Last King of Kings-Chapter 82: Around the campfire

"Father! Father!"

The cries of a maiden robbed of her father echoed through the carriage. Bonus himself wasn’t taking the sudden situation very well, but he did his best to comfort the young princess while Yazdegerd held her tight in his arms, in case she would try to do something stupid. They had nowhere to go now in the Byzantine Empire. It was possible they would quickly become outlaws within the borders of the Empire, meaning for the next at least two weeks, they will have no luxury of travelling as a royal entourage. They will have to camp outside in tents and food and other necessities will have to be bought by servants, while the rest stays outside of the cities. Yazdegerd didn’t want anything like this to happen. Not to Roxane. He wanted her to have a normal childhood, with her doting father at her side. Yet, destiny wouldn’t have this and just before her fifteenth birthday, she became an adult faster than anyone wanted.

They crossed the bridge into Anatolia without issues. While the word travelled quickly, it was impossible to calm the situation in Constantinople immediately, meaning Yazdegerd’s entourage had some time before they would become wanted men. If that even happened. Yazdegerd dispatched one of his darigan to ride alone on a horse back home to let them know what happened, just in case an army would need to be prepared. The death of a Basileus was not something anyone was expecting, at least not so soon. After a long day of travelling, desperate to make their way as far from Constantinople as possible, they set up camp. And Yazdegerd was comforting the decimated Roxane the whole time.

They sat around fire, tents behind them, patrols of bodyguards overlooking the road. It wasn’t wise to be careless. Rostam, Jabalah, Bonus and Yazdegerd sat there in silence, cups of wine they had remaining were left untouched.

"What now?"

It was Yazdegerd who broke the silence. Perhaps they were waiting for him to speak, since he was the highest authority here. But nobody dared to answer. Maybe because nobody knew what to say. This unprecedented situation has deeply scarred everyone involved. But then, Jabalah spoke.

"Your Majesty, I may have an idea. It would take at least two weeks to cross the borders to Persia from here. For this reason I propose we instead march to Syria, my own lands, where we will be safe, and would only take around a week. There we can, in peace, discuss our next steps."

Rostam eyed Jabalah suspiciously. Most likely because he simply wanted to be cautious, with the current situation. It was clear that, in Constantinople, Yazdegerd was also targeted by the usurpers, and Rostam wanted to make sure he is safe. Moreover, he didn’t know Jabalah very well, meaning Bonus was the only person here Rostam trusted well enough. Yazdegerd smiled.

"I think that would be the best course of action. Thank you, your Excellency, for this offer."

Jabalah smiled softly.

"I must thank you, your Majesty, for saving me. If you didn’t allow me to escape with you, I would’ve definitely been executed as a traitor to the crown."

Bonus suddenly stood up, only to kneel before Yazdegerd.

"Your Majesty, I beg of you, allow me to serve you. I have nowhere to go now. And as a close advisor of Heraclius, I would be either imprisoned, banished or, more likely, executed. I pledge to serve you with my life, my Shahanshah."

Yazdegerd stood up. He was moved by this gesture, because it meant Bonus saw him as a man worthy of being followed, as he saw Heraclius. Rostam was surprised, but Jabalah only watched with a smile, as if he understood. This wasn’t desperation, it was loyalty. Bonus saw Yazdegerd as someone similar to Heraclius, and while he could’ve easily fled the Empire and find employment elsewhere, since he was an educated man fluent in several languages, he didn’t because his loyalty to Heraclius wouldn’t let him. He felt that Heraclius would’ve wanted this, since the young man standing before him was the only hope of taking revenge on those who murdered Heraclius.

"Do you pledge to serve me, your Shahanshah with your whole life, until you die or until I release you from my services? Do you pledge your loyalty to me, no matter the cost?"

"I do, my Shahanshah."

"From now on, you are my servant, and the servant of the Empire of all Iranians, the Eranshahr. You may address me with ’my Shahanshah, may he be eternal.’ I accept your pledge."

"I thank you, my Shahanshah, may he be eternal."

"You may now sit down."

Bonus sat down, the cup of wine next to him suddenly looking more appealing than before.

