A group of servants hauled the target into position and then scampered away.
‘Well, father,’ said my father, ‘you can shoot first.’
We all hit the target with ease, a servant holding up a small red flag to indicate a centre hit; a white flag denoted a strike outside the bull’s eye, and a green flag a hit on the target’s outer edge. All the flags were red, so the target was moved back another twenty-five paces.
‘So, Pacorus,’ said Balas, hitting the bull’s eye again, ‘when do you leave for your new kingdom?’
I released my bowstring. Red flag. ‘One or two weeks, majesty.’
Gallia shot. Red flag.
‘Good shot, my lady,’ said Balas. He watched her pluck another arrow from her quiver and placed the nock in the string. At our wedding she had been a picture of feminine beauty, flowing blonde locks, white dress and gold jewellery, but today she was dressed in leggings, leather boots, blue tunic and her hair ran down her back in a long plait. I had seen her dressed thus most of the time when she had fought in Italy. Balas was clearly intrigued by her.
‘I have heard,’ he continued, ‘that you have fought in battle, and that you led a fierce band of women warriors.’
She fired her arrow. Red flag. ‘It is true, lord, that I have fought my enemies, and others joined me in that fight. Some of them are with me still.’
He smiled at her. ‘Well, hopefully you will not have to fight any more now that you are in Parthia.’
My father waved at the servants, who moved the target back another twenty-five paces. Gallia fired another arrow. Red flag.
‘While there are Romans in this world, lord, there can be no peace.’
‘And yet,’ Balas continued, ‘is not one of Pacorus’ commanders a Roman?’
‘You are well informed, lord,’ said Gallia. ‘And, yes, you are right. His name is Lucius Domitus and he is a Roman.’
‘And you trust this man?’
‘Of course,’ she replied.
Balas pressed the matter. ‘Why?’
She looked him in the eye. ‘Because we have fought together in battle, and because I know that he would lay down his life for me, and that makes him my brother, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.’
There was an awkward silence for a few seconds and then Balas roared with laughter. He put down his bow and wrapped his thick arms around her.
‘You have got yourself a lion as a bride, Pacorus. Would that I had a hundred like her for my palace guard.’
My mother and sisters smiled, and even Farhad looked momentarily less severe.
‘Indeed, majesty,’ interrupted Gafarn, ‘I heard that Spartacus once said that if he had a thousand like Gallia he could take Rome itself.’
‘Spartacus?’ Farhad looked at me, clearly intrigued.
‘The general I served with in Italy, majesty,’ I said. All eyes were on me now, the happy Axsen and her father Vardan, the old rogue Balas and my sisters and parents. I could see that my mother was looking into the distance, perhaps wishing that the subject had not been raised.
‘It’s no secret,’ I said. ‘I was taken captive by the Romans in Cappadocia, that much you know at the very least. I and others.’ I put down my bow, walked over to Gafarn and laid a hand on his shoulder, then on Diana’s, who smiled at me.
‘We were to be slaves forever,’ I continued. ‘To be worked like dogs until we died. But one man saved me, saved all of us, and led an army of us, an army of slaves. And he led us to victory after victory over the Romans, and I was proud to serve under him and even prouder to call him friend.’ I moved to be beside Gallia and took her hands in mine. ‘And in Italy, hundreds of miles from my home and my family, I found the most beautiful and bravest woman that God put on the earth. She then fought by my side and we defeated the Romans, beat them until we became masters of their land, former slaves turned into invincible warriors by a gladiator named Spartacus.’
Farhad drew himself up to his full height and folded his arms in front of him. ‘If this slave general, this Spartacus, was so excellent a warlord, why was he defeated and killed, for I know that he is no more and that Rome still stands?’
‘Rome still stands, yes,’ I agreed. ‘But only because he lost the one thing that was precious to him above all things, and which made him long for death.’
‘What was that, Pacorus?’ asked Vardan.
‘His wife, lord, his beautiful, wise wife, the Lady Claudia. For they were soul mates and where she went he was determined to follow.’ I saw that Gallia’s eyes were cast down to the ground as she remembered her dead friend. Diana clasped Gafarn’s hand tight. I continued, for it was a story that deserved to be told and I wanted to talk of my friend and lord, Spartacus. ‘And so, the morning after she had given life to her son at the expense of her own, he marched out of camp to do battle with the Romans, one man against an army. And I walked beside him, not because he commanded me to but because I loved him as a brother, and behind us thousands of others did likewise for the same reason. For we cared not about glory or riches, but only wanted to die with honour beside the man who had given each of us our freedom, perhaps the most precious thing that a person can hold. And so we fought at his side all that day. He was cut down by his enemies, as were hundreds of others, but we beat them again, beat them until they retreated. Then we carried the body of our lord from the field of battle and laid it upon a great pyre, and then laid the body of his wife beside his. We stood and watched the flames consume their bodies and their spirits ascend to heaven. And that, my lord king, is why Rome still stands, because of the death of one woman.’
Farhad nodded his head at me. ‘Well said.’
Axsen had tears in her eyes. ‘That is the most romantic thing I have heard. Pacorus, you and Gallia must come to Babylon and tell me more of your time in Italy. Father, tell them they must come.’
Vardan smiled. ‘Of course, they will be honoured guests.’
My mother had a look of relief on her face. ‘You are all very kind, I thank you.’
Balas embraced her. ‘Nonsense, we’re all here because we like and respect you and Varaz, and this young stallion,’ he tilted his head at me, ‘is a worthy son. Now, put that target back some more so I can show you all who’s the master archer here.’
Gafarn won the archery competition.
Several days later Vardan, his daughter, Farhad, Gotarzes and Balas requested that I take them to see my legion that was being trained in the desert. I gladly acquiesced, and was soon joined by Gallia, my father, Gafarn and my sister, Aliyeh. I found this odd as she had never taken an interest in my followers before, but then I noticed that Farhad’s son, Atrax, had also come along and that Aliyeh made sure she rode beside him. My sister was always serious, but today, in the late afternoon’s pleasant light, she smiled much and seemed carefree. Gallia noticed them too.
‘It would seem that your sister has found an admirer.’
‘An alliance between Media and Hatra would please my father. Atrax seems agreeable enough.’
‘Hopefully, if she does marry, it will be for love.’
‘Princesses usually marry for political reasons.’
She was indignant. ‘I didn’t.’
‘No, because you are an exception, in every conceivable way.’
When we reached the camp it had the ordered appearance of a Roman legionary outpost more than ever. Occupying a large rectangular space on the baked ground of the desert, it was now surrounded by an earth rampart. We rode on the track up to the main entrance, a wide gap in the middle of the rampart, which was guarded by two of my legionaries, men in helmets and mail shirts and equipped with shields and javelins. They could have been Roman soldiers, were it not for their white tunics and shields rather than the red favoured by the legions of Rome. They snapped to attention as I rode at the head of the column into the camp. As Remus walked slowly towards the centre of the camp I looked around at the neat rows of tents and was reminded of my time with Spartacus. His camps had been laid out in a similar fashion and his army had mirrored the organisation of Rome’s legions.