Kineas stood silent a moment, gathering his thoughts. Kam Baqca’s sentence lingered in his head, and his idea was born from it. ‘I agree,’ he said. ‘Let’s fight.’ He took a deep breath. ‘If we are swift, and decisive, the result will allow us to return to our original plan — with an advantage. Zopryon has been bold — but he may also have made an error.’
He spoke rapidly, outlining his plan.
‘Mmm,’ said Marthax.
‘He like for plan,’ said Ataelus.
Kineas’s plan carried the day. But he didn’t like the king’s hesitation, or his frequent exchanges with Srayanka. And over the next dozen days, he had many opportunities to ponder what those exchanges might have meant.
PART IV
‘Footmen were ever slaying footmen as they fled per-force, and horsemen slew horsemen, and from beneath them rose from the plain the battle haze which the thundering hooves of horses stirred up — and they wrought havoc with the bronze…’
17
‘Chargers!’ Kineas shouted, cantering down the slope he had just ascended. His trio of Cruel Hand scouts remained on the bluff, looking down on a village of six log houses, four of which were aflame. The last two were still holding out.
Kineas hadn’t needed his scouts to find the Getae. This was Srayanka’s land, eight hundred stades north and west of the Great Bend camp, and the Getae were putting it to the torch, moving slowly east, their progress marked by the funeral pyres of a hundred villages.
As soon as Kineas called, his column began changing horses. Most of the men were already wearing armour. They had been close to the enemy for two days, riding carefully to avoid detection.
Kineas pulled up with Niceas, Leucon and Nicomedes at the head of the column. He held his palm flat and spoke rapidly, a clear picture of the town, the river and the surrounding terrain clear in his mind.
‘Leucon, take your troop south around the bluff and ride like the Pegasus — get in east of the town and then cut north.’ He illustrated this with his right finger, drawing on his palm. ‘Here’s the village — here’s our bluff. My thumb marks the river. See it?’ He indicated on his hand where Leucon would go. ‘You close off their retreat. We smash into their main body. Let a handful flee away — north. Understand? Leucon, this will depend on you.’
Leucon closed his eyes. ‘I–I think so.’ He was hesitant. And he didn’t understand.
Kineas spared a moment for a new commander’s fear. He knew them all intimately — I’ll get lost, I don’t know the country, I won’t be able to find the village, I’ll be too slow.
Kineas leaned forward. ‘Ride up to the summit, dismount where the Sakje horses are, and take a quick look. Nicomedes, go with him. Quickly, and don’t let yourself be seen. Go!’
They seemed to take for ever. When he had been atop the bluff, he had seen a woman being raped in the street. Leucon’s inexperience would cost that woman her life.
Kineas sacrificed her, a woman he had never met, so that his officers would know their roles. Which might save lives.
‘Zeus, they take their time,’ he muttered.
Niceas refused to answer, knowing this mood of old, and busied himself checking the column. Kineas decided to join him. He rode along the ranks. Most of the troopers looked nervous.
‘Let your horse do the work,’ he heard Niceas saying to a group of Leucon’s young men.
‘No different from a hunt. Place your javelin and ride on,’ Kineas said to the men behind Eumenes. Even Eumenes looked pale.
Nicomedes and Leucon came down the hill at a rush. Kineas met them at the head of the column. ‘You see it?’ he asked.
Leucon was paler than Eumenes. ‘I — think so. South around the bluff here, and then along the river bank under what cover I can find, and then hard back into the town to cut their retreat and break their resistance.’
Kineas put a hand on the young man’s shoulder. ‘You have it well enough.’ He wanted to get on with it but he took the time to say, ‘This may not work. There may be an irrigation ditch or something that blocks your movement. Perhaps the Getae have scouts down that way.’ He shrugged, despite the weight of his armour. ‘From this moment — take it as it comes to you. You’ll be fine.’
If his words had any good effect, Kineas couldn’t see it. Leucon looked almost paralysed.
‘On your way, Leucon,’ Kineas said crisply.
Leucon saluted, arm across his chest, and waved to Eumenes. The first troop moved out at the trot, and Nicomedes’ older troop watched them go, calling encouragement — sometimes, fathers encouraging sons.
‘First action,’ Kineas said. He had his own nerves.
‘They ain’t bad, for rich boys,’ Niceas said. He was picking his teeth with a tough grass stem. ‘They needed a speech — something about the gods and their city.’
‘No, they didn’t,’ Kineas said. He put his horse to the slope, and Niceas followed him with Nicomedes just behind. ‘Hold the horses,’ he said to Niceas. He and Nicomedes crawled on their bellies the last few feet to the summit. The Sakje had pulled branches from weedy bushes to cover their hide.
From the bluff, Kineas could see ten stades in every direction. The Getae had been fools not to put a sentry here, but they really were barbarians, and they thought they were at liberty to loot in an undefended land.
To the south, Leucon’s column was now in a file of twos, a blue and gold caterpillar crawling across a narrow ditch. Nonetheless, he was making good progress.
Kineas’s own tensions shot up as he realized how close his timing would have to be.
The Getae in the village street were preparing to rush the last house. Five houses had their roofs afire. The body of the woman lay naked and unmoving in the street.
There were two hundred Getae, give or take a dozen. Most were gathered thick around the town, looting the houses or preparing to take the last one. A few were straggling to the north, chasing some goats. And a dozen more to the south.
‘Fuck,’ Kineas said. He leaped to his feet and ran for his horse, Nicomedes hard on his heels.
‘They’re going to see Leucon any second. We have to go.’
Nicomedes looked at him without comprehension, but he followed, leaping on to his horse’s back like a professional. Niceas got up and raised an eyebrow.
Kineas got to the head of the column and waved to the right. ‘Column until we round the bluff. We’ll form line as soon as we’re in the fields. Right through the town — kill anyone in your path and keep the line straight even if you have to go around buildings. This won’t be like drill. And gentlemen — if all else fails, kill every Getae to come under your hand. They’re the ones with tattoos.’
No one laughed. Veterans would have laughed.
‘Walk,’ Kineas called. Niceas’s trumpet was out, but silent. Surprise was still possible.
Nicomedes said, ‘I don’t understand.’
Kineas turned on his mount. ‘Trot!’ he shouted. To Nicomedes, he said, ‘There’s Getae south of the village —
