‘He will march down the Euphrates,’ said Gafarn, ‘towards Babylon and Seleucia.’
‘That is correct,’ I said.
‘And towards Dura,’ added Nergal whose frown was increasing by the minute.
‘He will never get that far,’ I said. ‘How far can an army march each day while being under constant volleys of arrows and being raided by horsemen? The Romans will form a square with their shields locked, which will slow them down. Some days they might not even venture from camp.’
‘They will send their horsemen against us,’ said Surena.
I nodded. ‘True, but that is why I will take my cataphracts. They are more than capable of scattering any Roman horsemen.’
‘It is a risky strategy, Pacorus,’ said Orodes.
‘Less risky than allowing Crassus to reach Seleucia,’ I replied.
‘Would it not be better to send a larger force to engage Crassus and a smaller one to deal with the Armenians?’ suggested Atrax.
‘If Artavasdes had been killed outside Hatra, then yes,’ I replied. ‘But the Armenian king still holds Nisibus and can still send another army south into Hatra. Therefore a large force is required to both lay siege to Nisibus and deal with a second Armenian army that he will undoubtedly lead to relieve that city once it is besieged.’
Atrax remained sceptical but thankfully Orodes accepted my advice and agreed that he should march north with the bulk of our forces. I was convinced that at the very least I could slow Crassus’ advance to a crawl, giving us time to capture Nisibus, defeat any forces that Artavasdes gathered and then muster an army at Hatra to engage Crassus.
Our strategy agreed I walked with the others through the palace to return to camp. Surena walked beside me, his helmet in the crook of his arm.
‘I should go north with my army, lord,’ he said.
‘Most of it will be going north, Surena, but I would like you to come with me.’
‘Why me?’ he asked.
‘Because your army is the most experienced among the empire’s kingdoms: it has been fighting the Armenians for years and you yourself are among the most successful of Parthia’s generals.’
‘No more successful than you, lord,’ he shot back. ‘And both Nergal and Silaces have far more experience than me.’
What he said was true but what I did not tell him was that I did not want him and his men rampaging through Armenia butchering all and sundry. Artavasdes would hardly be agreeable to peace if his kingdom was invaded and his people slaughtered. However, I hoped the threat that this might happen if he did not acquiesce to our demands would be sufficient to his agreeing to peace, especially after we had taken Nisibus back and Orodes stood on Hatra’s northern border ready to invade Armenia.
I put an arm round Surena’s shoulder. ‘I would esteem it a great honour and special favour if you would accompany me.’
‘Very well, lord,’ he said. ‘Would you like me to bring my Sarmatians?’
The thought horrified me. ‘I think they should accompany Orodes. They will be useful for raiding enemy territory.’
Orodes chatted to the others as we walked from the palace’s private chambers, into the throne room and then along the corridor that led to the building’s entrance. It was a beautiful late spring day, the sun in a cloudless blue sky highlighting the power and majesty of the Grand Temple and the vastness of the adjacent Great Square that was now empty of Dura’s wagons and mules.
I was walking down the stone steps to go to the stables to collect Remus when I saw a group of riders approach. They drew closer and then halted before dismounting and leading their horses towards the palace steps. I saw that the swarthy figure leading them was Apollonius, fresh from his journey to the north. He handed the reins to one of his companions and strode over to stand before Gafarn.
‘Lord Apollonius,’ he said without enthusiasm.
Apollonius bowed deeply before his king. ‘Hail, great king, slayer of the Armenian barbarians. I hurried back as quickly as I could when I heard that Hatra was in danger.’
I looked at his immaculate scale armour cuirass of overlapping steel plates, his spotless white shirt and brown boots that did not have a mark on them. His horse looked as though it had just been groomed and the attire of his fellow lords was similarly spotless and unruffled. Wherever they had been they had not been hurrying anywhere.
‘Where are the horse archers you led from the city?’ asked Gafarn.
‘Safely returned to barracks in the city, majesty’ Apollonius replied.
I looked past him to where his companions were shifting uneasily on their feet, glancing at each other furtively. They stank of treachery.
I walked down the final two steps and held out my right hand to Apollonius.
‘All will be settled soon.’
He bowed his head to me and took my hand, a look of relief on his face. I kept hold of it as his expression changed from one of gratitude to being perplexed and then slightly nervous. His eyes momentarily recorded terror when I rammed the point of my dagger through his neck with my left hand. The blood gushed from the wound in great spurts, covering the blade, my hand and sleeve as I continued to grip Apollonius’ hand and watch the life ebb from his body. The others gasped in disbelief as I let go of his hand and his lifeless body collapsed on the flagstones, blood still pumping from the wound.
‘Arrest them!’ I shouted to the guards on the steps as Apollonius’ stunned companions gaped at the corpse at my feet.
‘What are you doing?’ shouted an enraged Gafarn.
‘Vermin control,’ I replied as Surena and Nergal both drew their swords and assisted the guards in surrounding the captives, who were bundled away, protesting, towards the guardroom.
Gafarn grabbed my blood-soaked arm. ‘Explain yourself!’
I removed his hand. ‘It is quite simple, brother; Lord Apollonius was a traitor who had brokered a deal with the Romans to betray you. Unfortunately for him, though fortunately for you, our recent victory put paid to his plans. If you search his mansion I am sure you will find evidence of his treason, either that or interrogate his accomplices in crime to reveal the truth.’
A subsequent thorough search of Apollonius’ home revealed letters from Crassus promising him the crown of Hatra in return for his assistance. Following a brief trial his companions were found guilty and subsequently hanged from the city walls for their perfidy, their bodies left to rot in the sun as a warning to others who might be considering treason.
We burned the bodies of Lucius Domitus and Thumelicus on two pyres in the centre of the Great Square, the only time that individuals who had not been members of Hatra’s royal family were cremated in that location. Gafarn had every man of his bodyguard on parade as a mark of respect for two Companions, friends and one who had been the commander of his brother’s army. I stood with him, Gallia, Diana, Nergal, Praxima, Spartacus and young Pacorus at the top of the palace steps as Vagises and Vagharsh both carried torches to the oil-soaked pyres and lit them.
As I had done a hundred times before I watched as the flames spread round the bottom of the piles of wood and then engulfed the bodies in a great roar and explosion of fire. The Durans and Exiles filled two sides of the square, my cataphracts and horse archers another and the ranks of Hatra’s heavy horsemen the fourth. The colour parties of the Durans and Exiles stood next to the raging pyres holding the golden griffin and silver lion in salute, as tears ran down Diana’s cheeks and Gallia stood ashen-faced beside her friend.
How many more times would I stand and watch the bodies of my friends and comrades being consumed by flames? Would those who stood by me now be watching my own body being cremated in the coming months? I found myself scanning the ranks of the legionaries, trying to search out that tell-tale white crest atop a helmet worn by a man of iron gently tapping a vine cane against his right thigh, but then brutal reality hit me like a spiked mace as I realised that I would never see Domitus again, never hear his reassuring voice on the eve of battle or shake his hand after the army he had created had added another silver disc to the Staff of Victory that was now held by Chrestus between the griffin and lion emblems. Without Lucius Domitus there would have been no staff, no victories and probably no army of Dura.