With unsteady steps, Barbad walked to the privy, pulled the hanging shut. Would he have struck? Could an old eunuch find the courage?

Anxiously, keeping well away from the latrine and the dizzying drop below the small hole, he returned the knife to its place of concealment.

Do your duty. Serve my son until the end. Somehow Barbad had to find the resolve.

Long ago, King Mithradates had entrusted his beloved daughter to the safekeeping of a trusted eunuch. Defeated by the Romans, Mithradates had fled. His daughter and the eunuch had been trapped and besieged in a fortress. With no hope of rescue, the eunuch had not betrayed the King’s trust. Knowing the fate of the Princess if she fell into the hands of the Romans, the eunuch had killed her, then turned the knife on himself.

Barbad would make the boy’s last hours happy. Tonight, while Sasan slept, the knife would do its duty.

Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

The Castle of Silence

FOR THE LAST MILE UP to the fortress the road was steep. Except for Decimus and Narses, they all dismounted and put their shoulders to the wagon. Decimus led their mounts, and Narses rode a little ahead.

‘Halt!’

They wedged stones under the wheels of the wagon.

Head down and pushing, Valens had only been able to form a general impression of the castle. Now he stood and studied it.

The gate was heavy, and bound with iron. It was just wide enough to admit the wagon. The gatehouse was taller than the flanking walls. Like them it was crenellated, but had no projecting bastions from which to enfilade the approach. There were no towers along the curtain wall. The Castle of Silence relied on its natural position for its defence. On this precipitous crag, no enemy could bring to bear regular siege works. No rams or towers could make the ascent, and there was nowhere to site artillery. Set on solid rock, undermining the place was not an option. The masonry of its walls was smooth, and could not be climbed unaided. All approaches were overlooked. Unless the garrison were negligent, a surprise attack would fail. The paths up could be blockaded, and the fortress starved into submission, but otherwise it would only fall to treachery or subterfuge. But, of course, the Castle of Silence was not designed as a secure refuge, but a prison.

Narses rode to the foot of the gatehouse. There were a couple of guards on the battlements.

‘Perozshapur,’ Narses called up.

One of the guards said something in Persian.

Narses replied in a peremptory tone, and the guard vanished.

Valens had caught the odd word. He had picked up a little Persian on the journey, but it was unsettling not to be able to follow what was said.

They waited.