Hamedes nodded. ‘All the accoutrements they would need to take with them into the afterlife, but fashioned in gold and decorated with jewels. Of course, the tombs have been raided by thieves over the years. Picked clean.’

‘Oh.’ Macro’s expression turned to one of sullen disappointment.

‘What are the tombs like?’ asked Cato. ‘How easily could they be defended?’

‘Defended?’ Hamedes pursed his lips. ‘They are just tunnels, sir. Cut into the rocks. There are scores of them. Some of them are little more than caves at the end of short tunnels. Others were cut deep into the cliffs with columned chambers. I took a torch into a handful of them and went as far as I dared. Ajax’s men might try and hide in them, as a last resort.’

‘Hmmm.’ Cato took a sip from his canteen as he considered the priest’s description. He tried to put himself in Ajax’s position. The gladiator and his men had a limited supply of water. If they abandoned their horses and tried to climb out of the gorge, they would be faced by a long march across the plateau then down to the desert before they could attempt to cut back towards the Nile. Even if they managed to evade the Roman forces on this side of the Nile, it was likely the heat and thirst would kill them long before they got to safety. On the other hand, if they hid deep inside one of the tombs, they would be sheltered from the sun and could survive for days before they were forced to emerge. If they timed it to come out at night, they might be able to slip past any soldiers still in the area looking for them. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed to Cato that his enemy would make use of the tombs.

‘If they do try to hide, it could take quite a while to find the right tomb, and even then we’d have to winkle them out. I doubt the prospect of spending that long hunting them down is going to appeal to the legate now that he’s set his heart on putting a quick end to the Nubians.’

Macro looked up. ‘You don’t think he’ll abandon the hunt? Not now, when we’ve got the last of them trapped, and Ajax with them, like as not?’

‘You heard Aurelius. He wants the army to march as soon as possible. He won’t want to waste time hunting down a handful of fugitives.’

‘I’ll not let Ajax get away again,’ Macro responded. ‘Not this time. I don’t care how long it takes. I’ll search every bloody one of those tombs until I dig the bastard out.’