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thousand riders each. And behind them were the camels carrying spare arrows. Vagises sent a score of horsemen to scout ahead while we advanced at a trot towards the battle on the horizon.
    They returned to report that the Romans and their allies were advancing towards us in a long line, having apparently routed the Agraci. The latter were still launching attacks against the enemy but their efforts were uncoordinated and haphazard. I turned to Vagharsh and told him to unfurl the standard, then ordered a general advance.
    Ahead I could see a mass of black riders – Haytham’s warriors – and could hear shouts and screams as men fought and killed each other. We broke into a canter as we headed towards the battle and then I saw a party of Agraci galloping towards me. I ordered a halt as Malik and fifty of his men pulled up their horses. The prince looked tired and angry.
    He nodded at me. ‘Greetings, Pacorus, you are a sight for sore eyes.’
    He noticed Gallia and bowed his head at her.
    ‘I am glad to see that you are unhurt, Malik,’ she said.
    He glanced back at the battle raging around a thousand paces in front of us. ‘The same cannot be said for many of my people.’
    ‘What happened?’ I asked.
    ‘The Romans and their treacherous allies from Emesa appeared two hours after dawn and my father ordered an immediate assault on them. I have ridden with you too long, my friend, not to know that our horsemen would not be able to break their formation but he would have none of it. So we attacked and their archers and slingers positioned among the legionaries cut down many of our riders before they could get close to their ranks.’
    ‘They deployed into a square?’ I asked.
    He nodded. ‘A great hollow square that we attacked on all sides and inside it they hid their horsemen, and when our losses mounted and we tired they formed into line and then their horsemen attacked us.’
    ‘Where is your father now, Malik?’ asked Gallia.
    ‘Desperately trying to halt the Romans.’ He turned to me. ‘He needs your help, Pacorus.’
    ‘We will halt the enemy’s advance, my friend,’ I replied. ‘But the first thing you must do is to ride to your father and convince him to pull his warriors back, to disengage from the enemy.’
    Malik shook his head. ‘He will never agree to that.’
    I leaned over and grabbed his arm. ‘You must convince him to do so, otherwise the Romans will be in Palmyra this time tomorrow.’
    He turned from me and made to kick his horse forward then swung in his saddle.
    ‘Lord Vehrka is dead.’
    I was shocked. ‘How?’
    ‘Killed by the Roman horsemen. They are very good, Pacorus, well led.’
    He urged his horse forward and then he and his escort were galloping back to the battle line.
    The Agraci did not fight as part of an organised army but as individuals grouped round their lords, much like the retainers of my own lords, and though brave and fearless were no match for the discipline and fighting skills of the Roman Army. Now they fell back in dispirited and angry groups, passing through my men as Haytham and his son rode up to where Gallia and I waited on our horses. With them were Yasser and a dozen other Agraci lords. Haytham wore a livid expression. He bowed his head to Gallia and nodded at me.
    ‘I thank you on behalf of the Agraci people for coming to our aid, Pacorus. Byrd exceeds his authority, I think.’
    ‘We are happy to help our friends and allies, lord king,’ said Gallia.
    ‘We are glad to fight alongside you, lord,’ I said.
    ‘These Romans are like cockroaches, difficult to kill,’ he spat.
    I looked beyond Haytham to see long lines of red shields advancing towards us with horsemen on their flanks.
    ‘There are slingers and archers interspersed among those legionaries,’ warned Malik.
    ‘If your men form up behind my own,’ I said to Haytham, ‘then we will first bring the enemy to a halt.’
    By now the vast majority of the Agraci had passed through the gaps