‘I would like to think so, Godarz, I would like to think so.’
‘Well,’ he stood up, ‘I can’t sit here chatting to you; I have a city to organise.’
The rumour of the approaching Roman army spread like wildfire and soon the volume of caravans on the road diminished to a trickle and then stopped altogether. This cast Rsan into the pit of despair but I told him there was nothing to be done, and in truth I was glad for it was one less thing to worry about. Not that there was any alarm in the city. The citizens had already been evacuated once, albeit for a short time, and they must have expected the same this time. After all, the Romans had been defeated here once, why not again? This result had given them a false sense of optimism; but then, that was better than panic.
It is around three hundred miles from Antioch to Dura, though the journey can be shortened by striking southeast from Antioch, across the desert, to reach my city. But that involves crossing vast stretches of wasteland, and whereas a lone traveller or a small group may attempt it, especially if they have a local guide to plot their course from waterhole to waterhole, no commander would lead his army into such a desolate vastness. Instead, Pompey would lead his legions directly west to the town of Aleppo, a centre of Greek learning and culture, and then west again until he reached the River Euphrates. He would then march down the west bank of the river, thus ensuring his men and animals had plentiful supplies of water, until he eventually reached Dura. It would take him just over three weeks to reach the city, which meant that I had a week to get the army to the kingdom’s northern frontier to meet him before he set foot on Duran territory. Preparations had gone smoothly, however, and the army was ready to march north when an agitated Domitus arrived at the Citadel. I was in the treasury explaining to Rsan that he must box up the city’s reserves of gold and silver for transportation across the river to Hatra in the event of my defeat.
‘I will leave sufficient soldiers behind to act as a guard for the treasure, but it is imperative that it gets to my father’s city. You are one of the few who know about the city’s evacuation and you must not tell anyone else.’
He was delighted that I had entrusted so big a secret to him, though perturbed about what it meant for his precious treasure.
‘But, majesty, I, you, have a great deal of gold and silver stored here, and if word got out that it is being moved.’
‘That is why it must remain a secret, Rsan. Tell no one, not even your most trusted official. On pain of death.’
He went ashen faced, but then recovered when I laid a hand on his shoulder. ‘Just keep it to yourself and liaise with Godarz, who also knows of my plan.’
Domitus came in unannounced and threw his helmet on Rsan’s table. ‘You need to keep that bitch under control.’
Rsan frowned at such rude behaviour but said nothing. He knew to stay clear of an angry Domitus.
‘What bitch is that?’ I asked.
‘Your sorceress, that’s who.’
‘Dobbai?’
‘Yes, and lucky for her that she has your favour, otherwise I would have slit her throat there and then.’
‘Calm down,’ I said, ‘and tell me what she has done.’
Dobbai usually restricted herself to the Citadel, occasionally going into the city to purchase herbs and spices for her concoctions, usually potions to cure Claudia’s teething problems and other minor ailments or to produce incense that she burned in her private quarters. She had endless arguments with Alcaeus concerning medicine and the treatment of illnesses. Alcaeus accused her of being a charlatan who took advantage of people’s fear and ignorance, while she accused him of being an ill-educated foreigner who had no business telling her about things he did not understand. But now she had commandeered a cart and driver and had visited Domitus’ camp, whereupon she had begun to order the soldiers to stop what they were doing immediately and seek refuge in the city, otherwise the desert sands would bury them. These men were battle-hardened veterans but they knew of Dobbai’s prophecies and her words had spread alarm throughout the camp like wildfire, much to Domitus’ fury.
‘Please go and get her,’ he said to me through gritted teeth, ‘otherwise I swear by Mars that I will cut her head off.’
So I rode from the Citadel to the camp where Domitus had confined Dobbai to his tent and placed her under armed guard. When I arrived she was sitting behind his desk, her hands resting on the polished surface. She leaned back in her chair when she saw me.
‘Where is your Roman pet, son of Hatra?’
‘Your words are not helping, Dobbai, we are preparing to march north.’
She shook her head. ‘You need to get everyone into the city, a storm is coming.’
‘Storm?’
‘I told you,’ she continued, ‘but you chose to ignore me.’
The day was hot and airless, like every other day of late, and the sky cloudless.
‘I have eyes, Dobbai, and the sky has no clouds. There is no wind, so I see no reason to believe that any storm is on its way.’
She rose from her chair and began pacing. ‘You have eyes but cannot see. As for your reason, it is deceiving you.’ She stopped pacing and looked at me, her expression one of almost pleading. ‘Do you trust me, Pacorus?’
A shiver went down my spine. She never called me by my name but she did so now. There was no mockery in her eyes, only a deadly seriousness that made me apprehensive.
‘I trust you.’
‘Then give the order to get everyone into the city. All the buildings must be boarded up and everyone must stay inside. You must give this order today or all will be lost.’
Reason told me that this was idiocy, that to disrupt our plans was foolhardy in the extreme. Yet my instincts screamed at me that it was the right thing to do. So I gave the order.
Domitus was at first enraged by my decision and then dumbfounded, but he carried out my order. I told Nergal to call in all his patrols as thousands of men and horses, and hundreds of carts and wagons filed into the city. The men were billeted in barracks in the city and Citadel, and fortunately there was enough room in the stables to accommodate the horses of the cataphracts, their squires and the horse archers, though it was a squeeze to say the least. But eight thousand foot soldiers could not be housed in the barracks, even with men sleeping on floors, and so they had to be billeted on the city’s citizens. I was thankful that two thousand more were safely housed in the forts that we had built up and down the Euphrates. The citizens grumbled but acquiesced — they had no choice — and the soldiers assisted each household in boarding up and securing the properties. The carts and wagons were stored in the city’s squares and along the sides of roads, and the supplies, spare clothing, tents, weapons and utensils they held were secured in homes, temples, offices and storerooms. Then the carts and wagons were themselves covered over with canvas.
In the Citadel itself soldiers were allocated to any spare rooms and bedded down in the feasting hall, throne room and even in the corridors. The Amazons filled the rooms next to our bedroom, though no one wanted, or dared, to bed down in Dobbai’s room. That night I held a grand meal in the feasting hall, though Domitus sat with a face like thunder and ate next to nothing throughout. He was close to despair, I think, and avoided my gaze all evening. Eventually he slammed his fist on the table and stormed out. I think he believed that I had taken leave of my senses and that we had let any chance of meeting the enemy at the border slip through our fingers. And then the storm struck.
Al-Dabaran, they call it, ‘The Follower’, one of the great sandstorms that sweep down from the north, caused by a prevailing northwesterly wind that kicks up the fine desert sand and dust and carries them south. Where there had been quiet and no wind, suddenly there was a dark sky as a wall of sand descended on the city, accompanied by a howling noise and a fierce wind, a wind that at first rattled the shutters and doors and then, as it grew in intensity, produced a banging noise at though huge fists were hammering on the shutters and doors, demanding entry.