We walked towards the palace as Thumelicus and his men were shown to a barracks block to wash the filth from their clothing. Thumelicus barked orders at his men, still fuming at his treatment in the street and his frustration at not being allowed to kill a few civilians in reprisal.
‘You travelled through the eastern part of the kingdom, majesty?’ asked Mardonius.
I thought of the despoiled villages and the empty Jem det Nasr. ‘Yes, it has suffered greatly during the recent strife.’
His head dropped. ‘Mithridates has impoverished the kingdom.’
‘There is gold enough at Ctesiphon to rebuild this kingdom,’ I replied.
He looked shocked. ‘You will march against the capital of the empire?’
‘Next year, yes, and I will not be marching alone.’
We walked on in silence. Despite the kingdom of his queen having been ravaged by Mithridates I could sense that Mardonius was ill at ease with the notion of making war against the office of king of kings. Fortunately I did not share his reticence.
The palace itself was a place of calm and order and contrasted sharply to the scenes immediately beyond its walls. Well-dressed officials walked along its long corridors and among its pillars, white-robed priests talked with other in hushed tones and courtiers with neatly trimmed beards and wearing brightly coloured robes bowed their heads to us as we entered the throne room where Axsen awaited us.
She had inherited her father’s full frame and in her teenage years her figure had earned her the cruel nickname ‘Princes Water Buffalo’. With the passing of time, though, she had lost much of the baby fat of her younger years. And now the responsibility of ruling a kingdom alone and the recent siege had resulted in her losing more weight, and I have to say that the slimmer Axsen appeared more regal and attractive. Adversity suited her.
I took off my helmet and went down on one knee before the dais upon which her throne stood. Beside her Orodes occupied the other throne. Mardonius struggled to get down on his aged knee.
Axsen smiled, rose from her throne and placed her hands on my shoulders.
‘Hail, great queen,’ I said. ‘Dura salutes you.’
She leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. ‘Oh, Pacorus, you are so formal. Please get up. And arise, Lord Mardonius, before you do yourself a mischief.’
I assisted him back onto his feet as he winced from the pain in his joints. Axsen retook her throne and smiled girlishly at Orodes. So, he must have proposed and she must have accepted his offer. I was pleased.
‘We have news for you, King Pacorus, the liberator of Babylon,’ said Axsen, to polite applause from the officers, priests and courtiers present. ‘I am to be married to Prince Orodes of Susiana.’
Louder applause greeted this announcement and I nodded and smiled at Orodes. I went down on one knee again.
‘This is truly great news, majesty, and heralds a new age for the Kingdom of Babylon.’
‘Rise, Pacorus, my dear friend,’ commanded Axsen as Orodes stepped forward and we clasped arms.
‘Well done, my friend,’ I whispered.
I stepped onto the dais and kissed Axsen on the cheek.
‘May Shamash bless your union,’ I said, earning me a glower from Nabu who stood by the side of the dais and looked as though he had just had a tooth pulled.
Later, when we relaxed in Axsen’s private wing in the palace, sitting in a small courtyard with fountains and an ornamental pond in which swam large golden fish, I asked Axsen the reason for Nabu’s miserable face.
‘When the city filled with refugees I knew Babylon would not have enough food to feed all the people, but I also knew that the temples would be able to ease our burden and so ordered them to distribute their offerings to the people.’
‘The daily tribute,’ added Orodes.
Every major city had its great temples whose gods demanded daily tribute from the people. It was customary for granaries to be built near those temples to produce bread that was then sold to worshippers who laid it on altars, after which it was removed by the priests and preserved in the many storehouses built at the rear of the temples. It was then sold to bakeries in the city, and the other tributes were either eaten by the priests or sold by them. It was a very lucrative enterprise.
‘High Priest Nabu,’ continued Axsen, ‘was most upset and declared that Marduk would punish the city, to which I reminded him that if the city fell then his temple would be destroyed by the followers of the bird god, so he agreed.’
‘Reluctantly,’ added Orodes.
‘Each day,’ continued Axsen, ‘the faithful lay before Marduk over two hundred containers of beer, two hundred and forty loaves of bread, fifty rams, three bulls and great quantities of dates, lambs, ducks and eggs. Enough to help feed a city packed full of people.’
‘And what of the Temple of Ishtar and its offerings?’
Axsen giggled. ‘I have to confess that I have made no demands upon Afrand as I do not want to offend the goddess before our wedding.’
She reached over to Orodes who took her hand in his.
‘That annoyed Nabu even more.’
‘I think Lord Nabu’s annoyance will soon disappear now that the city is no longer besieged and his storehouses begin to fill again,’ remarked Orodes.
‘And his treasury,’ said Axsen dryly.
‘What of Babylon’s treasury?’ I asked.
Axsen showed her palms. ‘Empty, and likely to remain so for many years to come.’
No more was said on the matter as I politely asked about their forthcoming marriage, but it made me more determined than ever to make Mithridates pay for what he had done. And after I had taken Ctesiphon then the treasury at Persepolis would also be emptied of its contents.
I stayed in Babylon for another week, though the army began its march back to Dura the day after I had arrived at the city. It travelled along the eastern bank of the Euphrates, now somewhat diminished in numbers compared to its size at the beginning of the campaign. We had suffered low casualties but Surena had departed for Gordyene with eight thousand horse archers and Orodes announced that he was staying in Babylon with his two hundred and fifty men. The latter was a grievous loss. He had become like a brother to me and I would miss his company greatly. Domitus was also sad to see him go but was happy that the army was returning to Dura in triumph following its victory at Makhmur.
‘That will be another silver disc on the Staff of Victory,’ he announced.
‘What about our other triumphs near Seleucia?’ I asked.
‘Slaughters don’t count,’ he sniffed. ‘I wonder what happened to those soldiers you let go? What was the name of that drunk who commanded them?’
‘Udall,’ I answered.
‘You should have killed them by rights. You will only have to fight them again next year.’
I shook my head and smiled. No matter how long he remained in Parthia a part of Domitus would always remain Roman.
The day before I left Babylon, which was now returning to a semblance of normality with the gradual return of the refugees back to what remained of their homes, I rode to the Temple of Ishtar. The temple guards at the entrance let me pass and I trotted into the first courtyard that was empty aside from two young priestesses who hurried out of sight when they saw me. I dismounted and led Remus to the stables that fronted one side of the courtyard where I left him in the care of a young stable hand dressed in the temple’s livery. For some reason there were no worshippers in the temple grounds, the only movement being the white birds entering and exiting their dovecotes. I walked across the courtyard and through the arch that led to the second, smaller courtyard, passing the guards that stood before it. I continued towards the temple doors but the two guards who stood either side of them barred my way.
‘Out of my way,’ I ordered but they remained where they were and stared menacingly at me.
‘Do you know who I am?’
‘The whole world knows who King Pacorus is,’ said a voice behind me.