‘Greetings, lord. Gordyene’s army stands ready for the inspection of the Lord High General of the Parthian Empire.’
I held out my arm to him and he clasped my forearm. ‘Greetings, Surena, I am here to convey the gratitude of King of Kings Orodes in making Gordyene once again the northern shield of the empire.’
Now nearly thirty, his youthful enthusiasm and arrogance had been replaced by determination combined with common sense and great tactical and strategic awareness. He also looked older and more careworn, but then the responsibility of administering a kingdom bore down heavily on all of us.
His officers, all of them young and very serious, were dressed in conical iron helmets, scale armour cuirasses, red long-sleeved tunics, baggy black leggings and boots. And as I rode slowly up and down the ranks of the assembled army I was struck by the age of the troops. This was a young army. The only middle-aged men I saw were among Silaces’ men from Elymais.
Looking at the army I could see the influence his time at Dura had made upon Surena because he had modelled his forces on my own, tempered by financial practicalities. Gordyene was not as wealthy as Dura. There were no cataphracts present but Surena had raised two dragons of medium horsemen, men in scale armour comprising rows of overlapping iron scales riveted onto thick hide and reinforced with scale armour shoulder guards. They also wore pteruges — strips of leather that hung from the waist and protected their thighs and upper legs.
These horsemen carried spears as their main weapons instead of the longer kontus, axes instead a swords, with daggers in sheaths on their right sides. Their round wooden shields were faced with hide painted red, each embossed with white lion’s head.
Surena’s horse archers wore no armour and had soft pointed hats on their heads, but each one was equipped with two quivers and a short sword for close-quarter fighting. There were eight thousand of them drawn up in their dragons and companies, the standard bearer in each of the latter carrying a lion windsock. The last dragon of horse archers seemed to be composed of particularly fresh-faced youths, as I remarked to Silaces.
‘Take a closer look, majesty,’ he said.
I peered at the front rank. ‘They are women!’
‘The queen’s dragon,’ stated Surena proudly. ‘My wife was in the Amazons and so to make her feel more at home I raised a thousand female horse archers in honour of her and the Amazons. They are called the Lionesses.’
‘They can shoot as well as any man,’ remarked Silaces.
Gordyene’s foot soldiers resembled the legionaries of Dura with their helmets, large oval shields and short swords, though these men also wore greaves on their lower legs and wore leather armour instead of mail. There were five thousand of them and they made for a very impressive sight.
Finally we came to Silace’s horse archers — the exiles from Elymais — who had numbered eight thousand when Surena had led them into Gordyene. Since then a thousand had fallen fighting the Armenians but they were still an impressive body of horsemen and represented the most experienced element of Surena’s forces.
‘It is a fine army,’ I said to Surena.
He beamed with delight and pointed towards his city. ‘Viper is waiting to receive us with warm wine and hot food, lord.’
There were small flecks of snow in the wind and our faces were pinched with cold so I was glad to ride through the thick oak gates and into Vanadzor. The city had never been an attractive or gracious place filled with wide streets, rich buildings and beautiful statues, but rather a dour, bleak stronghold designed to withstand external foes. Its ugliness was due in no small part to the local hard black limestone used in the construction of its walls and buildings. Many of its stone structures were squat and unsightly but their walls were thick and its citizens hardy and strong. Curiously local quarries also produced marble but it was hardly ever used in Gordyene; instead, it was exported to neighbouring kingdoms for profit.
The Romans had carried off many into slavery when they had conquered the kingdom but others had escaped to the mountains to eke out an existence and to await deliverance. Surena had proved their deliverer after the Romans had given Gordyene to the Armenians, who had believed that all the flames of resistance had been extinguished. After Surena had taken the city the people had returned from their hovels in the mountains.
When they did they found a very different Vanadzor. As we were riding through the muddy streets of the city Surena proudly informed me that he had increased the number of stables and barracks within its walls to accommodate his new army. While in the hills and mountains detachments of lightly armed scouts, many former members of King Balas’ army, watched for enemy incursions into the kingdom and launched raids against hostile forces entering Gordyene.
‘As well as raiding across the frontier,’ muttered Silaces.
Surena heard him. ‘Our enemies must learn to respect our borders, Lord Silaces. Besides, it is best to have neighbours who fear us rather than regard us as lambs to be slaughtered.’
The palace was surrounded by a high square stonewall with round towers in each corner and an impressive three-storey gatehouse on its south side. Wooden shutters on each storey indicated shooting platforms for archers and spearmen. The gates opening to allow us to enter were, like at the entrance to the city, made from thick oak and reinforced with iron strips and spikes.
Bleak, functional and strong were the qualities that the palace imparted; its stone-paved square surrounded by barracks, stables, armouries and ironworks. The chimneys of the latter were spewing black smoke and the air was heavy with the aroma of burning charcoal and hot metal. As we dismounted from our horses and stable hands took our shivering beasts to warm and cosy stalls I was struck by the high level of activity around me. It was as though we had wandered into a giant colony of ants.
Surena escorted us up the black stone steps, through the porch and into the main hall of the palace, which was well lit and had white marble tiles on the floor to brighten what would otherwise have been a chamber that resembled a cave in the underworld with its black walls, stone pillars and dark ceiling. In front of the wall at the far end stood a stone dais holding the king and queen’s thrones and behind, hanging on the wall, was a massive red banner embossed with a silver lion. The shields of the guards who stood at every pillar also carried lion motifs. The scene projected strength and power and any visitor would be left in no doubt that this was a kingdom organised for war.
We walked across the tiles with helmets in the crooks of our arms to where Viper stood in front of the dais. She still looked like a teenage girl, though because she was pregnant her breasts had swelled and her extended belly made her look a little plumper. She smiled girlishly at me and melted my heart as I stepped forward and embraced her tenderly. I had always been fond of her and though she had been a member of the Amazons and knew how to use a bow and a sword, in this bleak stronghold she looked vulnerable and a little fragile. I could see why Surena was so protective towards her.
‘Welcome, lord,’ she said as I kissed her on the cheek and released her from my arms.
‘Gallia sends you her love and wants to know when you will be visiting Dura.’
Surena also kissed her, took her hand and gently led her to her throne, seating her before taking his seat. Silaces stood on his right side to face us.
‘After the baby is born,’ she grinned, ‘all three of us will pay you a visit.’
‘Orodes and Axsen also send you their love,’ I said, ‘as do the rest of the Amazons.’
Slaves brought cups of heated wine to warm our insides and Surena ordered hot braziers to be fetched to warm the hall, though in truth now we were out of the cold feeling began to return to my hands and feet.