A campfire at night in the Taiga.
CHAPTER 5 – AN ENCOUNTER ON THE STEPPE
19:08 (Caucasus Time)
Thursday, May 26, 63 B.C.E.
Nauca’s temporary campsite
Taiga forest, east of the Borysthenes (Dniepr) River
Sarmatia, South Caucasus
The Sun was quite low on the horizon as Nauca was starting to cook a portion of meat from the caribou she had killed and skinned earlier on in the day. She had already put up a lean-to shelter made of tree trunks and branches and had built her campfire a few paces in front of the opening of her shelter, plus had erected a rudimentary windbreaker on the opposite side of the fire. While it was late in May, it still was quite fresh and the wind was moderate to strong. She had established her camp at the edge of a large opening in the forest, near a North-South trail often used by nomads going to Tanais to sell their furs and horses. She was now on the last day of her week-long hunting and trapping trip and happy to taste again life in the steppes. Tomorrow morning, she was going to head back to Tanais, where she would be able to present to Thanos over a dozen varied furs and pelts.
Her piece of caribou meat was nearly ready to be eaten when her acute eyes spotted a group of about a dozen riders leading a four-wheeled chariot along the trail, going North. They were actually going to pass close to her camp and definitely appeared to have spotted her, as one rider had detached itself from the group and was now approaching her fire. Getting up on her feet, Nauca detailed that rider as it approached. She felt a bit of reassurance when she saw that the rider was a woman dressed in Sarmatian nomad style: if that group had been bandits, more than one rider would have approached her camp. As it was, that female rider had not grabbed any of her weapons and seemed friendly enough in her attitude. Nauca was able to see when the rider got close that she was a woman in her early forties with a fur hat covering her head. The newcomer then raised one hand in salute and spoke up in Sarmatian.
‘’May Cybele bless you, young one. We have been travelling northward for days and one of my companions is quite old. Would you mind if we stop for the night at your camp?’’
‘’Not at all! You are welcome to my fire and I also have enough caribou meat for everybody. By the way, my name is Nauca.’’
‘’And I am Hypsicratea. Thank you for your kind hospitality.’’
The female rider then half turned in her saddle and gestured for her group to come join her, then stepped down from her horse. Going to a nearby tree, she tied the bridles of her horse to it and took off her saddle and saddlebags from her horse, lying them down next to the tree. Returning to the campfire, she shook Nauca’s hand with quite a lot of strength for a woman.
‘’You look quite young, Nauca. How old are you exactly?’’
‘’I am seventeen.’’
‘’And you camp in the steppe alone?’’
‘’Yes, I am! I am on a week-long hunting trip and am due to go back to Tanais tomorrow.’’
‘’You live in Tanais? But you do not look Greek.’’
‘’Because I am not, Hypsicratea. I am a Sarmatian and I was born in the steppes as a nomad. Unfortunately, my entire family was killed by bandits when I was thirteen. I was at the time hunting some distance away from my family campsite and returned to it only to find my family dead. I was able to track down the bastards who had murdered them and killed them in turn as they slept. Then, I went to Tanais, where a Greek merchant my father knew lived. I have since then been living in Tanais, doing one or two hunting trips per month in the steppes to catch furs. And your group? Are you escorting merchants bent on trade?’’
Nauca’s question made the woman hesitate briefly before she answered her.
‘’No! I am escorting an old noble man who is hoping to find the camp of the local Roxolani chieftain. Would you know by chance where I could find that local noble?’’
‘’You are in luck, as I met two days ago a messenger sent by the Roxolani King, who was heading towards Tanais. The royal Roxolani camp should be about three days ride to the North, close to this trail.’’
‘’Aah, excellent! You are indeed a blessing for my group, young Nauca.’’
‘’Well, let me put more meat on the fire: your companions must be hungry and tired by now.’’
‘’Indeed! Let me help you with that.’’
Two caribou legs plus pieces of loins had been added over the fire by the time the chariot and its escorts stopped next to the camp. Those riders indeed looked like guards, as they were armed and armored, but one man in the lot stood out: while a big man who rode his horse with obvious long practice, he looked very old, with gray-white hair and beard and wrinkles on his face. While he was dressed mostly like a Sarmatian nomad, he wore a number of expensive-looking gold rings on his fingers and rich gold bracelets were worn around his wrists. The sword worn at his side was contained inside a richly decorated scabbard, while the handle of his dagger was inlaid with gold and gem stones. While noticing all that, Nauca did not remark on it and simply shook hands with the old man when Hypsicratea presented him to her.
‘’Nauca, this is Mirdad, my master.’’
‘’Welcome to my modest camp, Mirdad. I have some caribou meat roasting over the fire, if you are hungry.’’
‘’I certainly am hungry, young Nauca. I must say that it is uncommon to find young women travelling alone in the forests.’’
Nauca then repeated her story to ‘Mirdad’, who slowly nodded his head at the end.
‘’A tragic story, but one with an inspiring outcome: that of a young girl overcoming a great loss to build a new life for herself. So, how is life for you in Tanais?’’
‘’Mostly boring.’’ replied Nauca, making Mirdad smile in amusement. ‘’However, I regularly go out on hunting trips and, when in Tanais, I spend my time educating myself with the help of a good friend.’’
‘’And what are you studying, young Nauca?’’
‘’Greek, reading, writing and counting, mostly. I also often talk with passing caravan merchants arriving from the East with their wares and listen to the stories of their travels. I hope soon to be able to accompany such a caravan as it will return East, so that I could visit new places and see new things while riding freely.’’
