Part 83 (2/2)
”He awaits you at Leuce Come, in Syria”
Leuce Co there? ”Where?”
”A se in Syria,” he said ”He ere afraid to go to Tyre or Sidon, for fear that the Parthians would already be there, waiting, having followed up theirgreat victory” He bent his head down, unable to look me in the eyes
I reached out and took his chin, as if he were ently ”But it is enough for me that Antony lives You must tell me what happened”
”How did you know?” He allowed me to raise his head
”It was sent me by the Gods,” I said ”Now tell me the details The Gods send pictures, not details”
”I shall tell you quickly, and then you may question me as you wish,” he said His voice was thin, uncertain ”The winding e train was acting as a brake to the rest of the ar Artavasdes and King Poleuards! Only two legions! Oh, Antony--guarded by twenty-three thousand men, but only ten thousand of the to have advance knowledge of this, fell on thehtered them” Eros seemed close to tears I should halt his story and allow him to compose himself, but I found I could not
”They annihilated twenty thousand ions And took King Polealloped aith his thirteen thousand ed I knew it He was always in league with the Parthians! The lying traitor!
Yet he who trusts without foundation--what is the word for him? I had warned Antony about him As I had warned him about Octavian Why can a noble nature never foresee treachery? Does it make him blind? Rob him of sense?
”We did not know about this until too late When Antony heard about it, he i was left The two legion eagles were captured, and the siege machinery was set on fire and destroyed”
Without it, there could be no conquest Antony could do nothing, trapped in the e cities or force their surrender And unless his legionaries could ht, he had traveled hundreds of
”And how did Lord Antony take this intelligence?” I asked
”I saw his sorrow, but he did not show it to his men,” said Eros ”He attempted to ht him, but it was useless We were stranded there and he knew it--that was the bitter part The Parthians had no incentive to les from either Crassus or the latest loss Then October caed We would have to retreat”
Retreat That eneral! And after nothing at all!
”Thus far we had lost only a few ht no actual battles But that changed I can tell you, ether a third of the arionaries, more than even Crassus lost!”
Now he did lower his head and weep I let hi hi before the , seeing--but not seeing--the nasty seas outside I must control ionaries--they were the blackened and drying bodies I had seen in reat, open, stony field
He iping his eyes ”A native of that area told us that we must not retreat the same e had come, in spite of the Parthians' assurances of safe withdrawal He said they meant to set upon us in the plains and finish us off” He paused ”We did not knohether to trust him or not Perhaps he was sent merely to mislead us But in the end Lord Antony did”
Yes, he always trusted
”And it proved to be our salvation”
Sometimes trust was rewarded But seldom ”How could it be your salvation? You said you lost a third of the are train! Forty-two thousand altogether! Almost half, then!” I cried
”Had it not been for the th of the lord Antony, ould have lost the entire army,” he said ”We were attacked and harried all the e fought eighteen defensive battles to get out It is difficult to keep an orderly retreat froh we had no food, little water, and winter was closing in It took us twenty-seven days to reach the border of Armenia, to cross the Araxes We had to march under the most extreht a starving ars across the border And do you knohat the Parthians did e crossed the river?”
”No, I aranted me that picture
”They cheered and applauded our bravery”
Braveryyes, it was Godlike But it could not confer political power Antony had failed He had failed, where Octavian had succeeded Now the scales rief overca at me, unnerved I must not add to his burdens
”Pray continue,” I said, struggling to rieve you further,” he said
Both of us, striving to spare each other
”No, please speak I must hear”
”I n” He straightened hi his little shoulders ”There was a point when it seemed ere doomed--overcome The lord--my Antony believed that the Parthians were upon us He--he ordered h with his sword--” He shook with thefrom me
”And--” I whispered How could he have wanted that? How could he have left me like that? I kneas a sentiment unsuited to the battlefield, where all the rules are different, but had he not thought, even for a moment, of his other life? Was he that ready to throw it away? There can be satisfactions in the life of a private citizen; they should not be scorned
”I took the sword, and it felt a hundred times heavier than it ever had before I started to lift it But when he said, And cut off my head, and bury it so the Parthians cannot capture it,' I could not I ran away”
I gripped the back of the chair nearest me He had actually commanded that? I felt myself about to vomit I looked around for some vessel, some container, but found none, and rushed to theIt was so revolting, so unspeakable--I retched over the side of the , sour vo on the marble tiles of the terrace His head! That dearest head!
Eros looked green as well I could see his throat constricting ”He re it in asport with it--he had to prevent that”
Still I went on being sick That this very person in the roo left in hed I could not even be ashamed There could be no reserves left between us
”It was unnecessary,” he finally said, softly ”It was a false alarm”
That he could have died for a false report--but for Eros! ”Thanks be to all the Gods that you loved hih to refuse”
”There are those ould say that for me to have refused and run aas a lack of love Certainly a lack of obedience”
”I don't care!” I said ”Soher obedience! To refuse to kill when you feel there is still hope--” I shook ht for a napkin to wipe htmare, worse than any dream
”Once across the border into Ar Artavasdes as a friend, pretending that we believed his excuses for leaving the army But for our safety we could not winter there We had to continue our retreat through the ht thousandto the end of his tale I bracedthe rest of the army after Antony, aits you at Leuce Come”
”He awaits me?”
”Yes He needs money, and clothes for his nearly naked men You are his only hope”
O ye Gods! To have come to this!
”Here He has written you” Eros extended a tattered letter in his grimy hand