An hour after midnight there was a hurried slap of sandals on the steps inside the pylon and a moment later the dark form of Karim stood panting at his side.

‘What is it?’

‘General, please come with me. Now.’

Ajax caught the urgency in the other man’s voice and turned to face him. ‘What is it?’

‘It’s simpler if you follow me, sir.’ Karim looked meaningfully at the other men on the pylon. Some of the Arabs and their officer were in earshot.

‘Very well.’ Ajax nodded and followed his companion down the stairs. Once they had descended the first three flights, he spoke softly. ‘What’s happened?’

Karim glanced back over his shoulder. ‘It’s our man, General. He’s here in the temple.’

‘Canthus?’ Ajax was surprised. He could not think why the spy had taken such a risk to enter the temple, and stifled a surge of anger. The spy had provided useful information about the Roman army and its senior officers, passed on to Prince Talmis’s scouts waiting outside Diospolis Magna. His identity had to be kept safe. Whatever the spy’s reason for crossing the lines, it had better be good.

Karim nodded. ‘Came over the northern barricade. He said he must speak with you.’

‘Where is he?’

‘I took him to one of the offering rooms, to keep him out of sight.’

‘Good.’ Ajax approved. Even if the temple fell, Canthus might yet provide some advantage to Prince Talmis, if his identity remained a secret.

They crossed the courtyard and entered the colonnaded hall leading to the shrine. It was dark inside and only the flame burning in the shrine at the far end lit their way. Two small chambers stood each side of the shrine holding the sacred barge. It had been a very long time since the priests of the temple had received the kind of rich offerings to the gods that had once been commonplace. Now the hall and the chambers smelled musky and abandoned.

A dark shape appeared in the doorway of the offering chamber to the left of the shrine.

‘General?’ a voice whispered.

‘Canthus.’ Ajax approached him, his expression hard. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘General, you have to get out of this trap while there is still the chance. If you stay here, you will die.’

‘If that is what the gods will then I will show those Romans how a real man dies, with dignity and honour.’

There was a brief silence before Karim spoke. ‘They will not allow that. They will kill you only once you are a broken man, when you can be disposed of in the most humiliating manner possible. That will be the legacy you leave behind for the Empire’s slaves, General.’