‘You think I lie, King Pacorus? You saw with your own eyes yesterday how my army performed in battle. Do you not recognise your own tactics? I will have a copy of the book sent to you after you have left Sakastan.’

  ‘That is most kind, lord,’ I replied, ‘but I have to tell you that I am going nowhere.’

  I rose, thanked him for his courtesy and hospitality and declared my intention to return to Sigal.

  ‘You will convey my offer to King Salar?’

  I nodded. ‘I shall.’

  He suddenly grasped my arm. ‘Do not die in Sigal, King Pacorus. I give you my word that you, your family and friends will be given safe passage out of Sakastan. And I will personally guarantee the safety of King Salar and Queen Isabella if they submit to my authority. And further I will support Salar against his uncle.’

  I rode back to Sigal in the company of Azad, saying nothing as we trotted with our escort through the rapidly forming Kushan siege lines. As yet no stone- or missile-throwing engines had appeared and I hoped that Kushan military engineering was as backward as Parthia’s, though that was wishful thinking. At the gates, the commander of the escort saluted and wished me good fortune, waving at the archers in the towers each side of the entrance. They waved back.

  ‘Brotherly business, killing each other,’ I remarked as the Kushans about-faced and trotted back to their camp.

  One of the gates creaked open and we entered a Sigal dripping with apprehension. The streets were unusually quiet, adding to a creeping sense of dread stalking us as we rode back to the fortress. But less than half a mile from the citadel we encountered a procession of civilians making their way to one of the many temples in Sigal. Some women were raising their arms to the heavens, imploring the gods to save them, while others were clutching the hands of their children and wailing.

  ‘Halt,’ I ordered, ‘we will let them pass.’

  There were a few old men and young boys in the throng but it was mostly a gathering of women who, seemingly in a trance, ignored the others and me as they passed by. Tegha became agitated as individuals brushed past him, moaning and sobbing and pulling their shawls tighter around their heads. I felt someone shove something into my right hand.

  ‘Give this to Princess Claudia,’ a woman’s voice told me.

  I looked down but saw only a sea of black and brown robes.

  ‘Have faith, son of Hatra.’

  ‘Who said that?’ I shouted, but no answer came from the wailing press, which had soon disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

  ‘Are you hurt, majesty?’ asked Azad, hand on his sword hilt.

  ‘What? No.’

  The street was now empty and we continued our journey. I looked at what had been thrust into my hand. It was some sort of animal head made from copper, though unlike any animal I had ever seen. It had a beard and horns with grotesque bulging eyes and a snarling canine mouth. A feeling of unease possessed me when I reached the fortress but went straight to see Salar.

  I relayed Kujula’s offer to him, the young king acting predictably after I had done so. He had assembled the other kings and queens, minus the gravely ill Nergal and the doting Praxima, in the throne room, together with Shapur and his senior officers. To rousing applause from the latter he pledged his allegiance to Parthia and Phraates, even though as far as anyone knew the high king had not lifted so much as a finger to aid either him or the kings of Aria and Drangiana. The other kings applauded politely, though I noticed that even the fiery Spartacus was subdued. Like everyone he had seen with his own eyes the enemy army tightening its grip around the city. It did not make for a reassuring sight.

  Salar invited us all to inspect the stocks of arrows and weapons in the royal armouries inside the citadel, an appeal that we all felt obliged to accept. On the way, however, Kewab and Marcus, the latter looking very concerned, accosted me. They stopped me following the royal entourage and talked in hushed tones. I watched Gallia disappear around a corner in the corridor and then we were alone.

  ‘Marcus has been compiling an inventory of the city’s supplies, majesty,’ said Kewab.

  ‘The thousands of citizens, together with the soldiers and their horses and camels, will quickly exhaust Sigal’s food supplies,’ Marcus informed me.

  ‘When?’ I asked.

  ‘Two weeks at the most,’ my chief engineer told me.

  ‘There is only one logical course of action,’ said Kewab.

  I looked at him. ‘Which is?’

