My father stopped pacing and looked at Orodes. ‘Prince Orodes, I regret to inform you that your father is dead.’
There was a stunned silence.
Orodes went pale. ‘Dead? How, are you quite sure, majesty?’
‘We received word from Ctesiphon a week ago.’
‘What was the cause of his death?’ I asked.
‘A broken heart, we were told. Brought on by the murder of Chosroes at your hand.’
I was dumbfounded. ‘What?’
‘My sincerest condolences for your father, Orodes,’ continued my father, ‘he was a good man.’
Orodes’ eyes were cast down. ‘Yes, he was.’
‘Mithridates blames you for his father’s death, Pacorus, and has sworn vengeance against you,’ said my father. ‘Moreover, because the empire is in a state of war Mithridates has become temporary King of Kings until the present emergency is dealt with.’
‘What war, what emergency?’ I asked.
‘Do not you see, son of Hatra,’ said Dobbai, ‘that you were the instrument by which Mithridates has gained the high crown?’ She looked at the wilted figure of Orodes. ‘I grieve for you, young prince, for your father was surely murdered by Mithridates and the queen, poisoned most likely, and now your brother rules in Ctesiphon.’
‘How can he become King of Kings without the agreement of the other kings of the empire?’ I asked.
‘It is simple arithmetic,’ replied my father. ‘Gordyene has no king and is no longer part of the empire.’
‘That is only temporary,’ I spat.
My father frowned and held up his hand. ‘Gordyene has no king, and neither does Sakastan, thanks to you, or for that matter Mesene, also thanks to you. You have been banished, which means Dura has no vote in the matter. This means that the kingdoms of Susiana, Carmania, Drangiana, Aria, Anauon, Yueh-Chih, Persis and Sakastan support the election of Mithridates as temporary King of Kings.’
Now it was my turn to pace the terrace. ‘But Narses rules both Persis and Sakastan, those kingdoms cannot have two votes.’
My father shook his head. ‘He rules his own kingdom and is protector over Sakastan.’
‘Mere semantics,’ growled Orodes, still looking down.
My father sighed. ‘That may be, prince, but Narses can still muster two votes on this issue.’
‘But the kingdoms in the western half of the empire,’ I said.
‘Are out-voted, Pacorus,’ interrupted my father. ‘And even if they were not they have no stomach for another civil war. Atropaiene and Media have been weakened by conflict with the Romans, while potential enemies surround Gotarzes at Elymais. The kings are tired of fighting Pacorus, and many of them blame you for the cause of much of it.’
I stopped pacing and looked at him. ‘And Hatra?’
He smiled, the first time he had done so today. ‘Hatra will stand by you.’
‘But the only one that will,’ said Dobbai. ‘Your enemies increase in number, son of Hatra. I did warn you, but your thirst for glory blinded you. You should have marched on Ctesiphon instead or Uruk. You had the armies of other kings with you then.’
‘They would not have supported an attack against the high king,’ said my father sternly.
Dobbai cackled. ‘Now you will face the wrath of two empires.’
‘Two empires?’ I said.
An evil grin spread over her old face. ‘You did not think that Rome had forgotten about you, did you?’
‘Careful old woman,’ I replied, ‘one day you will talk your head off your shoulders.’
‘But not before two mighty armies will march against you, son of Hatra, one from the east and one from the west. Not before then.’
My father left for Hatra the next morning. He told us that we would always have refuge in Hatra. Gallia embraced him in the courtyard as his bodyguard waited for their king.
‘We will not leave our home,’ she said.
He picked up Claudia and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Don’t leave it too long before you visit us. Your mother misses you all.’
He put Claudia down and offered me his hand. I took it.
‘Take care of Orodes, he has suffered a heavy blow.’
‘I shall, father.’
He suddenly looked old and careworn. ‘And take care of yourself. You have, unfortunately, made powerful enemies who have no understanding of the virtue of forgiveness.’
‘Dura’s walls and its army are strong, father.’
He mounted his horse and managed a smile for Gallia and Claudia.
‘You cannot fight everyone, Pacorus. May Shamash protect you.’
He rode from the Citadel with his bodyguard following him. Gallia and Dobbai took Claudia back inside and I stood alone in the courtyard. Guards stood on the walls and at the gates and squires busied themselves tending to their masters’ horses. A party of cataphracts in full war gear, a kontus resting on every right shoulder, trotted from the stables, across the courtyard and through the gates, raising their left hands in salute as they rode past me. The routine of military life went on, oblivious to the machinations of kings.
That afternoon I wrote a letter to Mithridates at Ctesiphon. I am no scribe, but I think it summed up my feelings succinctly. I sat alone on my bedroom balcony, Najya perched on a stand beside me.
To King Mithridates
Word has recently reached me that your father, King Phraates, has died of a broken heart. It indeed breaks my heart to think that such a good man has departed this world, and sickens me greatly that the one who was the cause of his death has stolen his crown and now dares to call himself the King of Kings.
I have also heard that you hold me responsible for your father’s death, and have used this lie to deceive numerous other kings of the empire into electing you to your present high office. And now you seek to make yourself master of all the Parthian Empire, but I have to tell you that while I still live you will never know peace. For you are a poison at the very heart of the empire, and every day that you sit upon the throne Parthia dies a little. The only cure for the empire is to remove this ulcer, this rottenness, and that includes your lackey Narses, another traitor who fouls the empire by his mere existence. I will not rest until you and he have suffered the same fate as those other traitors Porus and Chosroes. This I swear by all that is sacred.
I remain, your most implacable enemy.
Pacorus, King of Dura.
Thus was the die cast. The falcon suddenly stirred and spread her wings, and made at harsh kak, kak, kak noise while looking to the east, obviously sensing an ill wind. I stroked her head.
‘Easy, little one.’
I gave her a morsel of meat and she stopped fretting. I walked to the balustrade and gazed across the blue waters of the Euphrates to the east. So Mithridates was King of Kings with Narses as his right-hand man. They would soon be gathering an army to march against Dura, for they realised that neither of them would know peace while I was still in the world. And that would mean they would have to fight me. It would come down to one great battle, one final clash to decide the fate of the empire. I smiled. Good. Let them come; I would be ready.
Epilogue
The view was certainly impressive; Crassus conceded that. As the most powerful and wealthy man in Rome he normally never left the centre of the Roman Empire, but this spring had been different for Gnaeus Pompey Magnus was returning to Rome. He had been away from the city for five years, during which time he had destroyed the Cilician pirates and defeated Mithridates of Pontus and Tigranes of Armenia. These triumphs had made him extremely popular in Rome, much to the annoyance of Crassus. Pompey was already a hero to the common people of the city and these victories would only serve to increase his prestige and therefore influence. Pompey had a talent amounting to genius for getting under Crassus’ skin, and the past few years had provided a perfect example. Not only had Pompey used his political influence to gain extraordinary powers to deal with the pirate threat in the eastern Mediterranean, he had also used his influence to gain command of the entire Roman war effort in the East. And to cap it all Pompey had sent one of his toadies, a legate by the name of Quintus Caecilius Metellus, to Rome to persuade Crassus to meet him in Asia Minor. He knew why he had made the request, of course. Pompey would receive a hostile reception from a Senate packed with Crassus’ allies, which would make honouring his word to his soldiers about granting them land upon their demobilisation extremely difficult.