CHAPTER II. PICTURE FOR THE EMPEROR

The next day, they couldn’t draw a picture. Their hands did not obey. Tiberius and Lucro were among those who could draw well but they were too weak to do that.

– Well, are you okay now? – Lacius asked Tiberius, who, after the first bowl of hot broth, was scratching himself and twitching his shoulders. Life was returning to his strong body, and his gaze had already become more meaningful and tenacious. – You didn’t die in the pit, so now you won’t die here either. We need to draw a battle for the Han general. For this he gave us a free hand. Can you?

– If the lice don’t chew us off at all, then we can, – said Tiberius, frantically scratching his head. – You see, the hands are numb. They need to get over.

– I’d draw this picture with my leg if I gave me more meat, – Lucro said dreamily, licking his empty cup. Lacius just grinned. They could barely stand on their feet, they were all overcome by lice, but their mood inspired optimism. The small biting creatures could be gotten rid of with a fire. To do this, they had to go get branches for the baskets. Tiberius looked up at Lacius and said with a sigh:

– Sorry, do you hear? The furies misled me… I didn’t want to say it there… OK?

– I understand, – Lacius grimaced from the bite of another louse. – You could still talk there. I couldn’t move my tongue at all. Oh! – he hit himself on the back of his head and jerked it. – It’s painful. Such a bastard! Okay, I can’t stand anymore. I need to quickly put my clothes into the fire… and also shave.

– We’ll bring some branches, and then you go find a knife, – Lucro suggested. – Nobody will give knifes to us. You can get them.

Two days later they depicted horses and people on one stone by the river, and on another a fortress and towers, but all this was done so far only with firebrands. Chen Tang liked the drawings, but he wanted to have such a drawing with him. However, there was no longer any skin or fabric of suitable size and quality in the city. So he ordered Tiberius to draw the same thing in his diary, which he kept from the very beginning of the campaign. The Roman’s huge hands seemed unable to cope with the thin stick. However, after making a few uncertain movements on the board, Tiberius was able to understand how to make thick and thin lines, and soon the first sketch of the battle on the Talas River appeared in Tang’s diary. The young general was very pleased. He didn’t even bother to admire the flames over the city walls, which quickly devoured the dry wood and the corpses, collected in the city square. The strange guide Goju, who was very afraid of the black disease, which they encountered several times during the journey, especially insisted on this.

When the first warriors with torches began to walk around the dry grass, laid out under the walls and houses, Goju threw a large light bag into the fire, which he had previously hidden in a hole near the river. In it, carefully tied into several small knots, lay the remains of a ferret that died from this terrible disease. If the siege of the fortress dragged on, the guide was going to throw the dead ferret over the wall. So the defenders were doomed anyway. But then Chen Tang would not have received Zhi Zhi’s head and the Han army would have had to retreat from the walls at the first sign of illness in the city. And then burn it, like now.

While Tiberius was drawing horses on the stone, the rest of Romans were following Tang’s orders, collecting their equipment and weapons under the supervision of frowning infantrymen. They managed to find Lacius’ helmet with a crest, an abandoned shaft with a wooden eagle, and many swords and shields. But the clothes and cloaks were nowhere to be found. Then they decided to make them from the fabrics that the Han warriors had taken from Zhi Zhi’s warehouse. There was a lot of silk there. To implement his plan, the young general allowed the use of everything necessary.

So Lacius got a red cloak. It was much brighter and better than the previous one. As a result, by the end of the week almost a hundred shields, spears, capes, tunics, sandals, helmets, and breastplates were ready. They even managed to find several chain mail shirts.

At one of the sites, Lucro learnt that Saet was alive. Someone saw her among the captured Xiongnu women. The joy of Zeno and Mark knew no bounds. They could not see their mother because the women had been taken away earlier, but they hoped that they would be able to meet her during the night stops. Unfortunately, the Han divided into two groups and did not allow the women to see the rest of the prisoners. They said that they would all be sold into slavery as soon as they found themselves behind the Great Wall, on the territory of the Empire. But everything turned out to be not so simple.