  ‘To organise a flying column to break out of the city to head west to Bam, there to summon reinforcements from Elymais to organise a relief of the city.’

  I was surprised. ‘You are advocating abandoning Sigal?’

  ‘A sizeable garrison can be left behind that will be able to mount a strong defence,’ said Kewab.

  ‘And hold out until your relief army arrives,’ added Marcus.

  ‘ My army?’ I said. ‘You think I would abandon Salar?’

  ‘You must,’ insisted Kewab. ‘Only you of the kings has the experience and skills to save Sigal, and Sakastan. But you must do it quickly, lord.’

  ‘You must leave tomorrow,’ Marcus told me, ‘before the Kushans tighten their grip on the city. Time is of the essence.’

  ‘Clearly,’ I replied.

  I looked at their stern visages and knew they were deadly serious. I wanted to argue with them and indeed could have ignored their advice, but they were the best brains in Dura’s army. I was convinced they were right and utterly depressed that they were so.

  ‘We cannot strip the garrison,’ I told them. ‘There is little point in trying to organise a relief attempt if the city has fallen.’

  ‘The walls are high and thick,’ said Marcus, ‘and as yet the enemy has not revealed any siege engines, which leads me to believe the Kushans might not possess such instruments.’

  Kewab took out a papyrus scroll from his tunic and handed it to me.

  ‘I took the liberty of compiling the composition of your flying column, majesty.’

  I unrolled it and gave it a cursory examination. I raised an eyebrow.

  ‘All the cataphracts, all Salar’s remaining lancers, Spartacus’ horsemen and all the Agraci.’

  ‘Cataphracts, lancers and Agraci are useless for defending walls,’ stated Kewab harshly.

  ‘You have only a few hours to make this happen, majesty,’ Marcus told me, ‘the alternatives are that the city is either yielded or put to the sword.’

  ‘Very well,’ I told them, ‘I will assemble the kings.’

  I hastened to catch up with the royal party on its way to the armouries, turning a corner to run into Claudia.

  ‘You look flustered, father.’

  ‘That is because I am. Have you been visiting Nergal?’

  ‘No, why should I? As I told you he will recover. He does not need me hanging about him like some official mourner.’

  I suddenly remembered the crowd in the city and the strange amulet that had been thrust into my hand. I retrieved it and handed it to Claudia.

  ‘This is for you.’

  She took it and examined the carved head.

  ‘Who gave you this?’

  I shrugged.

  ‘Tell me,’ she demanded.

  ‘You would not believe me.’

  She turned the amulet in her hand. ‘There is only one who would give you this. You know, even though you do not speak her name.’

  ‘What is it?’ I asked.

  She held up the carved head. ‘It is Pazuzu, king of the wind demons, and it is a message.’

  She pointed at the scroll. ‘What is that?’

  I told her about the plan Kewab and Marcus had hatched and that I had reluctantly agreed to it, though I had yet to broach the subject with Salar and the other kings.

  ‘Assemble them at once,’ she said, ‘I’m coming with you.’

  The inspection of the armouries was cancelled as I requested Salar attend me in the throne room, together with the other kings and queens. Isabella and Eszter were also present, together with Vartan who had performed well in battle and was now the apple of my youngest daughter’s eye. She was openly defying me with her public display of affection for Orodes’ bastard son but I had more important things to worry about.

  The doors to the throne room were shut and all slaves were banished from the chamber as I explained to everyone Kewab’s plan. It did not go down well.

  Salar, seated on his throne, shook his head.

  ‘If the King of Dura abandons the city so soon after meeting with Kujula it will be taken as a sign that he has also abandoned Sakastan.’

  ‘That would be a lie, lord king,’ I assured him. I looked at Marcus, who stepped forward and bowed his head.

  ‘If I may speak, majesty?’

  Salar nodded curtly at the portly Roman.

  By my calculations there are eighteen and a half thousand soldiers in the city, plus three thousand squires and various non-combatants, such as cameleers, servants and so on. Then there are the horses and camels of those soldiers, which number many thousands, all of which will soon put an intolerable strain on food stocks inside the city. And I have omitted the many thousands of civilians that are also within Sigal’s walls.’

