Read Online Tyrant: Destroyer of Cities by Christian Cameron - Free Book Online Page B

valleys. And we did too little.’
    ‘That is not the way my people tell the tale,’ Thyrsis said. ‘Among Ataelus’ people, we say that we fought, and no one came to our aid.’
    Tuarn refused to be offended. ‘Young man, is that any different from what I just said? I did not mean that some of the Assagetae didn’t fight. I mean we didn’t act together. And later, we paid.’
    ‘Of course, some of us paid more dearly than others,’ Listra said. She was standing with Parshevaelt and Sindispharnax – all three veterans of campaigns with Melitta. The positions in which they were standing – closer to Scopasis, her bodyguard – said a great deal.
    ‘And some of you profited a great deal more than some of us,’ old Kontarus added.
    ‘Those who fought were rewarded.’ Melitta was tired of this foolishness. ‘Those who did not fight were not so rewarded. That is the way of the people.’
    Saida shrugged. ‘Perhaps it is time we found our own way,’ she said.
    ‘That is a discussion for another time,’ Melitta said. She schooled her face carefully. ‘Or not. If you decided to ride the Sea of Grass, none of us could stop you, or would. It is the right of any of the people – to ride away. In the meantime, let us keep to the issue at hand.’
    Scopasis nodded. ‘I agree with the lord of the Hungry Crows,’ he said.
    Melitta glared at him. He was a former outlaw and the captain of her knights, not one of her lords. But among Sakje, a warrior included in a council always felt he had the right to speak, and she was in danger of thinking like a Greek.
    Thyrsis laughed. ‘At last we find something on which to agree, outlaw!’ he said.
    ‘Arrows on the wind,’ agreed Scopasis. The Sakje had a saying: if you shot a hundred arrows into the wind, at least two would fly together.
    Listra looked around. ‘We have had too much war,’ she said.
    Every one of the clan leaders nodded at that. The population of the Sakje – even with the addition of new people from the east – was down. In three generations they had fought four great campaigns, and the results were obvious in every camp.
    ‘We don’t even know who these people are,’ Melitta said. ‘I have a mind to go myself. To see them.’
    That shocked them, but Melitta saw something on Saida’s face that she didn’t like. She glanced at the red-haired woman, but her face had closed again, and Melitta went on:
    ‘My thought is to ask every clan for fifty warriors – your best, with five horses each. Together, we would ride east, as quickly as the wind blows in the grass, and find these Parni. To talk – or to kill.’
    ‘No.’ Saida shook her head. ‘No. The Silent Wolves will send no warriors.’
    ‘No,’ Thyrsis said, mocking her voice. ‘The Silent Wolves are a clan of children, and have no warriors to send. We never do—’
    ‘Thyrsis!’ Melitta said, though in truth she appreciated his comment.
    Saida stared at the other horse lords. ‘Pah. War and more war – that’s all this one wants. We will be out on the grass.’ She turned to leave, but Scopasis had caught Melitta’s glance and he blocked the entrance of the tent.
    ‘You have not been dismissed,’ Melitta said. ‘Saida, you seem to crave my ill will. Listen, then. We have not yet chosen a path. Every leader – aye, and every tanist – can speak her mind in council. But if we choose to send riders, and you refuse – then you may indeed go to the Sea of Grass. And don’t come back. Please understand: that will mean you will have no share of the grain and gold that the Dirt People earn for us, and you will hold no land from the Assagetae. You can go north, or east, and fight for grazing as our people did in the old times. Is that plain?’
    Saida looked at Kontarus, and he shook his head. ‘As if you would – or could – push us off our lands.’
    Melitta was suddenly tired; tired of their childishness. This was an old and insular man who was speaking from ignorance because