"And no one has found this place?" Eskkar turned to Trella in surprise. "Wouldn't news of such a discovery be spread far and wide in a matter of days? Why didn't you tell ?"

Trella touched her husband's arm to halt the questions. "I didn't want to tell you until I knew for sure. Annok-sur brought a woman to me about a month ago. Her name was Calla. Her family had discovered the site and were gathering up surface gold when they were attacked by bandits. Everyone else was killed. Her husband, his brothers, Calla's two children. She was raped and left for dead. The bandits took all the gold Calla's family had found and rode off. She survived and managed to return to Akkad, and told her tale to Annok-sur. We've been taking care of her ever since. I gave her a small house, and now she works with Annok-sur. In return, Calla has revealed nothing about the find to anyone else. Now you all must continue to keep the secret, until we can first examine the site and, if it shows promise, claim it for Akkad."

"And what of the bandits?" Eskkar understood how bandits would react. "If they're cunning enough, they'll be returning to the place every few months to do their own digging. They may even have taken all the gold by now. If the gold is on the surface, like nuggets in the river or dust in pockets, the site would be easily depleted with a few days' work."

"It's possible," Trella agreed. "But Calla thinks the bandits just moved on, satisfied with what they had taken."

"How do you know so much about gold?" Gatus asked Eskkar. "Something else from your past?"

"Yes."

The single word told Gatus and Hathor that nothing else about Eskkar's previous experience with gold would be forthcoming.

Trella returned to her story. "Calla knew she could not claim such a site by herself. I promised her a reward and a secure place of her own if she would keep the secret. Still, we won't know for sure until we visit the place. If the bandits are there or have returned from time to time, we'll take it from them."

"With a gold mine of our own," Eskkar mused, "we should be able to pay for many new recruits . . . and their weapons."

"The mine would belong to the King," Trella said, "to be used to pay for soldiers to defend the city and its people. Even the n.o.bles would not object to that, especially if it would lessen the burden on them. The people will know we are not claiming the gold for ourselves. And the gold will flow through Akkad, helping all of our merchants, craftsmen, and innkeepers."

"You are looking into this?" Eskkar took Trella by the hand.

"Oh, yes, husband. I've already started. In the last few days, I've considered each of the goldsmiths in Akkad, to see who would best suit our needs. I wanted someone with quick wits, a man flexible enough to adapt to new ways. I settled on a young goldsmith who can inspect the site, estimate its potential, and develop the mine, if there is one. This morning we dispatched him north to examine the place, accompanied by a few soldiers. But do not get your hopes raised up just yet. As you say, there may be little or no gold remaining there. Either way, we should know in ten days or so."

Eskkar knew that Annok-sur had dispatched a handful of soldiers on yet another mission, but he hadn't asked the reason. "Any quant.i.ty of gold we could get . . . it could make a difference."

"We must all keep this a secret for now," Trella said. "As soon as I learn anything about the find, we'll know what to do."

"Forgetting the gold for a moment," Bantor said, speaking for the first time, "what are you going to tell our men about all these preparations? They'll want to know why Akkad is building up its forces."

"I'm not sure yet," Eskkar said. "We'll need to find something to account for it. Maybe we can say that the barbarians are returning into the northern lands. That would explain what we're doing. And it would please the Sumerians, I'm sure, to know that we face an old enemy."

Eskkar looked at each of them. "What I'll need from all of you are ways to make this work. Figure out what you're going to need, and how much we can tell the rest of the men. For now, we must keep this to ourselves."

"You're not going to tell Klexor and the other subcommanders?" Hathor looked uncomfortable about that.

"No, not yet. Trella and Annok-sur think we should tell as few as possible for now. We can keep them busy enough with the training."

"How much time do we have?" Yavtar settled his elbows on the table. "I mean, if I have to build boats and find crews, it could take months, even years."

Eskkar smiled at Yavtar's gradual acceptance of the plan. "We'll have to a.s.sume that Sumer will be capable of attempting another push into the borderlands as early as next year, but more likely the following year. That's why we need to start preparing as soon as possible."

"You're keeping watch on King Eridu?" Bantor asked.

"A boat from Sumer arrived this afternoon with the ransom. The gold is already under guard only a few dozen paces away. Eridu departs at dawn."