When General Tang’s warriors returned to Governor Xiao’s province, paintings, depicting the Battle of the Talas River, were already finished. They just had to be connected to each other and attached to the wall. Together with them, all the equipment for the Romans was prepared. But Chen Tang didn’t know how to send it to the capital. He found himself in a difficult situation. It was dangerous to travel alone. Sending old Governor Xiao away was stupid. Young Chow Li offered him another plan: she would go to the capital to visit her sister along with Chen Tang’s messengers, who would hand over Zhi Zhi’s head to the Emperor. There was no way out, and he asked her to remind her sister about the Empress’s letter. Tang wanted to get it as soon as possible.

In the big house of Governor Xiao, the Romans were kept in those large sheds, where they lived several years ago, when they came here with Zhi Zhi’s son to buy some equipment. One day, Lacius saw the guide Godju, who had come to learn about news from the capital and lived on the outskirts of the city.

– Harav ta romyn amid uu⁷? – the old guide asked in surprise, when he saw Lacius sitting at the door on a large log. Looking at the two rings and the iron ball chained to his ankles, Goju walked closer.

– Yes, I am. For some reason the gods left me alive, – Lacius answered. It was really strange to him that he had not yet died. – You, old man, saved me so many times in the steppe, and now…

– This is all your black circle, – Goju pointed to the amulet, hanging over the cape.

– Maybe, – he shrugged indifferently. – Are you with them now? Why do they believe you? You were with Zhi Zhi.

– He killed my son.

– Yes, you said that then. In Kangyuy.

– I was afraid of this. I knew this could happen. So I sent my second son to Chang’an.

– Now everything is clear, – Lacius drawled. – Your son helped you.

– No, he didn’t. He doesn’t even know I’m here. Doesn’t know yet. He serves under the governor of the central province. He will probably never return to the steppe. He has a different life here…

Lacius understood the old man, who was already so old that the wrinkles on his face turned into deep furrows, and there was no black hair in his beard. Time took its tall. Life was ending, and he wanted respect and honour. They sat opposite each other and recalled the past. Having told Goju that the Romans, along with the paintings, would be shown to the Emperor, Lacius heard in response that the Emperor did not love war, nor the court, nor his wife. Most of all, he loved his concubines, and two of them have already given birth to children. The Emperor was a smart man. But his wife was much wiser…

The old Goju told him for a long time about the morals and customs of the Han Empire, speaking contemptuously about their army and military leaders, who thought more about money and the income of their families than service. In one evening, Lacius learnt so much that he probably could not have learnt if he had lived here even ten years. Much was clear and familiar, because the life of the Roman aristocracy was not very different from the life of governors in the provinces, not to mention the capital of the Empire.

Chow returned ten days later. That evening, the night lamps burned for a long time in the large house, and the servants stayed up late, awaiting orders from the master and his guests. The next day, the Romans began to prepare to move to the capital of the Empire. Getting ready was simple, and by mid – day everything was ready. A large line of people and carts left the city walls. Everyone stopped there, waiting for the governor to join them. At this time, two guards approached Lacius and took him to a small stretcher near the wall. Leaving him alone, they stepped aside.

– Come, – he suddenly heard Chow Li’s voice. Catching himself thinking that he was still capable of surprise, Lacius grinned and slowly approached.

– How inaccessible you have become! – there was irony in his voice. But he still could not understand, why Chow Li changed so dramatically, when she found herself among her Han people. At first, it seemed to him that she wanted to hide her past. But it was stupid because everyone knew what happened to her in Zhi Zhi’s family. A little later, Lacius began to think that it was all about her status. After all, she was the daughter of a rich Han man. Maybe this is what made her forget about gratitude and made her so harsh?

He thought for a long time about the changes that had happened to Chow Li, but it could not even occur to him that the young woman behaved as her culture required. She instantly adapted to the environment, in which she found herself and, having found herself in the company of General Tang, immediately gained the strength of her social position, which required appropriate behaviour. In the Han Empire, there was an unspoken rule that if a person received a new position, everyone had to come to him and get to know him again. From that moment on, the past did not exist. The same thing happened to Chow Li – she forgot the past in order to survive in the present. Permanence here was unacceptable. But Lacius did not yet know about this feature of the national culture of the Han Chinese and behaved as an equal. – Listen, maybe you can take me inside? I was your master. Do you remember this?

– I do. This happened before, though. Now you are… a prisoner.

– Well, yes, I am. And what do you want?

