Kewab continued his advice to Salar.

  ‘We will have to think on the matter. This audience is at an end.’

  He rose and took Isabella’s hand. We all bowed our heads as he made his way from the dais accompanied by my commander. Chingis and Altan were left fuming but had little choice but to grit their teeth and retire from the throne room with dignity. At least that night they were treated to a sumptuous feast laid on in their honour, entertainers and musicians keeping them and us amused into the early hours.

  The next day I and the other kings were summoned to Salar’s private apartments to discuss the recent developments. The king was in a confident mood as he spoke to us in his office, his back to the splendid views of the mountains in the distance.

  ‘I am thinking of aiding Aria and Drangiana. It would be better to fight the Kushans on their territory rather than my own.’

  ‘Sensible,’ I agreed.

  ‘What do you know of these Kushans?’ asked Nergal.

  ‘Only that they occupy the lands of northern India and have until recently confined their aggression to the Satavahana Empire to the south. We know next to nothing about their leader, Kujula.’

  ‘What about the size and strength of his army?’ asked Nergal.

  ‘Again, our knowledge is wanting,’ admitted Salar.

  ‘My advice would be to wait until the Arians and Drangianans have exhausted themselves fighting these Kushans,’ said Malik, ‘before committing yourself. Let them bleed rather than you.’

  ‘You two are to be congratulated,’ said Gafarn, looking at Malik and me.

  ‘Us, why?’ I said.

  ‘You managed to convince the Arians and Drangianans that is was these Kushans who attacked their army at the great lake, whereas we all know it was you.’

  ‘Malik is right,’ said Spartacus suddenly. ‘Wait until both sides have butchered each other before making a move. That way you will have Tiridates and Antiochus by the balls.’

  Malik laughed but Gafarn shuddered. ‘Remind me, son, who are the barbarians?’

  Salar was shaking his head. ‘No, to do so would earn the lasting enmity of those two kingdoms, whereas if I march to their aid I will earn their gratitude. That in turn will make it easier for me to convince them not to support my uncle’s aggression towards Sakastan.’

  ‘And in support of your policy,’ I said, ‘Dura will march with you.’

  ‘As will Hatra,’ promised Gafarn.

  Nergal nodded. ‘And Mesene.’

  ‘The Agraci offer you their swords, lord king,’ stated Malik solemnly.

  We all looked at Spartacus.

  ‘Of course I’m in, you think I am going to sit here while you win all the glory?’

  Chingis and Altan were delighted by the decision and left Sigal that afternoon, the city’s inhabitants glad to see the back of them. Shapur had them escorted all the way to the northern border to ensure their safety.

  Salar’s army, fresh from its ‘triumph’ in the south, was prepared for the march north, along with the contingents of the kings. Morale among the soldiery was very high and Salar temporarily put aside his animosity for Phanes as he focused on the north, undertook inspections of his soldiers and promised that this time he would lead them personally. This had an invigorating effect on his men, who strained at the leash for the opportunity to fight the Kushans. But in the meantime, I had my own battles to fight.

  Isabella cornered me one morning after I had attended the morning report of my officers in camp outside the city. These briefings were routine affairs and usually involved nothing more that Azad reporting horses that had gone lame, squires that had fallen ill and the many complaints of cameleers. When I returned in the company of my cataphract commander I found a pacing Isabella waiting for me. She linked her arm in mine after I had dismounted and a stable hand had taken Tegha from me.

  ‘This is a pleasant surprise,’ I told her, ‘is everything well?’

  ‘Well,’ she smiled, though I could tell from her agitated state that the opposite was true. ‘Can you spare me some of your time?’

  ‘Of course.’

  We walked through the palace, guards snapping to attention and slaves stopping what they were doing to bow to us, but Isabella was oblivious to everything. She led me towards the royal gardens, stopping before we reached them.

  ‘Do you promise to keep calm?’

  ‘Why, what have you done?’ I joked.

  She was deeply troubled. ‘Eszter has been sleeping with Vartan.’

  I bubbled over in rage. ‘What?!’

  She gripped my arms and fixed her large brown eyes on mine.

