The Lost Army

by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

  That evening I found Melissa off on her own, leaning against one of the wagons we’d requisitioned from the last village we’d occupied, her head between her hands. She was crying.

  ‘What’s happened?’ I asked.

  She raised her face and I could see that her perfect features were marred with signs of fatigue and lack of sleep.

  ‘I can’t bear it any longer. Cleanor doesn’t love me like he used to. There’s never a moment when we can be alone together. All of this tension is making him irritable, even towards me. All he wants me for is to keep his tent in order, to cook and look after his things. He’s too tired for anything else. I’m afraid that soon he won’t even want me around any more, and he’ll trade me for a mule or a sack of barley. May the gods help me then!’

  The time was right. The gods were helping me, I was sure of it, and by helping me they would save her as well.

  ‘Melissa, do you believe me now when I tell you we’re all going to die, and that there will be no hope for anyone, if we persist in going east? Can’t you see those mountains on the horizon? They don’t even look that tall from here, but that’s only because they’re far away. You’ll learn otherwise when we get close. How much longer can we survive under such harsh conditions? How will the warriors find the strength to keep fighting for ever? They’ve already accomplished the impossible; they’ve faced and overcome more than what a human being can endure. Sophos is leading us to our doom. I’m sure of it. Xeno is starting to listen to me, although he still has doubts. Help me, Melissa! I’ll try to convince Xeno to set up a restricted meeting with Cleanor and Sophos to discuss the itinerary and to examine the possibility that the mountain chain rising on the horizon will make it impossible for us to push on any further in that direction. You’ll just tell Cleanor that Xeno wants to see him together with the high commander for a very important meeting. It won’t be difficult. And in the meantime, we’ll decide on a plan of action. I’ve learned that Neon, the commander’s field adjutant, is very susceptible to the charms of a beautiful woman. He’ll be easily distracted by one of our girls.’

  Melissa got up and hugged me. ‘I’m not like you, Abira. I’m afraid. I’m sure I’ll give myself away.’

  ‘No, you won’t. I’m sure that you’ll be perfect, and everything will go as planned. You’ve been magnificent until now: you’ve prevailed over obstacles that you could never have dreamed of. You’re a survivor. Now let’s get to work!’

  ‘What if we don’t find anything?’

  ‘Then I’ll convince Xeno to call an assembly. But I need you now, Melissa. You can read, and I don’t have time to learn.’

  ‘All right,’ she said, seemingly resigned. ‘When?’

  ‘The sooner the better. We’re running out of time.’

  ‘I’ll talk to Cleanor. I’ll let you know what he says.’

  The area we were camped in was so rich in game that it was decided that we would stay for several days so that the men could regain their strength and we could put by some provisions if possible. Melissa arranged the meeting for two days later, and I got hold of some meat for her so that the dinner would be prolonged, even in our absence. At the first opportunity I told Xeno that Cleanor had agreed to hold a meeting in his tent and had invited Commander Sophos.

  My crazy plan was ready to be put into effect. I was well aware how fragile and unprotected I was, and what consequences I was exposing myself to. The thought made me tremble. Anxiety filled my throat and my chest and my heart beat so loudly at night that I couldn’t sleep. As the hours passed and the moment for action neared, my fear grew into something like panic. It bubbled up inside of me until I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to control it, and I felt like giving up and letting events take their course.

  The first day passed, and so did the second.

  Dusk was approaching, and so was the moment in which Melissa would come and we’d set off together to search Sophos’s tent.

  Xeno put on his cloak and, without taking up any arms, said that he was going to Cleanor’s tent and that the idea of a restricted meeting had been a good one. Only if they came to any important decisions would the entire war council be summoned.

  Things started well. After he’d left I allowed a little time to pass and then went out myself. It was snowing but the sky wasn’t completely covered and every now and then you could see the moon appear in a wide rent between the clouds. I headed for Sophos’s tent and stopped at a certain distance, hiding behind a line of mules tied to stakes driven into the ground.

