Around him, Pausanias was ordering cups refilled for a toast. Aristides thought his first impression was still right. Pausanias may have had an eyebrow permanently raised, as if the world could only disappoint him. Yet, Aristides had seen moments of worry in the Spartan. Pausanias had never expected to be regent, especially following one like Leonidas. The death of the battle king had left a hole in their ranks, without a doubt. There were times when Aristides wondered how Pausanias possibly thought he could fill it.

He watched Pausanias rise to his feet, Tisamenus standing with him to face the rest of the strategoi and officers at that rough table on dusty ground. Pausanias kept his ‘soothsayer’ at his side at all times, like a talisman. Aristides did not mind that. If the man had been promised five victories by Apollo’s priestess at Delphi, he might bring them all at least one. It had been years since he had competed in the Olympic pentathlon. He was surely due.

‘Gentlemen, officers, Spartans, Hellenes,’ Pausanias declaimed, addressing them all. He had a faint flush, Aristides saw, perhaps from the wine. ‘Tomorrow we will cross the mountains to the north. I do not know yet if Mardonius has moved his camp, or if he will still be waiting for us there. I have no doubt he will have chosen a place that favours his cavalry. Beyond the personal mounts some of you have brought, along with the ponies used by our scouts, we have no real answer to those. It is my intention to try and avoid open ground where they can be used to sting us with spear, sling-shot and arrow.’

Aristides had expected a simple toast to good fortune. The silence in the room was tense as every man there realised they were hearing battle orders. Pausanias seemed relaxed and confident as he spoke, but the mood had chilled.

‘I sent scouts to watch their camp over the winter,’ Pausanias went on. ‘We have an idea of their numbers at around two hundred thousand, perhaps a little more. Yes, gentlemen, it is a host. We have decided to stand against them even so.’

The Spartan looked around steadily until the sudden whispering died away. Aristides found himself suppressing a smile. He’d thought of Pausanias as an arrogant young man, some way out of his depth. It seemed he could hold the attention of a room, however. If the regent knew the field of war as well, perhaps their situation was not as bleak as it seemed.

Pausanias let his gaze settle on Aristides, holding there for a moment. A frown touched his unlined brow.

‘I need our most disciplined phalanx formations on both wings. Sparta will hold the right flank, with the Tegeans and the contingent from Thespiae.’

He raised his cup in acknowledgement of those and they returned the gesture. Pausanias nodded, looking over the rest of the men in that place.