‘Not this Parthian, lord.’
‘No, not you. But few have your foresight. We have heard that your new lord high general has vowed to rid the earth of the Agraci.’
‘I would not worry about him,’ I said, ‘he would not dare venture near my kingdom, not unless he wants another mauling.’
‘Well,’ he said, ‘the Agraci know who their friends are and we know how to survive.’
Our stay in Palmyra was extremely pleasant and we took the opportunity to visit Noora, Byrd’s woman. Once again Gallia asked her to come back with us to Dura but again she refused. I said that I was sorry that I was responsible for her husband being away for long periods. She just shrugged and said that Byrd came and went as he pleased.
‘It does not matter, lord, for we will be together when we are old and frail, and then the days will be filled with nothing but each other’s company.’
Gallia was moved by these words.
‘I hope that we are still together when we are old.’
‘Why wouldn’t we be?’ I asked, as we were riding back to Dura.
‘Because it seems that you are always away fighting on behalf of the empire.’
I smiled. ‘I told you, I am done with all that. Now I shall stay in the Citadel and become fat and indolent and sire lots of children.’
She looked at me. ‘Is that right? A queen’s duties are endless, it seems.’
I smiled at her. ‘Duty? I thought it was a pleasure.’
‘Don’t flatter yourself, Pacorus.’
I had hoped that Dura would go unnoticed while Narses and Mithridates played their games of intrigue at Ctesiphon, and that the Romans would stay away after they had been given a bloody nose at the gates of my city. But when I told Domitus this he merely laughed and said that Mars had not finished with me yet. He himself seemed happy enough. The Duran Legion had been brought back up to strength, the Pontic contingent had been replenished with exiles from Armenia and more from Pontus itself, so that we now had nearly ten thousand foot soldiers, all trained and equipped in the Roman style. In fact we had so many legionaries that we were forced to billet them along the Euphrates in small mud-brick forts, each one having a watchtower and a small barracks for half a century — forty men — together with stables for four horses. We built fifty of these forts; the legionaries themselves carrying out their construction, each one spaced at five-mile intervals along the riverbank both north and south of the city. In this way two thousand soldiers were garrisoned outside Dura who also provided eyes and ears right up to the kingdom’s northern and southern borders. Not that they needed to do so, as the lords and those who lived on their lands kept a close watch, but it alleviated the crowded conditions in the camp outside Dura.
Nergal’s horse archers now totalled eleven hundred men and by promoting the most promising squires we had brought the cataphracts up to five hundred in number. Orodes had only two hundred and fifty out of his original five hundred heavy cavalry, but there was nothing that could be done about that. With his banishment he was forbidden to have any contact with his homeland or the other kings and princes of the empire; indeed, his men were free to leave him and travel back to Susa, though none did. I felt guilty that I was the cause of his misfortune but Gallia dismissed the notion, saying that he would not have stayed with me this long had he not wanted to. Nevertheless, in an effort to make him feel at home I hung his banner beside mine in the throne room.
With the horse archers that the lords could muster, Dura could now field an army of around twenty thousand men, a most respectable number given the modest size of the kingdom.
I had had no contact with my father since our argument the previous year, though there had been a flurry of letters between Gallia and my mother over the issue. My mother also wrote to me, usually begging me to visit Hatra, and I always wrote back expressing my love but evading her invitation. But no word came from my father and I would not budge on the matter. If he did not apologise then I would not contact him. I found it all rather tedious, but then a happy interlude occurred when Gafarn and Diana visited us and brought with them the welcome news that she was pregnant. They had left little Spartacus at Hatra but assured me that he was thriving.
‘He acts more like a prince every day,’ said Diana as we relaxed one evening on the palace terrace. Below us, small boats with lanterns at the prow were night fishing on the marble-smooth waters of the Euphrates.
‘Well, that is what he is,’ I replied, refilling Vistaspa’s cup with wine.
‘Thank you, majesty,’ he replied.
‘There is no need to be so formal, Vistaspa,’ said Gallia, ‘we are all friends here.’
Gafarn laughed and Vistaspa looked awkward. A lifetime of strict adherence to protocol was difficult to put aside. I had been most surprised that Vistaspa had come to Dura, but he must have missed Godarz. Diana told me that he had been delighted with the invitation to accompany them. Rather than billet him at the palace I had lodged him at the governor’s house with his old friend.
‘It is so good to see you, Diana,’ Gallia was smiling as she held Diana’s hand.
‘When are you two going to visit Hatra?’ Diana looked at me.
‘When my father apologises, of course,’ I replied.
Gafarn was shaking his had. ‘Same old Pacorus, stubborn as a mule.’
‘If you had been arrested,’ I said, ‘you would think the same as me.’
‘No I wouldn’t. I would be grateful that I had a father.’
‘I will visit Hatra,’ announced Gallia, ‘with or without Pacorus.’
‘Do as you wish,’ I said.
‘I will,’ she replied.
Vistaspa was staring down into his cup, no doubt highly embarrassed by the conversation.
‘It is not good that Dura and Hatra do not have warm relations. Is that not so, Lord Vistaspa?’ asked Diana.
Vistaspa cleared his throat. ‘I think that Narses fears a united Dura and Hatra, especially as King Pacorus worsted him in battle. A divided father and son plays into his hands.’
‘Well said,’ remarked Gafarn, ‘though perhaps we should write it on the wall in big letters so Pacorus can understand it better.’
Gallia and Diana laughed. Vistaspa looked more embarrassed.
‘Did you come all this way just to annoy me, brother?’ I asked.
‘Of course not, it’s far too easy and therefore no fun at all.’
I toyed with the idea of riding to Hatra and making amends with my father. Everyone urged me to do it, even Dobbai, who usually took no interest in emotional matters.
‘You are Hatra’s heir, though you will never wear its crown.’
‘I do not understand,’ I replied.
‘Of course you do not. The gods made you useful with a sword not with your brain. The future king of Hatra is at this moment within your walls.’
Her ramblings became worse by the day and in truth I took what she said with a pinch of salt. The visit of Gafarn and Diana was over too soon, and on the morning of their departure they again both urged me to make amends with my father. Finally relenting, I promised them that I would, and that Gallia and I would be journeying to Hatra soon after they had departed. This pleased them immensely and they both left Dura happy, as did Vistaspa. As Gafarn, Diana and their escort were leaving the Citadel, the commander of my father’s army halted his horse beside me.
‘Your army is a credit to you, Pacorus, well done. The empire is all the stronger for having a king such as you serving it.’
With that he bowed his head to Gallia and then me and rode away. Strange as it may seem, his few words of praise meant the world to me.
It was just two days after our friends had departed that Malik and Byrd arrived at the Citadel, both unshaven and covered in dust from what had obviously been a hard ride. The look on their faces told me the news they brought was not good.
Byrd gulped down a cup of water that was offered to him. ‘Romani army marching from Syria.’