‘I carry no weapons, as you requested.’
Iccius drew close to my wagon. He wore brown leggings and brown leather boots, and the sweat was dripping from him. At his waist he carried a sword in an ornate sheath, while on his head he wore a helmet of iron with a black horsehair crest. He looked from me to the chest in the back of the wagon.
‘Show me the gold.’
‘Show me Gallia.’
He jerked his hand over his shoulder. ‘She is there, in plain view.’
‘It looks like Gallia, but all Gaul women appear the same from a distance. I need to be sure.’
‘You try my patience, Parthian.’
I jumped in the back of the wagon and opened the chest, which was filled with shiny gold coins. Iccius’s eyes lit up, as did those of the men with him.
‘A simple request, from one prince to another.’
He turned and gestured to the man holding Gallia’s reins to come forward, and then directed each of the men with him to examine the contents of the other wagons. Within minutes they were beaming like children with new presents and shouting at their leader, obviously pleased with what they had found. I looked past Iccius to Gallia, who was about fifty feet away. Her wrists were still bound and her reins were still being held. Iccius turned away from me and signalled to the men standing by the trees for them to come forward.
The wagons were simple affairs, essentially rectangular wooden boxes with a tool chest at the front end, just behind the driver’s seat. I now opened this box, removed my bow from inside, strung an arrow from the quiver that lie beside it and shot it at Gallia’s guard. The shaft hit him squarely in the chest and knocked him from his horse. Fortunately he tumbled backwards and released Gallia’s reins as he did so. I strung another arrow and saw it go through Iccius’s neck. He remained on his horse, gurgling as blood poured from his neck and as he made feeble attempts to claw at the shaft. I leapt from the wagon and ran over to Gallia. I reached her and cut the rope around her wrists. Behind me, all the other Gaul horsemen had been killed by my men, who were now directing their fire at the other Gauls on foot. They had halted about two hundred feet away, having been dumfounded by what had happened to their prince. Now, eleven expert Parthian archers, the best shots I had, were standing on their wagons firing at stationary targets. There was no wind and so Gafarn, Rhesus, Nergal and the others were picking off Gauls with ease.
‘Can you ride?’ I said to Gallia.
‘Yes.’
‘Then follow the others back to camp. Go.’
I slapped her horse’s hindquarters and the beast sprinted forward. I ran back to the horses tied to my wagon, cut the straps that bound them to the shaft and jumped onto the back of one. The horses that had been pulling the wagons were our cavalry mounts. I grabbed both sets of reins and kicked my mount forward. The others did the same while the surviving Gauls, maddened by our treachery, screamed their war cry and charged towards us. We galloped across the bridge, which was guarded by Gafarn and Nergal. I ensured that Gallia and the others were safely across before I ordered them to cross also, handing Gafarn the reins of my spare horse. They both picked off a couple of running Gauls before turning around and retreating like the others. I steadied my mount and strung an arrow in my bowstring. I saw a giant of a Gaul racing towards me, with a massive beard, a sword in one hand and shield in the other. He was ahead of the others, his long legs propelling him forward. He was heading straight for me, his face contorted in hate and bellowing something in his native tongue. I raised my bow and loosed the arrow, which travelled straight and true and hit him in the left shoulder. He staggered and fell and I laughed. But then my mirth disappeared as he got to his feet and continued on his way towards me, not as fast as before, but still walking determinedly in my direction. I put another arrow into him, this time in his stomach, causing him to roll forward. After a few seconds he rose to his feet again and roared his hate at me. Was he some sort of demon sent from the underworld? Behind him his companions were closing on me fast, so I strung another arrow and took careful aim, releasing the cord as the other Gauls sprinted past him. The arrow went into his right eye socket but he just stood there. I pulled on the reins and directed my horse back across the bridge. A spear flashed past me as I crouched low on the horse’s back and screamed at him to move faster. I glanced back and saw the big Gaul topple onto the ground, though I never did find out if he sprang back to his feet a few seconds later. I galloped to the edge of the meadow where Gafarn and Nergal were waiting for me.
I was sweating and panting heavily. ‘Is Gallia safe?’
‘She rode ahead of us, highness.’
Behind us angry Gauls were still chasing me, but they were now some distance away and would not catch us.
‘Time to go,’ I said. I waited at the first trees until Nergal and Gafarn had ridden away, then followed them back down the track. Behind us we left twelve chests of gold and hopefully one dead Gaul prince and a slain bearded giant.
Our arrival back at camp was greeted with rapturous cheers. Gallia brought her horse to a halt before my tent, jumped to the ground and hugged a sobbing Diana and hopping Rubi. Next came Claudia, wrapping her arms around all of them, followed by a beaming Spartacus whose massive arms seemed to engulf all four of the woman. Burebista threw a screen of lance-carrying horsemen around the camp lest the Gauls tried to attack us, but none dared approach us. The area around my tent son became a mass of people who wanted to convey their joy at seeing Gallia again. I didn’t realise until that moment how popular she was and how many people must have also fallen in love with her. Then came Praxima and the rest of the women warriors, squealing with joy like a group banshees. Gafarn stood beside me as the din increased and a steady stream of individuals approached to pay their respects.
‘It is good to have her back, highness.’
‘It certainly is. That was good shooting back at the bridge, by the way. I am in your debt.’
‘Of course, your skills with a bow are almost as good as mine.’ He always had a knack of reminding me what a fine shot he was. ‘Do you think the Gauls will attack us?’
I shrugged. ‘They can try, but if they do I will personally burn the king’s berg, and with him inside. Wretched man.’
Gafarn smiled slyly. ‘You do know he will be your father-in-law?’
‘I would prefer to celebrate him as a deceased father-in-law.’
‘No invitation to the palace in Hatra for him, then?’
‘No, Gafarn,’ I replied irritably.
Gafarn did come in useful a while later when I asked him to prise Diana away from Gallia and also asked everyone else to leave us. Later, when Gallia had washed and changed her clothes, we had a meal alone in my tent. I sat next to her and put my arm around her shoulder as she tucking into a plate of roasted pork slices and vegetables.