Kings of Morning by Paul Kearney Read Free Book Online Page A

sharpened. ‘We had Arakosan cavalry stationed there, but he blew through them like a gale.’
    Kouros threw the scroll at the kneeling Kefre. ‘That’s a lie!’
    Merach went silent, bowing his head. It was Rakhsar who retrieved the scroll, rolling it up on its spindle. ‘Brother, you might want to hear the fellow out before you begin throwing things at him,’ he said with a smile.
    ‘Go on,’ Ashurnan said. He fumbled for a chair, and it was Rakhsar who slid one behind him.
    ‘I bear the official despatches from satrap Darios himself – you can see his seal on the scrolls.’
    ‘Why send you as his messenger?’ Kouros demanded, undaunted. ‘You’re an Archon of the western army, not some despatch-rider.’
    ‘He hoped that my presence would give weight to what he had to tell,’ Merach retorted.
    ‘Mind your tone, general. I am a royal prince.’
    Rakhsar poured himself some wine from the table, smelling it before sipping. ‘Father, despite my brother’s luminous presence, shall we let these men get up off their knees? The stones are hard on the bones.’
    Ashurnan nodded. He looked at his younger son, and immediately Rakhsar gave him the winecup. ‘I shall be your taster,’ he said. ‘It’s not the best, but I’ve had worse.’
    ‘General Merach shall speak now, without interruption,’ Ashurnan said tiredly.
    ‘And with some wine to loosen his throat,’ Rakhsar said, handing the grey-haired Kefre another cup.
    There was a quiet. The wind moved in the ivy, and there was the hoot of an owl off in the trees. Not another sound. They were in the midst of the greatest city in the world, but the ziggurat lifted them far above it, and the wind here was night-cool, as though they were in the foothills of the mountains. The scent of the honeysuckle which wound through the ivy came and went with the breeze, too sweet, too heavy for the charcoal-warmed dark.
    Merach drained his cup. ‘Our left was destroyed, and in the centre he had us pinned. He lost a lot of men there. The bodies piled up so thick in the water they changed the river’s course, and the water ran red as a pomegranate crushed in your fist. His cavalry wheeled on our phalanx’s rear, and after that the thing fell apart, and it became a hunt. They chased us for pasangs across the plains south of the Haneikos. We took fifty thousand spears up to the river. I doubt a fifth of that made it back to Gansakos. We lost our baggage, our stores, the paychests, even the remounts. He has light infantry who work with javelin and what they call a drepana , a curved, slashing sword. They run as fast and far as horses.’
    Merach placed his empty cup on the table with a click.
    ‘My lord, I am told you knew something of this defeat already – you have the meat, but Darios wanted me to bring you the raw bones. I have been two weeks on the road, killing three horses a day to stand before you. Darios bade me say that Gansakr is lost, and Askanon cannot hold. He is moving his quarters south to Ashdod, and if necessary will stand siege there.
    ‘My lord, we need another army. We need your presence on the battlefield to inspire our people, as you did at Kunaksa. We need the Honai. Without such a grand levy, the outer empire cannot hold. This is no mere adventurer we face. This man comes to conquer.’
    ‘We know the facts of these things, Merach,’ Kouros growled. ‘Every satrap west of the Magron has been forwarding rumours of your disgrace for weeks. Perhaps we do not need a grand levy – perhaps we only need generals with a little backbone.’
    Merach lowered his gaze. His eyes were as bright as coins caught in the sun. He said nothing.
    ‘Bravely said, brother,’ Rakhsar drawled. ‘It’s quite a feat to insult a man who cannot answer back – you truly have the knack of it.’
    ‘Go back to the women’s quarters, Rakhsar. We talk of the real world here. If we want to hear harem gossip we will send for you.’
    Rakhsar smiled, but only with his