CHAPTER 13 – ON TO THE AMBER ROAD
07:45 (Central Asia Time)
Friday, July 4, 60 B.C.E.
Courtyard of Hiram and Yurkan’s caravanserai
Samarkand, Sogdiana
Both Hiram and his wife Seda hugged Nauca emotionally as she was about to mount her horse. Then, Gorudos, Timur and many others lined up to do the same and wish her a safe trip. Feeling a pinch in her heart at having to leave her friends for months, Nauca then got on her horse and urged it forward, followed by Igrid and Talya. Together, they were leaving with a total of six horses: three riding horses and three pack horses, including Nauca’s loyal Minad. Apart from their camping equipment and tent, the pack horses were loaded with food provisions, plus small bags of spices and other items meant for trade. Once at the Baltic coast, bags full of amber would replace the empty bags of rice and wheat for the trip back to Samarkand. Twelve-year-old Amara, standing next to old Askhat in the crowd of onlookers, had tears on her cheeks as she watched the trio trot out of the courtyard. The old cook noticed that and gently caressed her head.
‘’There is no need to cry, Amara: they will come back to Samarkand.’’
‘’Will they, Askhat? The Germanic tribes which live around the Baltic have a terrifying reputation as violent, bloodthirsty barbarians. Even if they return safely from there, their trip may take close to a year. I owe everything to Nauca and she is like a big sister to me.’’
‘’Going away for long months is the life of caravan merchants, Amara. You lived it yourself, so should be able to accept that our friends leave like this. We ourselves may well leave on a long trip well before they are back from the Baltic. As for those Germanic barbarians, don’t forget that Igrid herself was one of them before being enslaved by the Romans and then bought and freed by Nauca. Her knowledge of their language and customs will certainly help Nauca avoid trouble during their trip.’’
‘’You are right, Askhat, but it still hurts to see them go.’’
‘’I also hurt to see them go, Amara, and I understand your pain. Now, we have to continue to live while waiting for their return. I am sure that they will return and their horses will then probably be loaded down with amber, lots of amber.’’
The passage of the three armed and armored young women riding proudly on their horses while holding their lances to the vertical attracted quite a lot of attention and also cheering among the passersby and inhabitants of Samarkand. The trio then left the city by one of its western gates and took the road to Bukhara, 300 kilometers and ten days away. Since they did not have camels with them to slow them down, they could have covered that distance much faster but Nauca had decided that they didn’t want to push or tire their horses for no reasons. After all, she expected their trip to the Baltic to take around five to six months or more, so there was no sense in burning up their mounts right from the start. Also, since she didn’t want to overload her horses with tons of food supplies, Nauca was planning to hunt and fish along the way, so that they could live off the land during their trip. As for how to deal with the Germanic barbarians they will encounter, she was counting a lot on Igrid in that aspect to smoothen things out. While she was not worried about the weather conditions and topography they would encounter, bandits, marauders and warring tribes were definitely on her mind. In fact, they were the main preoccupation of all caravan merchants engaged on long trips. Unfortunately, she could not simply wish them away and would have to deal with them as she went.
With the road they were following being alongside a small tributary of the Oxus River{13} and with plenty of grass and vegetation around it, there was plenty to feed and hydrate their horses on the way to Bukhara, a major trading center of the region, like Samarkand. Also, with a constant flow of merchants, travelers and caravans using the road, which was well patrolled by Tocharian soldiers, security worries were minimal and the portion of trip to Bukhara went well and the trio reached the city in the five days they had calculated. Staying overnight there, Nauca’s small group then left, heading for their next planned stop: Urgench, just south of the Oxus Sea{14} and situated along the Oxus River.
15:38 (Central Asia Time)
Thursday, July 17, 60 B.C.E.
Amachios’ caravanserai, Urgench
Sogdiana
‘’Amachios, you old rascal! You’re still fat!’’
The caravanserai master painted false outrage on his face in reply to Nauca, who had just entered the courtyard of his establishment with Igrid and Talya.
‘’And you’re still bad mannered, Nauca. However, I may not stay fat for very long, the way the caravan trade to Tanais is drying up. Everybody is pestering about the greed of the Romans stationed in Tanais, with the new Roman taxes making the trip to there largely unprofitable.’’
‘’Maybe the smaller trickle of merchants coming to Tanais will give a clue to those damn Romans and make them lower their taxes?’’
Amachios scoffed at that notion.
‘’The Romans, lowering their taxes? You are dreaming, young Nauca! But come down from your horse, so that I could hug you, you crazy Sarmatian girl.’’
