She shook her head. ‘I was nothing to my father, so why should I weep for him? You and the people that I am close to here are my family. I have no other.’
In the next few days the army moved north to the River Pagus, a great, winding river that flowed east to the Adriatic Sea. Here, we made camp and enjoyed, for the first time since we had left Thurri, a period of rest. We pitched our tents on the south side of the great river, which was a thousand feet wide at this point, with Thracians in the centre and the other contingents either side in a great but organised sprawl that extended for miles. My horsemen were established on the right flank of the army, occupying a spit of land half a mile across on a great bend in the river. The grassland either side of the river was lush and the river itself full of fish. Very soon, a host of men were fishing along the banks and reaping a rich haul of rainbow trout, lake trout, brown trout, grayling, whitefish, barbel, catfish, pike, perch, tench, carp, chub, dace, bream and roach. Immediately west of our camp was a stretch of open ground on the concave bend of the river. Here, the riverbank was almost flat and we could take the horses up to the river and walk them into the water. The river itself, though deep, flowed gently so it was possible to coax a horse into the water up his shoulders quite safely. I did this with Remus, and though at first he was slightly reticent, he soon got to enjoy the experience.
The wounded were tended to and began their recovery, weapons were mended in the forges that were set up and Godarz organised the making of thousands of new arrows. As usual, Byrd established his camp on the perimeter of the army and sent his scouts out each day to watch for the enemy. But no enemy came. Indeed, his men found scarce evidence of anybody. Clearly our fearsome reputation had spread far and wide and had terrified all and sundry.
We had been at the Pagus two weeks when I rode with Gallia, Diana and Gafarn to find Spartacus after receiving an invitation to attend him. Byrd had just returned from one of his scouting missions and had informed me that a great trail of people were fleeing towards Mutina, but that he and his men had seen nothing to the north, which meant that our route to the Alps and freedom was open. We found Spartacus in the river, stripped to the waist and stood in the water up to his thighs with a javelin in his hand. Beside him stood Domitus, likewise stripped to the waist, both of them looking at the water intently. On the bank sat Claudia and Akmon, with two wicker baskets between them. We halted and dismounted, tying the horses to a wagon that lay nearby. Claudia raised her hand to us then put a finger to her lips to indicate that we should not make any noise. Suddenly Domitus jabbed his pilum down and extracted an impaled wriggling trout from the water. He grabbed the fish and threw it onto the bank, then Akmon put it in one of the baskets.
‘Ha,’ exclaimed Akmon, ‘that’s three to nothing, Spartacus. Looks like you and Claudia will be going hungry tonight.’
Spartacus drew back his javelin so the tip was near his waist and then thrust it down as hard as he could. He missed.
Domitus shook his head. ‘No, no, no. You’re not trying to kill a man, just tickling a trout. Let them swim near the tip, then strike.’ And just to prove his point, he flicked his wrist and speared yet another fish.
Spartacus threw the javelin onto the bank in frustration and then waded ashore. The sun glinted on his thick, muscular arms, huge shoulders and broad chest, the left side of which carried a long white scar that coursed down from his shoulder blade. He saw me looking at it.
‘A gift from a big Nubian in the arena at Capua. Occupational hazard when you are a gladiator.’ Claudia passed him a tunic and he then embraced Diana and Gallia, the both of them now sat beside Claudia on the riverbank.
Spartacus frowned when he heard a splash and an exultant yell from Domitus, then saw another fish being tossed onto the ground beside him. ‘Enough fishing for one day, Domitus. We have other things to attend to.’
At that moment Castus and Cannicus appeared, dressed in tunics and sandals, swords at their waists. Following behind came the stocky shape of Afranius, who had shaved his head so that he appeared fiercer than ever. He nodded curtly to all assembled and stood bolt upright with his arms by his side.
‘Sit, Afranius,’ said Spartacus, gesturing to some stools placed in front of a table that was loaded with bread, fruit, jugs of wine and plates of meat that had been cooked earlier. ‘Have something to eat and drink. All of you, please, refresh yourselves.’
As we were eating and indulging in idle chat, Godarz and Byrd arrived, which was the signal for Spartacus to reveal the reason he had summoned us all.
‘Friends,’ he began, ‘we have travelled a long way together and have won many victories.’
I, Domitus, Castus and Cannicus cheered. Spartacus held up a hand to still us.
‘But now we have reached the end of our journey. Tomorrow I will assemble the army and release every man and woman from my service. They will be free to march north and cross the Alps, thence to travel to their homelands or wherever they will. I can ask no more of them, or you. Thus today I wished to share the company of my friends one last time, before we all go to fulfill our destinies.’
He walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. ‘For Pacorus, this means going back to his father’s kingdom.’ He smiled at Gallia. ‘And he will take with him a great prize that he has won, perhaps the greatest prize in the whole of Italy and Gaul.’ I blushed and Castus slapped me on the back. Spartacus looked at Godarz and Domitus in turn. ‘I know that others will join our young prince in Parthia, and it fills me with joy that they will do so, for I know that they will be safe there.’
‘And you, lord?’ I said.
He looked at Claudia. ‘I fear that for us there may not be a happy ending. Rome will hunt us down wherever we go.’
‘You will always be welcome in Hatra, lord,’ I said. ‘Roman reach does not extend to Parthia.’
He smiled. ‘Thank you, but no, Claudia and I have our own plans. We think it best if we slip into the mists of anonymity and disappear from history.’
‘You’re too big to be anonymous,’ grumbled Akmon.
‘What about you, Afranius?’ said Castus.
‘I will stay in Italy. I have not finished with Rome.’ He reminded me of Crixus, bursting with hate.
Yet it was a happy day, full of laughter and good company, and as the sun began to set in the west we toasted our friendship and our freedom, for what I had always taken for granted had become a precious thing for me, though the most precious of all was seated beside me and I was taking her back to Hatra. But freedom was the idea that bounded us all to each other, the invisible sinew that tied the whole army together. And on that day I made a vow that I would never own a slave again, for I had been one and knew what misery they had to endure. And on a warm summer’s evening in northern Italy, by a mighty meandering river, I fell asleep in the midst of my friends and in the arms of the woman I loved.
Two days later the army was assembled by noon, nearly sixty thousand troops and another five thousand women and children we had somehow collected on our travels through Italy. We looked magnificent that day. We still had much Roman gold and silver that we had taken from the enemy, and I had earlier sent Byrd into Mutina to purchase the finest black leather bridle, breastgirth and saddle straps money could buy for Remus, Roman money that is. To the Romans Byrd was just another trader with a wagon, albeit one with a strange accent. When he returned I had the leather inlaid with silver coins that were pierced through the centre and then sewn onto the leather. I cleaned my black cuirass and hung alternating strips of thin steel and silver from its base so that they shimmered in the sun. Byrd also purchased a new thick woolen cloak for me that was pure white with a silver clasp. Remus’ mane was tied in place with black leather strips and his tail was wrapped with a black cotton guard that was also decorated with silver strips. He looked like a steed of the gods, as befitting a prince of Hatra. On my head I wore my Roman helmet with a thick white crest of goose feathers and at my waist I wore the sword that Spartacus had given me many months before.