Eskkar moved to the stairs and started to descend. But before he descended halfway to the common room, two men burst through the main entrance and headed for the stairs. The first man looked up and saw the king standing there. Eskkar recognized the leader of twenty who guarded Akkad's main gate.

"Lord Eskkar! The outpost at Adarnar has been attacked!"

Guards, servants, even some tradesmen, followed the others into the room. Bantor and Grond, who'd been taking their meal outside, pushed the onlookers aside and followed the messengers, their eyes as wide with excitement as the youngest recruit.

Eskkar turned his attention to the second man, an older soldier swaying on his feet, a bloodstained bandage on his left arm, and a large bruise on his cheek. Flecks of dried blood still stained his neck and tunic.

"Come upstairs," Eskkar ordered. "Everyone else wait outside in the courtyard." He found Trella standing behind him. Her expression told him she understood. The long dreaded war with Sumer might have begun.

Grond had to help the wounded man up the steps. Eskkar dragged over a stool and the soldier slipped onto it with a long gasp of relief. Trella handed him a cup of wine, then had to help hold it while he sipped. Despite her efforts, his trembling hand spilled half the liquid onto his chest, staining the ragged garment as red as the blots of color on the dirty bandage.

"Send for a healer," Trella ordered. "This bandage needs to be changed." Her fingertips traced the nearly black bruise on his face. "His cheekbone may be broken as well."

"What's your name?" Eskkar snapped the words out. The man appeared ready to slip into shock, and needed the sharp words to keep his focus.

"Sargat, my lord." He coughed, then again lifted the cup to his lips. "Second in command to Enkidu at Adarnar."

"What happened?"

Alexar and Gatus, both breathing hard, joined them in the workroom. Drakis entered a moment later and completed the senior commanders in Akkad.

Sargat kept his eyes on the king. "Yesterday . . . no, three days ago, a little before sunset, a band of Tanukhs rode across the Sippar and attacked the outpost. Adarnar was overrun in moments. We tried . . . there were too many of them, hundreds and hundreds. We couldn't stop them."

A barbarian raid, Eskkar decided, but perhaps only an isolated attack.

"How many were there? How long did Adarnar hold out? How did you get away?"

Everyone had a question. At this rate, the man's story would take the rest of the day.

"Let Sargat tell us what happened," Eskkar cut in before anyone else could speak. "Take your time. Start at the beginning, and tell us everything that you remember."

The events at Adarnar came out in halting words. Trella refilled the wine cup, this time mixing the strong wine with plenty of water. No one said a word while Sargat spoke, every man in the room knew how the Tanukhs fought, all of them could visualize exactly what had taken place at the fort. The soldiers would have fought to the death, rather than let themselves be captured and tortured. Then would come the villagers' turn, tortured and killed for their captors' amus.e.m.e.nt, the women raped before being murdered, after watching their children butchered before their eyes. When only the dead remained, the Tanukhs would have burned the fort to the ground.

While Sargat spoke, the healer entered the room, put down his heavy box of implements, and without a word began attending to the wound. The soldier scarcely noticed when the healer used his obsidian knife to cut open the wrapping, cleaned the deep cut, and applied a fresh bandage around the man's arm. At last Sargat ended his tale and slumped back in the chair, his eyes closed.

"Did anyone else get away?" The soldier needed rest, needed more attentions from the healer, but Eskkar had only two more questions.

The eyes opened. "Yes, lord, one other. I was the last one out the gate. I caught up with the last handful of men to ride out. We had to fight our way through the Tanukhs. Only myself and one other soldier managed to get though all the confusion . . . there were so many of them, and all trying to get into the fort. He was wounded as well, and I left him behind at the first place of safety. I took his horse and rode for Akkad, as Enkidu wanted."

"How sure are you that these raiders were Tanukhs?"

"They were Tanukhs. I saw them and heard them speak. Enkidu recognized them as well."

Not Sumerians pretending to be tribesmen then.

"My thanks to you, Sargat." Eskkar reached out and touched the man's shoulder. "You've done well. Now get some rest." He nodded to the healer. "Take him downstairs and do whatever else you can for him. Tell the servants to put him in the guest chamber."

Eskkar strode across the room and into the Map Room. Bantor, Grond, Alexar and Gatus tramped after him, the floor flexing from their weight. Trella, Ismenne and Annok-sur came in together, and closed the door.

Standing over the map, Eskkar studied the land around the symbol that represented Adarnar. "Two or three hundred Tanukhs . . . that's a lot of men to slip across the border and travel so far east without being noticed, all to attack an insignificant outpost. They could have found plenty of farms to raid closer to home, on both sides of the Sippar."

"They could be halfway to Akkad by now," Gatus mused. "Or they could be on their way back to the desert."

