Then I attacked, gripping my sword with both hands and raising it above my hand. I brought the blade down to split my opponent’s shield and shatter the bone in his arm. He screamed in pain but still managed to swing his sword, which hit one of my helmet’s cheek guards. He stumbled in pain, I swung my sword above my head again and brought it down again, screaming as I did so. The blade was a blur as it found my enemy’s exposed neck. The blade cut down at an angle, cutting through the flesh and spine to send the head spinning onto the earth.
I stepped over the headless corpse and wrenched the eagle standard out of the ground, holding it aloof for all to see. The battle that had been raging all around seemed to cease instantly as I waved the silver eagle in the air. It was as if it was a magic charm, which to the Romans, I suppose, it was. Their senior officers dead, individual legionaries began to ram their swords into the ground, discard their shields and kneel as a sign of submission. Our men, most of them having fought all day under a merciless sun, gladly accepted their surrender. Soon, whole groups of Romans were giving up, the loss of their legionary eagle having shattered their morale.
Bozan, his armour missing many steel plates from the blows he had received in the fight, walked over and embraced me.
‘I knew you wouldn’t fail me, Pacorus. Well done.’
He winced as he let go of me, blood showing around his armpit.
‘You’re wounded.’
‘It’s nothing,’ he replied.
Around me cataphracts were dismounting and walking over to me, offering their congratulations. Among them was Vata, the son of Bozan and my best friend. Like his father he was squat and stocky, a barrel of muscles, and like his father he had a carefree attitude to life. But, like me, he wore his hair long, his black locks falling to his shoulders. He embraced his father then grinned as he gripped me in a bear hug.
‘You’re not saying much.’
‘That’s because you’re crushing me,’ I managed to say. He burst into laughter as he released me.
He slapped me on my left arm as he stared at the eagle.
‘So, this is what we’ve been bleeding for. Haven’t seen many of them in my travels. I reckon the Romans will be mightily aggrieved when they discover we’ve got it.’
‘Let them come and get it,’ I said, trying to sound impressive.
‘Yes,’ spat Vata. ‘We’ll beat them a second time.
Then I felt a curious sensation in my arms and legs, as they began to shake. I suddenly felt afraid. Was I dying; had I been wounded? I sank onto all fours and looked at Bozan in despair. He knelt beside me.
‘Easy, boy. It’s just the shakes.’
‘The shakes?’
He grinned and handed me his waterskin. ‘Drink. A lot of men get the shakes after battle. When you fight the muscles get tense, like tightly wrapped rope, and when it’s over they unwind, so to speak. You’ll be fine in a few minutes.’
He was right. After a while the shaking stopped and my limbs became my own once more. As groups of disarmed Romans were escorted to a main holding area, the squires and servants were brought forward to tend to their masters. Water wagons began arriving, too, their drivers filling buckets for our exhausted cataphracts and their mounts, while the squires pulled off the horses’ armour.
My squire, Gafarn, rode up on his horse. Dressed in his simple white linen tunic and baggy trousers, he helped me off with my armour then attended to Sura, who had been retrieved and returned to me. Gentle mare as she was, she waited patiently as the head guard and armour coat were removed. He then threw a silk coat over her as she was sweating profusely and the sun was beginning to set, its colour changing from gold to a light red. The heat of the day was abating.
‘Your cloak is in the saddlebag, highness,’ he pointed to the eagle that I was holding. ‘What’s that, highness?’
‘It’s a Roman eagle, Gafarn.’
‘Looks expensive, should fetch a nice tidy sum at market.’
I was aghast. ‘It’s not for selling; this is a great treasure.’
‘If it’s a great treasure, then you’re a fool for not selling it.’
‘And you’re a servant who talks too much. How is she?’
Gafarn stroked Sura’s head gently. ‘She’s beautiful, highness, that’s what she is, and she’s fine. Next time you should try to stay on her.’ He held a bucket of water to her mouth so she could drink.
I walked over to my horse and patted her neck. ‘She is that. No warrior could find a better horse.’
The army’s horse surgeons had now arrived on the field, attending to those mounts that had been wounded. Some, too badly injured to be treated, were mercifully dispatched to join the immortal wild herd of horses that belonged to Shamash, the Sun God whom we worshipped and whose victory this was. Ahead of me I saw a large group of Roman soldiers seated on the ground in front of their wagon park. Many were staring at the eagle I was holding. I walked over to Vata.
‘Take this,’ I handed him the eagle.
‘Where are you going?’
I pointed at the Romans. ‘To talk to them.’
‘Be careful,’ he said. ‘One of them might have a weapon concealed.’
But my curiosity was too great. I had been taught Latin and Greek as a child and I wanted to speak with these men of the Tiber that I had heard so much about but, until today, I had never met. As I got near, one got to his feet and squared up to me. Two guards levelled their lances at him but I waved them away. He was shorter than me by about six inches, but stockier with broad shoulders. He short-cropped hair was encrusted with dirt and blood from a wound to his forehead. The blood had already congealed to form a black patch above his right eye. Though he wore no armour or weapons he was still an imposing figure. He looked straight at me.
‘You’re the one who took our eagle,’ his words were laced with venom.
‘Took?’ I rose to the challenge. ‘I found it lying in the dirt.’
‘You speak passable Latin, foreigner.’
‘I was taught it as a child,’ I replied. ‘I find it a vulgar language.’
‘It is good that you have learned it.’
‘Why is that,’ I enquired.
‘Because when we have conquered your land you will be able to understand what your masters are saying.’
I could feel my temper rise within me. ‘This is Parthian land, Roman, not some weak province.’
He laughed. ‘The whole world is a Roman province, Parthian. You have beaten one legion, but it will be different when many cross your border. And that day is coming, and sooner than you think.’
I decided that it was futile to indulge him further. ‘We will be waiting, Roman.’
With that I turned away from him and walked back to where Vata and his father were standing. The prisoners were being sorted into groups, each one being tethered with rope. The Romans fought with helmets on their heads and mail shirts over their tunics, which ended just above their knees, and curved oblong shields that protected their entire torsos and thighs. Their weapons and armour were now being loaded onto carts.
Bozan was chewing on a piece of bread. ‘That lot will fetch a tidy price in the slave markets. They’ll end up in the eastern part of the empire somewhere, well away from here so it won’t be worth them making any trouble.’
‘Will they ever see Rome again?’ I asked
Bozan shrugged. ‘I doubt it. It’s the fate of beaten soldiers never to see their homes again. Still, better them than us.’
At that moment the air was filled with the blaring of horns, and I turned to see my father riding towards us escorted by Vistaspa and his bodyguard. The cavalrymen looked resplendent in their brightly polished armour, white-plumed helmets and lances flying white pennants. Behind my father fluttered his scarlet banner sporting a white horse’s head, the cloth edged with silver braid. My father wore a silver, open-faced helmet topped with a gold crown. His horse was draped with a richly adorned white coat edged with silver, with the mounts of the other riders protected by scale armour. On his right rode Vistaspa, glancing right and left like a hawk searching for prey. The group halted a few feet from where I stood and my father immediately jumped down and marched over to me. The others and I knelt before him with heads bowed, but he clasped my shoulders, picked me up and embraced me. There were tears in his eyes as he stepped back to look at me.