Temerix grunted.
Ataelus put a hand on his shoulder, and Graethe smiled. He turned to the crowd. 'The farmers cannot defend themselves, and we are too few to defend them. It is time to end this foolish war – a war Marthax was too wise to undertake – and ride away, as our fathers did from the Medes and Persians. Why are we fighting this war alone? Is it perhaps because-?' Graethe smiled like a fox, but he was interrupted by a voice from beyond the fire.
'You are not alone,' the voice said. 'Urvara is three days' march away, with Eumenes of Olbia and five thousand men.'
'Who are you?' Graethe asked, but the voice went on.
'You are not alone, because the war fleet of Satyrus has sailed, and Nikephoros is about to be trapped on the beach.' Coenus emerged into the light, and he bowed to Melitta as soon as he entered the firelight. 'I rode as hard as I could, and none too fast, I see.'
Men crowded around him, and he embraced Ataelus and then Temerix, and then Scopasis.
'Your brother sent me. He should be right behind me. When I set off, he was only awaiting the arrival of Diodorus to sail with sixty ships.' He smiled. 'And Eumenes is north of the Bay of Salmon and marching hard. He's gathered the western clans and he has all the infantry of Olbia.'
Melitta could tell that Coenus was unsure, or lying, but only because she'd known him all her life. And all the clan leaders were gathered around him, pressing close, as if his news brought them physical strength.
Ataelus turned to her. 'Now they will fight,' he said. He watched for a while. 'But not for long.'
Melitta shrugged.
Much later, when all of them had shared wine, and many of the Sakje had shared smoke, and they had fallen into their blankets, Melitta pulled a fur over her shoulders, cold even in high summer, and caught Coenus's eye where he lingered by the fire. The two of them walked away from the fire and into the darkness. Scopasis made as if to follow, and she gave him a small sign and he went back to Samahe, where the two of them had been playing a game of polis on a blanket.
'You were lying,' she said, as soon as they were alone.
Coenus shrugged. 'Not lying, exactly.'
'You are Greek. Greeks lie. Coenus, this is life and death for these people.' Melitta shook her head. 'Tell me the whole truth.'
'Your brother is waiting for Diodorus, who is late. Very late. He has troubles with his captains, and trouble with Heraklea. It's not pretty. But when I left, Nihmu and Crax had just ridden in from Diodorus. He should have sailed the day after I rode out – two days at the most.' Coenus shrugged. 'That's not much of a lie.'
'But you didn't see him sail,' Melitta said.
'I saw Urvara at the fort, and she said Eumenes was three days away and marching. And that was this morning. And she has three thousand horses and almost as many Sindi and Maeotae in the fort. Damn it, girl! In ten days, we'll outnumber everything Eumeles and Nikephoros and Upazan can muster.' Coenus grabbed her shoulders.
Melitta pushed him away. 'Don't you get it? I'm risking people – real people – and they're dying like houseflies at the end of summer. Why didn't Urvara send those riders to me?'
'Urvara is containing Nikephoros. Without her raids, his men would be all over the river, instead of just sending a boat or two to harass the farmers. Even outnumbered two to one, Urvara is keeping him busy.' Coenus put his hands on his hips. 'Keep it together, girl. The tide is turning.'
'I am not girl. I am the lady.' She shook her head. 'By all the gods, Coenus, I am staking my people on Eumenes of Olbia and on my brother's fleet. If they are late, we're dead. We don't have ten days. We have two days. In two days, we'll be pushed back right into the fort, and then Upazan and Nikephoros join hands, and exterminate us.'
Coenus rubbed his beard. 'Well, lady – and I concede, you are lady, even to me – then we fight for two days with everything we have. And trust to the gods.'
Melitta laughed. 'T hat's where I was, just a few hours ago. Now, all I see is the end. Perhaps Satyrus will come and destroy Eumeles after I am dead.' She laughed, and it was a harsh sound. 'Is this all there is, Coenus?'
'I spurned command all my life, lady,' he said, 'because as far as I could see with my friend Kineas, that is all there is – one damned decision after another, and watching friends die, whether you made the right call or not. That's how it has always looked to me.'
'I don't think I want to be queen of the Sakje,' Melitta said.
'Too late now,' Coenus answered.
Melitta left him then, her heart empty, unsure even of how much truth Coenus – her beloved uncle, the father of her first lover – was telling her. She walked away into the darkness, past the horse lines, watching the tail of the moon for a while. She wept a little.
'Lady?' Scopasis asked. He came out of the dark with a blanket. 'You are troubled.'
'Fuck off,' Melitta said savagely.
Scopasis, the former outlaw, stood his ground. 'Take the blanket,' he said.
'I don't need your help,' she said. Mostly to herself.
He held the blanket out mutely.
She found herself inside the blanket, her arms around his chest, weeping, and he held her for a long time as she felt his warmth and comfort.
'When I was outlawed,' he said, 'my anger kept me warm for a while, and then I was cold and alone.'
She couldn't see him, with her cheek pressed against the warm wool of his coat. She waited for him to say more, but he didn't, and they were silent.
Finally he said, 'I told all the people who tried to help me to fuck themselves,' and laughed. Melitta wasn't sure that she'd ever heard Scopasis laugh.
'This makes you want to help people?' she asked.
'It makes me immune to people I love telling me to fuck off,' he said. In the morning, Melitta was relacing her armour while Samahe did her hair. Scopasis didn't seem to see her – he moved about, getting horses and preparing the bodyguard for another day of combat. They had thirty riders now, and Coenus joined them in full armour.
Scopasis saluted. 'You are back, lord.'
Coenus nodded. 'As a trooper, Scopasis. You are the captain now. Half these men barely know me, and frankly, if I have to tell Darax one more time how to do up his girth, I'll kill him.' Coenus grinned. 'You're the captain, lad. I'll cover the lady and give her advice. You run the troop.'
Scopasis gave the Greek man a hug. 'You are like my second father.'
Coenus didn't deny it.
After that exchange, Melitta managed to corner Scopasis while he rolled his blankets. 'About last night,' she said, the best opening she could manage after an hour of furious thinking.
He looked at her, puzzled. 'Last night?' he asked.
'I was-' Melitta wanted to be clear about how much she valued the comfort he had offered, but that she was still his queen.
'Darax!' Scopasis called past her. 'Look at the girth on that saddle-cloth. You are no use to the lady dangling under your horse! Get your arse over here and see to it. Now!' His level gaze came back to hers. 'I have no memory of last night, lady. Please do not embarrass me.'
She met that gaze. 'I'm surrounded by liars.'
He shrugged. 'Hmm,' he grunted. 'No man likes to be called a liar.'
Coenus appeared at her elbow, making her flush. 'If we lie to you, perhaps it's for good reasons.' He looked at the sky. 'Dry day.'
Ataelus came up, eyeing a new arrow, the fletches just dry. Melitta could smell the fish-glue. 'A day for shooting,' he said.
Their first contact came almost immediately. Upazan's advance guard came down the valley with the sun, flooding the farm fields on either side of the road. Temerix's men had been up for hours, and they stayed on the ridges north of the river, showering the Sauromatae flanking parties with arrows and retreating beyond their reach. Today the Sauromatae seemed content to ignore the galling of their flanks. They pressed straight down the river, and the ground was dark with riders all the way back to the purple hills to the east.