Parthian Vengeance (The Parthian Chronicles)

by Darman, Peter

  I raised my chunk of bread. ‘Greetings ladies, my lords, welcome to Seleucia.’

  ‘Congratulations on the success of your plan, Pacorus,’ said Orodes.

  ‘A masterstroke,’ added Surena.

  ‘You have saved us much time, Pacorus,’ commented Atrax.

  ‘The first of the enemy’s cities to fall,’ I said.

  ‘Seleucia will be Babylonian from now on,’ remarked Orodes.

  ‘Good idea, Orodes,’ I agreed. ‘Won’t you all have some bread, it is most excellent?’

  My father shook his head. ‘We have other things to do besides eat, Pacorus. To secure Ctesiphon for one.’

  I got to my feet and helped Domitus to his.

  ‘I would not worry about that, father. I think you will find that Mithridates has fled back to Susa or further east by now.’

  I knew that Ctesiphon’s walls were in no state to withstand an assault and that its garrison was small – no more than two thousand men. It would take a man with an iron will and great ability to hold its dilapidated defences and Mithridates possessed neither.

  I called into the building. ‘Baker, come here!’

  The flustered man appeared by my side rubbing his hands and squinting up as the empire’s finest were arrayed on their horses in front of his premises.

  ‘What is your name?’ I asked him.

  ‘Agapios, sir.’

  I pointed at Orodes. ‘Well, Agapios, this is King of Kings Orodes.’

  Agapios bowed to Orodes and then looked at me in confusion.

  ‘Is King Mithridates dead, highness?’

  I laughed and my father frowned.

  ‘No, Agapios, he is not dead. Yet.’

  ‘Come,’ said my father irritably, ‘we have no time for this.’

  ‘One moment, father,’ I said. ‘Do you have any gold?’

  ‘Gold?’

  ‘To pay Agapios for his bread. We are after all soldiers and not looters.’

  My father rolled his eyes. ‘I have no gold, you try my patience, Pacorus.’

  I looked at the others. ‘Do any of you have gold?’

  They did not, which was most upsetting for Orodes who instructed Agapios to present himself at the palace the next day where he would be fully recompensed for his goods. I mounted Remus and then kissed my wife as Agapios stood staring incredulously at the kings as we made our way to the city’s palace to demand its surrender.

  Once we had secured the city I ordered Domitus to allow the people assembled in the square – who numbered not even half of eighty thousand – to return to their homes. Furthermore those of the garrison who were still on the walls or had taken refuge within the towers were to be surrounded but not attacked. Once the palace had fallen the governor, if he had not taken his own life, could order them to surrender.

  By now the army’s horsemen were moving through the city: rank upon rank of cataphracts, horse archers and squires leading camels. With the Durans having secured the city and the Exiles across the Tigris and investing Ctesiphon I had to admit that I felt immensely smug, the more so when a courier met our royal party with a message that the city governor would meet with me at the palace.

  ‘Your fame precedes you, lord,’ remarked Surena.

  ‘Or his infamy,’ remarked my father dryly.

  ‘Perhaps Mithridates is in the palace,’ said Gafarn, ‘and wishes to give himself up personally to Pacorus.’

  ‘In that case,’ I replied, ‘you had better find a headsman for an execution that will be taking place this afternoon.’

  Sadly it was not Mithridates who awaited me at the palace gates but an individual in an ill-fitting scale armour cuirass and a bronze helmet on his head, his unkempt hair showing underneath it.

  ‘Udall,’ I uttered in disbelief as I slid off Remus’ back and walked towards the great twin gates that he was standing in front of. I looked up at the walls and at the closed wooden shutters on the gatehouse.

  Udall pointed up at the walls. ‘No archers or sentries, majesty, just as I promised.’

  I halted a few paces in front of him and he took off his helmet and bowed his head.

  ‘How is it that you stand before me?’ I asked. ‘Is the governor dead?’

  ‘I am the governor,’ he announced proudly.

  I had to suppress a laugh. This day was getting better and better. The enemy must be scraping the bottom of the barrel if all he could throw at us were men of Udall’s calibre.

