Peter Darman - Parthian Vengeance

‘What?’ I was most surprised.

I looked at my governor who was blushing. Orodes was smiling at him and Domitus gave him a hearty slap on the shoulders. Because of his age I had assumed that Godarz was happy being a single man, but it appeared that I was wrong. Rsan instructed the clerk to stop writing.

Godarz held up his hands. ‘Domitus is exaggerating, I can assure you.’

‘No I ain’t. Byrd told me all about her. I had to work on him to get any information out of him, mind. We all know how tight-lipped he can be.’ Byrd was a Cappadocian and my head scout. We had known each other for over thirteen years.

‘So, Godarz,’ I said, ‘are you going to enlighten us further on your romantic adventures?’

‘Certainly not,’ he answered, and with that he folded his arms and said nothing further.

The meeting over, afterwards I managed to winkle a few details out of Godarz as I walked with him back to the governor’s mansion just beyond the Citadel’s walls. Apparently he had become acquainted with a woman who was the daughter of the head of one of the richest transport guilds in Anauon, a kingdom on the eastern edge of the empire. She and her father had arrived in Dura a few weeks ago and had presented themselves at the governor’s mansion. Her father had rented a well-appointed house in the city and they had invited Godarz to dine with them on several occasions. I thought it odd that a transport guild from the eastern frontier of the empire should want to establish a presence in Dura, but Godarz told me that the woman’s father was expanding the length of the route along the Silk Road that his guild controlled. This woman’s father must have been very wealthy indeed to organise caravans that operated between Anauon and Dura and beyond, a distance of over a thousand miles. Godarz informed me with pride that her father’s caravans could number up to a thousand camels and horses, each one had its own guards and they carried not only silk but also ceramics, bronze, spices and medicines. It was a most impressive summary.

By the time he had relayed all this information we had reached the gates of his mansion.

‘I would like to meet this mysterious woman of yours,’ I remarked casually.

‘And I would like you to meet her, Pacorus.’

We strolled across the courtyard flanked by stables, storerooms, a small barracks and an armoury that held the weapons of the governor’s guards.

‘Perhaps you could bring her to the palace one evening.’

He paused at the foot of the mansion’s steps leading to the columned entrance.

‘I have a better idea, why don’t you bring Gallia here and I can entertain you both.’

I smiled at him. ‘That would be most excellent, my friend.’

Godarz smiled. He was clearly very happy and I was happy for him. He was extremely diligent in the execution of his duties as governor and his workload had increased substantially after Dura had become a major trading hub in the western part of the empire. At that moment a figure appeared at the top of the steps, a man I estimated to be in his mid-twenties with dark brown shoulder-length hair and a powerful build. He walked down the stone steps and bowed his head to Godarz.

‘Ah, Pacorus, this is Polemo, my new headman. Polemo, meet your king.’

Polemo placed his right hand on his chest and bowed his head to me.

‘Highness.’ His voice was deep and severe. He was certainly an imposing figure, broad shoulders, thick chest and strong arms protruding from the short sleeves of his blue tunic.

‘I assume my presence is required,’ Godarz said.

‘Yes, lord,’ replied Polemo, ‘the city’s chief engineer is awaiting your presence, concerning the water supply to the caravan park.’

Godarz sighed. ‘It seems a governor’s work is never done. Thank you, Polemo. Tell him I will be with him shortly.’

Polemo bowed his head once more and disappeared up the steps and into the mansion.

‘Well, duty calls,’ said Godarz.

‘What’s the story with Polemo?’

‘Oh he’s been with me for a few weeks now. Turned up unannounced at the gates one day and asked for an audience. He used to work in the palace at Zeugma until old Darius took a fancy to him, so he ran away and pitched up here.’

I shuddered. It appeared Darius’ tastes had now extended to more mature prey.

‘He was a slave?’ I asked. ‘He looks like a soldier.’

Godarz shook his head. ‘He’s as gentle as a lamb. Reads poetry, would you believe? He’s freeborn but his parents got him into the royal residence at Zeugma so he could learn to be a clerk. He can read and write Greek and Latin as well as Parthian. Darius’ loss is my gain.’

Gallia was standing by the entrance to Remus’ stall as I rubbed him down. It was a task that could have been performed by any one of the stable hands but I found that physical labour prevented me from dwelling on things, in this case Mithridates. I always took Remus out in the morning to the training fields where I put him through his paces, and afterwards rode him back to the Citadel’s stables. Now I stood brushing his long white tail.

‘I know that you think that your refusal to pay tribute will prompt Mithridates to march against you, but he will not and you know it.’

‘Do I?’ I unwittingly tugged on Remus’ tail, causing him to grunt in protest and turn his head towards me.

Gallia shook her head. ‘You shouldn’t take it out on Remus. It’s not his fault that you can’t get what you want.’

I decided to change the subject. ‘Where are our daughters?’

‘Isabella and Eszter are with their nurses and Claudia is with Dobbai.’

‘Claudia spends too much time with Dobbai. I shudder to think what she is learning from her.’

Gallia frowned. ‘You know they are close. They like spending time together.’

‘Too close. Dobbai is probably filling her head with nonsense.’

Gallia’s expression hardened. ‘The same nonsense that got you made king; that saved your crown and tells you the future? Is that the nonsense you allude to?’

I threw down the brush. ‘All I am saying is that a young girl should not spend so much time with her; that is all.’

I began shovelling freshly produced dung into a wheelbarrow, just one of the treats I allowed myself each day.

‘What do you know of this woman Godarz is seeing?’ asked Gallia, changing the subject.

I wiped my sweating brow on the sleeve of my shirt.

‘About as much as you do. Her father is a rich head of a trade guild based in Anauon.’

She raised an eyebrow at this. ‘That is a long way from here. Why would she suddenly arrive in Dura?’

I shrugged. ‘Same reason why all the other merchants and traders come here — to make money.’

I finished shovelling the dung and pushed the now full wheelbarrow out of the stall. It would be taken to the large tannery several miles south of the river and would be used in the process that turned animal skins into leather vests for the legionaries, belts and horse furniture for the cavalry and a host of other useful items.

‘In any case,’ I continued, ‘we will be meeting her soon. Godarz has invited us to dine with them.’

‘He should have said something to me,’ said Gallia, ‘we are his family, after all.’

I went to put my arms on her shoulders but she recoiled from me, seeing my sleeves smeared with dung.

‘I think not.’

I walked over to a bucket of water on the floor opposite the stall and washed my hands in it.

‘He has told us, or at least me. Besides, he has his life and we have ours. He doesn’t have to explain himself to anyone.’

‘I know that,’ she snapped.

I was not entirely unsympathetic to her viewpoint. I suspected that she was disappointed that he had not confided in her regarding his new love.