Peter Darman - Parthian Vengeance

Dobbai raised her face to the heavens. ‘I have tried, I really have, to counsel you, son of Hatra, so you can carry out the wishes of the gods and keep the empire strong. But you have seen fit to ignore my advice.’

‘That is unfair,’ I replied. ‘I have always respected your views.’

She fixed me with her black eyes. ‘Have you? I told you years ago to kill Mithridates, yet you chose to ignore me. He will only be satisfied when you are dead and he is the unchallenged king of kings.’

‘He is king of kings,’ I said in exasperation.

‘In name perhaps,’ said Dobbai, ‘but it is well known that you openly challenged him to march on Dura and take the city by storm. The longer you remain king here the more he is seen as impotent.’

‘If he and his assassins had killed Pacorus,’ said Orodes, ‘he must have known that King Varaz, his father, would have marched against him. And Hatra has allies in Babylon and Media, to say nothing of Nergal at Uruk.’

Dobbai regarded Orodes with a bemused look. ‘He knows all of that, but he and Narses have taken measures in anticipation of those events happening.’

‘What measures?’ I asked.

Dobbai pursed her lips. ‘How should I know? I cannot see into the poisoned well that is the mind of Mithridates.’

‘Mithridates must be punished,’ said Gallia, staring into the distance.

‘I agree,’ I added.

‘And so do I,’ said Orodes.

Dobbai rose from her chair. ‘Very well, I see that your minds are made up. So be it. Though take care, son of Hatra, not to underestimate your adversaries.’

She went over to Gallia and kissed her on the top of her head and then shuffled from the terrace. None of us said any more as we contemplated the future.

Six days later we burned the body of Godarz on a huge funeral pyre erected in the city’s main square. I had paid a great deal of gold to an Egyptian embalmer to preserve it so that his friends from afar could witness his funeral. Gallia had shed all her tears by then and her face was an emotionless mask as the pyre was lit and the flames took hold and consumed our friend’s body with a relentless ferocity. The square was packed with citizens for Godarz had been a respected governor who had administered the affairs of Dura with fairness, legality and commonsense. We stood in a line at the front of the multitude — I, Gallia, Orodes, Domitus, Diana, Gafarn, Nergal, Praxima, Byrd, Malik and a weeping Rsan. Poor Rsan. When we had first come to Dura he was the only one from the previous administration still alive. Rsan had been left to face us alone. He had subsequently proven himself to be a capable and above all honest royal treasurer. For those qualities he had become a valued and trusted member of the council. Rsan and Godarz had become close friends and now my treasurer was grief stricken. We could not criticise him; Godarz was a good man who deserved the shedding of an ocean of tears.

Behind us the Amazons were lined up in their mail shirts, swords at their hips. Diana and Gafarn had ridden hard from Hatra to be here and Nergal and Praxima had left their palace at Uruk to pay their respects to the man who had been like a father to them also.

The Companions remained motionless in their ranks among the soldiers who formed a cordon around the now blazing pyre. I watched the flames consume my friend, just as I had suffered with him many years ago in a green valley in Italy watching other flames devour the bodies of Spartacus and his wife Claudia. I prayed to Shamash that He would carry the soul of Godarz to heaven so he could be reunited with his friends. When the flames died down Domitus had his men clear the area and we remained at a loss as the legionaries used their shields to gently usher the citizens out of the square. As they did so I caught sight of Vistaspa, the commander of my father’s army. He had been standing among the crowd unnoticed but now he came over to me. Lean, tall with a thin, bony face, Vistaspa was one of the most ruthless men I had ever encountered. He had once been a prince of the Kingdom of Silvan and Godarz had served under him. Vistaspa had been delighted when he had been reunited with one of his old comrades in the aftermath of my return from Italy. Godarz could have stayed in Hatra but I had asked him to become Dura’s governor, and now Vistaspa had lost his friend for good. Although in his sixties, he still possessed the air of a ruthless warrior. He bowed his head and then regarded me with his cold, dark eyes.

‘Have you caught the killers yet?’

‘Not yet,’ I replied, ‘but be assured that they will not escape.’

But it seemed they had escaped. As the days passed I despaired that Godarz’s killers would be apprehended. Gallia’s mood darkened by the day and she lashed out at all and sundry. She spoke sharply to our daughters, argued with Domitus and Rsan and ordered that a servant, a girl barely out of her teens, be flogged for breaking a water jug. I immediately countermanded the order.

‘I ordered her to be flogged!’ Gallia stormed into the throne room as I was discussing sewage disposal with Rsan and the city’s chief engineer.

She strode onto the dais and stood before me. Rsan and the engineer looked at each other and then stared at the floor.

‘Thank you, Rsan, we will discuss this matter tomorrow.’

Rsan and the engineer bowed and left us.

‘Well?’

‘We do not flog young girls,’ I said. ‘And did you notice that I was in a meeting?’

She sneered at me. ‘Sitting on your arse doing nothing, as usual.’

I stood up slowly. ‘I know that you are upset my love, but do not test my patience.’

‘Why?’ she scoffed, ‘what are you going to do? You should be out looking for Godarz’s killers instead of sitting on your backside talking about disposing of shit.’

‘That’s enough!’

Her eyes were wild and I thought she was going to strike me, but then Domitus interrupted us.

‘We’ve found them.’

Gallia’s mood changed instantly as Domitus informed us that Polemo and Nadira had been caught and were on their way back to Dura under armed guard.

‘They bribed a merchant and joined his caravan. Would have got away had it not been for the broken nose you gave the man,’ said Domitus. ‘They were picked up by an Agraci patrol just outside Palmyra.’

‘What about the merchant?’ growled Gallia.

‘He is at Palmyra under Haytham’s guard awaiting your decision.’

‘Tell Haytham to execute him,’ said Gallia. ‘That is the penalty for helping assassins.’

Domitus looked at me.

‘What are you looking at him for?’ retorted Gallia. ‘Do you no longer take orders from your queen?’

I nodded ever so slightly at Domitus, who came to attention before Gallia.

‘It will be as you order, majesty.’

He turned, replaced his crested helmet on his head and marched from the throne room. Gallia sniffed and also marched away.

Malik himself brought back the pair who had been sent to kill me, handing them over to Domitus at the Palmyrene Gate. Gallia had wanted Nadira to be raped by a host of my soldiers but I instantly forbade such a torment. They would be executed for their crime and no more. Their deaths would take place in the main square so all could see that justice and law ruled in Dura. Gallia scoffed at what she called my high ideals, as did Dobbai, but I reminded them that I was the king of the city and my word held sway.

Afterwards we held a meeting of the council, a mournful occasion at which we all found ourselves staring at the chair Godarz used to sit in. I should have had it removed but to do so seemed like a slight against his memory and we all wanted to have things around us that reminded us of him. So it stayed.

‘You are governor now, Rsan,’ I said. ‘Godarz would have wanted that.’