David Gemmell - Lion of Macedon

Parmenion wrenched his sword loose and looked down at his opponent. 'Tell me,' he hissed, 'is this how Derae looked when she was upon her knees, begging for her life?'

Nestus was trying to stem the blood gushing from his belly. He looked up and saw Parmenion's eyes.

'No. . more,' he pleaded.

'You came for death. You found it,' said Parmenion.

'No!' shouted Xenophon as the Sword of Leonidas rose-and hacked down into the kneeling man's throat, severing the jugular and smashing the bones of the neck. Nestus rolled to his side.

Parmenion turned away from the corpse and focused his gaze on Leonidas. 'Pick up his sword,' urged Parmenion. 'Come on! Take it — and die like he did.'

'You are a savage,' said Leonidas, seeing the light of madness in Parmenion's eyes. The young Spartan strode forward and knelt by Nestus, rolling the man to his back and closing his eyes.

Xenophon took Parmenion's arm. 'Come away now,' said the general, his voice low. 'Come away.'

'Does no one else want to fight me?' shouted Parmenion. His eyes raked the group, but no one would meet his stare.

'Come away,' urged Xenophon. 'This is not seemly.'

'Seemly?' Parmenion tore himself from Xenophon's grasp. 'Seemly? They've killed Derae and they've come to kill me. Where is seemly in all this?'

Xenophon turned to Leonidas. 'There is a small wagon at the rear of the house — you may use it to return Nestus to his family. I suggest you leave now.' He swung back to Parmenion. 'Sheathe your sword, there will be no more fighting here. The battle warrant was issued and it has been served.

Further bloodshed will accomplish nothing.'

'No,' said Parmenion. 'They came to kill me so let them try. Let them try now.'

'If you do not put away your sword and return to the house, the next person you fight will be me.

Do I make myself clear to you?'

Parmenion blinked and opened his mouth to speak, but there were no words. He dropped the sword and strode to the house. Clearchus and Tinus were standing in the doorway, but they moved aside to let him pass. He sat in his room, his mind reeling. Derae was gone. At this moment she was alive, somewhere out to sea; but in a matter of days she would be dead, and he would not know the hour of her passing.

The door opened and Clearchus came in, carrying a bowl of water and a towel. 'Better clean the blood off,' advised the servant, 'and change your tunic. What would you like for your supper?'

Parmenion shook his head. 'Supper? I just killed a man. How can you ask me about supper?'

'I've killed a lot of men,' said Clearchus. 'What has that to do with food? He was alive. Now he's not. He was a fool; he should have listened to Xenophon and rested first. But he didn't. So…

what would you like for supper?'

Parmenion rose, and felt the tension slide from him as he looked into the old man's face. 'You don't hate me, do you? Why is that? I know you did not like me when you were my judge at the Games. Why is it you now befriend me?'

Clearchus met his gaze and grinned. 'A man can change his mind, boy. Now, since you seem incapable of deciding what to eat I shall prepare some fish in soured milk; it sits well on a queasy belly.

Now bathe and change. You'll have a long ride tomorrow."

'Tomorrow? Where should I go tomorrow?'

'Corinth would be a good place to start, but I think Xenophon will send you to Thebes. He has a friend there, a man named Epaminondas. You'll like him.'

'We have such dreams,' said Xenophon as they walked together in the gardens under bright moonlight, 'and sometimes I think the gods mock us. I wanted to conquer Persia, to lead a united army into the richest kingdom the world has ever seen. Instead I live like a retired gentleman.

You wanted to find love and happiness; it has been taken from you. But you are young, Parmenion; you have time.' 'Time? Without Derae nothing is worthwhile,' answered Parmenion. 'I know it deep inside my soul. She was the one. We were so close during those five days.'

'I know this may sound callous, my friend, but perhaps your passion deceives you. You are not yet a worldly man and it may be that you were merely infatuated. And there are many women in Thebes to make a man happy.'

Parmenion gazed out over the man-made lake, watching the fragmented moon floating on the surface.

'I shall not love again,' he said. 'I will never open my heart to the risk of so much pain. When my mother died I felt lost and alone, but deep in my heart I had been expecting it — and, I suppose, preparing for it. But Derae? It is as if a beast with terrible talons had reached inside me and ripped away my heart. I feel nothing. I have no dreams, no hopes. For a moment back there I was willing for Nestus to kill me. But then he told me he had ordered Derae's death.'

'Not too clever of him, was it?' observed Xenophon drily. Parmenion did not smile.

'When I killed Learchus that night, I felt a surge of joy. I gloried in his death. But today I killed a man who did not deserve to die, watched the light of life fade from his eyes. Worse, he begged me not to strike the death blow."

'He would have died in agony from the stomach wound," said Xenophon. 'If anything, you ended his misery.'

'That is not the point, is it?' asked Parmenion quietly, turning to face the silver-haired Athenian.

'No, it is not. You destroyed him, and it was not good to see. Also you made enemies. No one who saw the duel will forget the way he died. But in Thebes you can make a new life. Epaminondas is a good man and he will find a place for you.'

Parmenion sank back on a marble seat. 'Derae had a dream about me, but it was a false one. She dreamt she was in a temple and I came to her dressed as a general; she called me the Lion of Macedon.'

'It has a good ring to it,' said Xenophon, suddenly feeling the chill of the evening and shivering. 'Let us go back to the house. I have some gifts for you.'

Clearchus had set out the presents on a long table and Parmenion moved first to the bronze breastplate. It was simply made and not, as in more expensive pieces, shaped to represent the male chest. Yet it was strong and would withstand any sword-thrust. At the centre of the breast was a lion's head, cast in iron. Parmenion glanced up at Xenophon. 'Perhaps she was not so wrong,' the Athenian whispered. Parmenion reached out and stroked his fingers across the lion's jaws. Beside the breastplate was a round helm, also of bronze and lined with leather. There were greaves, a bronze-studded leather kilt and a short dagger with a curved blade.

'I do not know what to say,' Parmenion told his friend.

'They were to have been a Manhood gift. But now, I think, is a better time. There is something else which I hope will prove useful.'

Xenophon lifted a leather-bound scroll and passed it to Parmenion, who opened the tiny buckles and spread the parchment. 'It details my journeys across Persia and the march to the sea. I do not claim to be a great writer, but there is much that a soldier can learn from my notes, and many of my friends have asked me for copies of it.'

'I will never be able to repay you for your kindness.'

'Friends never need repaying, it is what makes them friends. Now prepare yourself for the journey.

With luck the Spartans will forget about you as time passes.'

Parmenion shook his head. 'They will not forget, Xenophon. I will see to that.'

'You are a man alone, and such thoughts are foolish. Sparta is the power in Greece and will remain so long past our lifetimes. Forget about vengeance, Parmenion. Even the might of Persia could not bring down Sparta.'

'Of course you are correct,' said the young man, embracing his friend.

But as the dawn was breaking and he rode from the estate, he thought of Derae's dream and of Thebes, and the Spartan garrison there. A hostile force, hated and feared, dwelling at the centre of a city of 30,000 Thebans.