"And don’t worry. I will take Byzantium back. I swear." Said Yazdegerd, easing Bonus’ worries.

"You will?" ƒгeewebnovёl_com

A soft voice could be heard from the tents behind them, just loud enough for everyone to hear. Yazdegerd turned around and saw Roxane standing in the entrance of one of the tents, looking at Yazdegerd. He stood up and went to her. The flames from the fire lit her face and he noticed her eyes were red. She was probably crying there, the whole time. He took her hands and looked into her eyes with a soft smile.

"Are you alright? Do you want to sit by the fire with us?"

Roxane stood there, silent, as if thinking over the proposal, but then she simply nodded and Yazdegerd led her by the hand to the campfire. She sat next to him, not too close, but still holding his hand. They poured her some wine, diluted it with water and added honey, so it wouldn’t be too strong on her.

But then Roxane remembered what she asked Yazdegerd before. He said that he will conquer Byzantium back, didn’t he? She looked at him expectantly.

"Yes, don’t worry. Once we get back to Persia, I will personally lead the army to conquer Byzantium back. Rostam?"

He looked at Rostam, wanting him to add his own thoughts. But Rostam was confused, not knowing which language he should speak, since only two people here understood Persian, but his Greek was not on the level where he could talk of military strategies. He then decided to go with simple terms.

"Yes, we will. Do not worry."

Roxane smiled softly, but there was still pain behind that smile. Pain that won’t heal overnight.

"We were thinking we will make a stop in Syria, since his Excellency Jabalah kindly offered us refuge. Then we will make our way back to my palace in Ctesiphon, where you can fully rest. What do you say?" asked Yazdegerd Roxane, who simply smiled softly and nodded. She realized she was in good hands.

Then, Yazdegerd began speaking in Persian.

"Rostam, we will need to prepare an invasion plan once we get back. The messenger we sent should arrive in a few days, so hopefully the army will be prepared, but I will need your help. I believe we should also enlist Bahman Jaduya and Andarzaghar. This war will be hard. Harder than the war against Arabs, especially since we still don’t have any results from Piruz and Farrokhzad in the east. But I believe we have the strength to defeat anyone who may come."

Rostam simply nodded while Roxane was listening curiously. This was the first time she saw Yazdegerd as a ruler, and it fascinated her.

"Bonus, Jabalah, do you have any idea who may be behind this plot? The more we know about them, the better."

They both frowned. It seemed they knew something.

"My Shahanshah, may he be immortal, if you’d allow me to talk, I think I know who is behind this. There were rumours of a plot against our Basileus months before all this happened. I believe his cousin, Nicetas was working with our magister militum, Phillipicus to stage a coup."

Bonus explained everything he knew, addressing Yazdegerd as his new liege. And Yazdegerd was shocked.

"You mean those two people who he wanted us to meet? They were those who planned all this?"pl

Bonus nodded. It would make sense, as they held great influence over the Empire. One over the army, the other over the nobles. They had the powerbase to prepare the plan, hide it for so long and then to execute it. It was plausible.

"But I don’t think they were the only ones."

Suddenly, Jabalah entered the discussion. Apparently, he had his own things to say.

"Some ten years ago, if I remember correctly, after a meeting in Constantinople attended by both Heraclius, Phillipicus and Nicetas, I was invited by them for a drink. It didn’t seem strange to me, but once we got there, they seemed to be waiting on someone. I don’t know who it was, but it must’ve been someone who had a lot of influence but didn’t want to be seen. Maybe someone who is retired already."

Bonus was flabbergasted by this information.

"You mean to say they were planning all this for over ten years?"

"Planning this charade? I don’t think so. Conspiring? Definitely. Something always rubbed me the wrong way, especially about Nicetas. That is also why I left almost immediately. Maybe if I stayed, I could’ve prevented it," said Jaballah, regret in his voice.

"Or maybe they would’ve murdered you years before because you knew something. What happened happened, your Excellency, now we need to resolve the situation, not sink into regret over it," said Yazdegerd, encouraging Jaballah. He simply smiled.

"I think we should go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us. Tomorrow, we head to Damascus. Good night, everyone. Sleep well."

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