***
They travelled faster than the day before and made good progress across the harsh, sun-scorched terrain. Before noon a group of men joined them, coming out of the desert like a mirage. Nasir greeted them warmly then surprised Marius by assuring him that even more would be joining them later.
As they rode Marius looked around for Junius, but couldn’t see him amongst the riders. It was only when they stopped at an outcrop of rocks for water that he actually saw him.
To Marius’s dismay he was tied face down onto the back of a horse. Several strong ropes kept him in place, ensuring that he didn’t move too much. Marius felt ashamed at the indignity of what his friend was going through, and tried hard not to feel guilty, though he was sure that Junius had accepted it without a word of protest, which made it worse somehow.
Later in the afternoon he spotted another group of riders coming towards them. Gradually, as they drew together, he realised that this was an army, numbering in the region of six hundred men or more. As the two groups met, words were exchanged, then the new men joined with the others and they moved together en masse further away from Persepolis.
Nasir rode over to him. “Tonight we’ll camp in the desert, so we need extra men. Up ahead we have a base, one of many scattered around here. There’s a chamber inside where we’ll put your friend. He’ll be locked away whilst we battle the Kin. They’ll surround us, but we know what to do, even if they do have a battle commander,” he added glancing over at Junius. “If we survive the night, they won’t come again; this is almost at the end of their territory. These new men have only rarely been troubled by the Kin, but they’ve lost enough to be willing to sacrifice their lives to stop them.”
Marius listened. “So it’s nearly over then?”
Nasir smiled grimly. “It’s always nearly over. Remember it can end at any moment. One question: Junius seems to be himself again today, yet you didn’t let me untie him. Why? Don’t you trust him? He isn’t one of them, despite what you saw last night. If he was, he wouldn’t be walking and talking in daylight.”
Marius nodded. “I understand that, but Junius was my commanding officer. I followed him into battle many times and I trusted him with my life. Some officers sacrifice their men without qualm, but Junius was never one of those men; he valued all our lives. Last night, however, he wanted to kill me. I don’t honestly know if I can ever truly trust him again.” He glanced over at the dark-skinned man. “I don’t know if Junius will ever trust himself again, and if he can’t trust himself, then how can I trust him?”
Nasir was silent as they rode, considering Marius’s words. “It’s in the eyes, Marius. Not just the colour, though that will tell you if the Kin’s influence has gone. You’ll see it if he trusts himself again and if he does, then maybe you can again also in time.”
“That gives me hope, thank you,” Marius replied.
“That’s if we get through tonight,” Nasir reminded him and steered his horse away.
The base wasn’t obvious at first, but it was given away by the stack of spears that lay in piles around a central mound. The men reined in and the command was given to dismount. Immediately, Marius made his way to Junius but stopped when he noticed that all the horses were being rounded up and taken away.
“Are you doing the same as last night?” he asked one of the original group who had left the city with them.
“Yes, they’re taking the horses away to keep them safe. They’ll have the same defences as we do,” the young man told him. “I’ll take you to him.”
The man led the way to the mound, which on closer inspection was made of sand and had a submerged entrance. Tents and coverings were already beings set up around it.
Junius was kneeling on the ground whilst one of Nasir’s men poured water down his throat. Once again, he was gulping it in desperate mouthfuls as if he’d been deprived all day. Marius was undecided whether to approach him or not. Nasir’s men seemed to have taken over responsibility for Junius and he suspected that his refusal to untie him had been read as a rejection.
He waited until Junius had drained the canister. He was still panting and his saturated clothes clung to him. He said something to the man, who nodded and called out to someone. Only then did Junius notice him. Marius took a breath and walked towards him. Junius watched him approach, but Marius couldn’t see his expression as his face was partially hidden beneath an overhanging hood.
The man who was watching him saw Marius approach. He nodded and stepped back to give them privacy, but was still close enough in case he was needed.
“I’m sorry, Junius, I didn’t think they would do that.”
“How else do you transport a bound man, Marius? I’m curious? You and I have served together – what is it, three, nearly four years? – and we’ve taken many prisoners. Did we carry them some other way? If we did, I must have forgotten.”
Marius sighed. Junius had a good reason to be angry, but at least he was hearing the normal arrogant man who used sarcasm for both humour and rebuke.
“You’re right, it is how we carried men we didn’t trust and who’d tried to kill us.” Junius didn’t reply. “You can add it to my list of misdemeanours when we get back to the legion.”
