Dawn of Empire Read Free Page B

them at that age, when they’d learned enough about how to satisfy a man. They would please him, he knew. After what they’d seen today, they’d be frantic in their efforts to give him pleasure.
    Rethnar walked over. “The lesson is ended, Thutmose - sin. Should we begin dividing the spoils? The men are eager to take the rest of the women.”
    Thutmose - sin glanced at the sun, still high in the afternoon sky. “No, not until darkness. Put the slaves to work. Anything we don’t want is to be destroyed. If it can burn, I want it carried here and set afire. Everything, including the fence, the wagons, tools, clothing, everything. Smash whatever can’t be burned. Then tomorrow, have the slaves knock down every house. When the dirt - eaters return, they must fi nd nothing of value. And before you begin the march back to camp, burn all the fields as well. Everything, every animal, is to be destroyed.”
    Thutmose - sin looked around at the houses surrounding him. “This village grew too large and prosperous. These dirt - eaters must be taught not to build such places again. And when you begin the journey home, load the slaves with as much as they can carry. Let only the strongest survive to reach our camp.”
    Rethnar smiled. “I’ll teach them. Then you go back to the council?”
    “Yes. Tomorrow I’ll take fifty men and return to my father. I’ll bring the choicest wine and women for him. If you like, send ten of your own men with gifts for your grandfather.” Rethnar’s grandfather sat on the council as well.
    “Grandfather will be pleased.”
    “You’ve done well, Rethnar. I’ll speak of you to my father and the council.”
    It would take Rethnar close to three weeks to rejoin the clan, burdened with so many slaves and goods. And the number of slaves would increase, as Rethnar’s men visited the farmhouses they’d bypassed in their rush to the village.
    Thutmose - sin mounted his horse, then turned to his guards. “Bring my women to the river.” He guided the animal through the lane, until he again reached the water’s edge. First he would see to his horse, then wash himself in the Tigris. The two women would also bathe, so that they wouldn’t bring the village stink to his bed tonight.
    As he dove into the cool and cleansing water, he thought about what he’d accomplished. They’d taken much booty and slaves, and a large village would be destroyed as a lesson to the dirt - eaters. The health and power of the Alur Meriki would be greatly increased. The capture of a few hundred more slaves would have made the raid more successful, but nothing could be done about that. All in all, everything had gone well. His father and the council would be pleased.
    Eleven years later, near the headwaters of the Tigris …
    Thutmose - sin rode slowly through the scattered huts until he reached the edge of the bluff. From this height he observed the chilled waters of the Tigris, sparkling in the sunlight and fresh from their birth - mountains, stretching all the way to the distant northern horizon. Directly beneath the hilltop, a caravan of men and animals had begun the difficult crossing to the eastern bank.
    This caravan would prove far mightier than the watery obstacle nature had placed in its path. The people of the steppes, the Alur Meriki, traveled wherever they chose and nothing stood in their path. They dominated all the peoples of the world, just as Thutmose - sin dominated them.
    He was their king, and he ruled the world.
    In his thirty - fifth season, the leader of the Alur Meriki stood as strong and powerful as in his youth, with not a trace of fat on his tall, muscu-lar frame. Around his neck hung a copper - linked chain with a three - inch gold medallion identifying the Alur Meriki leader. Unlike his followers, he wore no other jewelry or rings to show his importance or his conquests.
    The medallion proclaimed his power—only the strongest and most capable ever earned the right to wear it.
    Thutmose -