"This doesn't make sense," Bantor said. "They would have had to cross over Larsa's territory. They must have been seen. We should have gotten word of their pa.s.sage."

Eskkar turned to Trella and Annok-sur.

"Nothing, my lord." Annok-sur's voice showed her concern. It was her task to gather information, in order to prevent such a thing. "I spoke with a trader yesterday who came from Larsa. He heard nothing out of the ordinary, only the steady preparations for war. Even to the people of Larsa, a band of Tanukhs would be noticed and talked about."

"Unless they crossed over further south." Eskkar traced the Sippar river with his finger. "It's longer, but Sumer could also have given them pa.s.sage through part of their lands. The Tanukhs could then ride north and strike anywhere they wanted."

More m.u.f.fled shouting came from the common room below, until one voice rose up over everything else.

"Lord Eskkar! I must speak with Lord Eskkar at once!"

They heard the heavy tread of footsteps on the stairs. Eskkar had just opened the Map Room door when a soldier pushed his way into the workroom. Eskkar recognized Daro, one of Yavtar's commanders.

"Daro? What's wrong?" The man looked almost as weary as Sargat. b.l.o.o.d.y bandages covered both his hands. "What happened to your hands?"

Daro lifted his hands as if seeing them for the first time. "From working the oar. We've been rowing upriver for almost two days." He shook his head. "The enemy has taken Kanesh. They've stopped all the traffic on the river. No boats are coming north."

Eskkar glanced at Gatus, then nodded to Trella. One attack might be just a raid, but two that meant hostilities had broken out. The same force that attacked Adarnar couldn't have reached Kanesh so quickly. Nor would Kanesh have fallen so easily, with its force of more than ninety defenders. Eskkar guided Daro back to the workroom table and gestured him to the same stool just vacated by Sargat.

"Sit down and tell me what happened. Take your time, and don't leave anything out."

When Daro finished his tale, Eskkar ordered him to see the healer and remain in the Compound. Now only the commanders remained, sitting around the table in the workroom.

"How can this have happened?" Gatus asked the question none of the others wanted to voice. "We expected to have days of warning, plenty of time to reinforce Kanesh."

They had argued over sending more soldiers to Kanesh, but in the end they decided it might provoke the conflict.

"I'm sorry, Gatus." Trella's voice showed her concern. "Our last reports one arrived only yesterday showed nothing unusual in Sumer or Larsa. The Sumerians showed no signs of moving to the attack, no increase in the number of men, no large-scale movement of supplies."

"And yet they took us by surprise, captured Adarnar, Kanesh, and who knows how many other outposts." Gatus clenched his fist and rapped it on the table. "All by using the Tanukhs against us. Now the way is clear for them to ravage all the countryside south and east of Akkad."

"How they did it doesn't matter now," Eskkar said. He felt the same anger as Gatus, but Trella had provided them with good and timely information for almost four years. "Somehow the Boy King of Sumer has struck the first blow. By now his infantry forces are on the move, marching at top speed toward Kanesh. They'll be there long before we can muster enough force to recapture the outpost."

"Once they've strengthened Kanesh," Bantor said, "they'll move north. They could be at Akkad in five or ten days. But they'll never be able to take the city."

"They'll come in force, and prepared for a long siege." Gatus shook his head in frustration. "We'll be trapped inside Akkad. With so many men, they could just starve us out, while they harvest our crops and herds in the countryside."

"We need more reports on what their strength is." Eskkar kept his voice calm. Even with his closest commanders, he didn't intend to show any fear or doubt. "We'll need strong troops of cavalry to range the countryside, learn how many men we face. Once Hathor arrives with all the hors.e.m.e.n and we can dispatch them on patrols, we'll know better what to do."

"We may learn more from our spies in the next few days." Annok-sur waited until all the bad news had sunk in. "And those fleeing the Tanukhs may be able to tell us more."

"Meanwhile, we should not let the city see how grave this situation is," Trella said. "If they see us looking worried . . ."

The commanders understood that problem. If the people living in and around Akkad saw doubts and fears on their leaders' faces, they'd flee the city, and the defenders would have even fewer resources to withstand Sumer's armies.

"We need to do more than that." Eskkar looked for a moment at each of his commanders. "We need to tell . . . no, show the people that we will not only strike back, but that we will defeat Sumer. We need to remind everyone in Akkad that the one who strikes the first blow may not be the one who strikes the last. In battle, anything can happen. Our first defense has been broken, but we've many more weapons we can bring to bear. The people need to know that we will not only avenge the loss of Kanesh, but punish Sumer and the other cities until they beg for peace. We need to show more than strength. We need our people to understand that we are determined to avenge our losses, and that we will win."