“I’ll do that, if I don’t kill you tonight.”
Marius balked. He couldn’t see his friend’s eyes, so couldn’t read how to take the comment. At that moment the man who had been with Junius stepped forward and offered Junius more water. Marius watched as he drank, still gulping it down in huge draughts. Finally he was sated.
“Thank you,” he said to the boy. “They’re going to put me in that,” Junius told Marius, gesturing his head towards the mound. “Lock me away out of sight, to keep me safe. It won’t work. I’m the general, Marius, I know how to fight. After all these years together it’s come to you against me. You and your band of rebels against my army of the Kin.”
“This doesn’t sound like you, Junius, you’re talking as if you are one of them.”
His friend laughed. “I am myself, Marius, but I’m also trying to warn you. You can’t win, the Kin will prevail. No matter how many men you have, they’re relentless. They’ve waited for years to leave and go out into the wide world. They believe this is their moment.”
Marius shook his head. “Can you feel them now?”
“Yes, they’ve been with me since the sun began to sink. It’s stronger than it was, much stronger. They know where we are. I’ve told them as we travelled. You were right not to trust me. I want to be with them, it’s where I belong now, Marius. I am one of the Kin, I gave myself willingly to them and tonight I’ll fully join with them. They’re all coming. All of them. Even the ones from the mountains and every one at Persepolis. They’ve been hiding deep within the caves so Nasir’s men couldn’t find all of them, and tomorrow night we’ll punish the humans for their insurrection.”
Marius couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. Junius was speaking in his patrician Latin, yet he was speaking as if he were one of those monsters. He had to tell Nasir, then he remembered wanting to share the information with Junius about Nasir’s plans. Thank all the gods he hadn’t.
“Goodbye, Marius.” For a moment, he could hear real sorrow, but the effect was soon lost. “We’ll meet again tonight. Don’t worry, you won’t die completely, Cassia has asked me to spare you. Maybe, one day we’ll march together again.”
Marius turned his back and deliberately walked away from his onetime friend and went hunting for Nasir. He found him with the other two leaders who had ridden in during the day. The local chieftain introduced him to the men then asked what was worrying him. To his amazement, when he explained, the men laughed.
“Listen to what he doesn’t know, Marius. The cave dwellers are coming and will soon be in places we can find, and therefore at our mercy during the day. If he survives the night, Junius will tell us where they are either tomorrow or the next day. They’re not at the city, so they don’t know that we have
people waiting for them and they’re also unaware that our settlements are empty.”
Suddenly it all made sense to Marius. “They’re all coming for this one battle?”
One of the other men, whose name was Calla, laughed. “They’re so arrogant. They think that because they have a soldier leading them now, they’re unstoppable. But they don’t realise that once darkness falls another five hundred men are coming to join us, nor do they know the true number we have already.”
“We’ll have over a thousand men,” Marius replied.
Nasir laughed. “Many more than the Kin, even if all their cousins manage to join them tonight, but that’s doubtful because the cave dwellers have a long way to come.”
“And they have to get past our men first,” the other leader, Korkute, pointed out.
“Marius, the Kin may brag that they’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. But they haven’t planned for it and even if Junius is as good a commander as you say he is, strategy can’t completely make up for lack of preparation.”
“In contrast, Roman, we have planned for this for many, many years. This is just the best opportunity we’ve had and the most urgent excuse,” Korkute added.
Nasir offered Marius some water, which he gulped down, then wiped his mouth. “Nasir, did you know Junius was still communicating with them?”
The leader shrugged. “This morning he wasn’t, he was himself. Who knows what happened as the day progressed?”
Marius felt the weight of blame hit him. “It was my decision, wasn’t it? If he’d sat with you, it wouldn’t have happened?”
Nasir stood. “We don’t know that. Maybe he would have succumbed even if he had ridden with me. But, now at least we have some idea of their plans, which is very useful.”
As the sun set and its red light burnt the desert gold and crimson, they escorted the bound and now gagged Junius into the mound.
Marius watched from a distance as the docile Roman went along without a struggle, but he stopped on the top step and searched the crowd. Marius waited with anticipation, and though they were still shielded by the hood, for a moment he felt Junius’s eyes rest upon him. Marius felt a shiver of fear, knowing that if they lost tonight, Junius would find him.
Consequently, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief when the huge wooden doors slammed shut behind his friend and a wooden plank was placed across it to secure it in place.