Nauca obliged and jumped down from Tamat before exchanging a hug with the caravanserai master, who then looked at the two teenage girls still on their horses.
‘’You’re forming a new Amazon army, Nauca? Who are your two young friends?’’
‘’They are Igrid and Talya and are traveling westward with me to my native Sarmatia. Igrid was originally from the Germanic tribe of the Bastarnae, while Talya was from Dacia. Both were enslaved after their tribes revolted against the Romans and lost. I in turn bought their freedom and they are now good friends of mine who just completed a trip to India and back with Hiram’s caravan.’’
‘’To India, eh? You will have to tell me all about it tonight, in front of a good cup of wine. But let me first provide stalls for your horses and a room for the three of you. Then, my wife will serve you a nice chicken stew for supper.’’
‘’That sounds wonderful, Amachios. Do you presently have many travelers in your inn?’’
‘’Only a few, unfortunately. As I told you, the trade between here and Tanais has gone down quite a lot during the last year. One of my present customers just arrived from Tanais yesterday with his family and has only one thing to say about it: don’t go there!’’
‘’Oh?! I will definitely want to speak with that traveler at supper time.’’
‘’Then, I will inform him of your wish to speak with him. He is Greek and was a merchant in Tanais until the Romans convinced him to leave because of their greed and heavy-handedness.’’
‘’Damned Romans! May Cybele{15} curse them all!’’ said Nauca, nearly spitting her words, before following Amachios to the stables while holding the reins of both of her horses.
After unloading their horses and then having stable boys brush, feed and water them, Nauca, Igrid and Talya brought their valuable objects, including their saddles with hidden stirrups, up to the room of the inn assigned to them. There, they took quick sponge baths and changed into clean clothes before going down to the great hall of the inn for supper. As Nauca was stepping inside the hall, she abruptly stopped and stared with disbelieving eyes at a family of five sitting and eating at one of the tables.
‘’Polonius, is that you?’’
‘’Nauca?’’ said in turn the man with graying hair eating with his wife, daughter and two sons. Nauca then quickly walked to their table and hugged the man, who had stood up from his bench to greet her.
‘’Polonius! By Mithra! What are you doing here? Don’t you have a horse corral to take care of in Tanais?’’
‘’Not anymore, Nauca.’’ replied in a resigned tone the Greek man. ‘’Three months ago, the commander of the Roman garrison in Tanais decided that he needed horses to mount some of his troops. He then came to see me but, instead of buying those horses from me, he simply requisitioned them in the name of Rome and never paid me a single drachma for my horses. That effectively bankrupted me. I tried to lodge a protest with the local Archon but he proved as helpless as me when dealing with Romans. Since nothing assured me that this Roman bastard would not again steal my horses if I tried to rebuild my commerce, I decided to leave Tanais for good and to go reestablish myself in Samarkand. My brother Thanos helped me by providing rooms for us until we could depart for Samarkand.’’
‘’Were you able to save some of your horses from Roman seizure?’’
‘’I only have eight horses with me, all that is left of my corral business. Since I had to pay my local debts before leaving, I now have little money left with me and don’t know how I will sustain my family once in Samarkand.’’
Nauca felt sad on seeing the discouragement on the face of Polonius. She then patted gently his shoulder while speaking to him softly.
‘’Don’t worry about that, Polonius: you still have friends in this World, including me. You once helped me in my time of grief and I will now be more than happy to repay your kindness. Let’s sit down and have supper together. By the way, those two girls are my friends, Igrid and Talya.’’
Polonius exchanged forearm shakes with the two teenage girls before presenting his family to them.
‘’Let me now present to you my wife Cilicia, my sons Arkadius and Sisyphus and my daughter Elena. Boys, let’s squeeze ourselves a bit to let Nauca and her friends to sit down at our table for supper.’’
Soon, all eight of them were sitting at that single table, with Nauca then ordering supper and wine for her group, adding an extra pitcher of wine for Polonius’ family. As the pitchers of wine were brought to their table, Nauca asked a question to the horse trader.
‘’And your brother Thanos and his family? How are they doing in Tanais?’’
‘’Not very well, I’m afraid. Generally, the Roman presence in town is proving to be like a poison for business and commerce in general. Thanos has been particularly hard hit by the diminishing number of caravans now stopping in Tanais. He will probably have to sell his caravanserai within a year or two, unless something drastic happens in Tanais in the meantime.’’
