Ironhelm - Douglas Niles [38]
"I'd like to walk down the beach. Will you come with me?"
Never had Hal felt so masculine, so romantic. Neither had he ever felt so shackled, nor so frustrated by the responsibilities of soldierhood.
"I'd-I'd like to," he groaned miserably. "But I have to stand guard here at the-What's that?" He squinted at the brush as he saw a large figure moving there. Martine, rebuffed, turned away and then froze as her eyes settled upon the jungle.
Corporal barked a gruff warning, and several other greyhounds joined in. All eyes turned toward the jungle as the hesitant figures came into view.
The creatures emerging from the jungle were humans, perhaps two dozen in number. They had thick black hair and skin of a deep, slightly coppery brown. They were naked but for tattered loincloths, and carried nothing resembling weapons. Several carried large gourds or bundles wrapped in leaves.
Halloran stepped in front of Martine, his sword in his hand. However, he saw no threat in the appearance of these people. He sensed that they came in peace, but he would remain vigilant.
"What pathetic savages!" said Martine softly. Halloran had to agree with her assessment.
Cordell had expected the spice lords of the Orient to greet them. Thus the captain-general, too, was sorely disappointed at seeing these primitive people. The first encounter with Kara-Tur was not proving auspicious.
One native, taller than the others but still a full head shorter than Cordell, advanced toward the party on the beach. The general watched him, not concealing the disappointment on his face. Finally he and Darien stepped forward to meet him. The jungle dweller bowed, and Cordell calmly acknowledged the gesture. The native suddenly jabbered something in an unintelligible tongue.
Then Darien stepped forward, quietly speaking a quick enchantment. She spoke to the chieftain in the same language, and the man immediately started talking to her, gesturing around them, often pointing to the vessels anchored offshore.
Several of the other natives, all of whom were male, moved closer to Halloran and Martine. The pair looked curiously at their flat faces and broad noses. Each of the men had a sharp stick driven crossways through his nose, extending several inches to the right and left of his face.
One stepped hesitantly toward Halloran, Martine, and several other legionnaires nearby. He bowed deeply and often before extending the gourd in his hand toward them.
Hal took it, feeling the liquid swish inside of it. Another tentatively extended a bundle of leaves, and they saw that it contained an assortment of lush fruits.
And then Hal's attention fell on the man's necklace, and his heart pounded with excitement. He felt Marline gasp beside him, thrilled to the touch of her hand as she took his arm.
"They look so poor, so miserable," Halloran whispered.
"But they're not, are they?" Marline's voice was also hushed as they both observed the band of natives. "I think the expedition is a success."
Suspended from the necklace of this native, and also several others nearby, swung a crude ornament of pure, heavy gold.
Erix awakened with a pounding headache, and for a long time, she could not remember where she was or how she had come to be there. She remembered that something was wrong, but what had happened?
Darkness surrounded her, and the air smelled of masonry. The stone floor had no reed mat nor straw pallet, accustomed amenities for even the lowliest of slaves. Erix couldn't tell whether it was day or night.
She remembered more, but her mind seemed to go backward. She pictured her family's cottage in Palul; she saw her father's face. With a gasp, she reached for her neck, then sighed with relief as she found her feather token still suspended there, her only remaining link to that distant era.
The picture of a Jaguar Knight snatching her from Palul came into her mind, and then she remembered