  ‘The last time I saw you was when you were leading what was left of your men into the desert. How is it that in the time in between you were made governor of this fine city?’

  A dumb smile crept across his face. ‘Because out of those Narses sent to fight you when he retreated back over the Tigris last year, I was the only one to survive. And bring my men back with me.’

  ‘Having first surrendered all your weapons to me,’ I reminded him.

  ‘But it bought him time, you see, majesty. And weapons can be easily replaced.’

  ‘That hardly qualifies you to be made a governor.’

  He shrugged indifferently. ‘It does when I told him that in agreement for my surrendering my weapons you had promised not to cross the Tigris.’

  ‘I agreed to no such thing.’

  He smiled to reveal rotting teeth. ‘He didn’t know that.’

  ‘You are the governor no longer,’ I snapped. ‘You will surrender the palace immediately and then order those soldiers still holding parts of the wall to give themselves up.’

  His cocksure attitude began to crumble. ‘What about me, majesty?’

  I smiled maliciously. ‘I should have your head, but as you have saved me the trouble of storming the palace and therefore the lives of my men I will allow you to leave.’

  He looked at me sheepishly. ‘Perhaps I could be of service to you.’

  ‘I think not.’

  The last I saw of him was his bedraggled figure mounted on a half-starved horse pulling a mangy donkey behind him heading out of the gates of the palace. No doubt the donkey was loaded with stolen money that he had plundered from the palace to ease the discomfort of him having lost his position. Before he departed he made a tour of the city walls with a Duran escort to order those men of his garrison still under arms to surrender. They did so and made their way to the palace where they dumped their weapons and armour in the courtyard in front of the palace, after which they were escorted to the city square until their fate was decided.

  We spent three days at Seleucia, during which time Orodes had a proclamation read to its citizens announcing that he was the rightful king of kings. I suspect this meant little to ordinary people whose lives were a daily quest for survival but it satisfied his strict code of protocol.

  The seizure of Ctesiphon was a major disappointment. The king of kings, his court and the contents of its substantial treasury had been spirited away to the city of Susa, a hundred and fifty miles to the southeast. Byrd’s scouts reported being told by merchants on the road that a great armada of wagons and camels had left Ctesiphon a week before we had captured Seleucia.

  In the vast banqueting hall at Ctesiphon slaves who had been brought from Seleucia served us roasted chicken and mutton, rice and bread. Mithridates had even evacuated his slaves to Susa so they would not fall into our hands. Mardonius had joined us from Babylon and Orodes had made him the governor of Seleucia to ensure it remained a secure base in our rear when we marched east. Seleucia had been an easy triumph but I felt cheated of victory and picked at my food as my father spoke.

  ‘We will be marching to Susa in two days’ time.’

  ‘And after that Persepolis, no doubt,’ I grumbled.

  ‘There are not an unlimited number of places Mithridates and Narses can flee to, Pacorus,’ replied my father. ‘Sooner or later they will have to stand and fight if they are not to lose all their lands and credibility.’

  I held my gold rhyton in the shape of a ram’s head – not all the palace finery had been evacuated: some
one had forgotten to look in the kitchens.

  ‘Let us hope that it is sooner, father.’

  ‘It makes sense that my stepbrother has fled to Susa,’ said Orodes. ‘It is where he grew up and is the capital city of Susiana, his homeland. Having lost possession of Seleucia and Ctesiphon he will gather his forces at Susa and await us there.’

  ‘Where he will be joined by Narses, no doubt,’ added Atrax.

  ‘We have beaten them before,’ I said, ‘and can do so again. Only this time they will not escape.’

  Surena had thus far remained silent, being content to pick at his food and listen to the other kings. However, by the grim look on his face he was clearly unhappy.

  ‘You disagree, Surena?’ I asked him.

  He stopped picking at his food. ‘Forgive me, lord, but we are marching into the heart of the enemy’s territory.’

  My father finished chewing on a chicken wing. ‘So?’

