shook my head in mock disapproval. ‘You have always been impetuous. Do you remember what the old bull replied when the young bull suggested that they rush down upon the herd of cows and cover a few of them?’
‘Tell me what old bull said,’ he demanded with anticipation. He has always enjoyed my little jokes. I did not want to disappoint him now.
‘The old bull answered, Let us rather saunter down at our leisure and cover the lot of them.’
Hurotas let out a delighted guffaw. ‘Tell me your plan, Taita, for I know you have one. You always do.’
I set it out for him quickly because it was a simple plan, and then I turned away and vaulted back into the saddle of my mount. Without a backwards glance I led Merab and my small band of horsemen back up the hill. I knew that I could rely on Hurotas who had once been Zaras to carry out my instructions to the letter; even if he was now a king he was sufficiently astute to know that my counsel was always the best available.
As I crested the hill again I saw that I had not arrived ahead of time, for the Hyksos horde was advancing once more upon the battered and depleted ranks of Egypt, who stood to meet them. I urged my horse into a gallop and reached the shield wall only seconds before the enemy fell upon us again. I turned my mount free and seized the bronze shield that somebody thrust into my hands as I squeezed into my station in the centre of the front rank. Then with a sound like summer thunder the Hyksos front rank crashed, bronze on bronze, into our enfeebled line once again.
Almost at once I was swallowed up in the nightmare of battle wherein time loses all meaning and every second seems to last an eternity. Death pressed in upon us in a dark miasma of terror. Finally, after what seemed like an hour or a hundred years, I felt the unbearable pressure of Hyksos bronze upon our fragile front line ease abruptly, and then we were moving rapidly forward rather than stumbling backwards.
The discordant bellowing of triumphant enemy war cries was replaced by terrified screams of pain and despair in the barbaric Hyksos tongue. Then the enemy ranks seemed to shrivel and collapse upon themselves so that my forward vision was no longer totally obscured.
I saw that Hurotas had followed my orders exactly, as I knew he would. He had moved his men in two wings around both our flanks simultaneously, catching the Hyksos aggressors in a perfect encircling movement, like a shoal of sardines in the fisherman’s net.
The Hyksos fought with the recklessness born of despair, but my shield wall held firm and Hurotas’ Lacedaemons were fresh and eager for the fray. They drove the hated foe against our line, like slabs of raw meat thrown down upon the butcher’s block. Swiftly the conflict changed from battle to slaughter, and finally the surviving Hyksos threw down their weapons and fell to their knees on the ground that had become a muddy quagmire of blood. They pleaded for mercy but King Hurotas laughed at their pleas for quarter.
He shouted at them, ‘My mother and my infant sisters made the same entreaty to your fathers as you make to me now. I give you the answer that your heartless fathers gave my dear ones. Die, you bastards, die!’
And when the echoes of their last death cry had sunk into silence, King Hurotas led his men back across that sanguine field and they cut the throats of any of the enemy who still showed the faintest flicker of life. I admit that in the heat of battle I was able to set aside my usual noble and compassionate instincts and join in celebrating our victory by sending more than a few of the wounded Hyksos into the waiting arms of their foul god Seth. Every throat I cut I dedicated to the memory of one of my brave men who had died earlier that same day on this field.
Night had fallen and the full moon stood high in the sky before King Hurotas and I were able to leave the battlefield. He had learned from me much earlier in our friendship that all our wounded must be brought to safety and cared for, and then the perimeter of the camp had to be secured and sentries posted before the commanders could see to their own requirements. Thus it was well after midnight before we had fulfilled our responsibilities and the two of us were able to ride down the hill to the bank of the Nile where his flagship was moored.
When we went on board Admiral Hui was on the deck to meet us. After Hurotas he was one of my favourites, and we greeted each other like the old and dear friends that we truly were. He had lost most of the once dense bush of hair on his head and his naked scalp peeped shyly through the gaps in the grey strands, but his eyes were still bright and alert and his ubiquitous good humour warmed my heart. He led us to the captain’s cabin and with his own hands poured both the king and I large bowls of red wine mulled with honey. I have seldom tasted anything as delicious as that draught. I allowed Hui to replenish my bowl more than once before exhaustion interrupted our joyous and raucous reunion.
We slept until the sun was almost clear of the horizon the following morning and then we bathed in the river, washing off the grime and bloodstains of the previous day’s exertions. Then when the combined armies of Egypt and Lacedaemon were assembled on the river-bank we mounted up on fresh horses and with both Hurotas’ legions and my own surviving fellows marching proudly ahead of us, pennants flying, drums beating and lutes playing, we rode up from the river to the Heroes’ Gate of the city of Luxor to report our glorious victory to the new Pharaoh of Egypt, Utteric Turo, eldest son of Tamose.
When we reached the gates of the golden city we found them closed and bolted. I rode forward and hailed the keepers of the gate. I was forced to repeat my demands for entry more than once, before the guards appeared on top of the wall.
‘Pharaoh wants to know who you are and what is your business,’ the captain of the watch demanded of me. I knew him well. His name was Weneg. He was a handsome young officer who wore the Gold of Valour, Egypt’s highest military honour. I was shocked that he didn’t recognize me.
‘Your memory serves you poorly, Captain Weneg,’ I called back. ‘I am Lord Taita, Chairman of the Royal Council, and commanding general of Pharaoh’s army. I come to report our glorious victory over the Hyksos.’
‘Wait here!’ Captain Weneg ordered and his head disappeared below the battlements. We waited an hour and then another.
‘It seems that you may have given offence to the new Pharaoh.’ King Hurotas gave me a wry smile. ‘Who is he, and do I know him?’
I shrugged. ‘His name is Utteric Turo, and you have missed nothing.’
‘Why was he not on the field of battle with you over these last days, as was his royal duty?’
‘He is a gentle child of thirty-five years of age, not given to low company and rough behaviour,’ I explained, and Hurotas snorted with laughter.
‘You have not lost your way with words, good Taita!’
Finally Captain Weneg reappeared on the ramparts of the city wall. ‘Pharaoh Utteric Turo the Great has graciously granted you the right to enter the city. However, he orders you to leave your horses outside the walls. The person standing with you may accompany you, but no others.’
I gasped to hear the sheer arrogance of the reply. A retort rose to my lips, but I bit down hard upon it. The entire army of Egypt together with that of Lacedaemon were listening with full attention. Almost three thousand men. I was not disposed to follow that line of discussion.
‘Pharaoh is most gracious,’ I replied. The Heroes’ Gate swung ponderously open.
‘Come along with me, you unnamed person standing with me,’ I told Hurotas grimly. Shoulder to shoulder, hands gripping the pommels of our swords but with visors raised, we marched into the city of Luxor. However, I did not feel
