbows on his knees once more, clasped his oversize hands, and went back to staring across the circle at Yoningu's boots.

"What!"

This time Nnanji did not even raise his head. "I allowed a personal friendship to lead me into an abomination. I am happy that I saved your life, Lord Shonsu, but I was wrong to do so."

"What the h.e.l.l was I supposed to do?" Wallie demanded, looking at Yoningu and Imperkanni. "We were his guests, and he had prepared a trap in our room. He was swearing his men to the blood oath at swordpoint. That oath needs a specific cause, and the only cause was that he wanted to steal my sword, the G.o.ddess' sword! They did not address him as 'liege.' He was keeping the oath secret -- another abomination, as you well know."

"Did you observe this swearing, my lord?"

Wallie sighed. "No. As I told you, it was reported to me by the slaves."

Nnanji looked up and drew back his lips in a grimace. Slaves could not testify. Lord Shonsu had already discredited that defense himself.

"Adept Briu confirmed the third oath!" Wallie shouted. "Also the attack on Adept Nnanji -- "

"Then, by admitting it, this Briu was either disobeying his liege or lying to you?"

Wallie wanted to pound his head with his fists. He could not think of an answer to that.

Katanji nudged his brother from behind. Nnanji waved him away without turning.

"Who shed the first blood?" Yoningu demanded.

There it was -- death before dishonor. A man was supposed to be honorable at all costs. If his enemy killed him by dishonorable means, then that was too bad, he must be avenged. By their standards Wallie should have tried walking out the gate and let himself be cut down, or just waited until Tarru came for him. He who cast the first stone was the sinner.

Some of the swordsmen had died rather than swear to Tarru ... but there were no witnesses to that, except the slaves.

"I killed first!" Wallie said. He was thinking of Janghiuki, but they would a.s.sume he meant Transingji. Did it matter?

Imperkanni broke the ensuing silence. "Why did you release your va.s.sal and protege from his oaths, my lord?"

That must seem a very odd decision to him, and perhaps he was looking for some way to spare Nnanji.

"I hoped that he might be allowed through," Wallie said, "with the others."

Imperkanni and Yoningu glanced at his companions and then at each other -- two slaves, a boy, a baby, and a beggar? Why bother?

Imperkanni folded his arms and pondered for a moment, studying Nnanji. Yes, he was trying to find some way to acquit the accomplice -- Wallie's guilt was obvious. "I am curious as to what happened when you arrived, adept. What was said before Honorable Tarru challenged you?"

Nnanji raised his eyes and returned the Seventh's gaze glumly. "I challenged him, my lord," he said.

Obviously Imperkanni was finding this a difficult case. He frowned. "By the look of your facemarks, adept, you were a Second quite recently."

"This morning, my lord."

A very difficult case; both defendants seemed to be insane. "You were a Second this morning, and this afternoon you challenged a Sixth?"