With permission, Suniatus went off and bought shrivelled apples from a trader in a sparsely populated marketplace nearby, and handed them around. Suniatus made a pretence of offering one to Nelo, then threw the fruit in his sack instead. ‘Let these Scand fight over it in Valhalla.’
Then there was a gathering noise, the murmur of a crowd, along with footsteps, some laughter and cheers, and the rattle of wheels. The soldiers dumped their apple cores and straightened up, fixing helmets and mail coats.
A war chariot, a big two-horse machine stolen in a raid from the Hatti, came clattering into view around a bend. With driver and spear man, Fabius was aboard, resplendent in a polished breastplate, scarlet tunic and purple cloak. With his helmet off he was unmistakable, and the men cheered as he approached. A couple of carts followed behind him — and they were laden with severed heads, Nelo saw, dozens of them heaped up like turnips on farmers’ carts. They were all men, all bearded, all red-haired — all Rus or Scand. A guard detail jogged along beside chariot and carts.
Behind Fabius came the crowd, citizens of Carthage. They were a ragged, grimy lot, Nelo thought; not only was there no food to be had but there were no new clothes to buy in the market, not even soap and fresh water to spare to clean the old. But today the great general Fabius was putting on some kind of spectacle, and on impulse the people came out to see what was going on. And it helped, Nelo saw, that a few more soldiers followed behind the guard, carrying satchels from which they threw stuff out to the crowd — peas, beans perhaps, small items that people leapt for and scrapped over.
The chariot pulled up at the gate. Fabius beckoned Gisco over, while Nelo and Suniatus emptied out their own sacks onto the heap on the carts. ‘More fruit for my harvest I see, Gisco.’
‘I’ve spoken to the other commanders, sir. I think we got them all.’
‘Good, good, a thorough job. The city thanks you for it — or it will, before the day is done. Ah, there’s my scribbling Northlander. Up here, boy, ride with me. Do you have your satchel? By the gods, what’s that mess on your clothes?’
‘Sir-’
‘You. Give him your tunic, man. Just do it! He can’t be facing the Tribunal of One Hundred and Four with Rus brains all over his bib.’
The soldier, picked out at random, reluctantly stripped down to his breeches and handed his tunic to Nelo. His companions whistled and mocked.
Nelo climbed onto the chariot, hideously self-conscious. He dared to ask, ‘The Tribunal, sir? What are we going to do there?’
‘You’ll see, boy. Just record everything, Nelo, regardless of how well you understand it. Once again we are going to witness history. No — we are going to
That won him a ragged, slightly bemused cheer.
Fabius dramatically pointed to the Byrsa. ‘There are men up there, old men, men who are fat in these times when even a soldier goes hungry, men who would today hold me to account. That’s their job, you might say. That’s the purpose of the One Hundred and Four. Well, so it is. That’s their duty. That’s their privilege. That’s their right. But such duty requires immense wisdom. And what wisdom do they show? They question the conduct of the war.
‘You’ve not won it yet,’ somebody dared call out.
There was a mutter, people looked at each other, and soldiers prowled menacingly.
‘No!’ shouted Fabius. ‘No, let him be. He speaks the truth, after all. This war is not yet won. The siege is not lifted. It might take months yet. Years.
When he had the trophy, Fabius held it aloft, its red hair grasped in one strong fist. People gasped and turned away.
‘Do you see?’ Fabius cried. ‘Do you see what my men found in your city? Do you see what we are up against? If we had not rooted them out, these infiltrators would have opened up the gates in the night, and slaughtered you men in your beds — your children next — and then they would have fallen on your daughters and your wives. This is the horror that I have averted. This very morning!’ He pitched the head into the crowd, and people flinched back out of its way as it bounced and rolled. ‘I cannot promise you a quick victory. Nobody could. But I can promise you there will be no quick defeat. I can promise you that Carthage will throw off these wolves at the gate, and will rise again. I can promise you all this. Here, you see the proof! What can the old men on that hill promise you, but to bring me down?
‘Well, this morning I have been summoned to account for my actions. I am a good Roman, and a good Carthaginian. I will obey the summons. But will you come with me?’
‘Yes.’
‘Will you be at my side?’
‘Yes!’
‘Will you, will you?’
‘Yes! Yes!’
At that moment Fabius’ driver whipped his horses, and the chariot lurched forward, through the gate and into the Byrsa. The cart followed, the piled-up heads rolling and rattling perilously, and then came the gathering crowd. Nelo saw Gisco take brisk command, ensuring that the general was secure, and that the chariot was escorted by flanking soldiers.
The chariot rolled up a broad avenue towards the summit of this central mound, passing through the Hannibal Quarter, a district that Nelo had heard of but had never visited before. There were shops, temples and grand government buildings here, all in shining stone, some faced with marble, and in much better order than the lower city. Yet as in the rest of Carthage those shops that weren’t selling essentials, such as shoes, clothes, food and oil, seemed mostly to have been turned over to habitation. These days even the Byrsa was crowded with nestspills. As Fabius passed, some of these folk came out to follow him too, joining their grubbier counterparts from the lower city. Whatever Fabius was up to, this was a chance for them to make some noise, to vent their frustration, and maybe to smash a few windows and crack a few skulls in the process.
Soon a great tide of people was washing up the slopes of the Byrsa, carrying Fabius to the house of the Tribunal of One Hundred and Four at the summit. Nelo sketched and sketched.
Fabius glanced at what had been drawn, smiling, folding the pages back. But he frowned when he got to one sketch, of himself holding up the severed head before the crowd of the lower town. ‘What’s this?’
‘Sir?’
He had to shout above the noise of the crowd. ‘The head of this Scand — he’s looking at me. And the heads in the barrow too, all turned — all looking at me!’
‘It’s what I saw, sir. I mean-’
‘What your heart saw?’
‘The dead Scand and Rus are asking why you betrayed them.’
‘Betrayed?’ His voice was deep, ominous.
Nelo knew he was talking himself into trouble. But he said, ‘One of them spoke to me, sir. Before we managed to kill him. He told me-’
‘That I had invited them in.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘And so, you conclude, this is all got up by me. A stunt to impress the rabble.’
‘Yes — no, sir-’
‘It’s all right. I took you under my wing because I believe you see the truth, where other men fail. I can’t complain if you see the truth about me, can I? But it is only a partial truth, Nelo. Only a necessary lie. Greater truths lie beyond.’
‘Sir?’