Greek Series 02 - Dark Prince by David Gemmell Read Free Book Online Page B

new-born found the teat and began to feed.
    Mothac patted the mare and walked out into the sunshine, washing his hands and arms in a bucket of water. The sun was high and he picked up his felt hat, covering the sensitive skin of his bald head.
    He was tired, but he felt at peace with the world. Foaling always brought this feeling - the beauty of birth, the onward movement of life.
    Croni moved alongside him. 'There is great loss of blood, master. The mare may die.'
    Mothac looked down at the little man, noting his concern. 'Stay with her. If she is still bleeding in two hours, come and find me. I shall be in the western pasture.'
    'Yes, master,' answered Croni. The Thessalian gazed up at the hills. 'Look, master, the lord is home once more.'
    Glancing up, Mothac saw the rider. He was still too far away to be recognized by the old Theban, but the horse was Parmenion's second mount, a spirited bay gelding with a white face.
    Mothac sighed and shook his head. 'You should have gone home first, Parmenion,' he thought sadly.

*
    'Another victory for the Lion of Macedon,' said Mothac, pouring Parmenion a goblet of wine.
    'Yes,' answered the general, stretching his lean frame out on the couch. 'How goes it here?'
    'With the horses? Twenty-six foals. The last is a beauty. Larina's, the son of the Thracian stallion. Pure black he is, Parmenion, and what a size! Would you like to see him?'
    'Not now, my friend. I am tired.'
    The thick-set Theban sat opposite his friend, filling his own goblet and sipping the contents. 'Why did you not go home?'
    'I shall. I wanted first to see how the farm fared.'
    'I have to clear enough horse-dung all day,' snapped Mothac. 'Don't bring it into my house.'
    Parmenion loosened the thongs of his riding-boots, pulling them clear. 'So tetchy, my friend! Maybe it is for the joy of your company. What difference does it make, Mothac? These are my estates and I go where I will. I am tired. Do you object then to my staying the night?'
    'You know that I do not. But you have a wife and family waiting for you - and beds far more comfortable than any that I can offer.'
    'Comfort, I find, is more to do with the spirit than the softness of beds,' said the Spartan. 'I am comfortable here. You are getting more irritable these days, Mothac. What is wrong with you?'
    'Age, my boy,' answered the Theban, controlling his temper. 'But if you don't want to talk to me I won't press you. I will see you this evening.'
    Mothac found his anger growing as he walked from the house and up the long hill to the western pasture. For more than thirty years he had served Parmenion, as both servant and friend, but these last five years had seen the Spartan become more distant, more secretive. He had warned him against marrying Phaedra. At seventeen the child was too young, even for the ever-youthful Spartan, and there was something about her ... a coldness that radiated from her eyes. Mothac remembered, with an affection born of hindsight, Parmenion's Theban lover - the former whore, Thetis.
    Now there was a woman! Strong, confident, loving! But, like his own beloved Elea, she was dead.
    He paused at the brow of the hill, watching the workers clear the dung from the first pasture. It was not a task his Thessalians enjoyed, but it helped control the worms which infested the horses. While grazing, a horse would eat the worm larvae in the grass. These would breed in the stomach and develop into egg-laying worms, the new eggs being passed in the droppings. After a while all pastures would be contaminated, causing stunted growth, or even deaths, among the young foals. Mothac had learned this two years before from a Persian horse-trader, and ever since had ordered his men to clear the pastures daily.
    At first the Thessalians had been hard to convince. Superb horsemen, they did not take well to such menial tasks. But when the worm infestations were seen to fade and the foals grew stronger, the tribesmen had taken to the work with a vengeance.