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.“After that, you’ll pay us the same every ten days, or you’ll find someone has pulled the inn down on your heads.”From their private chamber, En-hedu took a step into the common room.The three men’s heads turned to give her a brief glance, but she stood there speechless, her hands crossed above her breasts.The gesture allowed her right hand to slip inside her dress and reach the haft of her knife.Tammuz had expected something like this, though not on their second day.He took two steps back and to the side, so that En-hedu would be almost behind the three men.“Why should I pay you anything?”The one with the knife stepped forward.“Because if you don’t, you’ll wish you were back on –”But Tammuz used the backward steps only to draw the man forward.Now his foot lashed out with all his strength, striking right between the man’s legs with a swiftness that caught all three by surprise.With a howl of pain, the leader clutched his groin.By that time Enhedu had slipped up behind the two henchmen, snatching the knife from beneath her dress as she moved.With muscles as strong as any young man’s, she struck downward with the weapon’s hilt on the back of the nearest thug’s head.He dropped like a sack of grain, caught unaware by the unexpected attack from behind.The third man, still watching open-mouthed as his leader crumpled to the ground, reacted slowly.First he fumbled for his knife, then turned toward En-hedu as his companion collapsed on the floor, but by that time Tammuz, who had never stopped moving, closed the gap between them.Before the rogue could draw his weapon or even decide what to do, Tammuz had his own blade out, and he smashed the hilt into the man’s face.The thug stumbled backward, tripped over a stool, and crashed into a table before sliding onto to the floor.Meanwhile, En-hedu slipped behind the leader, hunched over in pain from Tammuz’s kick, and struck again.This time the butt of her knife landed on the side of his head, and he lolled on the dirt floor of the tavern, too stunned even to groan in his pain.The encounter had taken only moments, but Tammuz found himself breathing heavily from the brush with danger.“Better fetch the watch, before someone else sends for them,” he said, a grim expression on his face.“I’ll see what they’re carrying.”“I hope none of them are dead.” She reached out and touched Tammuz’s arm for a moment, her eyes still wide with excitement.For the second time in their young lives, they had fought together.“They’re breathing,” he said, glancing at the leader to make sure.His wife had struck with all her strength.The last thing Tammuz needed was a dead body on their hands.No matter what the reason or excuse, it would bring down too much trouble on their heads.Newcomers such as themselves couldn’t risk offending anyone, not until they were well established and known.But a few bloody heads meant nothing, he hoped, at least not to Sumer’s guards.While En-hedu darted out to find the city’s watch, Tammuz went through the men’s things.Two of them had nothing of value, except for their knives.He tossed those into the darkest corner of the inn.He might be able to sell them for a few coins later.The leader’s purse held nine copper coins, a respectable amount for even an honest man.Tammuz collected his knife, too, and pitched it after the others.By then the leader had begun to recover.He groaned, and attempted to sit up, but slumped back to the floor, too dazed to move or grasp what had happened.Tammuz slid his knife back into its sheath.He grasped the man’s right hand, placing his thumb on the back of the hand, and his fingers on the palm, just as Hathor had shown him.A quick twist, and the man’s wrist snapped.That brought another gasp of pain, but by then Tammuz had his knee on the man’s chest.He drew his knife again, and placed the point against the rogue’s throat.“Move and you die,” Tammuz said.Not that he intended to kill the man, but the thief wouldn’t know that.Tempting as it might be, cutting the man’s throat would cause more problems than it cured, and might even generate ill will from the man’s kin or friends.He remained on the man’s chest until En-hedu returned with two guards from the watch, both of them breathing hard.She must have made them run through the lanes.“What’s going on here?” demanded the older of the two.He had at least forty seasons, and wore a sash of red across his shoulder that proclaimed him a leader of ten.“I told you! These men tried to rob us,” En-hedu blurted out, her hands again clutching her bosom in her excitement.“They came in and demanded all our copper, or they would kill us.”Tammuz rose.The leader of the thieves, his eyes filled with pain, tried to speak.Tammuz glanced down and kicked him in the ribs.“Maybe you attacked them?” The younger guard said, his eyes first taking in the men on the floor, then settling on Tammuz.“You’re not from around here, are you?”“Keep your mouth shut, fool,” the leader of ten ordered.“Do you think a man and his wife are going to attack three men? Besides, I know these scum.Thieves, all of them.”“May I speak with you?” Tammuz said, bowing respectfully.He tilted his head toward the darkest corner of the inn and fingered the purse in his hand.The older guard turned to his companion.“Watch them.” He followed Tammuz across the room.“My name is Jarud.What do you want to talk about?”“Honored guardsman.” Tammuz used his humblest voice.“We have just purchased this inn with Merchant Gemama’s assistance.We are his clients and under his protection.It may be that, until we’re better known in the neighborhood, we might need extra protection from the city’s guard.Perhaps you or your men could stop in from time to time, even enjoy a cup of ale with our thanks.”Tammuz held out his hand, with the purse taken from the thugs.“This would be for your trouble, Jarud.And each week, I might be able to give you another copper coin.And I should have some girls in a few days, to repay you for your help.”The guard took the little sack of leather and hefted it, trying to guess how much it contained while he considered the offer.“Mmmn … everyone knows Merchant Gemama.A good man, or at least as good as any grasping trader can be.If you are one of his clients …” He made up his mind, no doubt influenced as much by the weight of the purse in his hand as Tammuz’s claim on Gemama’s name.“I’m sure we can stop in now and again.And your name is … ?”“Tammuz.And my wife is En-hedu.We are new to Sumer, and not yet used to the ways of the city.”Jarud glanced down at the knife on Tammuz’s belt.“You did well enough against these three.”Tammuz moved closer and half-whispered the words.“My wife struck two of them from behind.” He lowered his head as if embarrassed that he had to rely on his wife for assistance.“We’ll take care of these thieves,” Jarud said.“The work gangs can always use some new slaves.A few months hard labor will settle them down.”One of the first things Tammuz and En-hedu learned in Sumer was about the work gangs.Supposedly a punishment for petty crimes, few ever returned from their forced labor.With able-bodied slaves in great demand, only those whose friends could pay for their release were ever seen again [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]