Centurion

Macro laughed out loud. 'I don't think so, sunshine! Not after what you've done.'

'Really?' Artaxes smiled and then winced as another wave of pain momentarily seized him. A cold sweat broke out on his brow as he continued. 'You don't know my father. Like most fathers, he has a weakness. A compulsion to indulge his favourite son, whatever I may have done.'

There was a moment's silence as the others considered his words.Then Balthus nodded and said quietly,'He's right. It will be a difficult situation…' He turned to the nearest of his men and barked an order. Before Macro and Cato realised what was happening, several bows were raised and arrows whipped through the air, thudding into Artaxes where he lay on the ground. He gasped, looking at his brother with a shocked expression.Then his eyes glazed over and he slumped back and stared into the sky, mouth open and slack.

Balthus looked at him for a moment and tipped his head slightly to one side.

'But not any more.'

08 Centurion

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The day after the battle the legions' priests performed the funeral rites for the men who had been killed. The pyres flared up into the night sky and by dawn their blackened remains dotted the desert as the army began its march back to Palmyra. The suffering of the enemy injured was ended with merciful thrusts to their throats, while the Roman wounded were carried from the battlefield and treated as well as they could be before being loaded on to carts, the backs of mules and horses, or makeshift stretchers carried by their comrades. Other parties of soldiers scoured the battlefield to retrieve any usable weapons that lay scattered over the ground.

The enemy dead were left where they lay, sprawled in heaps across the sand. Many hundreds more were dotted about the surrounding landscape where they had been cut down by the pursuing Roman cavalry. The Parthian army had been effectively destroyed. The survivors were scattered and leaderless and most had abandoned their weapons and armour. There was nothing left for them now but a long retreat back across the desert to the Euphrates and the lands of Parthia beyond.Without water few would make it home, and those who did would have a sorry tale to tell. It would be many years before Parthia dared to challenge Rome again.

Two days later, as the army constructed a marching camp close to the walls of Palmyra, General Longinus led a procession of officers and Prince Balthus, picked soldiers and captives through the gates of the city and along the main thoroughfare towards the royal palace. As soon as the king had received a message from Longinus announcing the outcome of the battle Vabathus had declared a public holiday to celebrate the end of the rebellion and the defeat of Parthia. Yet there was little sign of rejoicing as the Romans tramped along the paved road behind their standards. Macro and Cato marched just ahead of the standards with the other officers and they could see by the rigid set of the general's head that Cassius Longinus was not best pleased by his muted reception.

'What's going on?' Macro asked quietly. 'You'd think they'd be happy the rebellion is over.'

Cato glanced round. Only a handful of the city's inhabitants stood along the route, and they watched in wary silence as the soldiers passed by.

'You can hardly blame them. They've seen more than enough fighting this last month. They'll be grateful once they accept that peace has returned.'

Macro considered his friend's explanation for a moment and then shrugged. 'Maybe, but I'd like my gratitude now. I didn't march all the way across a bloody baking desert, and sit out a siege, then fight a battle just so that I could be made to feel as welcome as a fart in a testudo.'

'Please yourself, but I'm grateful just to get back to Palmyra.'

Macro glanced at him and grinned. 'I'm sure you are. Of course that has nothing to do with that daughter of Sempronius, right?'

Cato felt a flush of irritation but managed to make himself smile back. 'It has everything to do with her. With Julia.' He felt his heart warm even at the mention of her name. 'Her father gave me his word that I could marry her when I got back.'

'If you got back, is what he said.'

'If, when, what's the difference?'

Macro smiled sadly. 'Everything, when you don't expect a man to survive long enough to make you honour your word.'

Cato's eyes narrowed. 'What do you mean?'

'Oh, come on, lad! You're not thick. Sempronius is an aristocrat. You're the son of a freedman. Hardly the best match for his precious daughter. He was humouring you.'

Cato thought it over for a moment and shook his head. 'No. It doesn't make sense. If Sempronius had no intention of letting me marry Julia, then why promise her to me if there was any chance that I would return? I think you've got it wrong, Macro.Very wrong.'

'Well…All I can say is that I hope so, lad. I really do.'

They marched on in silence, through the almost deserted avenue that ran through the city towards the palace complex. As they drew near the entrance, a lofty arch that spanned the paved road, a small crowd of ragged women and children on either side began to cheer half-heartedly at their approach. Once General Longinus drew level with the crowd they began to throw brilliant white petals in his path.

'A nice thought,' Macro remarked quietly. 'But hardly reeking of sincerity. This lot must be the dregs of the street, hired to greet us.'

'You wanted a welcome fit for a hero,' Cato responded. 'Well, here it is. At least the general is making the most of it.'

Macro glanced ahead and saw that Longinus was bowing his head gravely to each side and holding his hand up in an aloof gesture of acknowledgement. The centurion sniffed. 'From the way he's carrying on you'd think he had already been awarded his ovation and was marching down the Sacred Way in Rome with a vast crowd on either side and a personal escort of vestal virgins.'

'Perhaps he's treating this as a dress rehearsal for the real thing,' Cato added wryly.

'Do you really think Longinus deserves a prize for what he's done? Those Parthian boys nearly had us cold.'

'You know how it is, Macro. Doesn't matter how many men you lose, nor how many mistakes you make along the way. As long as you get the right result. And any victory over the Parthians is bound to go down well in Rome. So there'll be a celebration. Anything to keep the plebs happy.'

'Great…'

Cato looked round at the other officers and then lowered his voice still further. 'And it has the added benefit of separating him from his legions for a while. Given his ambitions, that's no bad thing.'

Macro nodded. Despite having frustrated Longinus' plans to build up an army capable of overthrowing the Emperor, they had still not uncovered enough evidence to prove his treachery. Narcissus was not going to be satisfied with their efforts, Macro thought with a sinking feeling.The Emperor's secretary was not noted for his patience with those who failed to deliver what he required of them. Macro and Cato had been sent to the eastern provinces to expose Longinus as a traitor. Whatever else they had achieved, Longinus had not incriminated himself enough to justify removing him from office and destroying him. It had been different in the days of Caligula, when any Roman could be executed on a whim. His successor was determined that such extrajudicial excesses would no longer be encouraged.

Macro smiled to himself as he reflected that Narcissus probably pined for the brutal simplicity of the previous regime.

Just then he caught sight of a familiar face on the edge of the crowd and he paused a moment and stepped out of line. Cato turned with a quizzical expression and joined his friend. 'What's the matter?'

'You go on. I'll catch you up.'

'Why? What is it?'

'Someone I have to speak to. You go on,' Macro said firmly.

Cato shrugged, then rejoined the column. Glancing back he saw Macro walk slowly towards the small crowd of ragged people lining the street and stop in front of a girl.