– I need your help, – these words sounded sincere, but if for Latium it was an appeal from a friend, then for Chow it was a cunning trick with far – reaching goals. So that others would not suspect her of affection for a white slave and would not spread rumours, she deliberately hid in a stretcher and ordered her servants to move away. No one could see them here. But Lacius was so inspired by the success of his negotiations with General Tang that he did not pay attention to such – little things.

– Help? – he was taken aback. – Help from a prisoner? Are you kidding?

– Listen, everything can end very badly, – and Chow Li told him that she had gone to the capital to visit her sister. She had not been alone. Chen Tang’s messengers had accompanied her. They had handed Zhi Zhi’s head to the Emperor. But the Emperor had not accepted it and refused to forgive Tang. The Imperial Council is still arguing about what to do with Chen Tang and Governor Xiao – to forgive or punish. Chow’s sister and her husband really hope that the huge paintings and captured Romans will please the Emperor and he will have mercy. But it’s not for sure…

– I don’t understand anything. What do you want from me? – Lacius felt perplexed.

– If the Emperor does not forgive General Tang and Governor Xiao, they will be executed. – After this, their relatives and friends will be killed along with their families up to the third generation. This means that Governor Xiao and his cousin Bao Shi will be killed. My sister is his wife! Got it? She’ll be killed. And… then they will probably kill me… too… – at that moment Chow did not have to pretend, because she was telling the truth.

– How complicated everything is, – Lacius shook his head. – I realised that they would kill everyone.

– Yes, they will, – Chow said desperately.

– It’s a pity. And what do you want from me? – he repeated his question.

Chow didn’t know how to push the Roman to do a noble deed. She wanted her sister not to get hurt. She thought that if the Emperor came to look at the paintings, then he would take pity and forgive Chen Tang and Governor Xiao. And it was Lacius, who could help with this. The rest had already used their opportunity, – they have thrown the dice and lost, – as the Emperor’s courtiers liked to say.

– Make something… something interesting to make the Emperor like it! – she said passionately. Lacius tried for a long time to explain to her that this was impossible and it was simply stupid to demand something from him, a chained slave, but Chow begged, and in order to stop this meaningless conversation, he agreed. Then she began to tell him about the Emperor’s court and all the important officials. Lacius hardly listened to her, having long since despaired of remembering the endless names and favourite complex relationships, until she remembered the Emperor’s favourite concubines.

– Stop! Can your sister talk to these concubines?

– Yes, she can.

– Then let her tell them something interesting about the Romans… Something intriguing. They need to come and see. That’s a must! Later they will start telling it to everyone. The others will tell the Emperor, and he can come. This is the only chance. Do you agree? What might interest them?

– I think… It’s difficult. But I see your point. I have to talk to my sister.

– Talk, talk. Also. We’ll need musicians. Like it was in Zhi Zhi’s camp. Do you remember blind Paul singing with them?

– Yes, I do.

– They had something with strings and timpani. The musicians must play well. Let’s try to surprise them with songs. Well, this is not enough, though. We need to come up with something scary and terrible. Something they’ve never seen before. I also need something.

– What? – Chow tensed.

– You said you knew the way to the south, to the big sea. Can you help me get there? I want to sail to India or further, – he waited for her to think about his words.

– You… you… you could be killed right tomorrow or sent to the salt lakes… I can’t promise.

– If the Emperor punishes General Tang and Governor Xiao, you will definitely not be able to promise anything. – If he forgives Xiao, everything will be different. Am I right?

– Yes, you are, – Chow Li was forced to agree, having already come to her senses and realising that nothing stopped her from lying to this naive white man.

– Then you will not allow me to be sold to the salt lakes and will help me get to the sea. – In the end, perhaps you will buy me as a slave and take me there yourself! – Lacius suggested. It seemed to him that Chow was worried. He would feel that way himself in such a situation. So he decided to wait and let her weigh everything.

– If General Tang and Governor Xiao are forgiven, I will do it! – finally came a firm and decisive answer. Lacius sighed again, but this time with relief. He wanted to believe that the gods would help him, and Chow Li would not forget his promise. However, he did not know that in the chain of events that he drew in his imagination and described to Chow, her salvation was in the first place, and his in the second. And it was not necessary for her to fulfill her part of the obligations if he succeeded.

The signal to move sounded in the distance, the guards led him back, and a long line of Han warriors, carts, and Roman prisoners moved along the dusty road towards the capital of the Empire. Only Chow Li’s stretcher turned towards the gate and slowly headed back to the city.