‘’A judicious goal indeed! There is so much to see in this World. You can take the word of an old man like me for it. Your taste for freedom is also a most positive thing. I see a great life ahead of you, young Nauca.’’
Nauca bowed at that compliment.
‘’Thank you, Mirdad. I built a lean-to shelter for myself for the night, but it is not very cold tonight and I would be happy to let you the use of my shelter for tonight.’’
It was the turn of Mirdad to bow to her.
‘’A generous offer that I will accept with pleasure, Nauca. If you will now excuse me, I will pass a few directives for the night to my companions.’’
Mirdad then walked towards the chariot, whose driver was busy unhooking his two horses from it. Like quite a few members of the old man’s group, the driver seemed to speak only Greek, which Mirdad used to give him a few orders. At the end, the chariot driver bowed and gave a short acknowledgement in Greek in a voice he kept low. However, Nauca had sensitive ears, while the wind helped carry the words of the driver to her and she was able to hear the man’s three last words: ‘yes, Your Majesty’. Stunned, Nauca froze for a moment but managed to regain her cool and, her expression neutral, went back to the fire to check on her roasting meat, her mind in turmoil. Men of the advanced age of ‘Mirdad’ were not common, while he was obviously a rich man. He had to be some kind of noble. Then, why did he dress in such low-class clothes? Especially, why would he be addressed as ‘Your Majesty’, a term reserved for kings. As she turned a caribou leg over the fire, she thought about the latest things that she had heard in Tanais about the war between King Mithridates and the Romans. It was said that King Mithridates had been soundly defeated another time and that he had then fled from the Pontus to Pantikapaion, taking refuge in the palace of his son Pharnaces. That was however the only things she had learned recently about the war. Unwilling to waste time in endless speculations, she thus concentrated on preparing the meat for her visitors.
The ten men and two women were soon sitting around the campfire, helping themselves to pieces of roasted caribou meat. Her visitors were delighted to discover that she had seasoned her meat with both salt, black pepper and some red pepper, something that prompted a question from a happy Hypsicratea.
‘’Mm, this roast meat is delicious, Nauca! Where did you find the pepper for this? Tanais?’’
‘’Effectively! Every time a new caravan arrives from the East, I spend some of my money to buy various spices and other exotic goods. While I do not crave precious things, I did develop a taste for Eastern spices, especially black pepper. Meat is so much better with pepper.’’
‘’Very true!’’ replied Mirdad, who was munching with delight on a piece of leg. ‘’You decidedly show yourself to be the perfect host in this vast wilderness. You seem to have allied with success the freedom of the steppes with the exotic products of the East. Well done, Nauca!’’
‘’Thank you, Mirdad.’’
‘’Well, such good meat calls for some good wine. Bituitus, go fetch some of our wine in the chariot!’’
One man got up from the cut piece of wood he was using as a seat and walked quickly to the covered chariot, climbing inside it and disappearing for a moment before climbing back down and returning with a large flask full of liquid. The wine from the flask proved to be an excellent one to Nauca, who had become accustomed to wine during her three years in Tanais and had learned to correctly judge them by their color, smell and taste. That was another clue to add to the others she now had on who was really this ‘Mirdad’. However, she didn’t want to be impolite with her guest and refrained from asking him about that. After feasting on the roast and spiced venison and drinking dry the flask of wine, the whole group then went to sleep, with two men staying up on sentry duty.
Thankfully, the night proved event-free and they woke up shortly after sunrise. Mirdad and his group immediately prepared to leave with their chariot, while Nauca carefully extinguished and smothered her campfire, so that it could not start a forest fire. As she was about ready to mount her horse to head for Tanais, Mirdad came to her with Hypsicratea, a small bundle in his hands. Stopping one step in front of her, Mirdad then presented the bundle to Nauca.
‘’I want to thank you again for your generous hospitality, young Nauca. You would really make me happy if you would accept this small gift from me as a thank you. I will however ask you to open this bundle only after I am gone.’’
Taken short by this, Nauca could only nod her head and took the bundle while bowing to Mirdad.
‘’You didn’t need to, Mirdad, but I would be insulting you by refusing your gift. I wish you a good, safe trip.’’
‘’And I wish you a long and exciting life, young Nauca. Goodbye!’’
The duo then left Nauca and returned to their horses. Nauca was still on foot, beside her two horses, when the chariot and its escort of riders started moving away towards the North. She waited a couple more minutes, time for the chariot to take some distance, before carefully opening the bundle, made of a piece of cloth rolled around some objects. She nearly had her breath taken out on uncovering a magnificent cup made of gold and of polished, sculpted jade and inlaid with polished emeralds, rubies and turquoises. She also found a set of beautifully engraved gold jewels, also inlaid with precious stones. The lot had to be worth over 5,000 drachmas! Looking up at the chariot and its riders in the distance, Nauca felt blood rush to her brain as she finally realized who she had hosted for the night.
‘’The King! King Mithridates himself, at my camp!’’
Rolling again her precious new possessions in their cloth, she then put the bundle in one of her saddlebags and firmly secured its leather flap via its two securing buckles. Mounting her horse Tamat with the help of the leather loop fixed to the left side of her saddle, she urged it forward, leading her baggage horse Minad via a long rope attached to her saddle.
‘’Forward, Tamat! Let’s return to Tanais! Artemisia must be getting impatient to be able to play with my tits again.’’
