Gemmell, David – Lion of Macedon 01

*

Fierce waves pounded at a jagged coastline, while monsters of the deep with serrated teeth glided around the slender figure of the girl as she struggled to free her hands. Parmenion swam through the waves, battling to reach her before the dark sea dragged her down.

A huge creature slid by him, so close that its dorsal fin rubbed against Parmenion’s leg, but a colossal wave caught the young man’s body, lifting him towards the heavens. At its rip, he almost screamed as he tumbled down into the trough. His head went under the water and he found he could breathe there. Derae’s body was flooring beneath him; he dived down and ripped the cords from her wrists, dragging her to the surface.

‘Live! Live!’ he screamed. The monsters circled them – cold, opal eyes staring at the lovers. Derae regained consciousness and clung to Parmenion.

‘You saved me,’ she said. ‘You came for me!’

*

Mothac shook him awake and Parmenion opened his eyes and groaned – not just at the pain flaring within his skull, but for the loss of Derae and his dream. He sat up. ‘Is it midday?’

‘Yes,’ answered Mothac. Parmenion rose. Pelopidas was still in the courtyard, and with him was the smith, Norac, and eleven burly men. Four had huge, long-handled hammers.

‘Good enough for you, strategos?’ asked Norac, lifting an iron spike the length of a short sword.

‘You did well,’ Parmenion told him, ‘but I would like to see your hammer men at work.’

‘I brought extra spikes,’ said the smith, ‘for just that purpose.’ Two men hoisted a thick section of timber, standing it against the far wall, while a third man held a spike in place. Moving to one side, Norac gestured to one of the hammer men to take his place on the other. The smith hefted his hammer, then swung it viciously, the head thundering into the spike. As the hammer bounced clear, so the second man swung; after the first strike the holder released his grip and ducked clear. Three strikes later, the spike was deeply embedded.

‘Work on it,’ said Parmenion. ‘It needs to be faster.’

Calling Pelopidas to him, he walked to the andron. ‘The celebration you mentioned at the house of Alexandras-will there be guards?’

‘Yes. They are not popular men,’ Pelopidas answered.

‘How many guards?’

‘Perhaps five, perhaps twenty. I don’t know.’

‘Outside or inside the house?’

‘Outside. It is a private orgy,’ said Pelopidas with a wide grin.

‘I will meet you at the house of Alexandras. We will make a plan when we have seen how many guards are present.’

After Pelopidas had gone Calepios went to his room to rehearse his speech, leaving Parmenion in the andron. The Spartan was lost in thought for some time, but then became aware that he was not alone. Turning his head he saw the Spartan seeress, Tamis, standing by the table leaning on a staff.

Tamis gazed at the young Spartan, glorying in the power of his soul-fire, sensing his pain, admiring the courage he showed in resisting its power.

For a moment he stared at her, disbelieving.

‘Well,’ she said, ‘will you offer me a seat, young Spartan?’

‘Of course,’ he answered, rising to guide her to the table,

where he poured her a goblet of water. ‘How are you here, lady?’

I go where I will. Are you set now upon leading this insurrection?’

‘lam.’

‘Give me your hand.’

Parmenion obeyed and she covered his palm with her own. ‘With each heartbeat a man has two choices,’ she whispered. ‘Yet each choice makes a pathway, and he must walk it wherever it takes him. You stand, Parmenion, at a crossroads. There is a road leading to sunlight and laughter, and another road leading to pain and despair. The city of Thebes is in your hands, like a small toy. On the road to sunlight the city will grow, but on the other road it will be broken, crushed into dust and forgotten. These are the words I am ordered to speak.’

‘Which road, then?’ he asked. ‘How will I know it?’

‘You will not, until long after you have walked upon it.’

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *