Yours to Command

Pawn's Move

Only a player who understands the importance of pawns will become a true master at Shah. Being the most insignificant of the pieces, they are easily overlooked, yet if used properly can threaten the king himself.

(Ulfang: Shah – A King's Game)

***

Muzgâsh's men knew better than to stare openly at him, but he could feel their curious glances when they thought his attention elsewhere. He sat down at the table in the kitchen and motioned for the servant doubling as cook to serve him a late midday meal. That wildcat with her cursed candlestick! His head still smarted and his hair... He would have to cut it short before they reached the City of Serpents or he would make himself the laughingstock of the entire court.

It was a sign of course. He should not have let his physical urges overrule his mind like he had. The rules of the blood-quest insisted on renouncing all bodily pleasures until the revenge was accomplished. And with good reason, for such pleasures provided nothing but a distraction from the goal of avenging his father. But she had trembled so deliciously at his touch, her blindness only adding to her allure, that even now a part of him wanted nothing else but to go back and savour the sweet taste of her fear. And this time he would not let himself be fooled by any false submissiveness, this time she would yield to him completely, holding nothing back. He lost himself in the picture of the princess begging him for forgiveness and how he would punish her for her offences.

"My lord?"

He started at his captain's voice. Distracted by that woman again! "What is it?"

"Your plan worked. One of our scouts has just come back. He says the hunt has been called off and the gates are open again."

Muzgâsh nodded and motioned for Shagnar to join him at his table. He took a spoonful of the rich meat stew that his servants had prepared for him. Not the tasteless stuff they ate here in Gondor, but well spiced and tangy.

"Are they searching the traffic leaving the city?" he asked.

Shagnar shook his head. "Not at the moment. What is your plan now, my lord?"

Muzgâsh took a sip of red wine. "They are warned anyway, so I have decided on a direct approach. I want you to carry a message to them, demanding that King Éomer come with you for parley."

His captain frowned. "What if he refuses?" Muzgâsh wondered if the thought had crossed his mind that the Gondorians might torture him to find out Princess Lothíriel's whereabouts. But he had taken that into account with his plan.

"He won't." Muzgâsh smiled. "For I will write that in that case the princess will die."

"But my lord, I thought you wanted to take her with us?"

Muzgâsh sighed. While he did not question his captain's loyalty or ferocity, he sometimes had his doubts about the quality of his mind. "King Éomer does not know that," he pointed out patiently. When Shagnar still looked doubtful, he added. "Trust me, the King of Rohan won't be able to resist the opportunity to try and rescue her."

"And then?"

"You lead him here, making sure nobody follows you. Then once he's here, I will challenge him." A simple and foolproof plan. Muzgâsh took another mouthful of stew. "We will have to leave the city as speedily as possible after I slay him, before his friends realize what has happened."

"I don't like running away like a common thief," Shagnar objected.

Muzgâsh nodded his agreement. "True. But we will be back soon enough. With an army at our back."