The King had the high, pointed head and the red beard and tattoos of the Rosomoni. One of the slave girls lent to the Romans had been taken by the nomads out of a Greek city. Valens had assigned her to look after Prince Sasan. From her Valens had learnt that the ‘Red Ones’ had been the ruling clan of the Heruli until Naulobates had seized sole power. Even now wives were shared, children of Rosomoni women had their skulls bound.

Naulobates was a slight man, his hair and beard wispy. But his grey eyes shone with deep thoughts untrammelled by conventional morality or pity.

‘You.’ The King pointed at Iudex. ‘I have met before.’

For once Iudex was at a loss. ‘Perhaps, Lord, someone who has the misfortune to look like me. This is the first time that I have ventured onto the Steppe.’

‘You know a man called Mar Ammo.’ It was less a question than a statement.

‘Yes, My Lord. I knew him in Ctesiphon, a disciple of the prophet Mani.’

‘He wears the same clothes as you: the blue cloak and striped trousers.’

‘They are the apparel of the Elect.’

‘Mar Ammo was here a couple of years ago. He came to convert the Heruli.’

Iudex said nothing.

‘Mar Ammo is a true disciple. You are not. You have betrayed the teachings of your prophet. Thou shalt not kill, said Mani. Yet you are a man steeped in blood.’

Iudex accepted this as if a compliment. ‘Mani put my feet on the path to the Light. But I have walked further than Mani.’

Now there was tense silence in the tent.

Suddenly Naulobates beamed at Iudex. ‘You are a far better man than Mar Ammo or your former master. Thou shalt not kill – what nonsense.’

A low murmur of conversation began again. Valens had heard that the nomads showed little respect for their rulers.

‘Have you seen the divine twin of Mani, what he calls his zyzygos?’

‘I have, My Lord.’

‘So have I. Brachus, my tauma, hunted it through the other world. The zyzygos of Mani tried to hide. How it fled! But it was no use. Brachus followed, and Brachus caught him. For nine days and nights Brachus tried to enlighten him. Brachus did not spare himself; he reasoned with him, and beat him without mercy.’ Naulobates shook his head sadly. ‘Mani was right, the Kingdom of Light is in the north, and working the soil is for lesser men. Yet in his stubborn blindness he could not see that the Kingdom was already to be found here among the Heruli.’

Even Iudex seemed startled by this reworking of the teaching of Mani.