"The people already believe it," Trella said. "You saved Akkad once from certain destruction. If we show strength, then they will remember that above all else. You will protect Akkad."

"When I march our spearmen through the city's lanes," Gatus said, "the people will believe in our victory."

"And as Annok-sur says," Eskkar reminded them, "we'll know more in a few days. There is no real danger to Akkad yet, and we've enough time to prepare."

"Still, we're going to need a new plan," Gatus said.

Almost all of their tactics had relied on Kanesh withstanding any attacks, at least for a few days, until help could arrive or an orderly retreat set in motion. Now ninety good fighting men were dead or captured in Kanesh, and another thirty in Adarnar. Other outposts along the river had probably met the same fate. Akkad would be cut off from all information about the borderlands.

"Oh, yes," Eskkar answered, wondering if his face revealed his own doubts. "We will most certainly need a new plan."

At sunset, Eskkar and Trella dined alone in the workroom. Neither had much to say. She had set aside their usual evening meal, eaten outside in the courtyard and always with the company of one or two of Eskkar's commanders and their wives, or a few important tradesmen. Tonight they needed to be alone with their thoughts.

Eskkar had given all the necessary orders, and his commanders had taken over. Within the city three hundred archers readied themselves for a possible attack. Messengers galloped off to the north, announcing the arrival of war and summoning all the soldiers from the training camps.

Over the last few months, in preparation for the call to arms, Akkad's hors.e.m.e.n and spearmen had moved closer to the city, shifting in small groups from the northernmost camps to newer ones closer to Akkad. Only a few miles away, just across the Tigris, close to three hundred of Hathor's best-trained cavalry stood ready to ride at a moment's notice. And on the east bank of the river, less than three miles away, five hundred tough spearmen waited for Gatus's orders. The complete force of Akkad's army needed only a few more days to reach the city.

Other riders had ridden to the outlying farms and villages, warning them to seek protection within Akkad's high walls. In the next few days, grain, herd animals and other supplies would flood into the city, in preparation for a siege of long duration. Storage rooms would be filled to capacity with everything needed to withstand a siege. Akkad's leaders had prepared as best they could for exactly this event. In the coming days, weeks or months those preparations would be tested against swords and spears.

Eskkar ate without tasting, pushing the warm chicken into his mouth, washing it down with well-watered ale. He left untouched the plate of still warm vegetables that he usually enjoyed, especially when dipped in oil.

At last Eskkar pushed his plate away and lifted his eyes to find Trella's gaze on him.

"The barbarians are coming once again," Trella said. "It's almost as it was the night before the Alur Meriki attacked. We've done all we can to prepare. Now we have to fight to learn our fate."

"The Sumerians aren't barbarians."

"Yes, they are, husband. Of a different sort, but just as eager to destroy what we've built. It seems as if mankind is divided into two kinds of people: barbarians who want to take from others, and those of us who want to make something better for ourselves, our friends and our children. All the progress we've made in the last few years, it's all the work of a few good men working together. In a way, the Sumerians are even worse barbarians than the Alur Meriki. At least the steppe people know no other way. But Sumeria's rulers should know better. They should work for their own people. Instead they crave triumphs over their own kind and others. They create disaster everywhere. They must be stopped."

Eskkar accepted the gentle rebuke. Trella understood his concerns, his worries, his fear of failure. But she also wanted him to stand strong, and do what had to be done.

"Not stopped, Trella. They must be crushed, beaten down so hard that they never attempt this kind of war again. To give pa.s.sage to the Tanukhs, the enemy of their own kind . . . everyman's enemy, so that they can pillage our lands . . . you're right, they're worse than the Alur Meriki ever could be."

"You are the man to do it, Eskkar. There is no other in Akkad who can do what needs to be done."

"It will be a hard fight," he reminded her, though she as well as anyone understood the ways of war. "Many will die."

"If you do not win, everyone in Akkad may die. Remember that, Eskkar. Do what you must to make sure this doesn't happen again. Sargon and I will await your return."

Without realizing it, Trella had uttered much the same words that every mother in the Alur Meriki and other barbarian clans spoke when they bid their husbands and sons a final message before departing for war return victorious over your enemies, or die bravely. Only by victory could the women and children left behind be truly safe.

Eskkar reached out and touched her hand. "Then I'll return with a victory, wife."

40.

Five days later the Tanukhs continued raiding the southern countryside, but they had not moved as far north as Eskkar expected. Instead they remained close to Kanesh and the Sippar. Hundreds of farmers and villagers had fled the desert hors.e.m.e.n's advance, running in fear to Akkad, some continuing on to even more distant villages. Most of the land between the city and Kanesh lay empty. There would be no harvest this season, and crops not burned by Tanukhs would wither in the fields. Only mounted scouts from both sides now ranged the empty land, each probing the other's strength and gathering what information they could.