  ‘Well, lord,’ answered Surena, glancing at Orodes. ‘We will be fighting the enemy on a ground of his own choosing and at a time that also suits him. By marching to Susa do we not walk into the enemy’s trap?’

  My father eased back in his chair and regarded the new King of Gordyene for a moment. He probably thought that he was a young upstart, with his Ma’adan heritage and his wife who was formerly a member of my wife’s bodyguard. He would normally treat such an individual with contempt, but Surena had freed Gordyene from the Armenians and for that reason alone his words deserved some consideration.

  My father picked up his rhyton. ‘You are right in what you say, young king, but having drawn my sword I cannot replace it in its scabbard until this campaign has been concluded, which can happen only when Mithridates has been removed from power and Narses has been defeated. And if that means marching on Susa, so be it.’

  My father tilted his head at Orodes. ‘Besides, our new king of kings is also from Susiana and his prestige would suffer if his homeland was in the possession of the enemy.’

  ‘We have not talked about what will happen after we have defeated Mithridates and Narses, father,’ I remarked.

  He took a sip from his drinking vessel. ‘That is for the king of kings to decide.’

  Orodes frowned and looked at me. ‘I know that Pacorus desires their deaths, believing that the empire will not be at peace while they still live.’

  I toasted him with my rhyton and smiled.

  ‘However,’ he continued, ‘I am not desirous of seeing the deaths of yet more of the empire’s kings. I have given the matter a great deal of thought and have decided that banishment will be an appropriate punishment. I am sorry, Pacorus.’

  My father was nodding approvingly and Atrax seemed to accept Orodes’ decision, saying nothing, while Surena appeared more concerned with dipping a wafer into a bowl of yoghurt. I shrugged.

  ‘That is your decision, Orodes, and we must abide by it.’

  There was little point in arguing with my friend and in any case I knew that Narses would never agree to banishment, preferring death to exile, a wish that I was determined to grant him.

  The surrendered garrison of Seleucia was sent west as slaves to help rebuild the Kingdom of Babylon. Those Babylonians who had been taken as slaves by Mithridates and Narses and who had been resident in Seleucia were freed and given safe passage back to their homes. Ctesiphon also received a new garrison but Axsen expressed no desire to take up residence in the high king’s palace, declaring that she would leave Babylon only when the campaign was concluded and when Orodes was free to sit beside her. Thus the great palace complex remained largely empty as the army began its march into Susiana. The pace was leisurely, averaging fifteen miles a day, which meant we would reach Susa in two weeks. We were forced to hug the eastern bank of the Tigris for the first week as the terrain between the great river and the Zagros Mountains that lay fifty miles to the east was largely barren desert devoid of water. Then we left the river and advanced directly east towards the foothills of the mountains, all the while Byrd and his scouts riding far ahead to gather reports of the enemy’s movements and horse archers forming a screen on all four sides of our army. But every day Byrd and Malik returned to camp with news that the terrain was empty of travellers and of the enemy there was no sign.

  After four days of marching across the baked earth we came to the green foothills of the Zagros Mountains. We were now around seventy miles northwest of Susa itself and our unimpeded march had led many to believe that the city would be undefended and that Orodes would be able to march into the capital of his homeland unopposed. If that was the case then we would be able to rest in Susa before marching another three hundred miles southeast to reach Persepolis.

  As usual Dura’s camp was surrounded by a ditch, earth rampart and wooden palisade. The armies of Hatra, Media and Babylon, however, preferred the traditional Parthian method of pitching their tents around their king in ever-widening circles, though the majority of Babylon’s foot soldiers had to sleep under the stars with only a threadbare blanket. Fortunately the nights were warm and so their discomfort was minimal. Surena, however, having been tutored in the ways of the Sons of the Citadel, had his horse archers make camp after the Roman fashion. In addition to the spare arrows that the two thousand beasts of his camel train carried, they also hauled tents, stakes, food, fodder and entrenching tools to dig a ditch and rampart at the end of every day. Atrax thought it hilarious but Orodes approved and regretted that his Babylonians could not do likewise. My father believed it to be a complete waste of time but at least admired the professionalism that Surena and his soldiers displayed.

