It was an impressive endorsement of Phraates’ claim, as eight kings of the empire had voiced their support for him. Though as a candidate he could not vote himself, Phraates still had half the kings of the empire behind him. I assumed that the others would fall into line. I was wrong.
As we took our seats, one of the kings opposite rose slowly to his feet. Tall, powerfully built, he had a large round face with a broad forehead. His skin was almost white and his light brown hair was cut short, as was his neatly trimmed beard. He wore a rich purple tunic edged with gold, yellow leggings and red leather boots. His belt and scabbard holding his sword were both black leather inlaid with gold leaf decorations. He indeed looked like a great king.
‘I am Narses of Persis, and I would like to propose another candidate for the throne at Ctesiphon.’ His voice was deep and powerful, his manner very assured.
The chief elder rose. ‘Of course, majesty. Whom do you propose?’
‘Myself,’ replied Narses.
Balas laughed out loud and even my father smiled, though I noticed that the eastern kings did not seem surprised by Narses’ announcement. Narses himself stood impassively.
‘There may be some among us who thinks this is amusing. Well, more fool them.’ Silence descended on the assembly. Narses strode into the centre of the circle.
‘Fellow kings, we all know that Hatra,’ he held out a hand towards my father, ‘has grown rich during the long reign of Sinatruces, and King Varaz lists King Phraates among his allies. We also know that other western kings,’ he gestured with his hand towards Farhad, Vardan and Balas, ‘perhaps intimidated by Hatra’s mighty army, are loathe to disagree with King Varaz.’
My father sprang from his chair. ‘Have a care, Narses.’
The chief elder was appalled. ‘Majesty, please. Threats and violence are forbidden in this assembly.’
My father held up his hands by way of an apology and regained his seat, though I could see that he was struggling to control his temper.
Narses smirked and continued. ‘Well, I now understand why kingdoms close to Hatra’s borders may be reluctant to antagonise their more powerful neighbour.’
This time my father did not take the bait but regarded Narses with a detached amusement.
Balas rose from his seat and pointed at Narses. ‘What makes you think that you have the talents to be King of Kings?’
Narses smiled at him. ‘Lord king, if you were a candidate I would not propose myself, so great is your fame. Yet I have to ask King Phraates himself why he thinks he is a suitable candidate, for we have heard nothing from him. Indeed, I find myself asking if he really wishes to be King of Kings at all.’
‘Of course he does,’ barked my father.
‘It is quite obvious, King Varaz,’ continued Narses, ‘that you wish him to be, but what does he say on the matter?’
Narses took his seat and stared at Phraates, who rose from his chair and cleared his throat.
‘Majesties, most of you have known me for many years. I have always had the best interests of the empire at heart and have striven to maintain security and prosperity within the empire and peace with our neighbours. If elected, I promise to follow the same policy as my late father.’
Narses rose from his chair once more. ‘A most admirable aim, lord king. For a diplomat.’ Several of those around him laughed at this. ‘But we are not diplomats, we are kings. Many years ago your father united the empire by force of arms, foreigners respected him because he was strong. I would be a strong king, for I think that ambassadors make poor rulers.’
The words of Narses were impolite but they were also true. Phraates was a good and able man but he lacked ruthlessness, and his inaction at this moment spoke volumes.
‘Enough, Narses,’ snapped my father. ‘We are not here to bandy words but to elect a king. If you are confident of being elected then let’s have the vote now and have an end to it. This is a not a debating chamber.’
‘No, indeed,’ quipped Narses.
The chief elder rose from his chair.
‘Majesties, let the vote then be counted. Who wishes Phraates, son of Sinatruces, to be King of Kings?’
Ten of us raised our hands. Phraates, being the candidate, was not allowed to vote, but it did not matter. Two kings who had not spoken sided with Phraates. They were Khosrou of Margiana and Musa, his neighbour to the west, the ruler of Hyrcania, a land that rested on the southern shores of the mighty Caspian Sea. Thus it was decided that Phraates would follow in his father’s footsteps. Narses sat with his arms folded, staring at the ground. Gallia leaned forward and whispered in my ear.
‘That one has not taken defeat lightly. I fear your father has made an enemy this day.’
‘I think you are right, my love, but he has the decision he wanted.’
The chief elder brought the council meeting to an end with another long and tedious sermon, and afterwards I offered my congratulations to Phraates, bowing my head to him.
‘Thank you, Pacorus. Your allegiance means a great deal to me.’
Gallia also bowed her head to him and he took her hand and kissed it.
‘Queen Gallia, truly you become more beautiful each time we meet. Parthia is indeed fortunate to have you as one of its queens.’
Ever the diplomat. My father embraced Phraates and slapped him hard on the back. As they parted Narses and King Porus of Sakastan stormed from the tent. It was the height of ill manners to do so without paying homage to the new King of Kings, though Phraates did his best to lessen the offence.
‘He is hot-headed, I fear. He will calm down.’
The reptile Mithridates was suddenly before his father, bowing deeply.
‘Hail, great king.’
‘You are now King of Susiana, Mithridates,’ said Phraates. ‘I hope that you have learned from your mistakes at Dura and will be a good king to your people.’
I doubted that, but Mithridates was clearly stung by his father’s rebuke.
‘My only regret is not dealing with the Agraci harshly enough.’
‘To say nothing of alienating your own people,’ I added.
Mithridates turned sharply to face me. ‘You dare to speak to me so.’
‘I do,’ I replied.
He was now incandescent. ‘This is an outrage,’ he bellowed, drawing the attention of others nearby.
‘Go and play with the other children, boy.’
His eyes flashed hatred. ‘And you attend to your whore.’
That was it. The time for talking was done. I drew my sword; he did likewise.
‘No!’ shouted Phraates, and within seconds my father and Balas were pulling me away, while Orodes and Phraates were berating Mithridates.
‘Are you mad?’ hissed my father. ‘The penalty for drawing your sword in the presence of the King of Kings is death.’
I felt anger coursing through my body and restrained myself with difficulty. Gallia stood in front of me.
‘You are a king, Pacorus, so act like one. If you want to brawl then go into the street and spare us the sight of such indignity.’
I looked at her, and then at my father. I breathed deeply and put my sword back in its scabbard. I held up my hands in submission and then made my way to Phraates, going down on one knee before him and bowing my head.
‘Great king, I have offended you. I await your punishment.’
‘Nonsense, nonsense. Get up, Pacorus. The day has been hot and long and we are all tired and our nerves frayed, and when the senses are dulled one says and does things that are out of character. I want you to embrace Mithridates and that shall be the end of the matter.’
He gestured with his arms that we should embrace. And so we embraced, and as we did so he whispered ‘slave’ into my ear, and I responded by calling him ‘boy’ ever so quietly so only he would hear. Then we parted, all false smiles and pretended affection.
My father was livid with me and refused to talk as we made our way back to our quarters, though Balas was as jovial as ever.