Nauca did not have to ask what that hypothetical ‘drastic’ event meant in Polonius’ mind. Only the departure of that Roman presence in Tanais would make things right again at the exchange post. However, the chances of that ever happening were slim to none. She then risked another question, trying to sound non-specific about it.
‘’And his family? I hope that they were not harmed or abused by the Romans?’’
The way Polonius gave her a discrete look told Nauca that he probably knew by now about her past sexual relationship with Artemisia, Thanos’ daughter. His actual answer said lots to Nauca.
‘’My brother actually had to send away his daughter Artemisia, fearing that the Romans could force themselves on her one night. I could tell you more about that later, in private.’’
‘’Alright: I will wait.’’
When time came to pay for the supper, Nauca insisted on paying for the family’s meal. Despite his personal pride, Polonius protested only once before letting her pay, realizing too well that he would need every drachma he still had once in Samarkand. However, Nauca was not finished on that subject and took a tiny leather purse from her belt purse, putting it down on the table in front of Polonius.
‘’Polonius, you once showed me both generosity and compassion when I showed up at your corral in Tanais after losing my whole family to marauders. You sheltered me and supported me before helping me to establish myself at your brother’s caravanserai, where I spent three years before leaving with a caravan and starting a new life. It is now my turn to help you and I am most happy to do it, my friend. When you will arrive in Samarkand, go to the caravanserai belonging to Hiram and Yurkan’s family and tell them that I sent you and that I will take care of the cost of lodging and feeding your family, and this out of the funds I keep there. I also want you to accept this, so that you could rebuild your horse business there.’’
Polonius hesitated for a moment, watched by his wife and three children, before he took the small purse and opened it. Five beautiful rubies then rolled on the table, making Cilicia and her children hold their breaths as they stared at the gems. Tears came to Polonius’ eyes as he gave a haggard look to Nauca.
‘’I…I can’t accept such an incredible gift, Nauca.’’
‘’Yes, you can…as a friend of mine. Please take them: I have plenty more with me and in Samarkand.’’
She then sealed her words with a solid forearm shake with Polonius, followed by an emotional hug.
21:14 (Central Asia Time)
Courtyard of Amachios’ caravanserai
Urgench
When Nauca met Polonius again, the Greek horse trader led her on a slow walk around the courtyard of the caravanserai, careful to keep his voice very low while he spoke to her.
‘’About Artemisia, my brother eventually learned through the indiscretion of a young slave girl that she had an intimate relationship with you. Now, don’t get me wrong: while such lesbian relationships are severely looked upon in Greek society, me and my brother are quite liberal in thinking and are honest enough to recognize the hypocrisy about that. With Greek men often sodomizing young boys and bragging about it, then why scream about two girls loving each other. Unfortunately, Thanos had to protect the reputation of our family and chose to forcibly marry Artemisia to a passing Greek merchant when he learned about your relationship, some two months after your departure from Tanais. Then, unable to accept to be married to a man she didn’t love and barely knew, Artemisia hung herself in a part of the woods near the town. Thanos claimed afterwards that she had been assaulted and then killed by unknown assailants.’’
Polonius then had to stop speaking for a moment, as Nauca had stopped where she was and was now crying quietly, her shoulders shaking. The Greek man, not wanting to disturb her further, didn’t speak or touch her as she took a long moment to dry her tears and regain control of herself. When she finally looked back at him, he saw no anger or resentment in her eyes, just infinite sadness.
‘’Maybe it was better like this: Artemisia would have been miserable for the rest of her life, forced to live with a man she didn’t love. I should have brought her with me when I left Tanais with Hiram’s caravan. Such a kind and intelligent girl. What a tragedy! Thank you for being honest with me about this.’’
‘’And those two girls traveling with you? Are they…’’
‘’Intimate with me? Yes! Becoming pregnant while on the trail could cost them their lives through childbirth complications, the same way it could stop me from traveling. A caravan trail through mountains and deserts is no place for a newborn. When my family was still alive and living on the steppes, we could at least stop for a few days or even a few weeks when a woman came close to giving birth. You can’t do that with a trading caravan: time is money, literally. So, we girls have to keep our spirits up as best we can while avoiding pregnancies. Can you understand my point of view on this, Polonius?’’
‘’Well, if I was a woman rather than a man, I guess that my point of view would change radically, especially if it involved caravan trade. Is your destination Tanais?’’
Nauca shook her head slowly at that question.
‘’No! I am going further than Tanais. Much further.’’
From her tone, Polonius understood that it would have been futile on his part to ask for further precisions about that.