He was taking a position of danger himself, offering to ride into Condercum and speak defiance to Arshak. Arshak’s men might resent what he said even if their commander didn’t. But it was also the position of honor, and I’d known that he would ask for it. I reached out and touched his hand. “Who else would I send, kinsman?” I asked him, and he smiled again.
I settled to the details. “Take the first ten of the bodyguard with you, and make sure you get guarantees of safe conduct before you enter the fort. I don’t think Arshak would injure you, but I don’t know now, he’s not what he was before. Don’t tell the Romans anything. None of the Roman officers in Condercum even realize we’ve quarreled, and it’s better to keep it that way: speak in front of them as though you were bringing Arshak a friendly invitation to go hunting.”
He nodded. “And to Arshak I should say?”
“Say to him, ‘Son of Sauromates, when I met you on the road, I told you I would meet you whenever you wished. You had no cause to ride to Corstopitum to hurl a few cheap and ridiculous words at a noble lady you had never met, as though I would be timid unless I were provoked. Stop behaving like a herdsman, leave off your attempts to murder me through the hands of your lying and treacherous allies, and come meet me like a prince.’ ”
Leimanos’ eyes glowed, and he tapped out the signal for the charge on his saddle. “That’s the way to speak, my lord!” He repeated the message twice to make sure he had it, elaborating it slightly each time, and grinned.
“Though when we come to the arrangements,” I confessed, “he cannot possibly meet me like a prince. The Romans would arrest us both if they knew we meant to fight. Make it clear to him that it’s going to take ten days or so to set things up, and that if we’re indiscreet, we’ll lose our chance. I’m not in too great a hurry. I expect to be able to move against his allies soon, and it will be much the best if I fight him with their ruin hanging over him, whatever the outcome of our meeting. Then even his triumph would be clouded and short-lived.”
Leimanos grinned even wider. “It’s good to see you like this, my lord. Almost like the old days. You remember the message you sent Rhusciporis when we got back from Segedunum?”
I had flaunted a successful raid to a rival at home. But this was something more serious, though I used the same kind of bold language. I nodded and made no comment. “Look out for a good place to meet on your way to and from Condercum. We need somewhere off the road, somewhere we won’t be seen by casual passersby, but it will have to have enough space for the horses. Suggest to Arshak that we each bring our bodyguard to the meeting, but leave the rest of our men behind-too many onlookers and the Romans will come searching for us. All the squadron leaders should be informed beforehand, though, and be made to swear that the contest will end with the death of one or both contenders. There must be no attempts at revenge and nothing that will cause trouble with the Romans.”
Leimanos nodded, but he was frowning now. We had come out the south gate by then, and had reached Flavina’s house; I reined in by the front door.
“What will the Romans do afterward?” he asked, in a low voice.
I shrugged and spread my hands. “I don’t know. If Arshak has been exposed as a traitor already, they may not punish me. They will probably arrest me, though. And Leimanos, I will want you, and the bodyguard, and all who follow me, to bear that quietly. I’ll require oaths from you on that, too.”
He was silent.
“Even Gatalas required that from his men,” I said.
“But not from his bodyguard.”
“He meant to die in battle against the Romans. I don’t.”
He sighed. “I can swear to bear it quietly if they arrest you for killing Arshak, my lord. I cannot swear to stand by and do nothing if they decide to execute you for it.”
“Leimanos, you are my heir. You know what I want.”
He shook his head, and suddenly pressed both hands to his ears, covering them to show that he would not listen. “You want the honor and safety of the dragon. But I’m not you, my lord. You were a scepter-holder, and you had no son or brother to inherit the scepter. If you’d petitioned the king, he would have granted you the right to stay in our own country, granted it freely, and I would have been left to take the dragon to Aquincum in your place. You chose to give the scepter to your sister’s son, instead, and come yourself, because you were our prince and we relied on you. We all know that, and we’ve been glad of it a hundred times over. I will not swear to stand by and watch the Romans execute you.”
I was silent a minute. I had underestimated them all again. No one had ever said to me, “You could have stayed at home,” and I’d thought that that realization had been mine alone. But my motives for coming had not been as pure as Leimanos seemed to think. I reached over and pulled one of his hands away from his ear. “That you relied on me was only one of the reasons,” I told him quietly. “I had others.”
He nodded. “And I know those, too, my lord-no wagon to ride home to, and imagined guilt because our raids helped to start the war. But the fact remains that you might be a prince and scepter-holder still, wealthy and powerful and able to choose a wife from among a kingdom of widows-and instead, you’re here. If you die in combat, I must accept that as the will of God. But I will not accept it otherwise. I swear it on fire.”
I let go and sat staring at him for a moment; he stared angrily back. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. “Well,” I said. “Well, chances are that either I will die in combat, or that the Romans will agree that Arshak was guilty of treason and do nothing to punish me. So long as you don’t start shooting if they arrest me, I’ll have to be content. And I’ve had a good omen, Leimanos. I met Tirgatao in a dream last night, and she said that she met Marha when she was in the fire, and that she begged my life from him. She said she gave it now to Pervica. I believe it was a true dream and that I will live to marry again.”
His eyes opened, very wide and blue. Then he raised his right hand toward the sun. “I pray it was true, my lord! She’d come whole out of the fire, then, by Marha’s kindness?”
“I met her in a meadow full of flowers, and the children were with her. The baby as well. And there was another thing in it that will please you: she gave me a dragon to carry me back to this earth, and it was our dragon, our standard.”
Leimanos grinned. “I accept the omen!” he cried, raising his hand again.
“It pleased me too,” I said. “I’m going to tell it to Pervica. If I had a kingdom of widows to choose from, Leimanos, I don’t think I could choose better than I’ve chosen here.”
“She is a brave and noble lady,” he agreed, much happier now. “Give her my regards. I must go now and collect the men. We’ll have to set out soon if I’m to reach Condercum today. I can tell Banadaspos what you’ve said?”
“Yes. Go with good fortune then, kinsman.”
He grinned, made his horse dance as he turned it, and galloped back up the road.
When I had tethered my horse by the house, I found that Pervica and Flavina both had been watching us through the shutters.
“Wasn’t that your captain Leimanos you were talking to?” asked Flavina, ushering me into the house. “Where’s he off to in such a hurry?”
“I had an errand for him,” I replied. “He sends his regards.” I had no intention of discussing Arshak in front of her, either: she’d be sure to tell her brother.
Pervica remained in the doorway a minute, looking anxiously northward after Leimanos. “You were talking very seriously.”
“Yes,” I said. “I had a dream last night which I have taken as an omen. It was of great concern to you, so I have come to tell it to you.” At this she looked so worried that I smiled and added, “It was a good dream.”