  ‘Calm down, father. You must promise me you will do nothing rash.’

  ‘Like killing Vartan.’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘I promise I will not do that.’

  She closed her eyes and sighed. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘I will get Azad to do it.’

  ‘No,’ she said firmly, ‘this is my palace, not yours. You will respect my wishes and those of my husband, the king.’

  I was appalled. ‘Salar knows about this?’

  She sighed again. ‘Unfortunately the whole palace knows. A slave who is a notorious gossip discovered my sister and her lover. Salar wanted to have his tongue bored but I forbade it. The fault was Eszter’s, not his.’

  She turned and glided into the gardens, to a shaded area sweet with the smell of tulips and eucalyptus. Waiting for us was Gallia, Claudia and Eszter, the latter eating a pastry with not a care in the world. I confronted her immediately, slaves being ordered away by Isabella as I spat venom at her.

  ‘Do you know what have done? You have disgraced yourself, your family and the Kingdom of Dura. You are supposed to be a princess not a whore.’

  ‘Pacorus,’ interrupted Gallia, ‘that is enough.’

  ‘It is far from enough,’ I shouted, ‘I am within my rights to have Vartan executed for his gross actions.’

  Eszter jumped up from her wicker chair. ‘For what? For obeying a princess of Dura? I am not betrothed to anyone, what harm is there in enjoying myself?’

  I could not believe my ears. ‘If you wanted to enjoy yourself you could have learned to dance or play a musical instrument. You will never erase the shame if you give birth to a bastard.’

  ‘That won’t happen,’ insisted Eszter.

  I pointed at her. ‘Really, can you see into the future now?’

  ‘I take precautions, father,’ she said matter-of-factly.

  ‘Very sensible,’ agreed Isabella.

  ‘Silence,’ I hissed, forgetting she was Queen of Sakastan. ‘Who is complicit in your outrageous behaviour?’ I demanded of Eszter.

  ‘Don’t be so stiff, father,’ said Claudia, ‘I supplied Eszter with the means to prevent an unwanted birth.’

  I spun to look at her. ‘You?’

  ‘It’s quite simple. Raw papaya or silphium, a member of the fennel family that is an effective contraception when taken once a month as a tincture.’

  I flopped down in a chair, stunned by my daughters’ blasé attitudes. I held my head in my hands.

  ‘You should be thanking me, father,’ said Claudia, ‘my simple potions have prevented a possible dynastic war in the empire. If Vartan is the true son of Orodes.’

  ‘He is,’ insisted Eszter.

  Claudia brought her hands together. ‘Let us for the moment say that he is. Any heir he produces will be a direct challenge to the legitimacy of Phraates’ reign and might be used by some as a pretext for getting rid of the current high king. An event not entirely unwelcome, I think.’

  I gave her a murderous look. ‘I’m glad you think it is all very amusing. I do not.’

  I looked at Gallia. ‘You are unusually quiet on this matter.’

  ‘I have informed Eszter that I disapprove of her actions, but what is done is done. I have also told her that if she intends to marry Vartan then she will have to desist her liaisons with him.’

  I jumped up. ‘Marry him! I will decide who she marries.’

  Eszter confronted me. ‘I thought we were free to make our own choices when it came to husbands, or were your words all lies?’

  ‘How dare you,’ I shouted. ‘I am your father and you will treat me with respect.’

  ‘But I deserve no respect, apparently,’ she replied.

  I was nearly speechless. ‘You think you deserve respect for acting like a whore?’

  She slapped my face, the blow hard and determined. I was momentarily taken aback but recovered to raise my arm. But in an instant Gallia was before me.

  ‘We do not strike defenceless women in Dura, Pacorus.’

  My cheek began to throb.

  ‘Defenceless? Hardly.’

  ‘You will show respect in my palace, father,’ said Isabella sternly. ‘Remember I am queen here.’

  The sisters and Gallia stood side-by-side in a wall of feminine defiance. In that moment, I was proud to have raised three proud and fierce daughters and to have the queen of the Amazons by my side. But those sentiments did nothing to solve the predicament that Eszter had created. I turned to Isabella.

