The men ran for their horses. Laris suppressed the urge to strike out; he could hear the hoofbeats of the Spartan force. Grabbing his stallion’s mane, he leapt to the beast’s back and galloped through the pass. As he had expected there was no one there – no archers, no hoplites, no slingers. Just rock and shale. He could feel the eyes of his men upon him. He had been tricked by one Spartan. One man had made him surrender his prize.
What now would they say in Corinth?
*
Parmenion leaned out, taking Derae’s hand and swinging her up behind him. Then he touched heels to the mare and walked the beast back into the trees.
Within minutes Patroclian came galloping towards them, followed by Leonidas and the others. Parmenion raised his hand and the red-bearded Spartiate drew rein as Derae eased herself to the ground.
‘What happened here?’ Leonidas demanded, pushing his way to the front.
‘Parmenion and the others blocked the pass,’ said Derae. ‘He killed one of their scouts, then negotiated to allow them through if they gave me up.’
‘What others?’ asked Patroclian.
‘Archers, I suppose,’ said Derae. ‘He threatened to kill all the raiders unless they released me.’
‘Where are these other men?’ Patroclian enquired of Parmenion. ‘I would like to thank them.’
‘There are no others,’ Parmenion told him. Edging his mount forward, he rode through the group and back down the scree slope to where the wagon was waiting. Tossing the quiver and bow to Tinus, he lifted a waterskin from the seat beside the servant and drank deeply.
Xenophon rode alongside. ‘You did well, strategos. We found where the trail swung east, but we would have been too late had you not blocked the pass. I am proud of you.’ He tossed a blood-covered arrow to Tinus. ‘It was a fine strike at the base of the throat, severing the windpipe and lodging in the spine. A fine strike!’
‘I was aiming for the chest or belly, but I over-compensated for the gradient.’
Xenophon was about to speak when he noticed Par-menion’s hands begin to tremble. He glanced at the young man’s face, which showed no expression, though the blood had drained from it.
‘Are you well?’ asked the Athenian.
‘My head is pounding, and there are lights flashing in my eyes.’
‘We will camp here,’ said Xenophon. Parmenion dismounted and staggered several paces before falling to his knees and vomiting. Then he stood and sucked in great gulps of air. Xenophon brought him the waterskin and he rinsed his mouth. ‘You feel better?’
‘I am shaking like a leaf in a storm – I can’t believe it. Back there I was so calm, but now I am acting like a frightened child.’
‘Back there was the work of a man, a cool man. A man of
iron nerve,’ Xenophon assured him. ‘This takes nothing from it.’
‘I feel as if there are hot lances inside my head. I have never known pain like it.’ Parmenion sat down, resting his back against the wagon wheel. ‘And the light is burning my eyes.’ Tinus climbed down from the wagon, holding a wide hat of straw over Parmenion’s head to shade him. The pain grew – and Parmenion slipped into darkness.
*
Parmenion awoke several times in the night, but his head seemed filled with searing light, bringing agony and nausea. With an effort of will he slipped back into the sanctuary of sleep. When finally he opened his eyes, the absence of pain was almost blissful. He was lying in a cool room with the shutters closed, and he could hear the low hum of conversation beyond the whitewashed walls. He sat up and saw that his left forearm was bandaged, but he could not remember being wounded.
Someone stirred in a chair across the room, and a man rose and walked over to him. He was short and slender, with wispy grey hair. He smiled.
‘The pain is gone, yes?’ enquired the man, his voice deep and faintly comical coming from so frail a body.
‘Yes,’ agreed Parmenion. ‘What happened to me?’
‘The world,’ said the man, sitting on the bed beside him, ‘is made up of four elements: earth, air, fire and water. But it is held in harmony by the will of the gods. As I understand it, you displayed an act of rare courage. You put yourself under severe stress. This caused an excess of fire in your system, heating your blood and destroying your harmony. Hot blood coursed in your brain, causing intense pain and nausea.’