CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN

Winter set in over the broad valley of the Ix, bringing snow and sleet in icy blasts from the distant mountains, and adding, at the end of each day's march, the twin imperatives of warmth and shelter to that of food. When, as inevitably happened, Chaldez was occasionally unable to provide them, his miniature army was rivven with discontents. Feldak and his coterie, always the first to grumble, the loudest to complain, made sure no one forgot that Chaldez was responsible.
The five of them were sitting huddled around a thin little fire after a day's march which had been made miserable by hunger and cold when they became aware of other people standing near them. Feldak raised his voice so that the newcomers could catch his words, and he was still speaking when one of them moved behind him and tapped his shoulder. He turned and found himself looking up at Dan.
Dan was with Tsem, Rassi, and Zikir; none of them spoke Laifyan but they knew well enough what Feldak was talking about; all day he had been declaiming loudly against the short-comings of the commander, sewing resentment like thistles.
In broken Laifyan, Dan ordered Feldak to stand up. Feldak got to his feet, stepped back and drew his sword, but he was too slow; Dan, his sword drawn already, struck it with such force that he dropped it. Feldak then had to watch helplessly as his four companions, now trying to stand up, were sent sprawling by the Seians. One of them, after rolling away from the fire, did get to his feet. He draw his sword, but before he could use it he had doubled up and was staggering into the darkness, groaning. His body hit the ground with a thud, and Zikir, oldest of the Seians, held up his sword exultantly and shouted "Death to the traitors!"
Dan, who had seen his sweeping blade slash open the Laifyan, called out "Enough!"
The figures were frozen as in a tableau. Feldak was the first to move. He stepped farther back from Dan, and shouted "Zakarrah will hear of this!" Then he turned and strode away. Dan and the three Seians went too, leaving the others to find their dying comrade.
Chaldez listened to Feldak, pretending not to be surprised by what he heard, and then he rounded on him for trying to undermine the army's confidence in him. "I never saw a military force that was so close to losing heart as ours is, and for that I hold you responsible. Do you think I am so stupid that I don't know what you are up to? I know treachery when I see it, and I know how to deal with. My brother was acting on my orders," he lied. "If blood has been spilt, you and you alone are to blame."
"Your crimes will find you out," Feldak returned bitterly. "Half of this 'military force' you speak of was mine. It did not lose heart until you stole it from me."
A wave of anger swept over Chaldez. His hand went to the hilt of his sword. "A thief, am I?" he shouted. "I can do without your fat Laifyans." Then he called for Dan to be brought to him, and while he waited he spoke again to Feldak. "The Seians and I will leave you in the morning. You can fend for yourselves."
Feldak was delighted, but during the course of the night word spread among his countrymen that he and Chaldez had quarrelled and that Chaldez intended to abandon them. Sometime before dawn Chaldez was woken by a small deputation. Their spokesman said that they represented the Laifyans who wished to remain under his command.
"Be ready to leave when I am," he said, "and you can come with us."
Feldak, his early-morning sleep disturbed by the activity and noise as people all around him prepared to leave, was soon up and trying to prevent the desertions, but his authority was dust, destroyed by his own ill-judged and petty actions. Chaldez had the bearing and authority of a real commander, and few Laifyans were prepared to entrust their lives to Feldak.
When he saw how things were going, he went to Chaldez. He called him "Zakarrah," and said he regretted his behaviour. "We must stay together," he said. "We have both sworn to rid my homeland of the barbarians; that much we have in common. I would like to ride with you again, but first, may I bury my comrade?"
Chaldez shrugged. "Of course," he said, "but you'll have to catch us up."
Feldak caused no more trouble during the march, but he never forgot his grudge. One day, he promised himself, he would take his revenge for his humiliations.

* * * *
Chaldez did not enjoy his triumph; the killing of Feldak's companion, despite its welcome effect, had upset him. Bloodshed, except in battle, revolted him. He had never forgotten Fyre, slain by the potter, and besides, the god whom he revered hated destruction in all its forms. Arwarnhi, god of the forests, eschewed live sacrifice; he breathed life, not death. All living things were his votaries, so Chaldez believed. In fact no one had instructed him in the mysteries of the god; he had never met a priest of Arwarnhi, and the only time he had heard his name mentioned was when he had been a small boy living in Eujinni. Nearly all of what he knew, therefore, had been revealed by the god himself, either in dreams or sudden moments of inspiration which had occurred intermittently over the years. Chaldez had started to share the revelations with Tsem.
Tsem was among a group of scouts who, having gone ahead to check the safety of the way ahead, failed to return. Chaldez was agitated, and he blamed Dan for sending his friend on a dangerous mission. Dan said "The man's a soldier - it's a dangerous life. You know that."
Chaldez did, but he still blamed Dan.
That night the army was on alert, which meant that while half the number slept the remainder stayed awake, turn and turn about. The night passed without any alarms, and the next day Chaldez decided to stay where he was. "It is my belief," he told Dan, "that our scouts have been taken by the army we are looking for. We must be close now. I don't intend doing anything that might be misunderstood."
During the course of the morning one of the scouts returned, and he confirmed what Chaldez suspected. "I am to take you to their encampment," he said. "We are to go alone."
Chaldez and he rode out, and before long were joined by a troop of some 20 mounted men, who formed an escort.
The army, as he had thought, was quite close. Its encampment covered a low hill, and he estimated its strength at some 10,000.
He was conducted to a sort of tented palace, consisting of pavilions and marquees adjoining one another. A crowd was standing outside a canopied entrance, and a man, whom he took to be an officer, stepped forward as he approached and ordered him to dismount. He spoke Sairish.
The words reminded Chaldez of Pau, the minstrel, and forgetting that he was not supposed to able to speak Sairish, he unthinkingly obeyed.
The same officer conducted him into what passed for an antechamber. It was gloomy, and very crowded. They had to push their way through, and Chaldez got the impression that his arrival had gone completely unnoticed. The farther end was partitioned off by heavy drapes, and where they had been divided to form a narrow entrance there stood two fully armed guards. The officer turned and said they were to wait, and presently a thin figure with long straggly grey hair and a straggly beard appeared in the entrance between the guards. His face was remarkable for being so thin and bony, and he wore a long unbelted garment which marked him out as a civilian. He called out a name in an incongruously deep, resonant voice, and while he waited for his summons to be answered, the officer who was with Chaldez spoke to him briefly. He glanced at Chaldez, turning on him a pair of piercing, deep-set eyes, and then returned to the inner sanctum. While he was gone, the man whom he had summoned bustled up through the throng, but he was made to wait while Chaldez was ushered through.
There were just a handful of people on the other side of the curtained partition, and standing slightly apart was the unmistakable figure of their commander. He looked up as Chaldez approached.
"I am Sigmar," he said. "Who are you?"