  ‘The answer is simple, then,’ proclaimed Salar, ‘we sally from the gates and give battle to the Kushans to drive them from before the walls.’

  Silence greeted this proposal. Those of us who had experience of war knew that the Shapur’s lancers had been badly shaken the day before, to say nothing of the dire lack of ammunition among our horse archers and the fact that Salar had lost half his foot soldiers during the battle with the Kushans. I looked at Gafarn, Malik and Spartacus and their faces told me that none of them had any confidence such a sally would succeed.

  ‘I am afraid, lord king,’ I said, ‘that our forces are currently in a weak position whereas the enemy is strong and confident.’

  ‘Then we are lost,’ murmured Salar.

  ‘Far from it.’

  Claudia stepped forward and, ignoring all protocol, stepped onto the dais and stood beside the king. Shapur placed a hand on the hilt of his sword and walked menacingly towards her.

  ‘Are you going to slay me, commander? Perhaps you should focus your efforts on defending your king and queen. Remind me, how many of your men did you lose yesterday?’

  Shapur, enraged, was stopped from drawing his sword by Salar who shook his head at the general.

  ‘Say what you have to say, Claudia,’ he said, ‘and be mindful that this is not Dura.’

  Claudia regarded Shapur coolly as he backed away from the dais. I noticed she was holding the amulet of Pazuzu in her right hand and kept glancing at it.

  ‘My father will leave the city in the early hours of tomorrow, after which he will ride to Bam and there organise a relief army. He will ride straight through the Kushans, who will be occupied with other things at the time.’

  Salar looked at her. ‘What other things?’

  Claudia gave him a sly grin. ‘A visit from some winged friends.’

  Frowns greeted her words but she looked at her palm where the amulet rested. She was speaking of the aid of the king of the wind demons, though how she would summon him was a mystery.

  ‘Ridiculous,’ scoffed Shapur.

  ‘We will see, general, we will see,’ said Claudia. ‘But I hear Commander Kewab has a task for you.’

  I looked at Kewab who was staring at my daughter with an open mouth.

  ‘How did you know?’ he muttered.

  ‘Enlighten us,’ smiled Claudia.

  Kewab, flustered, cleared his throat. ‘Well, I was thinking that perhaps General Shapur might leave with King Pacorus but head for the hills with a small detachment of men. There to organise raiding parties against the Kushan army. In this way, the enemy will be deterred from launching a direct assault against the city.’

  ‘Clever,’ said Kalet loudly, ‘but me and my men should be the ones who should do that.’

  ‘No, my lord,’ protested Kewab, ‘you and your men are all expert archers and as such they should man the walls.’

  Kalet was far from amused. ‘Man the walls when there’s raiding to be had?’

  ‘You will do as requested, Lord Kalet,’ I told him, ‘and with the help of the gods we might yet make it back to Dura safely.’

  Claudia turned to Salar. ‘And now, lord king, you have a decision to make. Will you let me aid you so you may enjoy a long and fruitful reign?’

  Salar found no answer in the faces around him so he turned to his wife, the sister of Claudia, and one well acquainted with her upbringing at the hands of Dobbai. She gave her husband a faint smile and a nod. The die was cast.

  Salar stood and took his wife’s hand. ‘So be it, may the gods smile on us.’

  ‘On you, lord king, they will,’ Claudia assured him, ‘of that you can be certain.’

  I did not sleep that night as I organised the column that would leave Sigal in the early hours, though my task was aided enormously by Kewab having already alerted the various commanders that they might be called upon to lead their men from the city. Salar ordered a curfew on pain of death and commanded Shapur to lead a thousand foot and five hundred horsemen to accompany us, who would leave us to head for the hills surrounding the city. But as the city slept I was faced with a personal crisis.

