My father eased back in his chair and regarded the new King of Gordyene for a moment. He probably thought that he was a young upstart, with his Ma’adan heritage and his wife who was formerly a member of my wife’s bodyguard. He would normally treat such an individual with contempt, but Surena had freed Gordyene from the Armenians and for that reason alone his words deserved some consideration.
My father picked up his rhyton. ‘You are right in what you say, young king, but having drawn my sword I cannot replace it in its scabbard until this campaign has been concluded, which can happen only when Mithridates has been removed from power and Narses has been defeated. And if that means marching on Susa, so be it.’
My father tilted his head at Orodes. ‘Besides, our new king of kings is also from Susiana and his prestige would suffer if his homeland was in the possession of the enemy.’
‘We have not talked about what will happen after we have defeated Mithridates and Narses, father,’ I remarked.
He took a sip from his drinking vessel. ‘That is for the king of kings to decide.’
Orodes frowned and looked at me. ‘I know that Pacorus desires their deaths, believing that the empire will not be at peace while they still live.’
I toasted him with my rhyton and smiled.
‘However,’ he continued, ‘I am not desirous of seeing the deaths of yet more of the empire’s kings. I have given the matter a great deal of thought and have decided that banishment will be an appropriate punishment. I am sorry, Pacorus.’
My father was nodding approvingly and Atrax seemed to accept Orodes’ decision, saying nothing, while Surena appeared more concerned with dipping a wafer into a bowl of yoghurt. I shrugged.
‘That is your decision, Orodes, and we must abide by it.’
There was little point in arguing with my friend and in any case I knew that Narses would never agree to banishment, preferring death to exile, a wish that I was determined to grant him.
The surrendered garrison of Seleucia was sent west as slaves to help rebuild the Kingdom of Babylon. Those Babylonians who had been taken as slaves by Mithridates and Narses and who had been resident in Seleucia were freed and given safe passage back to their homes. Ctesiphon also received a new garrison but Axsen expressed no desire to take up residence in the high king’s palace, declaring that she would leave Babylon only when the campaign was concluded and when Orodes was free to sit beside her. Thus the great palace complex remained largely empty as the army began its march into Susiana. The pace was leisurely, averaging fifteen miles a day, which meant we would reach Susa in two weeks. We were forced to hug the eastern bank of the Tigris for the first week as the terrain between the great river and the Zagros Mountains that lay fifty miles to the east was largely barren desert devoid of water. Then we left the river and advanced directly east towards the foothills of the mountains, all the while Byrd and his scouts riding far ahead to gather reports of the enemy’s movements and horse archers forming a screen on all four sides of our army. But every day Byrd and Malik returned to camp with news that the terrain was empty of travellers and of the enemy there was no sign.
After four days of marching across the baked earth we came to the green foothills of the Zagros Mountains. We were now around seventy miles northwest of Susa itself and our unimpeded march had led many to believe that the city would be undefended and that Orodes would be able to march into the capital of his homeland unopposed. If that was the case then we would be able to rest in Susa before marching another three hundred miles southeast to reach Persepolis.
As usual Dura’s camp was surrounded by a ditch, earth rampart and wooden palisade. The armies of Hatra, Media and Babylon, however, preferred the traditional Parthian method of pitching their tents around their king in ever-widening circles, though the majority of Babylon’s foot soldiers had to sleep under the stars with only a threadbare blanket. Fortunately the nights were warm and so their discomfort was minimal. Surena, however, having been tutored in the ways of the Sons of the Citadel, had his horse archers make camp after the Roman fashion. In addition to the spare arrows that the two thousand beasts of his camel train carried, they also hauled tents, stakes, food, fodder and entrenching tools to dig a ditch and rampart at the end of every day. Atrax thought it hilarious but Orodes approved and regretted that his Babylonians could not do likewise. My father believed it to be a complete waste of time but at least admired the professionalism that Surena and his soldiers displayed.
The foothills of the Zagros Mountains are covered with forests of oak interspersed with hawthorn, almond and pear trees. I saw golden eagles fly high above us and at times it was easy to forget that we were at war as we joined the ancient road that runs parallel to the mountains, and which led directly to Susa. Orodes had told us that he expected the enemy to try to halt our passage at the stone bridge across the River Karkheh some sixty miles to the east, but when we neared the bridge Byrd brought back reports that it was undefended. I rode to the river in the company of Orodes and a thousand of my horse archers and discovered a scene of peace and serenity. The simple stone arch bridge spanned the river that was around four hundred feet wide at this point, though Orodes informed me that it widened considerably a few miles further south to around a thousand feet. We rode over the bridge to the other side and I sent companies east, north and south to scout for the enemy.
‘You waste your time,’ remarked Byrd as we sat sweating on our horses in the afternoon heat. ‘They no here. I told you that earlier.’
‘I know that, Byrd,’ I said, ‘but better to be safe than sorry.’
Orodes was extremely happy. ‘This is the Susa Valley, Pacorus, where I hunted as a boy. I remember it as if it was yesterday.’
I smiled at him. It had been years since he had seen his homeland following his banishment by Mithridates and now here he was, only a few miles from his capital and the place of his birth.
‘You will be sleeping in the palace in Susa in a matter of days, my friend,’ I told him.
Later I marched Dura’s army over the bridge and made camp in the valley, which was actually flatland between two rivers, though as there was not enough time to bring over the rest of our troops the forces of Media, Hatra and Gordyene slept on the western bank that night. The next day the rest of the army crossed, a great press of camels, men on foot and horses that took until dusk to move over the river. We had taken possession of the northern end of the Susa Valley without a fight.
That night I invited the kings, Gafarn and Viper to dine in my command tent in the company of Domitus, Kronos and Vagises. The mood of those present was high except for Surena, who appeared to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. No one else seemed to notice, though, and so the evening passed without incident. Orodes was in an ebullient mood and kept telling Gallia and Viper how he was going to show them around Susa’s palace after we had marched into the city, which lay a mere fifteen miles south of our position.
I asked Surena to stay after the others had left around midnight. The night was fresh as I said farewell to Atrax, the last to leave. He rode down the camp’s central avenue with his bodyguard grouped around him. A myriad of campfires extended from the bridge east towards the eastern boundary of the Susa Valley — the River Dez — ten miles distant.
Inside the tent Gallia was talking with Surena and Viper at the table, the King of Gordyene looking decidedly nervous. I poured more wine into his cup.
He spoke first. ‘You are displeased with me, lord?’
‘Not at all,’ I answered, ‘and even if I were you are a king now and so my feelings should be irrelevant to you.’
‘It is late, Pacorus,’ said Gallia, ‘and I am sure that Surena and Viper want to get some sleep rather than listen to one of your lectures.’