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10 Tribesmen of Gor
The lieutenant to the captain, high officer of the escort, came to my tent. It had
been he who had suspected me of being a Kavar spy, who had urged the killing of
me. We bore one another little good will. His name was Hamid. The name of the
captain was Shakar.
He looked about himself, furtively, then sat himself in the tent, unbidden, on my
mats. I did not wish to kill him.
You carry stones, which you wish to sell to Suleiman, high Pasha of the Aretai,
had said the lieutenant.
Yes, I had said.
He had seemed anxious. Give them to me, he said. I will carry them to
Suleiman. He will not see you. I will give you, from him, what they bring in
pressed date bricks.
I think not, I said.
His eyes narrowed. His swarthy face darkened.
Go, he said to Alyena. I had not yet hobbled her.
She looked at me. Go, I said.
I do not wish to speak before the slave, he said.
I understand, I said. Only too well did I understand. Did he find it essential to
slay me he would do well not to perform this deed before a witness, be it only a
slave.
He smiled. There are Kavars about, he said, many of them.
To be sure, I had seen, from time to time, over the past few days, riders, in small
groups, scouting us.
When the guards or the men of our escort rode toward them, they faded away into
the hills.
In the vicinity, said Hamid, though do not speak this about, there is a party of
Kavars, in number between three and four hundred.
Raiders? I asked.
Kavars. he said. Tribesmen. And men of their vassal tribe, the Ta Kara. He
looked at me closely. There may soon be war, he said. Caravans will be few.
Merchants will not care to risk their goods. It is their intention that Suleiman not
receive these goods. It is their intention to divert them, or most of them, to the
Oasis of the Stones of Silver. This was an oasis of the Char, also a vassal tribe of
the Kavars. Its name had been given to it centuries before, when thirsty men, who
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10 Tribesmen of Gor
had moved at night on the desert, had come upon it, discovering it. Dew had
formed on the large flat stones thereabout and, in the light of the dawn, had made
them, from a distance, seem to glint like silver. Dew, incidentally, is quite
common in the Tahari, condensing on the stones during the chilly nights. It burns
off, of course, almost immediately in the morning. Nomads sometime dig stones
before dawn, clean them, set them out, and, later, lick the moisture from them.
One cannot pay the water debt, of course, with the spoonful or so of moisture
obtainable in this way. It does, however, wet the lips and tongue.
If there are so many Kavars about, I said, and Ta Kara, you do not have
enough men to defend this caravan. Indeed, in such a situation, militarily, so
small an escort as a hundred men would seem rather to invite attack.
Hamid, lieutenant to Shakar, captain of the Aretai, did not respond to my remark.
Rather he said, Give me the stones. I will keep them safe for you. If you do not
give them to me, you may lose them to Kavars. I will see Suleiman for you. He
will not see you. I will bargain for you. I will get you a good price in date bricks
for them.
I will see Suleiman myself, I said. I will bargain for myself.
Kavar spy! he hissed.
I did not speak.
Give me the stones, he said.
No, I said.
It is your intention. he said, to gain access to the presence of Suleiman, and
then assassinate him!
That seems an ill-devised strategem to obtain a good price in date bricks, I said.
You have drawn your dagger, I observed.
He lunged for me but I was no longer there. I moved to my feet, and kicking loose
the pole which held the tent, slipped outside, drawing my scimitar. He! I cried.
Burglar! A burglar!
Men came running. Among them came Shakar, captain of the Aretai, blade drawn,
and several of his men. Drovers, slaves, crowded about. Inside the fallen tent,
struggling was a figure. Then the tent, as men held torches, at a sign from Shakar,
was thrown back.
Why, cried I in amazement, it is the noble Hamid. For give me, Noble Sir. I
mistook you for a burglar!
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10 Tribesmen of Gor
Grumbling, brushing sand from his robes, Hamid climbed to his feet.
It was clumsy to let a tent fall on you, said Shakar. He sheathed his scimitar.
I tripped. said Hamid. He did not look pleased as, following his captain, looking
back, he disappeared in the darkness.
Set the tent aright, I told Alyena, who was looking up at me, frightened.
Yes, Master, she said.
I then went to find Farouk. There was little point in his losing men.
We did not have to wait long for the attack of the Kavars. It occurred shortly after
the tenth hour, the Gorean noon, the following day.
Not much to my surprise the men of the escort of Aretai rushed forth to do battle,
but, seeing the numbers of their enemy, which indeed seemed considerable,
sweeping down from the hills, wheeled their kaiila and, abandoning the caravan,
rode rapidly away.
Do not offer resistance! cried Farouk to his guards, riding the length of the
caravan. Do not fight! Do not resist!
In a few moments the Kavars, howling, lances high, burnooses swirling, were
among us.
The guards of Farouk, following his example, dropped their bucklers to the dust,
thrust their lances, butt down, in the earth, took out their scimitars and, flinging
them blade downward from the saddle, hurled them into the ground, disarming
themselves.
Slave girls screamed.
With lances the Kavars gestured that the men dismount. They did so. They were
herded together. Kavars rode down the caravan line, ordering drovers to hurry
their animals into lines.
With their scimitars, they slashed certain of the bags and crates on the kaiila,
determining their contents.
One Kavar warrior, with the point of his lance, drew a line in the graveled dust.
Strip your women, he called. Put them on this line. Women were hurried to
the line. Some of them were stripped by the scimitar. I saw Alyena pulled by the
arm from her kurdah and thrown to the gravel. As she knelt on her hands and
knees in the gravel, looking up, terrified, a warrior, behind her, on kaiila, thrust the
tip of his lance beneath her veil, between the side of her head and the tiny golden
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