  The commander came out a few moments later, without armour but wearing his sword at his side. He headed towards Cleanor’s quarters. He caught up with Xeno before they reached their destination and the two men greeted each other and hugged. The faint light of the moon made it possible to distinguish their figures.

  I kept the mules company for a while until I saw the girl who was supposed to be distracting Neon arrive on my left. She was one of the young prostitutes accompanying the army and I could see that Melissa had taught her well. Her gown was elegant, light but clingy in a way that accentuated her curves. She was probably freezing, but she was carrying out her task with great aplomb.

  She had spotted him, and slowed her step but didn’t stop. Neon said something to her that I couldn’t understand and she answered, continuing her slow walk. Neon turned around and tried to take her hand. The girl let him embrace her, but then wriggled away and kept walking.

  He stopped.

  So soon, and my plan was already failing! Neon was too chilly, too controlled. I felt faint. What would we do now?

  Neon seemed to change his mind. The girl darted glances back at him until he took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching and decided at last to follow her. I could soon hear their voices, and the girl’s laughter, coming from one of the tents.

  Now it was up to me, but I had to wait for Melissa. What could I do alone? And for how long would my pretty friend be able to keep the young officer occupied? Certainly not for very long. As soon as his thirst was quenched, he’d be out of there.

  Melissa was nowhere to be seen. I glanced towards Cleanor’s tent, hoping to see her emerge at any moment, but nothing happened. Perhaps she couldn’t get away or perhaps Cleanor had asked her to serve his guests, despite the reserved nature of their meeting. I’d have to attempt it on my own.

  I approached my objective. I could make out the entrance to the command quarters thanks to the faint light of a lamp inside. I checked again for Melissa and, not seeing her, went in. Strangely enough, the nerves that had been gnawing at me disappeared. Having taken action, I finally felt calm.

  There wasn’t much there to search. The ground was covered by a wicker mat. At the centre of the room was a little table and a couple of chairs, and to one side a hanger which bore the commander’s armour. Directly opposite was a closed chest which was latched, but not locked. I drew the bolt.

  The chest contained a blanket, an extra cloak, which seemed brand new, and two grey woollen tunics. At the bottom of the chest were the most precious items: a silver cup and . . .

  ‘What are you doing here?’ a voice rang out behind me. Joined straight away by other voices. I was shaken by a violent jolt, a feeling I’d never experienced in my whole life: the sensation of having committed an illicit act and having to pay the consequences. I turned, trying desperately to think of something to say, but I could pull nothing out of the tumult inside my head. There was no way out: I would have to face my punishment.

  It was Neon who was facing me, but I could see Sophos approaching as well, along with Cleanor and Xeno, and behind them an indistinct figure that might have been Melissa: she who had certainly betrayed me.

  Two soldiers soon joined them, holding the young girl who had tried to seduce Neon by her arms. She had been beaten hard enough to draw blood. She was half-naked and livid with the cold. For several moments all I saw was the snow, an infinity of white flakes swinging tranquilly through the still air. My mind trie
d to escape the rest, to remove myself from what was happening.

  Another two warriors arrived with lit torches and the vague figure moving in the background took on the guise of Melissa. I felt my heart stop.

  But the heart of a woman has many resources and, in a flash, before surrendering to my destiny, I saw an image in my mind’s eye. I had caught a glimpse of something, just before the rough voice of the commander’s adjutant had rung out behind me. There had been a skin on the bottom of the chest. A skin with a drawing, and a word.

  At the top of the drawing was a sequence of triangles of differing heights that perhaps were meant to represent mountains, and between them a wavy line that possibly stood for a river. The four signs traced there were so clear that they will remain for ever fixed in my mind as if they had been carved into a piece of wood.

  ΑΡΑΞ

  Along the wavy line was another, interrupted by a series of small vertical strokes, each one distinguished by one or two signs.

  ‘What were you looking for in my chest, girl?’ asked Commander Sophos with an icy voice.

  Just then Melissa ran in, past the small group of men, before anyone could stop her. She was shouting, ‘I didn’t want to! They forced me!’