  ‘Well, majesty, will you tolerate lewd behaviour in your palace? You said yourself that it is common gossip within these walls. How long before it becomes known throughout the city and beyond?’

  Isabella’s unblemished brow creased. ‘I assume you have a solution? But I forbid any violence towards Vartan.’

  I smiled at Eszter. ‘Actually, I do. Vartan will accompany the army when it leaves the city to march north against the Kushans. Let him prove to me and the world that he has the qualities possessed by his father, and furthermore that he is worthy to court my daughter.’

  ‘Vartan is not a soldier,’ protested Eszter, ‘you will be sending him to his death.’

  ‘He can ride, he can shoot a bow,’ I replied, ‘for he has taken part in the archery contests organised by Gafarn. My decision is final.’

  I stared, unblinking at Eszter, daring her to contradict me. I could see that Gallia and Isabella approved of my decision.

  ‘He might die,’ said Eszter, distress in her voice.

  ‘He might,’ I agreed, ‘but consider that his head might have already been decorating Ctesiphon’s walls had it not been for the good grace of King Peroz, may the gods love him. For that reason alone, Vartan should offer his bow to the family that saved his life.’

  ‘Good point, father,’ said Claudia, ‘we will make a diplomat of you yet.’

  I pointed at her. ‘And don’t think I have forgotten about your part in this sordid episode.’

  ‘It gladdens me to know that I am always in your thoughts, father,’ came the sarcastic reply.

  But that same day I had Vartan escorted from the palace, where he had more than made himself at home, to the camp of Dura’s cataphracts and horse archers outside the city. Cookum protested to Salar but the king had him temporarily arrested for allowing Vartan to corrupt Eszter. The thought of anyone corrupting my youngest daughter made me chuckle but I thanked the king for his consideration. In truth, the affair was a minor inconvenience because Salar and everyone else was fixated on marching against the Kushans. I learned later that Claudia had given Vartan a scorpion talisman as a defence against evil and to guard against enemies. With hindsight, she should have given us all one.

  On the day Salar led his army from Sigal such an idea would have been ridiculed. Fifteen thousand Saka foot soldiers and horsemen marched from Salar’s capital, accompanied by a hundred war elephants and over twelve thousand soldiers drawn from Dura, Hatra, Gordyene, Mesene and the lands of the Agraci. To add to the spectacle of Saka kettledrummers, drummers on foot, trumpeters on horseback and horn players on foot, the cataphracts of Dura and Hatra rode in their full armour, roasting under a fierce sun and a mere hint of breeze.

  The banners of the kings hung limply as we trotted north alongside the Erymanthus, the river low and slow moving now the spring melt waters were a distant memory. But at least the thousands of horses and camels would not want for water on the march. Salar in his silver cuirass and burnished helmet had grown into his role of king and Shapur had the bearing of a man who had been born for high command. As I looked around and behind me I was very satisfied about how things had turned out after the horror of the wedding. With the help of the kings Salar would defeat the Kushans, thus earning the gratitude of Drangiana and Aria. This in turn would neutralise Phanes’ efforts to steal the crown of Sakastan and would hopefully lead to Phraates taking away his ridiculous title of Lord High General in the East. I began to hum to myself.

  ‘What are you so happy about?’ asked Gafarn.

  ‘I was just thinking that it is better to be the master of events rather than their slave.’

  ‘Most philosophical,’ replied the King of Hatra, ‘the aroma of horse and camel dung mixed with dust and heat has obviously had a stimulating effect on you. By the way, where is your son-in-law.’

  I tipped my head at Salar. ‘Is your eyesight deserting you in your dotage?’

  ‘I was not referring to Salar,’ said Gafarn smugly. ‘No, word has reached my ears that Vartan has won the hand of Eszter.’

  ‘Don’t attempt levity when it comes to Vartan,’ Gallia warned him, ‘Pacorus has no sense of humour when it comes to Orodes’ bastard.’

  ‘Don’t call him that,’ I snapped.

  ‘But that is what he is,’ said Gafarn.

  ‘He is with Kalet and my desert lords if you must know,’ I told my brother, ‘out of sight, though sadly not out of mind.’