As Eskkar predicted, the same day the Tanukhs attacked Kanesh, the Sumerians summoned their men, gathered their forces, and moved northward. Shulgi's vast army of soldiers traveled slowly, carrying a mountain of food with them, and making sure their supply lines remained intact. To everyone's surprise, they halted when they reached Kanesh, and soon word reached the Akkadians that Shulgi had begun strengthening the village's defenses.

With the war now openly proclaimed, Trella's spies and informers had gleaned the basic thrust of Shulgi's plan. He intended to march to Akkad north along the Tigris, but he also planned to establish half a dozen fortified outposts along the way. If that required twenty or thirty days, or even longer, it didn't matter. Shulgi intended to ensure that supplies from the south could continue to reach his ma.s.sive force. If attacked by Akkad's army, the Sumerians could simply fall back to the nearest outpost and regroup before resuming their northward trek.

Trella had even learned the planned location of the last outpost, a mere four miles from Akkad. From there, Shulgi's men would encircle the city. Crowded with people, the city would have to surrender in a few months when the food ran out.

Eskkar spent half the morning with his commanders discussing the latest reports, though they added little to what he already knew. When he had heard all the evil tidings he could stomach, he dismissed his men. Now only he and Trella remained in the Map Room, except for Ismenne. Eskkar wanted her there, in case anything in the map's terrain affected his plan.

He closed the door. "I've decided on a way to defeat Shulgi's forces. Before I tell Gatus and the others, I wanted to share it with you both. I need to know if it can work."

Ismenne's eyes darted back and forth, but Trella merely looked curious. She knew Eskkar had spent most of the night alone in the Map Room. "Whatever way we can help, husband."

He put his hand on the map beside the city of Akkad. Step by step, he went through what he wanted to do, what he would need at each step of the way, and how he expected the Sumerians to react. When Eskkar finished, he stood at the foot of the table and his hand rested on the city of Sumer.

Ismenne's eyes were wide with astonishment. Trella merely nodded. "A dangerous plan, Eskkar, but what else would I expect from you? Come, Ismenne, let us see what we can do to help Eskkar. We must think of everything that may go wrong as well, and at every stage."

They returned to the head of the table, and started there. One by one Eskkar worked through Trella's suggestions and objections until they again reached the end of the table. At last Eskkar felt satisfied with what he would propose to his commanders.

"It's the only way to win," he said.

"Better to risk much to win everything," Trella said. "The danger is great, but no worse than staying here. It's the only way to end this war."

"And the map," he added. "The plan could not be done without it."

"Speed will be your only ally."

"Then it's time to tell Gatus and the others. My thanks to you, Ismenne."

With the decision came a certain peace of mind. The last few days had taxed even his strength. Tonight, Eskkar knew he would sleep well for the first time since word of the fall of Kanesh reached Akkad.

He left the Map Room and descended to the courtyard. The sun had pa.s.sed mid-afternoon. Eskkar hadn't realized how much time he'd spent talking to Trella. He found Grond waiting for him, feet up on the table, dozing in the shade of the house. His bodyguard had learned to sleep when and where he could.

"Wake up, Grond. Dispatch runners to the commanders. Tell them I want them all here tonight for a meeting in the Map Room. Then get your sword. I need to feel the weight of a blade in my hand."

"Yes, Captain." Grond's feet hit the ground, and a broad smile covered his face. "It's about time we got down to business."

Eskkar spent the remainder of the afternoon practicing his swordplay against Grond, first with wooden swords, then beating two training poles into splinters with his bronze blade. When they had finished, Eskkar felt satisfied and glad to have accomplished something, if only a good sword-practice session. He washed up at the well and returned to the workroom, just as the commanders began to arrive.

All of the senior men were there: Gatus, Yavtar, Bantor, Hathor, Mitrac, Klexor, Drakis, Alexar and even Shappa, the commander of the slingers. Hathor had arrived two days ago, with the last of the cavalry. The remaining spearmen and archers had reached Akkad only that morning. Yavtar's boats and fighting crews waited at Rebba's farm, trying to stay out of sight of Shulgi's spies.

Trella, Annok-sur and Ismenne completed the group. Ismenne closed the door when the last man filed through. They took their positions behind the map. They knew what faced them. The decisions they would make this day would seal the fate of Akkad, for good or evil.

"They're digging in at Kanesh." Gatus started the session, rapping one of the wooden pointer's on the table for emphasis. "The last of Shulgi's infantry arrived, along with a huge supply caravan. A few more days' work fortifying Kanesh, and we'll never retake it. It will be a secure base for all of Shulgi's forces."