"Then that is settled," Eskkar said. "Now we know what we need to begin."

"Maybe more," Gatus said, "if Eridu has learned his lesson."

"Or less." Trella's voice held a hint of resignation. "It seems wars come suddenly, always catching one side by surprise. Yet Annok-sur and I have already taken measures to get more information from Sumer and its leaders. But we can't count on that too much."

"Let's just hope whoever is advising Eridu isn't working on new ways to wage war as well," Yavtar said.

"Then we are agreed," Eskkar said, satisfaction in his voice. "But it will be up to you four to make this plan work. If you believe we can do this, then the men will believe and accept these new ideas soon enough."

The commanders glanced at each other, all of them joined together now to face the challenge. Eskkar knew they would already be thinking of how they could begin.

"We'll start making our plans tomorrow. But now Trella has some more news."

"I wanted to tell you what Annok-sur and I have been planning," Trella began. "First, and most important, we will need many spies in Sumer and the other southern cities. We must search for suitable men and women as quickly as possible, so that they can be settled into the Sumerian cities. Once war is imminent, any new arrivals will be viewed with suspicion, so the sooner we can get them in place, the more likely they'll be able to provide us with information."

"How will they get information back to Akkad?" Gatus asked. "It's nearly nine days on horseback to get from Sumer to here. If your spies disappear for days on end, won't that be noticed?"

"Yes, but Yavtar can help with that. Merchants will use the river as much as ever. Boats come and go, often without anyone noticing. If we place some of our most trusted men among Yavtar's crews, they can gather information as they travel up and down the two rivers."

"We've talked about using the river for such things before," Eskkar said.

"I can always use more good river men," Yavtar said. "Soldiers make good rowers, and I wouldn't have to pay them. Well, not much, anyway."

Everyone chuckled at the idea of soldiers laboring to increase Yavtar's profits.

"At least you won't be using any of my hors.e.m.e.n for rowers," Hathor said.

"Have you any advice for us, Hathor?" Trella smiled rea.s.suringly at the Egyptian, knowing that any mention of his past would bring a pang of sorrow. "You've fought battles with large numbers of soldiers on each side, so you must know what will be needed."

"Well, you will need supplies for the men. The less time the soldiers spend searching for food, the more they can march."

"Not only food and water, but weapons as well." Bantor, Annok-sur's husband and the most loyal of Eskkar's leaders, seldom spoke, but when he did, everyone heeded his words. "There are never enough arrows on the battlefield. A good bowman can empty a full quiver of arrows in a few moments. Once they are gone, he's of little use in a fight, armed only with a short sword."

"That means we will have to make and store large numbers of arrows, bowstrings, and even bows," Trella said. "But if Yavtar can bring your men fresh supplies of these things, then our archers will have plenty of shafts to prolong their part in the battle."

"You're a.s.suming that all the battles will be fought near a river," Gatus argued. "Soldiers need to find the right kind of battlefield, and it might be a day or two's march away from wherever Yavtar can bring his boats."

"Then I would suggest that all of you stay as close to the river as possible," Trella said. "The advantage of having two or three ships deliver thousands of arrows or fresh food may be as important or even more so than choosing the right place. If we plan our battles in advance, we can make sure of being close to water. And all the major cities of Sumeria are located near one or the other of the two rivers, and there are dozens of smaller streams."

"Besides arrows and food," Bantor continued, "an army needs grain for the horses, torches and oil to light the night, ropes for the corrals, shovels, sharpening stones for the swords, even cooking pots. The more that we can load onto a boat, the less the men will have to carry and the farther they'll be able to march."

"That's another problem," Hathor said. "Our soldiers will travel different distances each day, depending on the land, whether it's hilly or sandy or gra.s.sland. In Egypt we never knew for certain how many days it would take to march from one village to another."

"We need to train the soldiers to march at least a certain number of miles per day," Gatus said. "No matter what the land is like." The others looked doubtful at that idea.

"Would it be of value to know how far you are from your destinations?" Trella paused for a moment. "We could measure the distances between here and the southern cities. Then if we knew the soldiers could march so many miles in a day, we would know when they could arrive."

"How will you measure the distances?" Gatus sounded skeptical, and rightfully so. No one even knew exactly how far it was from Akkad to Larsa, which was the closest city.

