Heir of Aurelian

Chapter 176 Riots In Ctesiphon

After spilling first blood, the Vandal mercenaries quickly came under attack from their Serican rivals. Causing a full-blown melee to occur in the streets of Ctesiphon. For the second time in a matter of weeks, Mitra found herself stuck in the middle of chaos.

As a natural survivor, the moment she saw that a duel was taking place, she had run off from the scene, while others gathered around to watch the blood hit the sand. Luckily for her, her brother Narseh's villa was nearby, which she was quick to take advantage of.

After sealing the door behind her, Narseh rushed over to ask just what the hell had happened. After all, Mitra was clearly in a state of panic as she rushed into the villa.

"Mitra, what has happened?"

Mitra was out of breath for some time. As she tried to collect her thoughts, after several moments of heavy panting she grasped ahold of her brother's forearm with a grim expression on her face, a quickly summarized what was occurring even as they spoke.

"A riot! Bahram's mercenaries provoked a fight with the Vandals, and now they're killing each other in the market!"

After hearing this, Narseh was quick to take action. He quickly ordered the captain of his guard to assemble their troops and gather in the market, to stop the bloodshed before it got any worse. Narseh adorned himself in his scale armor as he charged out the door with his sword and shield in hand.

The market was in a state of crisis as the Vandals and Serican mercenaries began to battle one another to the death. Everywhere Narseh and his guard looked, there were blood and bodies lying in the street, along with a few severed heads.

The Vandal warriors had formed a shield wall, and were surrounded by the Serican mercenaries who try as they might, could not break through the barbarian's defense. Spears clashed against wood, as if trying to pierce through a turtle shell, but to no avail.

Every now and then a spear would poke through the wall of shields and strike a Serican mercenary in the chest, where it would either be deflected by the body armor of the target, or pierce through the chest depending on how heavy of armor they wore.

When Narseh saw this, he realized this was an opportunity to do away with Bahram's mercenaries and thus he ordered his guards to encircle the Sericans and thus created a sandwich between the eastern mercenaries.

Realizing that it was not the local garrison, but rather the house forces of their employer's rival that had come to the rescue, the Sericans began to panic, but it was too late, spears, swords, and hammers collided with the easterners from both sides, ruthlessly chopping, stabbing ,and pummeling them to death.

However, as the chaos of this conflict unfolded, Bahram arrived with his own forces, and upon witnessing his mercenaries surrounded by the enemy, and dying by the dozens, he ordered his own soldiers to create an opening for the Sericans to escape from.

Bahram's soldiers were far better equipped and trained than Narseh's and easily pierced a gap in the chaos, allowing the Sericans to slowly withdraw from the center, where they were sandwhiched between two hostile forces, and to recover to a friendly formation.

Though many of the Sericans died before they could escape the encirclement, by the time the last survivor had narrowly escaped death, the two small armies were facing off against one another in the middle of the market.

Narseh called out to Bahram with a hint of fury in his voice, which echoed across the market, and out towards the city, alerting the citizens o Ctesiphon just who was responsible for this chaos.

"Bahram! You sick your mercenaries on my men, and expect me to sit idly by and allow your chaos to consume the city! Fat chance! You are unfit to rule Persia!"

Bahram, however, spat on the ground, and pointed his sword towards Narseh, who was shielded by his own troops.

"Lies and slander! It was your barbarians who started this riot. You owe me a debt of blood I won't soon forget. So what now? Are we to continue this fight? Because I would like nothing more than to claim your head, you vile fiend!"

Just as the two brothers were about to command their forces to re-engage, Shapur arrived with his own forces, along with the city garrison, and ordered a stop to all hostilities.

"In the name of our honored father, I command you both to stand down this instant! If you wish to fight to the death, I won't stop you, but you won't be permitted to do it in this city! Yield now, or you both will die where you stand!"

Seeing that their elder brother had arrived with twice their numbers combined beneath his command, Narseh and Bahram were forced to temporarily put an end to their heated grudge. Both sides chose to withdraw, albeit begrudgingly.

Narseh returned to his estate, and heavily scolded the vandals beneath his employ, while Bahram did the same. However, in this brief conflict, Narseh had emerged with the victory, as far more Sericans died beneath the combined might of his own guard, and his mercenaries, than the Vandals lost.

Bahram would have to lick his wound for some time and gather more troops if he wanted to contend against both Narseh and Shapur for the vacant throne. He could only suffer his humiliation in silence as he plotted how next to get his beloved sister by his side.

As for Shapur, he was the true winner of this conflict, gaining much fame from this incident as the man who put a stop to the chaos. His actions on this day would cause many of the lesser noblemen who were still undecided on who to support to flock to his faction.

Mitra would naturally report this incident in its entirety to her Roman contacts who would convey the message to Marcellus. After seeing Narseh lose so many troops before the true battle for the throne had begun, Rome would have to find a way to give the man more support, especially now that Shapur's faction was quickly gaining power.