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Authors: Stephen Baxter
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aren’t just Rus out there.’
‘Who, then?’
‘Scand.’
Another gasp of dismay.
‘While he was begging for his life, he said it wasn’t his fault.’
‘What isn’t?’ Himuili snapped.
‘Their emigration.’
‘You mean their invasion. The assault they’re mounting.’
‘No, sir. Emigration is the word he used. His Hatti was quite good. Well, it’s no surprise. He said he’s served in the armies of My Sun, a mercenary regiment. He said, emigration, ’ Zida repeated. ‘And he said they’ve been driven to it by the drought and now the ice in their own lands, and by the wave of Scand that came down from their
distant lands further north yet. The Scand sacked Kiev, it seems, before they all came to an arrangement.’
Himuili grunted. ‘That’s nice. An arrangement to attack us.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Arnuwanda paced, fists clenched, the muscles in his bare arms bulging. ‘The Rus! Do you know any history, good Himuili?’
‘Not as much as I should, sir,’ the general said drily.
‘Throughout its existence the empire of the Hatti has been besieged by enemies, within and without. Well, we fought off the Kaskans and the Arzawans, and the Greeks and the Persians and
the Carthaginians and the Arabs and the Mongols, and we’re holding off the Turks – but now this! The Rus have been our allies. We gave them our god, they rejected Thor and Odin for
Jesus! And now they turn on us.’
Zida, eyes cast down respectfully, said, ‘But they’re starving, sir. And freezing. This fellow told me about his own family, before he died.’
Angulli laughed. ‘He must have taken a long time dying, soldier!’ said the Brother of Jesus.
‘That he did, sir. This isn’t an army; it’s a people on the move. They have made up their minds to come south – to come here, for there’s nowhere else for
them to go. So they came down their rivers where their traders have sailed for centuries, and crossed the Asian Sea to our shores. Their Khagan is with them, and just now he is preparing to lay
siege to our port of Byzantos.’
Arnuwanda grunted. ‘Which will cut our trade routes to the Asian Sea and the continent beyond, not that they aren’t withered already.’
‘Sir, I think—’
And at that moment the assassins struck.
Two ordinary-looking supplicants broke from the head of the line, pushed past guards who had been watching Zida rather than attending their duty, threw back their hoods to reveal shocks of red
hair, and opened their cloaks to reveal single-bladed battleaxes. And they fell on the King.
Kassu saw it. Saw the first strike lay open the King’s chest, splaying ribs wide. Saw Hattusili the Sixteenth, still alive, looking down shocked at his own beating heart, his spilling
organs, which looked like any other man’s, Kassu thought, battlefield memories flooding back.
Then the guards were on them, led by Himuili himself, then Zida, and there was a brutal struggle. Arnuwanda went to the aid of his uncle. Kassu would have followed, but an officer snapped an
order for him to stay back and help round up the other supplicants, in case there were any more Rus assassins among them.
So it was that Kassu saw his wife in the churning crowd. Saw her, terrified, folded in the arms of the young priest beside her. And saw Palla lift her face and kiss her full on the lips, before
wrapping his arms around her and leading her away.
12
It took until the equinox for Pyxeas to make the arrangements for his epic journey to far Cathay – and, Avatak suspected, to allow his old body to recover from the sea
journey from Coldland only months before.
The family, led by Pyxeas’ niece Rina, were opposed to him going at all, and they pressured a doctor, a family friend called Ontin, to tell him he wasn’t strong enough. But Ontin was
about as old as Pyxeas, and Avatak thought he secretly envied Pyxeas’ boldness, and he would not stand in the way. After that, Rina, with very
‘Who, then?’
‘Scand.’
Another gasp of dismay.
‘While he was begging for his life, he said it wasn’t his fault.’
‘What isn’t?’ Himuili snapped.
‘Their emigration.’
‘You mean their invasion. The assault they’re mounting.’
‘No, sir. Emigration is the word he used. His Hatti was quite good. Well, it’s no surprise. He said he’s served in the armies of My Sun, a mercenary regiment. He said, emigration, ’ Zida repeated. ‘And he said they’ve been driven to it by the drought and now the ice in their own lands, and by the wave of Scand that came down from their
distant lands further north yet. The Scand sacked Kiev, it seems, before they all came to an arrangement.’
Himuili grunted. ‘That’s nice. An arrangement to attack us.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Arnuwanda paced, fists clenched, the muscles in his bare arms bulging. ‘The Rus! Do you know any history, good Himuili?’
‘Not as much as I should, sir,’ the general said drily.
‘Throughout its existence the empire of the Hatti has been besieged by enemies, within and without. Well, we fought off the Kaskans and the Arzawans, and the Greeks and the Persians and
the Carthaginians and the Arabs and the Mongols, and we’re holding off the Turks – but now this! The Rus have been our allies. We gave them our god, they rejected Thor and Odin for
Jesus! And now they turn on us.’
Zida, eyes cast down respectfully, said, ‘But they’re starving, sir. And freezing. This fellow told me about his own family, before he died.’
Angulli laughed. ‘He must have taken a long time dying, soldier!’ said the Brother of Jesus.
‘That he did, sir. This isn’t an army; it’s a people on the move. They have made up their minds to come south – to come here, for there’s nowhere else for
them to go. So they came down their rivers where their traders have sailed for centuries, and crossed the Asian Sea to our shores. Their Khagan is with them, and just now he is preparing to lay
siege to our port of Byzantos.’
Arnuwanda grunted. ‘Which will cut our trade routes to the Asian Sea and the continent beyond, not that they aren’t withered already.’
‘Sir, I think—’
And at that moment the assassins struck.
Two ordinary-looking supplicants broke from the head of the line, pushed past guards who had been watching Zida rather than attending their duty, threw back their hoods to reveal shocks of red
hair, and opened their cloaks to reveal single-bladed battleaxes. And they fell on the King.
Kassu saw it. Saw the first strike lay open the King’s chest, splaying ribs wide. Saw Hattusili the Sixteenth, still alive, looking down shocked at his own beating heart, his spilling
organs, which looked like any other man’s, Kassu thought, battlefield memories flooding back.
Then the guards were on them, led by Himuili himself, then Zida, and there was a brutal struggle. Arnuwanda went to the aid of his uncle. Kassu would have followed, but an officer snapped an
order for him to stay back and help round up the other supplicants, in case there were any more Rus assassins among them.
So it was that Kassu saw his wife in the churning crowd. Saw her, terrified, folded in the arms of the young priest beside her. And saw Palla lift her face and kiss her full on the lips, before
wrapping his arms around her and leading her away.
12
It took until the equinox for Pyxeas to make the arrangements for his epic journey to far Cathay – and, Avatak suspected, to allow his old body to recover from the sea
journey from Coldland only months before.
The family, led by Pyxeas’ niece Rina, were opposed to him going at all, and they pressured a doctor, a family friend called Ontin, to tell him he wasn’t strong enough. But Ontin was
about as old as Pyxeas, and Avatak thought he secretly envied Pyxeas’ boldness, and he would not stand in the way. After that, Rina, with very
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