She dismounted then crouched to slake her thirst at the oasis, gazing into her reflection as the ripples faded. Her face seemed more rounded than it had been in some time. She and her people had eaten well in these last weeks. She touched a hand to the frayed purse Pavo’s wolf-like tribunus had given her. Plenty of coin remained to buy more meat and cattle from the desert trade caravans. Her thoughts swirled, troubling her, but she shook her head and stood.
She and her riders readied to set off again, back to the Maratocupreni valley. But before she gave the order to move out, an odd breeze danced across the dust from the south-east. She turned and looked to the shimmering horizon there. One day soon, war would come from that haze. Then she flicked her head to the north-west, thinking of distant Antioch, of Emperor Valens, the man who had once ordered the destruction of her people. At that moment, memories of her chat with Pavo came to mind.
There have been times when I have had to make the hardest of choices to protect the few I love.
Her next thoughts astounded her.
Pavo woke on the stone shelf and instantly felt the aching in his muscles. The shift at the salt face had been brutal as always and he felt as if he had been asleep for only a few heartbeats. He convulsed in a coughing fit, covering his mouth with one hand, then shuddered at the sight of the fine red spray on his palm. This had horrified him when it had first happened six days ago, but he soon realised Khaled was right: there was no escaping the lung disease of the mines.
At least they had the spring, he thought. For the last few days they had been able to slake their thirst completely with its fresh and cool waters. Gorzam seemed unaware of the spring, but just in case, Pavo had taken to trembling and seeming grateful for the daily brackish water ration in an effort to avoid any suspicion.
He began his stretching routine, Khaled waking to join him. The Persian too had been buoyed by the discovery of the secret spring. ‘Perhaps today we will stumble across gold?’
‘Or,’ Pavo suggested, lifting a tattered water skin from beneath a pile of salt dust, ‘we put my plan into action?’
Khaled’s face fell a little at this. Two days ago, Khaled had found the punctured water skin, discarded by a guard. He had managed to patch it up with a piece of rat skin and a paste made from the rodent’s corpse. The pair had smuggled it to the spring and filled it. After slaking their thirsts again yesterday, Pavo had come up with his idea. Khaled had seemed reluctant at first, and even now, the doubt was etched across his face. But at last, he nodded. ‘Aye, but be wary, lad.’
‘In here? Always.’ Pavo clutched the empty skin to his thigh and wrapped his loincloth around to conceal it as best as he could.
‘Quickly, they’re coming,’ Khaled whispered.
The rattling of a spear tip along the cell gates seemingly caused Pavo’s fingers to bloat. He fumbled, but tied the cloth in place before he heard Gorzam’s sour tones. ‘Khaled, Roman, your rest is over. Be ready to breathe salt again in the hottest part of the mine!’
The guard with him half-filled their cups with water. The pair took to drinking hungrily – as if it was the first water they had enjoyed since the last ration. Next, Gorzam held up two chunks of bread, then grunted and juggled something in his throat, before spitting thick, dark phlegm onto each piece and handing it through the bars.
‘Eat,’ he grunted.
Pavo felt a lurching in his gut at the thought of eating the greasy, phlegm-coated morsel.
‘Not hungry?’ Gorzam snarled, raising his whip.
Pavo backed away, feeling the water skin flap against his thigh. A lashing meant the water skin might be discovered, the spring found and the glimmer of hope extinguished. He quickly held up his hands in acquiescence and Gorzam slackened his grip on the whip. He lifted the filthy bread to his lips and bit into it, crunching into the rock-hard bread and chewing on the slimy, glutinous topping.
His disgusting meal finished, Gorzam’s spear prodded he and Khaled from the cell. They trudged along the rocky paths in the main cavern to the cramped tunnel mouth. Once inside, they scuttled along to the small chamber at the end with the spring. They worked to fill two baskets to ensure there was nothing out of the ordinary with the shift; there were no more guards than usual, and Gorzam was standing in his usual place near the pulleys.
‘This time,’ Pavo nodded as they filled the third basket.
Khaled sighed and nodded. ‘Very well, but be swift and do not take any risks. If you see any eyes upon you, turn back.’
Pavo nodded, filling the water skin and attaching it to his thigh. As he did so, he looked to the faint letters he had etched into the skin.