  Gallia declared her intention to stay in the city with her daughters and Praxima. In addition, Diana told Gafarn that she too would remain in Sigal to support her friends. This prompted Rasha to announce she would also be staying, along with the Vipers. I did not have the energy to argue with the sisterhood, and in truth in many ways it made sense. I knew that Isabella would never abandon Salar and Sigal and with Nergal so ill it was unreasonable to expect Praxima to desert her husband. But it also meant that the seventeen hundred horse archers of Mesene would also be staying with their king and queen.

  The hour was late when I left the fortress’ stables to bid farewell to my wife. Cataphracts, horse archers and squires had turned the courtyard into a nest of activity, checking weapons and equipment and sharpening sword blades. In the city thousands of other soldiers were undergoing the same pre-battle rituals, and grumbling cameleers would be complaining about all and sundry as they prepared their beasts for the breakout. Claudia was loitering in the courtyard, speaking to squires and blessing their weapons. I watched her speaking to cataphracts, smiling and placing a hand on an arm or shoulder. For a second I thought I caught a glimpse of the carefree, vivacious daughter I had known before her ordeal. But then she saw me and the vision was gone. She walked over, a company commander bowing his head to her.

  ‘The gods are with you,’ she told him.

  ‘I hope you are right. By the way, how do you summon a demon?’

  ‘I don’t, I ask him to come from the celestial world.’

  I was surprised. ‘Just like that?’

  She tilted her head. ‘There are a few incantations to be said, but for a skilled practitioner of sorcery it is straightforward enough. The trick, of course, is to ensure that he does not stay in this world but returns to his own when his task is complete. If the celestial door closes too soon ...’

  She shuddered.

  I was curious. ‘Tell me.’

  ‘Let’s just say a demon trapped in this world would be mightily enraged and could spread great evil.’

  ‘I thought demons were evil,’ I said.

  ‘What a simplistic notion you have of the immortals, father. Like men, gods and demons have the potential to be both good and evil, and as such can have both harmful or beneficial effects upon humanity.’

  ‘I’m not sure I am reassured. I am relying on you to keep your mother, sisters and everyone else safe while I am away.’

  She threw back her head and laughed, which turned into an ethereal growl that unnerved everyone within earshot.

  ‘The gods like you, father, but they are not at your beck and call and nor are they at mine. If they are pleased with us then they may aid us, though only for a while.’

  ‘Dobbai once told me that the gods are cruel.’

  She shrugged. ‘So are you, father.’

  I was outraged. ‘Me? I have always ruled fairly and according to the rule of law.’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘I was not talking about how you rule Dura, I was thinking of your decision to continue to fight Kujula, thereby consigning Sigal to a siege that may claim many lives, as well as sparking a war that will cost the lives of thousands.’

  ‘It was not my decision to continue to fight,’ I insisted.

  ‘Really? You could have persuaded Salar to come to an accommodation with Kujula, convinced him that Sakastan would have been no worse off swearing its allegiance to the Kushan Empire rather than Parthia, but you did not.’

  ‘Sakastan is Parthian,’ I told her, ‘and I will fight with every fibre of my body to keep it so.’

  She leaned towards me and kissed me on the cheek. ‘There you have it. Be ready with your men at the gates as dawn breaks tomorrow.’

  And then she was gone, leaving me alone in the courtyard. I walked back into the palace, which despite the hour was full of officers holding briefings concerning the breakout that would take place in the next few hours. I found Gallia, in full war gear, in our bedroom, counting the arrows in her quiver.

  ‘Are you about to go on guard duty?’ I joked.

  ‘When you lead the breakout tomorrow, it will not be lost on the Kushans that thousands of soldiers have left the city. If I was their leader I would launch an immediate assault on the city.’

  I walked over and held her in my arms.

  ‘If you were the Kushan leader I would already be dead, I think.’

  She grinned. ‘I was thinking earlier of the time when I was in command of Dura in your absence when it was besieged by that Roman oaf whom we first encountered in Italy.’

  ‘Lucius Furious, I remember.’

  She finished counting her arrows. ‘We defeated him, we will defeat the Kushans.’

  I sat on the bed and stared at the floor.

  She sat beside me. ‘What’s the matter?’