  ‘Pacorus hopes he will be killed on this campaign,’ said Gallia.

  ‘I’m sure Kalet would slit his throat for you,’ said Malik.

  ‘Good idea,’ agreed Spartacus.

  ‘I sent Eszter to Hatra to improve her education and curb her wild ways,’ I said, changing the subject, ‘perhaps I was wrong to do so.’

  ‘Eszter is a charming, well-educated young woman,’ Gafarn told me, ‘but she is a child of the desert and no amount of tuition can change her personality.’

  He looked at Gallia. ‘Not that I would wish to.’

  ‘Pacorus is worried that a union between Eszter and Vartan will lead to civil war in the empire.’

  ‘How so?’ asked Malik.

  ‘Because any son that results from said union represents a challenge to Phraates’ authority,’ I explained.

  ‘Phraates is the legitimate high king,’ said Gafarn, ‘and I stress the word “legitimate”.’

  I nodded. ‘I agree, but Phraates is not a lawyer but a high king and high kings let any potential challengers to their position live at their peril.’

  ‘It is a situation that is both delicate and complicated,’ agreed Salar.

  The horses were walking now, their tails swatting away flies as they plodded along across the arid plain. We had diverted away from the river to avoid trampling the many groves and fields littering the banks of the Erymanthus. But further from the waterway the vegetation became sparse, mostly desert grass and shrubs. The hard-packed earth was parched and cracked in the summer heat, objects in the distance indistinct and hard to identify in the summer haze.

  A member of the vanguard, an officer of the king’s guard, left the ranks to gallop back to Salar, pulling up his horse sharply. We all halted our mounts.

  ‘Riders approaching, highness.’

  Shapur turned to the horsemen behind us. ‘Close up.’

  The yellow-clad riders trotted forward to form a cordon around us, long lances lowered in readiness. Zenobia called to the Amazons to form a cordon around the lancers, nocking arrows in their bowstrings. As they did so the column of horsemen behind slowed their mounts.

  The riders were at first watery figures but became more distinct as they approached, moving at speed towards us. They slowed when they were within two hundred paces, one of their number continuing on as the rest brought their horses to a halt.

  ‘It is Talib,’ I said.

  ‘Stand down,’ shouted Shapur.

  His men turned their horses to return to their original position and the Amazons slid their bows back in their cases as Talib pulled up his horse and bowed his head to Salar and then me.

  ‘The Kushans, majesty, are but five miles away.’

  Chapter 7

  Momentarily we were stunned and looked at each other, not believing the Kushans had reached this far south. If their army was here then Aria and Drangiana must have already fallen, or at least their main armies destroyed.

  ‘Perhaps it is just a raiding force,’ opined Gafarn.

  ‘No, majesty,’ said Talib, ‘it numbers thousands of horsemen.’

  ‘Go and find out how many,’ I told him.

  He bowed his head, turned his horse and galloped back to his men before the whole group rode back towards the north.

  ‘What does it matter?’ announced Spartacus, ‘we were marching to fight them anyway.’

  ‘We can defeat these Kushans and be back in the city before nightfall,’ smiled Rasha.

  Her words were to be prophetic. Salar looked at me, unsure what to do. I did not want to undermine his authority but the enemy was closing fast and his army was still in a long column behind us.

  ‘May I suggest we deploy into a battle line, majesty?’ said Shapur.

  ‘Yes,’ answered the king, ‘give the order.’

  ‘Fetch Kalet,’ I ordered Azad, and gave the command for the cataphracts to deploy for battle.

  Gafarn told Prince Pacorus to do the same with Hatra’s heavy horsemen and suddenly officers were riding around like buzzing flies to relay orders to their men. We held an impromptu council of war in the midst of the chaos, soldiers holding the reins of our horses as we used small stones to organise our forces. Our deployment was dictated by the ten thousand Saka foot soldiers that marched with us. They would have to be placed in the centre of the battle line with the horsemen on the wings to prevent them being outflanked and surrounded. Prince Pacorus suggested that all the cataphracts be placed to the right rear of the foot soldiers, ready to be unleashed when the time was right.

  Kalet appeared with his warlords in a cloud of dust that made us all cough.