His body already swaying to the rhythm, Iudex made his way to the open space at the centre of the room.

‘All this talk of Eve and Adam,’ Valens said, ‘are we sure he is not a Christian?’

‘He once told me he followed some prophet called Mani,’ Clemens said. ‘Whatever, touched by one god or another. Utterly insane, but he does dance well.’

Valens took a drink.

‘That eunuch was full of shit,’ Aulus said. ‘There was no venison at all to be had in the market, but I did get some bacon.’

But Valens was not listening. His eyes followed Iudex as, despite his sobriety, the soldier capered like a Bacchant in time to the music. Could such a strange man be trusted?

*

At first they thought it was another Tower of Silence. In the distance, the vultures wheeled black against the hot azure sky. When they got nearer, they saw it was not.

The column had spent two further days resting in the caravanserai. They had not drunk as much as the first night, but Hairan looked exhausted by the time they left. Valens had not visited the dark girl again. For three days they had been riding south, the river on their right. On the second they had come to Nineveh. Little remained of the fabled city of the once mighty Assyrian empire, except low humps in the ground and a squalid settlement sprawled among them.

What I have eaten and wantoned, the pleasures I have had of my loves,

These alone have I now. The rest of my blessings have vanished.

It was Hairan who had recited the notorious lines. Valens had accompanied the Hatrene in searching the site. But for all their efforts they found no trace of the stone on which the poem was said to be inscribed, nor any of the sculptures with which the last Assyrian king had adorned his ancient capital.

They had spent the night in Nineveh. Setting out the next morning, they expected a long day would bring them to the Lykos River, which they would follow east into the mountains. Somewhere upstream they would hire a local to guide them through the passes.

It was in the afternoon, the sun arcing down, when they spotted the vultures. As before, something unspoken drew them away from their route. Coming closer, they saw the burnt wagon, the scatter of debris about it. Valens sent Hairan and Aulus out to scout the surroundings.