"We could train walkers," Trella said. "Men who would pace off a certain distance with each step. Every hundred steps, he moves a pebble from one hand to the other. That way we could count the steps between Akkad and the southern cities and villages."

"It would also be good to know when we've reached certain places on the journey," Hathor said, leaning forward on the table. "We should learn the location of every landmark between here and Sumer."

"And make a few landmarks of our own where there are none," Eskkar said. "If our walkers marked trees and rocks as they went, or built up piles of stones, we would know how far we'd traveled."

"That would be useful on the river as well," Yavtar said. "In time of war, the river is safer at night. If the landmarks could be seen at night, that would be even better. But when there's no moon, there's little that can be seen."

"The best landmark at night is a fire," Trella said. "It doesn't have to be a real fire. A candle in an open box, facing the water, can be seen over great distances, I think."

"You would need help from villagers living in those places up and down the rivers," Gatus said. "Can that be done?"

"Perhaps. Let Annok-sur and me think about that one. What else will your marching armies need?"

"Maps." Eskkar remembered the maps they had used to fight the Alur Meriki. "If we had good maps, we could mark our progress against the landmarks, and know how far we've traveled, and how far we had to go."

"Isn't that a lot to ask?" Bantor said. "Can we show that much information on a piece of cloth?"

"No, not one piece," Trella said. "But a dozen or more would be enough to show everything. You will need to take a few clerks with you to war, Eskkar. They could keep track of the maps and landmarks, and mark off each day's progress."

Eskkar groaned and everyone laughed. Since he'd become Akkad's ruler, and even before, the clerks of the n.o.bles and Trella's own people followed him everywhere, marking down every expense on a pottery shard, a permanent record of every activity. Already the shelves in the storage rooms creaked under the weight.

"Clerks going to war." Eskkar shook his head at the idea.

"All this is well and good," Gatus said, "but what happens when we reach Larsa? We'll have to besiege it, fight our way in. And from what Yavtar tells us, all of Sumeria is building walls around every dung heap, let alone Larsa and Isin and the other large cities."

"Yes, you're right, Gatus." Trella thought about that for a moment. "I think we need to send Corio's people to visit all the cities in Sumeria. They should examine the walls for weak points, and determine the best method and place to attack each city. That way, when the army arrives, it can get right to work without having to worry about what to do."

"You're fighting the war in advance, Lady Trella," Hathor said. "But all these ideas are good ones. The more prepared we are, the more the men will want to fight."

"Men always fight better when they think they have some advantage," Eskkar said.

"I've one more suggestion to make." Trella turned to Annok-sur. "Actually, Annok-sur suggested it. You need a special place to meet and talk about your plans, a private place. A place with only one purpose. We could build another room here on the second level, and dedicate the new chamber to planning the war. We would enter it only from the workroom, so only the most trusted servants will ever see the inside."

"And we can display the maps there as well," Bantor said, "perhaps even paint them on the walls."

"Remember the model of Akkad that Corio's apprentices built for the first wall?" Eskkar had looked at it in astonishment: a miniature city displayed in perfect detail on a long table. "If we had something like that, something that stretched from Akkad to Sumer, we could use it to plan the marches, and even mark possible battlefields."

"That will take a big room, indeed," Gatus said, drawing another laugh.

"I'll speak to Corio about it," Trella said. "He'll have to build the new room anyway, so he'll be spending plenty of time here."

"If we can do all or even most of the things you've said," Hathor leaned forward, unable to conceal his eagerness, "I think we'll be able to wage a new kind of war. Such advantages would be worth a great number of men."

"The more we know about our enemy," Eskkar said, "the easier this fight will be. If our spies can learn about our enemies, how many men they have, how well trained, what weapons they prefer, how they're fed and resupplied, we can use that knowledge to help plan for battle. That will make our soldiers fight even harder."

"And if we train them," Gatus said, "really train them well, they'll stand up to anything Sumeria can send against us."

"You'll take charge of that, Gatus," Eskkar said. "No one understands how to train men as well as you do."

Everyone nodded agreement. During the battle with the Alur Meriki, Gatus's training had transformed more than a few Akkadians into the equal of even the strongest barbarians.

