Full Circle Chapter 20

Night fell, the great bonfires were lit in both opposing camps, the wounded gathered off the battlefield then tended to, the men ate and drank thier fill of thier spare rations as they spoke in hushed tones of what had transpired on the battlefield today and what was to transpire tomorrow in the same bloodstained place.

Alaric and Darius stood hunched over a map which lay on a low table. Several torches about the tent they were in lit the interior while throwing wildly dancing shadows on the floor and walls.

Alaric's finger traced a line on the chart then looked upwards at Darius. "Athens?" he asked to which Darius nodded in answer.

"Athens. We have not lost Sparta, my--" He paused, nearly choking on the next word, "lord. We still have the element of surprise on our side." Darius began to pace but stopped to look up as a hand drew back the tent entrance and Methos entered. "Where have you been?" he roughly asked.

Methos glanced from one to the other before replying, "Out about the camp. How else does one find things out?" He moved over and tore off a hunk of bread, never bowing to Alaric or showing any deference to him or his position. He then sliced off some pungent cheese and begin to eat, unmindful of both sets of eyes on him.

Alaric rubbed at his temples again. He was tired, and felt weakened by the effort of the day yet they still had to try and find a way through the Roman legions which lay between themselves and Sparta's gates.

Methos' continued insolence was a constant irritation to him, one that he would not tolerate for much longer. But for now he felt too ill to do anything about it. He rubbed at his temples then sat down heavily. "About Sparta--" he began. "How do we get through thier lines?"

Darius' clear eyes glittered in the torchlight as he noted Alaric's visible signs of weakness. "We slip past them."

Methos paused his eating then looked directly at Darius. "Brilliant!"

Darius grinned and shrugged then looked back at the map.

"Explain to me how you intend to do that, Darius!" Alaric demanded. "What, are we going to turn invisible and vanish into thin air?"

Darius loudly laughed at the thought, then turned to his king. "We are at that--but not before we leave Rome something to remember us by." He smiled and rubbed his hands together. "Methos, collect a few men together, have them strip themselves and carry only the barest minimum of weapons."

Methos smiled and the shadows caught themselves in his dimples. "And then gather ashes and cover themselves, of course."

Darius nodded and glanced back at Alaric. "What we are going to do is something that will leave them talking for many years. A handful of men shall scale Sparta's walls when the moon--" he looked upwards at where the sky would be if he could see it. "When the moon is under cover of the clouds. Then they shall burn Sparta down from within and throw open her gates."

Alaric's eyes grew wide as he finally understood the implications of the action. "And this will create a massive diversion so that the army can slip away."

"That's correct." Methos interjected. "There is one slight flaw in the reasoning though. Should it rain, we will be in a very bad situation indeed."

"There have been worse situations that my men have gone through and won, Methos," Darius said with an edge to his voice. "This is no different to them. They will obey and do whatever I--"

Alaric angrily interrupted him. "You? It is my army, my men!"

"They follow me. And they do as I command," Darius calmly stated the facts to his king. "You lead us, true. But I command them." He shifted his eyes to Methos. "Go prepare the men."

Methos laconically stood and stretched, then slowly walked past Alaric. "Watch him, Alaric. He'll kill you," he whispered to him as he went by.

Darius eyed him suspiciously as he left. "He'll need to be watched more carefully and I don't trust him," he thought to himself. "He could prove to be my undoing yet!"

And Methos wasn't worth the risk, Darius had decided. No one was going to ruin his dreams of an empire.

Especially not a former slave.