‘I am, majesty,’ he replied without emotion.
‘What are your tasks?’ she was clearly fascinated by him.
‘I keep a record of all the clients who visit the brothel, fix the price for a night of each girl’s favours, receive the money for said favours and provide clothing and other essentials for each of my mistress’ women and men.’
‘Why are eunuchs employed in brothels?’ she quizzed him further.
‘Sexually impotent men make the best guardians for young women, majesty’ he replied proudly. ‘They can be trusted not to spoil the goods and do not covet power. My mistress trusts me completely.’
She leaned forward. ‘How long have you been a eunuch?’
‘Fourteen years, majesty.’
‘Well, this is all most interesting,’ I said, ‘but…’
Gallia ignored me and continued to stare at Chigaru. ‘Did it hurt?’
Chigaru looked at her quizzically. ‘Majesty?’
‘The ritual by which you became who you are now,’ she explained.
He smiled obsequiously. ‘Ah, I understand. Your majesty is most inquisitive and people do not normally enquire about how I came to be a eunuch. But I have heard that you are not only a great warrior but also possessed of a keen mind. I was fifteen years of age when they came for me, three huge slaves in the service of my master who had decided that I should be a eunuch.
‘I was taken to the kitchens where a physician smeared my groin in pepper broth while one man held my wrists and the other two my legs. The physician then took a small curved knife that resembled a sickle and sliced off my genitals. The pain was excruciating.
‘He then with great care inserted lead needles and wooden nails into the gaping wound to staunch the flow of blood and then covered the wound with papyrus that had been soaked in water and used a bandage to keep it in place. Two of the slaves then walked me around my master’s house for two hours, after which I was allowed to lie down. I was forbidden to drink any water for three days to allow the wound to partly heal. On the fourth day the physician removed the needles and nails and I passed water like a spurting fountain. I fell to my knees and cried with joy for I knew that the operation had been a success. Those who are castrated and cannot pass water afterwards die a most painful death you see.
‘That, majesty, is how I became a eunuch.’
Gallia, far from being revolted, was impressed. ‘I congratulate you on your courage, Chigaru.’
He bowed his head solemnly. ‘From one whose courage is known throughout the world that is a compliment indeed, majesty.’
‘And now, Chigaru,’ I said, slightly disgusted by what had been done to him, ‘perhaps you will enlighten us as to the amount of compensation your mistress deems reasonable for the girl Roxanne.’
He smiled at me and bowed his head, then glanced at one of his parchments. ‘Considering her age, beauty and the expenses that have already been lavished on the young lady in question, the amount of compensation comes to half a talent of gold.’
‘Half a talent!’ Aaron said loudly. ‘That is thirty pounds of gold. For a whore?’
Chigaru remained calm. ‘A very accomplished whore.’
Aaron was not amused. ‘This is outrageous, majesty. In any case she belongs to Prince Peroz so it is he who should pay Samhat compensation and not Dura’s treasury.’
‘Roxanne does not belong to the prince,’ Gallia said to Aaron, ’she is with him of her own free will. She is not a slave to be bartered in the marketplace.’
‘Of course, majesty,’ said Aaron in a muted tone, ‘but the fact remains that Prince Peroz should pay the indemnity for this young woman.’
Aaron had made a good point but if I asked Peroz to pay the brothel he would no doubt write to his father requesting that he send him the gold. Phriapatius would find out eventually that his youngest son had fallen in love with a whore but he did not need to know yet. Then again, so besotted was Peroz with Roxanne that he might announce his impending marriage to her to the whole world anyway.
‘The fee is agreed,’ I told Chigaru, ‘my treasurer will see that the amount is sent to your mistress forthwith.’
Chigaru looked at Aaron in triumph and then bowed deeply to me and then Gallia. Aaron was fuming but my decision had been made. I had more urgent things to think about than the price of a whore, beautiful though she was.
The guards escorted Chigaru from the throne room and closed the doors behind them.
‘It would be wise to request that Carmania’s treasury reimburse our own for this amount, majesty,’ suggested Aaron.
‘Dura’s treasury will bear the cost. King Phriapatius has other things to occupy his mind.’
‘I do not understand,’ said Aaron.
‘Though it is none of your business, Aaron, because I am in a good mood I will tell you why we will not be asking Peroz’s father for the gold. The King of Carmania will take a very dim view of his son falling in love with a prostitute, and an even dimmer view of his son’s hosts for allowing such a thing to happen. He may demand that Prince Peroz and his men leave Dura and return home, in which case I will lose five thousand horse archers that I would rather have by my side when we fight the Romans and Armenians.’
Aaron looked contrite and said nothing further on the matter.
‘The eunuch was most efficient,’ I had not noticed that Dobbai had entered the chamber but now she shuffled from behind me to stand just in front of the dais. ‘Perhaps you should castrate all the members of your council, son of Hatra, to ensure their loyalty and curb their tongues.’
Aaron glared at her as she said the words.
‘I have no reason to doubt the loyalty of those who serve me,’ I said to her.
‘You are fortunate, son of Hatra, that your palace is not infused with malice and treachery but a great warlord has the luxury of knowing that his subordinates fear him.’
‘I thought they loved me,’ I teased her.
‘Love is the most poisonous emotion of all for it blinds men to the obvious and wraps them in a madness from which they do not wish to escape. If Peroz had had his manhood removed then he would not be chasing whores.’
‘We are not going to discuss Peroz’s manhood,’ I told her.
She continued to goad Aaron. ‘Jewish priests cut off part of the manhoods of their male infants, is that not correct Jew?’
‘I did not realise you knew so much about our customs,’ he replied with embarrassment.
‘They should lop them off totally,’ she said wickedly, ‘to make all Jewish males eunuchs, then they would be far less troublesome.’
‘Enough, Dobbai,’ I snapped, ‘you give me a headache. The Jews have proved valuable allies of Dura and the longer they continue to fight the Romans in Judea the more time we have to make our own preparations. Please leave us.’
She sneered at Aaron, smiled at Gallia and ignored me as she ambled back to the private apartments in the palace. I regretted that I had spoken to her so brusquely because that afternoon Dobbai fell ill. At first it was a troublesome cough that had afflicted her while sitting in her chair on the palace balcony. Servants brought her fruit juice and water but she could not shake it off and as the afternoon wore on a concerned Gallia sent for Alcaeus, who prescribed grape juice mixed with honey. However, despite the application of this well-known remedy Dobbai continued to cough, her frail body pitching forward as she did so. Gallia sat holding her hand and an increasingly alarmed Claudia rushed to the kitchens to prepare a concoction of crushed turmeric root. But this and all the other medicines had no effect and Dobbai continued to cough so I assisted Alcaeus in taking her to her bedroom.
After she had been made comfortable her coughing seemed to subside and I breathed a sigh of relief, but as I was about to leave her she grabbed my arm.
‘I told you there would be a price to pay, son of Hatra,’ her grip was frail and she suddenly looked very old.
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ I said unconvincingly.
She looked at me mockingly. ‘Do not insult me. You know full well what I mean. The gods always demand payment, son of Hatra, remember that.’