Constan had taught the friends this lesson as well. Athos remembered sitting around a campfire on his second night with the 5th Parthica. They sipped on wine as Constan explained, ‘A column of six was a formation used to travel. We have been trained to go quickly from battle formation to column of six and back again. Get used to it lads. Your days will consist of drills and practice. Such is the life of a soldier of the Empire. This training will ensure that you are ready for the day when the Persians come again and that you are worthy of being an Ironman!’
Nikas, shook his head, he was clearly disgusted, “You ladies make me sick! I think the sun has addled the brains of the lot of you! Since you did such a piss poor job of focusing on our formation drills, I believe that you need some time to clear your minds. Care to join me on a nice stroll around the desert? It will give you a chance to empty those busy minds of yours. I find the afternoon August Sun to be quite invigorating. You will too.”
Athos and Baltazar groaned along with the rest of the 2nd Kentarchia. He watched in dismay as the men of the other Kentarchias began marching back toward Damascus and their cool barracks buildings. Their steps seemingly lighter knowing that their suffering would soon be over.
Baltazar glared at Athos. The look made it clear to Athos, that Baltazar held him personally responsible for this extra stroll around the desert. Leaving the road, Nikas marched them out into the open desert Southeast of Damascus. The desert surrounding Damascus was not like the tall dunes, and shifting sands of the Sahara, but more of a hard-rocky parched surface. The landscape mainly consisted of gently rolling hills. Gravel was strewn about as if God with his giant hand had spread it like seeds in a garden. Large brownish boulders dotted the countryside and if the wind kicked up out of the south dust storms were common.
During their trek into the open desert, they ran across the Sassanid Persian Ambassador. Athos had heard that the man’s name was Nafar. At a distance of about thirty feet from Nafar, a squad of soldiers sat on their horses watching over him.
They wore conical helmets with a nose guard and a white tassel on the top. Their armor consisted of a breastplate of overlapping scales that covered them to about mid-thigh. Each man held a lance in their left hand and had a sword sheathed on their left side. Slung over their backs were both a bow and a quiver of arrows. Every Persian had a perfectly groomed jet black beard. When the Persians flashed a smile to the passing 2nd Kentarchia, the contrast of their white teeth against their dark brown skin was striking.
Nafar was sitting atop a large brown rock performing what appeared to be a religious ceremony. His arms upraised toward the sky, he chanted the same prayer over and over. The sweat poured from his forehead, and he looked up toward the sun. Although they could not understand the nature of the prayer, it seemed to be a plea. The name Ahura Mazda could be heard clearly as it was said at the beginning of each sentence.
Athos and Baltazar quickly performed the sign of the cross to ward off evil spirits that may be about as a result of Nafar’s foul pagan ritual. Constan chuckled at their reaction, “The Persians practice a religion called Zoroastrianism. They believe in one god, Ahura Mazda, whose name means wise light. Praying to Ahura Mazda in bright sunlight was very common as it was thought that the sun was his embodiment.”
Athos pondered Constan’s statement for a moment, “So let me get this straight. We both believe in one God?”
“Aye lad we do, Ahura Mazda is more akin to the Roman God Sol Invictus than our Lord.”
Both Christians, Athos, and Baltazar again made the sign of the cross at the mention of Ahura Mazda and Sol Invictus. Christians had been a part of the Empire the last six hundred years, but only when Emperor Constantine adopted it as his religion in the 4th Century did it begin to become common place. By the 7th Century, the Empire was an entirely Christian Empire. Athos and Baltazar followed the Church that was established at Nicene in the early 4th Century.
The sounds of Nafar’s prayers faded away as they continued their march. The sweat began to pour off of Athos’ brow as the sun reached its zenith. Finally, Nikas called a halt, “Take a break for a few minutes ladies and then we will head back to the barracks for some cleaning. I don’t know why you louts have to tear the place up every night. If I didn’t know any better, I would think I am in charge of pigs!” The men of the 2nd Kentarchia groaned, which made Nikas smile all the more.
Constan made it known to Athos and Baltazar that he found their sloppiness during formation drilling to be responsible for the extra march, “You girls are buying the first-round tonight. Thanks to that extra march, I have built up quite the thrist.”
Baltazar groaned, “It should be Athos.”
“You’re his shield mate Baltazar. You should have his back no matter what dumb mistakes he makes,” Baltazar glared at Constan but nodded his agreement.
Athos added, “You just want to waste your coin on Liana.”
Constan looked at Baltazar with a piercing gaze that seemed to see into his soul, “Liana? Ye have had time to court?” Constan snorted in disgust, “Clearly I’ve been too soft on ye. How did you meet this girl?” Nikas who had apparently been eavesdropping chuckled at the question.
Baltazar blushed a deep shade of red that was still very apparent despite his well-tanned features. He cleared his throat and began his tale, “It happened by chance one evening. I was sitting on the lip of the fountain nearest the fort when Liana appeared with her jugs.” All of the men within earshot laughed heartily at this. Baltazar was confused over the reaction for a moment and then rolled his eyes in disgust, “Not those kinds of jugs, she had jugs to fetch water from the fountain.”
Baltazar paused for a moment to regain his composure and continued the story, “She had the most piercing raven black eyes and hair I had ever seen. She had many imperfections though. Her eyebrows were too thick and seemed to join. Her upper teeth jutted out slightly further than her bottom teeth.”
Constan commented, “She doesn’t sound very attractive.”
Baltazar replied, “I can’t explain it those features and the strange awkwardness she moved with were captivating to me. I agree most would see her as unattractive, but to me, she was an angel bestowed upon the earth from heaven itself.”
Damon, another member of Constan's Kontoubernion, said, “More like a devil that cast a spell on your eyes.” This elicited another laugh out of the men.
Constan said, “Well get on with it lad. What happened next?”
Baltazar resumed his tale, “I figured out that Liana would come to that fountain every evening at dusk. I made sure that I was there to see her when I could. She always seemed to be so tied up in her affairs that she never minded the other people in that fountain square, including me.”
Constan pretended to yawn, “Well so far you’re putting me to sleep lad, I hope this story gets better.”
Baltazar closed his eyes, laughed, and continued, “One evening I was sitting on the fountain. I had my eyes closed, and I was imagining that the water hitting my back came from a waterfall back home when the moment finally came. Unfortunately, my lucky break was nothing like what I had imagined it would be. A bird chose that moment to crap. Now that bird had the entire square to crap on, but the little bastard chose my right eye as the resting place for its turd!”
This brought laughter from all the men listening in on the story as they marched. After the laughter tapered off, Baltazar continued his tale, “When the bird crap hit me, I squawked in surprise, lost my balance and fell backward into the fountain. I immediately jumped up, far too quickly to wash off that damned bird crap. As a result, it ran down the right side of my face. I didn’t care, however; Liana was looking right at me! At that moment it was as if the pearly gates of heaven had opened up and shone down on me for the first time. Liana’s smile traveled straight into my heart. I was in love.”