Lion of Macedon

'Very true, but it is likely that the victor will also receive wounds. I would not want a second man to bleed to death.'

'I do not wish to wait,' declared Nestus. 'Soon the sun will be down. Let us begin.'

'I agree,' said Parmenion. Xenophon looked at him closely.

'Very well, you both have swords, and the required number of witnesses are present. I suggest you salute one another, and then begin.'

Nestus drew his blade and glared at Parmenion. 'There will be no salute to you, mix-blood.'

'As you wish,' Parmenion answered calmly. 'But before we fight, I want you to know that I love Derae — even as you must.'

'Love? What would you know of it? I shall remember her with great fondness — and I shall especially remember the moment when I told her father, in her presence, the price he would have to pay for my shame. She did not look pretty then, half-breed, not as she fell to her knees begging her father not to let her die.'

'You asked for her death?'

'I demanded her death — as I demanded yours.'

'Well,' said Parmenion, feeling the heat of rising fury but holding it in check, 'you had your way with her. Now let us see if you can fight as well as you can hate.'

Nestus suddenly lunged. The Sword of Leonidas flashed up, iron clashing on iron as Parmenion parried the thrust. Nestus slashed a backhand cut, but Parmenion blocked it.

The watchers spread out around the fighters. Xenophon had walked back to the shade of the roof, where he sat hunched forward with his chin on his hands, watching every move. Nestus, he saw, had the strength, but Parmenion was more swift. Their swords rang together and for several minutes they circled, testing one another's skill, then Parmenion's blade slashed down to open a shallow cut at the top of Nestus' right shoulder. Blood sprayed out, staining the young man's blue tunic.

Xenophon rose and rejoined the watching group, who were cheering Nestus on and shouting advice.

Nestus launched an attack, sending a stabbing lunge towards Parmenion's throat, but Parmenion sidestepped and lanced his blade into his opponent's side, the sword ripping the skin and glancing from his ribs. Grunting with pain, Nestus backed away. Blood was now flowing from two wounds and the watching men fell silent. Parmenion feinted a cut to the head but dropped the blade down, hammering it into his opponent's left side. A rib snapped under the impact and Nestus screamed in pain, only partly parrying a second lunge which opened the wound further. Blood now drenched his blue tunic and was coursing down his leg.

'Enough!' yelled Xenophon. 'Stand back from each other!'

Both men ignored him. Stepping in close, Parmenion blocked a feeble thrust and plunged his sword into Nestus' belly. With a terrible cry Nestus dropped his blade and fell to his knees.

Parmenion wrenched his sword loose and looked down at his opponent. 'Tell me,' he hissed, 'is this how Derae looked when she was upon her knees, begging for her life?'

Nestus was trying to stem the blood gushing from his belly. He looked up and saw Parmenion's eyes.

'No. . more,' he pleaded.

'You came for death. You found it,' said Parmenion.

'No!' shouted Xenophon as the Sword of Leonidas rose-and hacked down into the kneeling man's throat, severing the jugular and smashing the bones of the neck. Nestus rolled to his side.

Parmenion turned away from the corpse and focused his gaze on Leonidas. 'Pick up his sword,' urged Parmenion. 'Come on! Take it — and die like he did.'

'You are a savage,' said Leonidas, seeing the light of madness in Parmenion's eyes. The young Spartan strode forward and knelt by Nestus, rolling the man to his back and closing his eyes.

Xenophon took Parmenion's arm. 'Come away now,' said the general, his voice low. 'Come away.'

'Does no one else want to fight me?' shouted Parmenion. His eyes raked the group, but no one would meet his stare.

'Come away,' urged Xenophon. 'This is not seemly.'

'Seemly?' Parmenion tore himself from Xenophon's grasp. 'Seemly? They've killed Derae and they've come to kill me. Where is seemly in all this?'

Xenophon turned to Leonidas. 'There is a small wagon at the rear of the house — you may use it to return Nestus to his family. I suggest you leave now.' He swung back to Parmenion. 'Sheathe your sword, there will be no more fighting here. The battle warrant was issued and it has been served.

Further bloodshed will accomplish nothing.'

'No,' said Parmenion. 'They came to kill me so let them try. Let them try now.'

'If you do not put away your sword and return to the house, the next person you fight will be me.

Do I make myself clear to you?'

Parmenion blinked and opened his mouth to speak, but there were no words. He dropped the sword and strode to the house. Clearchus and Tinus were standing in the doorway, but they moved aside to let him pass. He sat in his room, his mind reeling. Derae was gone. At this moment she was alive, somewhere out to sea; but in a matter of days she would be dead, and he would not know the hour of her passing.

The door opened and Clearchus came in, carrying a bowl of water and a towel. 'Better clean the blood off,' advised the servant, 'and change your tunic. What would you like for your supper?'

Parmenion shook his head. 'Supper? I just killed a man. How can you ask me about supper?'

'I've killed a lot of men,' said Clearchus. 'What has that to do with food? He was alive. Now he's not. He was a fool; he should have listened to Xenophon and rested first. But he didn't. So…

what would you like for supper?'

Parmenion rose, and felt the tension slide from him as he looked into the old man's face. 'You don't hate me, do you? Why is that? I know you did not like me when you were my judge at the Games. Why is it you now befriend me?'

Clearchus met his gaze and grinned. 'A man can change his mind, boy. Now, since you seem incapable of deciding what to eat I shall prepare some fish in soured milk; it sits well on a queasy belly.

Now bathe and change. You'll have a long ride tomorrow."

'Tomorrow? Where should I go tomorrow?'

'Corinth would be a good place to start, but I think Xenophon will send you to Thebes. He has a friend there, a man named Epaminondas. You'll like him.'

* * *

'We have such dreams,' said Xenophon as they walked together in the gardens under bright moonlight, 'and sometimes I think the gods mock us. I wanted to conquer Persia, to lead a united army into the richest kingdom the world has ever seen. Instead I live like a retired gentleman.

You wanted to find love and happiness; it has been taken from you. But you are young, Parmenion; you have time.' 'Time? Without Derae nothing is worthwhile,' answered Parmenion. 'I know it deep inside my soul. She was the one. We were so close during those five days.'

'I know this may sound callous, my friend, but perhaps your passion deceives you. You are not yet a worldly man and it may be that you were merely infatuated. And there are many women in Thebes to make a man happy.'

Parmenion gazed out over the man-made lake, watching the fragmented moon floating on the surface.

'I shall not love again,' he said. 'I will never open my heart to the risk of so much pain. When my mother died I felt lost and alone, but deep in my heart I had been expecting it — and, I suppose, preparing for it. But Derae? It is as if a beast with terrible talons had reached inside me and ripped away my heart. I feel nothing. I have no dreams, no hopes. For a moment back there I was willing for Nestus to kill me. But then he told me he had ordered Derae's death.'

'Not too clever of him, was it?' observed Xenophon drily. Parmenion did not smile.

'When I killed Learchus that night, I felt a surge of joy. I gloried in his death. But today I killed a man who did not deserve to die, watched the light of life fade from his eyes. Worse, he begged me not to strike the death blow."