Quest for Honour Read Online Free PDF

Maybe we should set a trap tonight for one or two of them. We’d have them by morning. We’d soon find out what they know.”
    “Even that might not tell us how many men we’re facing, or what their leader’s plans are,” Drakis said. He commanded twenty archers. “There could be hundreds of soldiers just waiting for us to come within their reach. We move toward them, they fall back, and somehow increase their strength.”
    “I agree with Drakis. There must be a large force of archers or soldiers somewhere nearby.” Alexar commanded all of Eskkar’s archers. “Otherwise, the tactics of these men make no sense. Why else would they linger near our force, when they could just ride away?”
    Eskkar turned to Grond, his bodyguard. “And what do you think?”
    “I think they’re luring us into a trap,” Grond answered without hesitation. A large man, even broader than Eskkar, he’d been a slave in the western desert before reaching Akkad. “Somewhere up ahead, where the ground is favorable for them, they’ll turn on us and attack. We’ve little more than a hundred men. If they strike hard enough and with enough men, we’ll be overwhelmed. You need to find a way to get close to them, and soon.”
    All eyes went to Hathor, the last to speak. A few years older than Eskkar’s thirty-two seasons, he was the oldest of Eskkar’s leaders. While all the commanders recognized Hathor’s ability, many of the men and inhabitants of Akkad remembered the past. The sole survivor of the band of despised Egyptians who had seized power in Akkad, Hathor had fought against Akkad’s forces. He’d escaped death first by chance, and then by Lady Trella’s intervention.
    “Their horsemen,” Hathor said, “outnumber ours at least two to one. They’re well-armed and mounted on animals as good as our own. Not what you’d expect bandits or raiders to be riding. If we have to engage a force twice our size without support from the archers, it could get very bloody.”
    Eskkar started to speak, but Hathor wasn’t finished.
    “If we had enough men,” he said, meeting Eskkar’s gaze, “it wouldn’t matter where we fought them. But our enemies have counted our soldiers, and still they remain close by, readying themselves for the battle. So they don’t fear either our numbers or our weapons. If we’re outnumbered, it would be foolish to fight them at a time and place of their choosing. That is the one advantage a smaller force cannot yield. Without a good plan ofour own, I say we should retreat, march north toward Akkad for a few days, and send for more men and supplies.”
    All the other commanders dropped their eyes. No one wanted to propose an embarrassing retreat, and only someone with Hathor’s experience and proven valor had the strength to make such a suggestion.
    Eskkar grunted. “First, let’s make it clear that these men are soldiers under good discipline. That means they’re probably ready for whatever we do, and they won’t be afraid to face us in battle. If we retreat, they won’t just let us go. They’ll nip at our heels all the way back to Akkad if we let them, attacking us at every opportunity. By the time we gather enough men to confront them, the countryside will be ravaged beyond repair, and a whole growing season lost. But Hathor is right. We must not fight on their terms. We must select the time and place of battle, and use it to crush them.”
    “And how will we accomplish that trick?” Grond asked.
    “We must do what they don’t expect,” Eskkar said. “They’ve made their plans, and they’re waiting for us to advance or retreat. Instead, we must devise something different. The first thing I want to do is stop moving south. Our men are tired from eight days of marching. They need a rest anyway, if they are to fight well. So we’ll stay right where we are tonight and all day tomorrow. The next day, we’ll begin marching back north, and at a good pace, as if we’re afraid to remain this far