‘It is not a laughing matter.’ The Hatrene looked shocked. ‘My uncle encountered one out in the desert, south of Singara. Only just got away alive.’

‘For the sake of all the gods, you do not believe this stuff?’

Lucia broke in. ‘Listen to Hairan. The disappearances had begun before I left with my husband for Adiabene. A labourer in the top meadows and a boy herding goats in the woods both vanished. The lair of the djinn is in the caverns up beyond the treeline.’

Was there no end to superstition? ‘If we go up and scour these caves, will it give one of the villagers the courage to come with us as a guide?’

‘We cannot all go,’ Hairan said.

‘Why not?’

‘The djinn is a shape-shifter, like an empusa. It can transform itself into an animal or bird. We will not find it.’

‘These are stories to frighten children.’

Hairan ignored the interruption. ‘The djinn never appears if there are more than two men.’

This was ridiculous. ‘Then tomorrow I will take just one man with me to chase away your djinn, or empusa.’

Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Matiane

THEY RODE UP ACROSS THE MEADOWS and through the dappled shadows under the walnut trees and the poplars. It was one of those glorious mornings as summer began to turn to autumn. The sun shone from an almost cloudless sky, and a warm breeze whispered through the trees.

Despite the beautiful weather, Valens’s head was thick with the fumes of the wine he had drunk the night before. The slave girl he had taken to bed – the headman was a generous host – had seemed distressed when he left. Like the rest of the village, most likely she did not expect him to return. How could people be such fools? Still, the exercise would dispel his hangover. And when he came down from the mountain unharmed, the locals would have no excuse not to furnish them with a guide.

As they came out of the trees, the sun was hot on his shoulders and back. Hairan had tried to persuade him to wear armour. Valens had pointed out that climbing a cliff in a mailcoat would put him in more danger than some imaginary empusa or djinn.

They halted at the foot of the rock face. The horses could go no further. Dismounting, Valens handed his reins to Iudex. Valens would go on with Aulus. The others would stay here with the horses, their mounts loaded with food and drink. Although he subscribed to the reality of the daemon, Hairan had suggested they bring a slave girl or two to help pass the time. In the daylight, even he did not seem to be taking the threat with any great earnestness. However, none of the girls had been willing to accompany them. And there was a limit to hospitality – the headman had not ordered them.