  An ugly welt crossed her flawless cheek. She fell to her knees, weeping hysterically, and one of the soldiers dragged her away. Cleanor didn’t lift a finger.

  ‘What were you looking for?’ Sophos repeated harshly.

  I didn’t know what to answer, so I said nothing.

  ‘You must know something,’ he said, turning to Xeno, who looked as if he’d been turned to stone.

  Xeno didn’t answer Sophos, but turned to me. ‘Why did you do this? What did you want to take? Why didn’t you tell me anything?’

  Neon slapped me hard and made my lip bleed. ‘They asked you a question!’ he snarled.

  Xeno grabbed his wrist before he could hit me again and squeezed it forcefully, then started to twist it. A glance from Sophos and his adjutant stepped away.

  I covered my head with my shawl because I didn’t want to see or hear anything and I burst into tears. Xeno made me stand up straight, uncovered my face and repeated in a firm voice, ‘Tell me what you were looking for. You have no choice.’

  I stared at him through my tears and then looked around: Sophos was still and scowling, Neon’s face seemed a stone mask, the little prostitute was livid and about to faint, Melissa was in the back sobbing, the two armed warriors had their torches in hand, there was the commander’s armour, red in the torchlight, red as blood. And the snow . . . the snow was covering everything. I forced myself to speak.

  ‘I was looking for an answer.’

  ‘An answer?’ asked Sophos, and I could read a sudden disquiet in his eyes.

  ‘Yes, but I’m only a poor girl and I can’t bear the force of your presence or the look in your eye. I’ll speak with Xeno and if he likes, he’ll speak to you.’

  Sophos fell silent in surprise.

  ‘Leave Melissa and that other poor wretch out of this. They know nothing. I asked them to help me and they agreed. You’ll know everything from Xeno, once I’ve spoken to him.’

  ‘I can have you tortured,’ said Sophos icily.

  ‘I don’t doubt that, but I couldn’t tell you anything you don’t already know.’

  I looked him straight in the eyes as I said those words and somehow I got across what I wanted him to understand.

  Xeno was badly shaken but he was beginning to figure things out. Words that I’d said, suspicions I’d had, were re-emerging into his consciousness.

  Neon had lost his imperturbability and the look on his face was grim. Melissa seemed uncertain and bewildered. Cleanor, standing further back, had not had any particular reaction, except for curiosity about what was happening.

  Sophos spoke. ‘Take these women away,’ he ordered Cleanor. ‘And you two can go as well,’ he added, addressing the warriors. ‘I don’t need you any more.’ Cleanor led Melissa out of the tent.

  Sophos turned to Xeno. ‘How could you? How could you violate my tent? And you didn’t even have the courage to do it yourself. You sent a woman, and she had to get help from other women . . .’ He added sarcastically, ‘Since when does a secret among three women stay secret for longer than an hour?’

  ‘I had nothing to do with this,’ Xeno retorted. ‘If I tell you I had nothing to do with this, that means it’s true. You know well that I never lie and that I’m a man of my word. Look into my eyes: do you see shame, or fear? Let me talk to her. She’ll tell me everything.’

  Something had broken. Something had wormed its way into Sophos’s iron spirit. He drew a long breath and his gaze seemed lost in the swirling snowflakes falling from the sky.

  We walked away and I could not believe that Sophos didn’t stop us.

  ‘You want to know what I was looking for? Here’s what!’ I said to Xeno as soon as we arrived in our tent. I didn’t want to give him the time to unleash the rage that must have been building inside him.

  Before he could say a word or make a gesture, I took a stalk from the wicker mat and used it to draw the image I’d seen, there on the hard dirt: the sequence of triangular shapes, the wavy line, the second line broken up by short vertical strokes and then, over the wavy line, the four signs from the Greek language: ΑΡΑΞ. It came out very sharp and clear, and I could see the astonishment on Xeno’s face.

  ‘What is that?’ he asked.