"So, Gatus, you will need to outdo yourself this time," Eskkar said. "And all of you will have more ideas on how to make our forces stronger in the months to come. I'm sure we can think of even more ways to aid the soldiers."

They continued speaking long into the night. Hathor had more to impart about cities fighting against each other, and Eskkar knew something about that, too, from his days as a soldier for hire. Trella asked many more questions, committing to memory every word that was spoken, every useful fact that she could glean from the men's words. In the coming weeks and months, she would know, or soon learn, everything that would be needed to prepare for and support such a war.

At last Gatus yawned and declared he needed to get to sleep. A glance up at the moon showed that midnight had come and gone.

Trella had the last words. "Let us hope war never comes. But if we must fight again, then let us be well prepared. Remember, like the days when we faced the Alur Meriki, this is a war we dare not lose."

11.

Before retiring to their bedroom, Trella checked on little Sargon. The boy slept well, secure in his bed and with his nurse watching over him. She blew out the candle and slipped beneath the blanket, where Eskkar held her close against the darkness.

"I'm sorry that war must come again to Akkad. Trouble seems to follow wherever I go."

"War would come here whoever ruled," she answered. "The southern lands are needed to provide food for our people, and allow us to expand to the north and west. Without those farms, Akkad will not be able to grow, and would slowly begin to starve. That must not happen, especially now that we have Sargon to worry about."

"Yes, he will rule over all these lands someday. If our luck holds true."

"It's more than luck that has brought us this far, Eskkar. Say what you will, but the G.o.ds favor you."

"Yes, they brought you to me. Or my luck did."

She knew he believed more in his luck than any of the fickle G.o.ds, who needed constant appeas.e.m.e.nt through prayers and offerings provided by the greedy priests. Or so they claimed to those who believed their every word. Nevertheless, she knew fate or some higher purpose of the G.o.ds had brought the two of them together.

Eskkar kissed the curve of her neck and she relaxed against him. Each day is a blessing, she remembered her father saying. Death may come through your door at any time, my little daughter, so live and enjoy your life as much as you can.

Death indeed had come for her father in the middle of the night, when he least expected it. She was glad that for many years he had enjoyed his life and his family so much, finding some joy in whatever each day brought.

Eskkar's hands touched her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and she put thoughts of her father aside. Instead, she sighed and arched her body against her husband's. His strong hands always aroused the fire in her loins.

"Do you still enjoy my touch?"

"Yes, master," she whispered. "This slave enjoys your attentions. I will try to please you."

He laughed. "You already have, Trella."

She laughed, too, and returned his kiss with one of her own.

Afterward, Trella remained in the circle of Eskkar's arm. Somehow she always felt safer sleeping beside him. To know that someone would fight to protect you, would risk his own death if necessary, meant so much more to her now. Trella knew how easily a life could cease. In the s.p.a.ce of one day, she'd seen her parents murdered, her brother carried off to the mines, and herself sold into slavery. Her comfortable life had ended in an orgy of blood and tears.

Just when she thought all that was behind her, Korthac had done it again. After a single night of fighting, he forced her to kneel at his feet and beg for the life of her coming child. That time, Eskkar had rescued her, and he'd fought a desperate fight to save her life and that of little Sargon right in this very room. Korthac would have tossed the baby into the fires before turning Trella over to his brutal soldiers for their amus.e.m.e.nt for a few days before he put her to death.

Now another threat had arisen, this one less immediate perhaps, but just as dangerous. The thought of the Sumerians being a danger seemed odd. She herself was from those lands, as much a Sumerian as anyone born in the city of Sumer. Nevertheless, no one in Akkad ever mentioned it, most probably didn't even realize it. Almost everyone within the city's walls had come from somewhere else. Those born in the old village of Orak and the nearby farms were few in number, compared to those who had sought Akkad's safety. No, she, Eskkar, and now little Sargon were the first true Akkadians. Most of the city's inhabitants felt the same way, Akkadians first. The old name of Orak had vanished within a few months.

Now another trouble had arisen, to provide a new challenge to her plans for the future. The cities of Sumeria had grown in size almost as fast as Akkad, but the southern lands held much less fertile soil to feed their increasing numbers. They could only expand to the north. Eridu had tried and failed. His attempt would not be the last.