‘Surena has liberated Gordyene?’ Orodes may have read the words but still dared not believe them.
‘It is true, my friend,’ I said, ‘I recognise the seal on the letter. There was no way Surena could have used it unless he had possession of the palace in Vanadzor.’
My mother smiled at me and then hugged my father, then began to cry. She and King Balas had been very close and his death had upset her deeply, compounded by the subsequent conquest of his kingdom by the Romans and their handing it over to the Armenians. Atrax was similarly delighted as it meant that his kingdom would no longer be subjected to Armenian raids. He held his wife’s face in his hands and kissed her on the lips, which somewhat mortified her. Around us a general hubbub arose as the news was conveyed to each table. Mardonius came up to me and bowed his head.
‘Hail to you, majesty, for making this possible.’
‘Yes, Pacorus,’ said Axsen, ‘hail to you for returning the Kingdom of Gordyene to the Parthian Empire.’
Orodes held his arms aloft and the commotion died away. He raised his drinking vessel.
‘To King Pacorus, liberator of Gordyene.’
The guests raised their cups and toasted me, then began banging their hands on the tables and shouting ‘Pacorus, Pacorus’, as they acclaimed me. I turned and raised my hands to them, allowing myself a moment to bask in the glory. Then I composed myself and remembered that I had done nothing. This was Surena’s victory. I raised my hands again to still to noise.
‘I thank you for your kindness but this triumph does not belong to me but to another and it would be unjust of me to steal his glory.’
But they would have none of it and began chanting my name once more as I retook my seat.
‘This is Surena’s victory,’ I shouted to Orodes above the din.
‘They have not heard of him but they have heard of you, Pacorus,’ he said. ‘What will you do now?’
‘I do not understand?’
He smiled. ‘Surena has freed Gordyene but he is still under your command. Will you take the kingdom for yourself as Balas left no heirs to inherit his throne?’
It was a question that my father also wanted an answer to when he requested my presence in his quarters the day after the feast.
He was in a frosty mood as Gallia and I sat down with him and my mother, Gafarn and Diana. As slaves fussed around and cleared away the breakfast they had all enjoyed in the small garden, Diana’s young son, Pacorus, played with young Spartacus, waving his small wooden sword at the elder boy and screaming with delight at the top of his voice. My father shouted at him to be quiet, earning him a rebuke from Diana and a scowl from Gafarn. My mother played the role of diplomat and asked the steward who attended Hatra’s royal party to take the boys to see the animals in the palace zoo. Diana warned the boys not to put their hands near the cages and told the steward not to allow any harm to come to them.
I smiled at the boys as they were led away by the steward and two male palace slaves dressed in purple tunics and black belts. Other slaves offered Gallia and me fruit juice after we had kissed my mother and Diana and sat on plush couches arranged near the ornamental pond filled with large goldfish.
I smiled at my father. ‘This is all very pleasant.’
‘You intend to claim Gordyene for yourself?’ he asked, his eyes boring into me.
‘Straight and to the point,’ I answered.
‘Father is in no mood for idle chatter,’ remarked Gafarn as my father brushed away a slave proffering juice in a jug.
‘I can see that,’ I said.
‘You have not answered my question,’ pressed my father.
I sighed half-heartedly. ‘I have not given the matter much thought. Surena is a good man. He will hold the kingdom until I have decided what is to be done with it.’
My father clenched the sides of his couch, his knuckles turning white.
‘Who is this man, this Surena?’
Gallia’s answer served only to increase his agitation. ‘A simple boy from the great marshlands that lie south of the city of Uruk. Pacorus found him and brought him back to Dura. He was his squire.’
My father rose from his couch and began pacing — always a bad sign.
‘A squire? A squire is in charge of Gordyene?’
‘Calm yourself, father,’ I said. ‘This squire has risen to become the commander of Dura’s horse archers, and has, since I sent him to Gordyene last year, apparently managed to defeat the Armenians and expel them from Balas’ old kingdom.’
‘Not bad for a squire,’ agreed Gafarn. ‘He’s not related to that sorceress of yours, is he?’
My mother shook her head at Gafarn but my father did not see the amusing side of the matter.
‘The Armenians will not take kindly to this.’
‘Indeed,’ I agreed.
My father stopped pacing and looked at me. ‘Is this what it is about, to provoke the Armenians so you can have the battle that you were denied last year?’
I too now rose to my feet. ‘No, father. It is about returning the Kingdom of Gordyene to the Parthian Empire where it belongs.’
‘Behind the Armenians stand the Romans, Pacorus,’ said Gafarn, suddenly looking serious.
‘And Hatra lies next to Gordyene,’ added my father.
‘If the Armenians, or the Romans for that matter,’ I replied, ‘attempt to retake Gordyene then they will at the very least be preoccupied with a campaign against Vanadzor. Hatra will not be high on their list of priorities.’
My father was not convinced. ‘It will be if they decided to march from Zeugma across the north of my kingdom to get at Gordyene instead of via Armenia.’
‘In which case, father, I will attack Syria in retaliation.’
Gallia looked at me with surprise for it was the first time that I had given any intimation of aggression against Syria. But Surena had changed everything by freeing Gordyene. No longer would the Armenians be able to launch raids against Hatra or Media using it as a base, and nor would the Romans be able to use it as a base from which to make further inroads into the empire. Better than that, Gordyene itself might be used as a base to attack Armenia should the need arise, and of course my father did not know that I was arming the Jews in Judea who would rise against the Romans in the coming months. Rome would have more than enough to occupy itself with in the near future.
‘Have you forgotten about Mithridates?’ asked my father.
I have to confess that in all the excitement I had. ‘Of course not,’ I replied. ‘What of him?’
‘He may have been thwarted in his plans to destroy his enemies, but he is still king of kings and will be seeking revenge next year.’
I smiled. ‘The liberation of Gordyene will allow us to settle affairs with Mithridates without you having to worry about your northern border.’
‘And the Romans?’ asked Gafarn.
‘The Romans are preoccupied with their own internal affairs,’ I answered. ‘We do not need to worry about them.’
‘You seem very certain of all this, Pacorus,’ mused my mother.
‘The Romans above all respect strength,’ I answered, ‘if they respect anything at all. Evicting the Armenians from Gordyene will send a clear message to Rome that Parthia is not weak but strong.’
My father retook his couch. ‘You still have not informed us what the status of Gordyene will be now that you, or should I say your commander, has conquered it.’
‘Gordyene will be under Duran control until I decide what its future shall be. In the meantime I shall visit Vanadzor to convey my gratitude to Surena for the great service he has done the empire.’
‘And I shall be coming with you,’ declared my father.
I stayed at Babylon for another two days, during which time I informed Orodes and Axsen of my intention to ride north. In contrast to my father they were both delighted that Gordyene was a kingdom of the empire once again, Axsen because Balas had been an old friend and ally of her father and Orodes because a Parthian Gordyene appealed to his sense of correctness concerning the status of kingdoms within the empire. Gordyene had been conquered by a foreign power and that had aggrieved him deeply. With the old molester of children Darius at Zeugma it had been different. He had become a client king of Rome in exchange for an uninterrupted supply of young girls and boys. I think Orodes was not alone in thinking that the empire was better off without such immoral individuals. Atrax was also delighted about Gordyene, not least because it meant that his kingdom would no longer be subjected to cross-border raids. He too decided to ride north with my father and me, though thankfully his wife stayed at Babylon. Gallia declared that she too would remain in the city. I think she wanted to be with Diana and Praxima for as long as possible, and she also had no interest in congratulating Surena. In all the years he had been with us she had never taken to him, tolerating him only because he was the husband of Viper.