‘Narses is clever,’ I said. ‘Having failed to take Babylon, he has obviously abandoned Chosroes and temporarily sided with my father. But why?’
Gafarn shoved the bread into his mouth, smearing his mouth with honey. ‘Sakastan.’
‘Sakastan?’
Gafarn licked his fingers. ‘In return for laying aside his desire to be King of Kings, our new ally Narses is to be granted the kingless kingdom of Sakastan.’
It made sense now. Narses had tempted Chosroes to strike at Babylon with the promise of an easy victory, and had even dangled the prize of Hatra before the greedy King of Mesene, but his plan had fallen apart when Babylon held out and the Romans had not destroyed Hatra’s army. Worse, my victory at Dura had raised the prospect of my father joining with me and marching to the relief of Babylon. So Narses had abandoned Chosroes and dashed to be at the side of my father.
‘Did the army of Persis do any fighting?’ I asked.
‘No,’ replied Gafarn, ‘your father had launched raids against the Romans that were besieging Nisibus, which was stoutly defended by Vata by the way, avoiding battle but attacking their supply lines.’
‘Gafarn was with his father,’ added Diana with pride, nibbling a pastry.
‘Eventually,’ continued Gafarn, ‘the Romans were forced to break off the siege and retreat north back to Zeugma. We harried them all the way, and Narses joined us just as the last Romans were leaving Hatran territory.’
I shook my head. ‘He’s a slimy toad.’
‘But clever. Since then he has been assuring your father that he has the best interests of the empire at heart and similar rubbish.’
‘And he wants Sakastan.’
‘Yes, Pacorus. He wants Sakastan.’
My father visited me later as the sun was going down in the west.
‘Sakastan is a small price to pay for peace and stability, Pacorus.’
‘If Narses has Sakastan, then combined with his own kingdom he will have the largest kingdom in the empire,’ I said.
My father was staring out of the window at a sky that was now blood red.
‘Sakastan has no king and no heirs. Surely you must know that; after all, you were the one that killed them all.’
‘Porus offered battle and I accepted.’
He turned to face me. ‘Being a king is not all about fighting and glory. It is about dealing with realities and preserving the order of things.’
‘The order of things?’
‘There was no need to fight at Surkh, but you could not resist the chance for more glory, could you?’
‘We did our talking at Esfahan.’
‘You killed Porus and then won great fame and glory at Surkh, but in doing so you made enemies of Narses and Mithridates. You weakened the empire, Pacorus, do you not see?’
‘I see a traitor at your court, father.’
He threw up his hands. ‘Do you think that I do not know what type of man Narses is? He is greedy, cunning and ruthless.’
‘Then why tolerate him?’
‘Because the empire cannot afford to be fighting a civil war and the Romans.’
‘So you give Narses what he wants?’
‘He wants to be King of Kings, but he has put that desire aside in exchange for Sakastan.’
‘And you believe him?’
He raised his eyes to the ceiling. ‘It is irrelevant what I believe. But I know that for now we have seen off the Romans and Narses will not plunge the empire back into civil war. That is the present reality, Pacorus.’
‘I have heard, father, that Phraates has come to an agreement with the Romans that they will relinquish Gordyene in exchange for Dura.’
Now it was his turn to be taken aback. ‘I have not heard of any such agreement.’
I pointed at him. ‘You should have been created King of Kings, just as Balas said. But now, because of your decision, we have Phraates who is wholly under the spell of his wife and son, and it is they who guide his hand. That, father, is the reality that I and Dura have to live with.’
He was momentarily lost for words at this statement, but then composed himself.
‘Will you apologise to Narses?’
‘I will not.’
‘Then I must ask you to leave Hatra immediately.’
His pride would not allow him to bid me farewell when I left with Orodes the next day, though my mother, sister, Gafarn and Diana all embraced me at the foot of the palace steps. Diana held Remus’ reins as I said a tearful farewell to my mother.
‘Gallia misses you both,’ I said to her and Gafarn as I climbed onto Remus’ back.
‘Tell her that we will visit soon,’ promised Diana.
Orodes mounted his horse after bowing to my mother and expressing his regret that his visit had been so brief. My mother, her eyes moist, maintained royal protocol and said it had been an honour that a prince of Susa had visited Hatra. How ridiculous it all was.
I did not look back as I trotted from the city. Passing through the city’s northern gates I was gripped by a sudden desire to go back and kill Narses. But as I slowed Remus I heard the sounds of iron-shod hooves behind me. Turning, I saw a few dozen of my father’s royal bodyguard approaching, led by Vistaspa. They slowed and then halted behind my stationary horsemen, and Vistaspa then rode up beside Orodes and me.
‘Good morning, majesty,’ his tone was perfunctory, his face expressionless.
‘Am I under arrest again?’ I asked.
‘No, majesty. We are your escort.’
‘Our escort?’
Vistaspa’s tone was severe. ‘We are to escort you to the borders of your own kingdom, to ensure you do not come to any harm.’
I burst out laughing. ‘To ensure that I don’t harm Narses, more like.’
Vistaspa maintained his expressionless countenance. ‘These are dangerous times, majesty.’
I nudged Remus forward. ‘For some more than others, Vistaspa.’
I saw little point in riding to Ctesiphon to hear Phraates’ betrayal of me from his own lips. His court was infested with malice and intrigue, and even if I were granted an audience I doubted that I would hear the truth. But then, I had no evidence that Dura had been traded to the enemy aside from the outburst of a dead Roman, but the notion of it gnawed away at me like a toothache.
‘I could ride to Ctesiphon,’ offered Orodes, ‘and if it is true then I can plead your case.’
‘You would be wasting your time, my friend, though I thank you for the offer.’
Back at Dura life began to return to normal. The streets once again resounded with the hubbub of everyday life as the citizens went about their business. Work began on repairing the western wall and those houses that had been damaged by Roman missiles. Best of all the mood of Domitus had improved markedly. The legion and what was left of the Pontic contingent returned to its old camp beyond the Palmyrene Gate, with the griffin standard once again placed in its centre. The salted head of Lucius Furius I sent back to Rome so Crassus could see with his own eyes the fate of those who made war on Dura.
One morning, following a hard training session in full armour, I paid the legion a visit with Domitus in tow.
‘How’s the arm?’
He spat on the ground. ‘It’s stopped throbbing at least.’
‘You should have a nice scar to show off.’
He regarded me with amusement. ‘Another couple of inches and the bastard would have sliced my arm off. Then I would have had a nice stump to show off.’
‘You know, Domitus,’ I said, ‘you are supposed to be the commander of this legion. Aren’t legion commanders supposed to be sitting on their horses directing things?’
He winced at the thought. ‘Can’t be doing with all that. The boys are well trained and every man knows what his task is. For myself, I wouldn’t be anywhere else when the fighting begins but at the front. Men fight better when their commander is in front of them, not behind squealing like a little girl telling them to fight harder.’