Black Legion: 03 - Warlords of Cunaxa by Michael G. Thomas Read Free Book Online Page A

and tilted her head ever so slightly. She stared directly into his eyes.
    “Well, I prefer to have people in that space doing something I find amusing.”
    “Such as?” he continued, now eager to understand what she was talking about. But she turned and stepped up to the glass doors. They opened automatically, revealing an opulent interior filled with marble walls, columns, gleaming tables and scores of great art works. Xenophon spotted a particular painting and rushed inside to just a few metres away.
    “This is the painting of the Battle of Marathon. I heard it had been lost centuries ago. Now it hangs as just one of many paintings in a random apartment?”
    Lady Artemas approached a beautifully carved wooden throne and settled down.
    “No, this is no random room. This is the accommodation reserved for use by royalty in the Empire. This is where the greatest and most powerful of our people come to relax and enjoy the pleasures of this place, usually when the fleet is preparing for manoeuvres. It is actually rarely used. The Emperor, after all, has over a hundred similar spires and those in the Core Worlds make this one look, well, primitive.”
    “What? How is this primitive?”
    Lady Artemas pointed back to the door.
    “Most of the people you have seen here have come from worlds that are scattered through the Empire. You will find few Medes women offering their services here. They can command ten times the rewards in the other Core Worlds and service the more privileged of our society. Working in these industrial or military areas tend to favour a more, well, primitive sort of clientele.”
    She looked at Glaucon, and he could easily tell it was a jibe at his expense. She then walked up to the painting and turned to Xenophon.
    If you like the art here, then try to imagine what you would find on worlds like Babylon Prime.”
    Xenophon was still enamoured with the lost painting on the wall. He’d heard about it so many times that he could barely conceal his pleasure at seeing it with his own eyes. On Attica, there were no known copies in existence.
    “This painting was featured with three others inside the ancient Painted Arch, what we call the Stoa Poikile, back home in the capital. Panaenus, brother of Pheidias, produced it. At its height, it held many great paintings, most concerned with military victories. I don’t suppose you have those relating to the victories of the Terrans over the Medes?”
    Lady Artemas shook her head. She knew that all those works of art had been burned in a public ceremony just a few years ago. There would be little benefit in telling them about their destruction.
    That is for another day and another place, she thought to herself.
    Roxana approached the painting and examined it for a moment.
    “Yes, I’ve heard of him. Isn’t this the painting with the dog?”
    Artemas looked confused at her comment, but only Tamara seemed to share her confusion at the mention of the dog.
    “A dog? As in a small four-legged animal?”
    Xenophon pointed at the centre of the battle where the warriors from Attica were engaged in bloody hand-to-hand combat at the spaceport of Marathon. Some of the Median warriors fought, but most were retreating in rout to their ships to escape the ferocity of the Terrans. In the middle of the fight was a Terran soldier who faced off against three separate enemy warriors. They were much bigger than the others.
    “They are the Taochi, the foul conquered tribes of the destroyed Taochi Empire. The Empire has used them as shock troops for centuries. Now, look here.”
    He pointed to the foot of the Terran soldier. It showed a medium sized dog with his jaw around one of the warrior’s arms, pulling his weapon from the soldier.
    “This dog had travelled with the Terran soldier to the camp. He rushed out and fought the Medes army alongside his master and saved him from a spear strike in the middle of the great rout. He is one of the most celebrated animals in