‘He wouldn’t,’ I replied.
And where was Mardonius? As I scanned the surviving sections of the wall and towers the second-line cohorts of the Durans and Exiles moved forward to form an unbroken first line, while behind them the third lines moved forward to provide support. Either side of the shattered remains of the gatehouse were two demolished sections of wall, each one roughly a hundred paces wide. Aside from the standards fluttering and horses chomping on bits there was no noise. Seleucia was supposed to have a population of eighty thousand citizens but today it appeared to be a ghost city. There were no guards at the city’s main entrance and none on the walls. By now the appearance of twenty-four thousand soldiers standing in front of the city would have been noticed by even the most short-sighted sentry but still there was no activity.
‘I have a feeling that Mardonius no longer commands here,’ said Gallia.
Before anyone could answer a rider appeared at the city entrance, a man in a helmet mounted on a large light bay horse that suddenly galloped towards our position.
‘Amazons!’ shouted Gallia and her warriors flanked left and right and brought their bows up, ready to shoot at the approaching horseman. Gallia and Praxima pulled their bows from their hide cases and nocked arrows. When he got to within two hundred paces from us the rider slowed his horse to a trot and then a walk as he held out his arms to indicate he held no weapons. He wore a short-sleeved suit of leather lamellar armour over a blue shirt edge with yellow. He halted his horse a hundred paces from us.
‘My lord high general wishes to meet with King Pacorus of Dura,’ he shouted.
‘Does he mean Mithridates?’ asked Domitus.
I nudged Remus forward a few feet.
‘Careful, Pacorus,’ said Gallia, ‘it may be a trap.’
I looked at the man who still had his hands spread wide and his palms open.
‘I am confident that the Amazons will drop him before he can try anything.’
‘We may drop him anyway,’ added Praxima menacingly.
‘I thought you were the lord high general of the empire?’ said Domitus.
‘It appears I have a rival,’ I replied. ‘I am King Pacorus,’ I cried out. ‘Who is your lord high general?’
‘King Nicetas,’ he shouted back.
I looked back at the others who stared back at me with blank faces. I had never heard the name and neither had they.
‘If you assent, majesty,’ the soldier continued, ‘he will meet you alone at the midpoint between your army and the city walls.’
‘Do you want me to kill him, Pacorus?’ offered Praxima.
‘No thank you,’ I replied.
I had to admit I was curious to know the identity of the man who claimed the title I held.
‘Very well,’ I called back. ‘Go and tell your general to show himself.’
The soldier bowed his head and then turned his mount to gallop back to the city. The Amazons lowered their bows as Gallia rode up to me. Meanwhile, the walls of Seleucia still appeared devoid of any life.
‘Mithridates has captured the city,’ she said sternly.
I nodded. ‘It would appear so. Whoever this Nicetas is I assume he is in his service.’
Behind us Byrd and Malik brought their horses to a halt and then walked them forward.
‘No enemy within twenty miles,’ said Byrd.
‘The land is empty of all life,’ added Malik.
I kept looking at the city. Had Mithridates massacred the population? The absence of any crows or buzzards circling overhead suggested that the streets were not piled high with corpses. The mystery deepened.
‘Not quite empty,’ remarked Domitus, pointing at the walls.
I looked to see that another figure had appeared at the remains of the gatehouse, a man mounted on a black horse wearing what appeared to be a silver cuirass over a bright yellow tunic.
‘That must be Nicetas, whoever he is,’ said Nergal.
‘Time to solve the mystery,’ I said, nudging Remus forward as the individual who apparently had the same title as me approached.
‘Do not go, Pacorus,’ called Gallia, ‘it is obviously a trap.’
‘She is right,’ added Domitus, but I merely raised my hand at them. I was too curious to see this man up close and solve the riddle we faced.
As Remus walked forward I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Domitus and Kronos hurrying back to their men. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I suddenly felt tense, and yet there were no soldiers on the walls and silence still enveloped Seleucia. Ahead the man in the silver armour continued to move towards me, his left hand holding his horse’s reins and his right arm hanging by his side.
We were now less than a hundred paces apart and I saw that his cuirass was made up of dozens of overlapping rectangular silver scales that shimmered when he moved. His head was encased in a gilded helmet with large cheekguards hiding some of his features. And yet, as he came closer, there was something about his fair skin, powerful frame and neatly trimmed beard that was familiar. He halted a few feet from me, his magnificent stallion flicking its long black tail.
‘King Pacorus of Dura.’ His tone was both aggressive and slightly condescending.
‘And you must be Nicetas,’ I replied, ‘though your name was previously unknown to me before today.’
‘King Nicetas, and it is known to you now,’ he growled. I kept looking at his young face and saw in it a resemblance to someone I had known. But who?
His brown eyes burned with contempt as he looked past me. ‘So this is the famed army of Dura, the instrument by which Orodes has usurped the throne of the rightful king of kings.’
He looked back at me. ‘Men say that it is invincible, that it is protected by the magic of a sorceress. And yet it seems ordinary enough. Perhaps the stories have been exaggerated.’
He really was full of his own self-importance.
I had no time for his strutting. ‘You are here at the behest of Mithridates, so state what you have to say.’
He was momentarily nonplussed by my manner but then his insolence returned.
‘King of Kings Mithridates demands that you and the rabble of Dura leave this place and withdraw back across the Euphrates. The army of Mesene will likewise withdraw to Uruk, there to await the high king’s pleasure.’
I was beginning to lose my patience. ‘First of all, boy, you will answer my questions rather than dictate terms. Firstly you will inform me what has happened to Lord Mardonius, whose city this is. And secondly you will reveal the whereabouts of Mithridates so that justice can be served upon him.’
Nicetas smiled evilly to reveal a row of perfect white teeth, fixing me with his stare before raising his right arm. The walls beyond the left of what had been the gatehouse were suddenly lined with soldiers, two of them holding an elderly man — Mardonius. I looked on in horror as they hurled him over the battlements and then saw his body jerk violently as the noose around his throat snapped his neck.
‘Lord Mardonius was judged, found guilty of aiding traitors and sentenced to death,’ said Nicetas without emotion.
I was stunned by what I had just seen and still staring at the dead body of Mardonius when I caught a grey blur out of the corner of my eye.
‘King Mithridates wishes you to withdraw but I suggested to him that your death and the destruction of your army would serve our interests better and he agreed.’
He had hoisted his sword above his head and now dug his knees into his horse, which bolted forward. I instinctively yanked on Remus’ reins and he turned to the right as Nicetas came alongside and swung his sword at me, the blade cutting deep into my left arm. I screamed in pain and drew my own sword, wheeling Remus away from him as he turned his own horse to face me once more.
‘I am the rightful King of Persis and the son of King Narses who was murdered by your own hand at Susa, and I will have my revenge.’