They looked nothing like either Andonnoballus or each other. Aruth was short and stocky, Uligagus a great bear of a man. The last indicated – the one with the Greek name – had tattoos, but his hair was not dyed red, nor was his skull misshapen.

Seeing the surprise on Valens’s face, Andonoballus laughed. ‘All Heruli warriors are brothers. You people from the Middle Sea find it shocking that we hold our wives in common. Among us maternity is a matter of fact, paternity merely opinion.’

‘Then how can Naulobates know that you are his son?’ As soon as the words left his mouth, Valens regretted asking what might be an awkward question.

The young warrior was unconcerned. ‘The custom with our wives is not ancestral. My father introduced it some years ago.’

Valens was relieved that his ill-considered words had caused no offence. The safety of the expedition now rested entirely in the hands of these strange tribesmen.

‘The gods told my father that the Heruli should adopt the practice from the Agathyrsi, one of our subject tribes. If the woman is willing, any one of us may lie with the wife of another. It is much better than the system of Plato. In the Republic the family was to be abolished. How cruel was the Athenian? What is more natural than the family?’

Valens was speechless. Andonnoballus’s conversation was even more unlikely than his cranial deformation.

Without leave, Artemidorus interrupted the son of his king. ‘That is enough, Andonnoballus. Our guests are tired. Philosophy and discussion of our customs can wait.’

Artemidorus spoke in the pure Attic dialect of Plato or Demosthenes. Its use was now confined to the elite in Greek cities.

‘Do not be surprised at my accent.’ The swirling patterns of ink on Artemidorus’s face came alive when he smiled. ‘I was a member of the Boule in the city of Trapezus on the Black Sea. When the Heruli sacked the polis seven years ago, I was enslaved. Among the Heruli, courage in battle wins freedom and good advice brings high rank. Look at me now.’

Apart from being blue, not red, the designs on Artemidorus’s bow case were not dissimilar to those on his face. The realisation dawned on Valens that the gorytus was not embroidered, but covered in human skin.

‘My brother is right,’ Andonnoballus said. ‘Come, our camp is just beyond the burial mounds. Let us make you welcome. Tomorrow we will ride to my father. He is very keen to entertain Prince Sasan.’

*

The main encampment of Naulobates was a day’s ride to the north. It was pitched under tall trees on the far bank of a steep-sided river that cut across the Steppe. The tents were set in the shelter of the wood. There were many of them, but their number was dwarfed by the thousands of ponies grazing across the Steppe.