  ‘Signs that I saw on a skin inside Sophos’s chest. I think they represent the place we find ourselves in: these are mountains, this is the line of our march. Those vertical marks are the stages of our journey. And this is the river. Sophos knows exactly where we’re going.’

  Xeno’s look of amazement and incredulity grew as he observed my drawing.

  ‘Are you certain that it was exactly the same as what you’ve drawn here?’

  ‘Identical.’ I knew I would have to prove it to him, so I’d memorized all the tiniest details. ‘There’s just one thing I don’t understand: what these mean,’ I said, pointing at the four signs written in the language of the Greeks.

  Xeno bowed his head. His voice cracked with emotion. ‘They mean that you were right. That Sophos is deceiving us, or much, much worse . . .’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because these signs say that he knew full well that the river was not the Phasis as I believed, but the Araxes.’

  ‘What difference does that make?’

  ‘The Phasis leads to the Pontus Euxinus, which is a sea surrounded by Greek cities. No one knows for sure where the Araxes leads, but I’m afraid to the Caspian, an unknown sea at the edge of the world.’

  ‘What will you do now?’

  ‘I’ll confront him.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Now.’

  ‘Don’t do it now, please listen. Wait until tomorrow. Take time to reflect.’

  My words were to no avail. Xeno headed towards Sophos’s isolated tent.

  I told myself I would wait it out, but my anxiety was choking me. I strained my ears, but couldn’t hear a sound. I couldn’t just sit and wait until Xeno came back; I was too worried about what would happen to him. I hadn’t been this upset when I’d seen him fighting hand-to-hand against fierce warriors or throwing himself into the thick of the battle. In the end I decided to follow him and I sneaked up on Sophos’s tent. I hid behind the bellies of the mules tied up in back, behind a bush. I heard Sophos’s voice first.

  ‘If anyone else had dared to slander me with such a claim, I wouldn’t have given him the time to regret it. But you . . . you are my friend, you’ve risked your life time and time again for these men, although you aren’t even part of the army. I’m grateful to you for this, but do not provoke me further or . . .’

  ‘Or what? Chirisophus, can you honestly tell me you have nothing to hide? Listen to me, and listen well. Abira, the girl you caught here, did everything completely on her own. That may seem impossible to you, but it doesn’t surpris
e me. She’s been trying to force me to face the truth for some time now, but I wouldn’t listen. She evidently felt she needed proof of what she suspected, and she found it. If it was here that she saw the word she traced out for me, I must admit that she was right.’

  ‘What are you blathering on about?’

  Xeno repeated my whole line of reasoning, all the strange and inexplicable coincidences, and even though the situation I found myself in was hardly ideal, it made me feel proud.

  Xeno added, ‘But what really struck me was the symbols she scratched out on the ground in my tent: they clearly represented a river, and Abira wrote me the name of that river – A-R-A-X. That was the proof she was looking for: you are fully aware that the river we are following is not the Phasis, as I had believed, but the Araxes, which doesn’t flow into the Euxine Sea but very, very far away. To the ends of the earth.’

  ‘You’ve gone completely mad,’ Sophos broke in him. ‘You’re raving!’

  ‘I am? Then why don’t you show me the map that Abira saw and drew for me so exactly? Her drawing proves to me that you’ve always known full well that the river we are following is not the Phasis. But you have continued to back up my mistaken assumption, with all the weight of your authority. And you know why, Commander! Because your job was to make this army disappear; dissolve into nothingness without leaving a trace. That’s why! Conveniently, you didn’t even need to stick your neck out; you laid all the responsibility on me: “Xenophon’s right, he knows where we are, all we have to do is follow this river and we’ll reach the sea!” Weren’t those your words, Commander?

  ‘But that little girl that you found searching through your things had guessed your game! Precisely because she isn’t one of us, she’s not a soldier sworn to obey without asking the reason for an order.

  ‘This army had to win, or be wiped out. Otherwise we are the living proof of Spartan treason, proof that Sparta was an accomplice in the plan to assassinate her greatest ally, the man who had allowed her to win the war against Athens: the Great King!’