  The foothills of the Zagros Mountains are covered with forests of oak interspersed with hawthorn, almond and pear trees. I saw golden eagles fly high above us and at times it was easy to forget that we were at war as we joined the ancient road that runs parallel to the mountains, and which led directly to Susa. Orodes had told us that he expected the enemy to try to halt our passage at the stone bridge across the River Karkheh some sixty miles to the east, but when we neared the bridge Byrd brought back reports that it was undefended. I rode to the river in the company of Orodes and a thousand of my horse archers and discovered a scene of peace and serenity. The simple stone arch bridge spanned the river that was around four hundred feet wide at this point, though Orodes informed me that it widened considerably a few miles further south to around a thousand feet. We rode over the bridge to the other side and I sent companies east, north and south to scout for the enemy.

  ‘You waste your time,’ remarked Byrd as we sat sweating on our horses in the afternoon heat. ‘They no here. I told you that earlier.’

  ‘I know that, Byrd,’ I said, ‘but better to be safe than sorry.’

  Orodes was extremely happy. ‘This is the Susa Valley, Pacorus, where I hunted as a boy. I remember it as if it was yesterday.’

  I smiled at him. It had been years since he had seen his homeland following his banishment by Mithridates and now here he was, only a few miles from his capital and the place of his birth.

  ‘You will be sleeping in the palace in Susa in a matter of days, my friend,’ I told him.

  Later I marched Dura’s army over the bridge and made camp in the valley, which was actually flatland between two rivers, though as there was not enough time to bring over the rest of our troops the forces of Media, Hatra and Gordyene slept on the western bank that night. The next day the rest of the army crossed, a great press of camels, men on foot and horses that took until dusk to move over the river. We had taken possession of the northern end of the Susa Valley without a fight.

  That night I invited the kings, Gafarn and Viper to dine in my command tent in the company of Domitus, Kronos and Vagises. The mood of those present was high except for Surena, who appeared to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. No one else seemed to notice, though, and so the evening passed without incident. Orodes was in an ebullient mood and kept telling Gallia and Viper how he was going to show them around Susa’s palace afte
r we had marched into the city, which lay a mere fifteen miles south of our position.

  I asked Surena to stay after the others had left around midnight. The night was fresh as I said farewell to Atrax, the last to leave. He rode down the camp’s central avenue with his bodyguard grouped around him. A myriad of campfires extended from the bridge east towards the eastern boundary of the Susa Valley – the River Dez – ten miles distant.

  Inside the tent Gallia was talking with Surena and Viper at the table, the King of Gordyene looking decidedly nervous. I poured more wine into his cup.

  He spoke first. ‘You are displeased with me, lord?’

  ‘Not at all,’ I answered, ‘and even if I were you are a king now and so my feelings should be irrelevant to you.’

  ‘It is late, Pacorus,’ said Gallia, ‘and I am sure that Surena and Viper want to get some sleep rather than listen to one of your lectures.’

  I refilled Viper’s cup and then my own but Gallia placed her hand over hers.

  ‘I would know what troubles you, Surena.’

  He looked at Viper who nodded at him.

  ‘We are walking into a trap, lord,’ he replied.

  ‘How can you be so certain?’

  He swallowed a mouthful of wine. ‘The enemy made no attempt to prevent us crossing the bridge because they are inviting us into this valley. And tomorrow we advance on Susa, marching further south with two very wide rivers on either flank.’

  ‘Byrd and Malik have seen no enemy anywhere,’ I said.

  Surena was unconvinced. ‘The forests that cover the slopes of these mountains can hide an army, lord. I did it in Gordyene.’

  ‘What you say is true, Surena, but we go to assault Susa. If Narses and Mithridates are in the city, and we are not certain that they are, then they will have to give battle. They have already lost Ctesiphon, if they also retreat from Susa they will appear weak and their allies may desert them. They need a victory as much as we do.’

  ‘I would still prefer to fight on ground of our own choosing, lord’ he replied.