CHAPTER XX.
But the fight was over: as Alboin and the Prefect discovered, to theirgreat disgust, when they again reached Taginae.
The Prefect, just as he had entered the pine-wood and was about tofollow the King's track, had been overtaken by a messenger fromLiberius, who sent word for him to return immediately. Narses wasinsensible, and the peril of the situation necessitated immediatecounsel.
Narses insensible--Liberius perplexed--the victory they had thoughtcertain, endangered--these circumstances weighed more with the Prefectthan the doubtful expectation of dealing the death-stroke to thehalf-dead King.
In haste Cethegus galloped back to Taginae the way that he had come.When he reached the town he found Liberius, who cried:
"Too late! I have already settled and agreed to everything. A truce!The rest of the Goths march off!"
"What?" thundered Cethegus--he would gladly have poured all the bloodof the Goths upon the grave of his darling as a sacrifice. "They march?A truce? Where is Narses?"
"He lies insensible in his litter; he has been taken with severeconvulsions. The fright, the surprise--it prostrated him, and nowonder."
"What surprise? Speak, man!"
And Liberius briefly related how they had forced their way into Taginaewith fearful loss of blood, "for the Goths stood like a wall"--had beenobliged to storm house by house, even room by room--"we were obliged tohack to pieces by inches one of their leaders, who ran Anzalas throughas he leaped into the first breach, before we could force our way intothe town over his body."
"Who was he?" asked Cethegus earnestly. "I hope Earl Teja?"
"No; Earl Thorismuth. When we had finished our bloody work, and Narseswas about to let himself be carried into the town, he met in the gate amessenger from our left wing--which no more exists! It was Zeuxippos,wounded, and accompanied by Gothic heralds."
"Who has----?"
"He whom you just named--Earl Teja! He guessed or learned thatZeuxippos was threatening his centre, that the King was wounded--and,well knowing that he would arrive too late to turn the course of eventsat Taginae, he came to a bold and desperate resolution. He suddenly gaveup his post of expectation on the hills, threw himself upon our leftwing, which was slowly advancing up the hill opposite to him, beat itat the first onset, pursued the fugitives into their camp, and theremade prisoners of ten thousand of our men, and all the captains,amongst them my Orestes and Zeuxippos. He sent Gothic heralds toNarses, who took Zeuxippos with them to witness to the truth of whatthey said, and demanded an immediate truce of twenty-four hours."
"Impossible!"
"Otherwise he swore to slay all his ten thousand prisoners---togetherwith the captains."
"That is no matter," observed Cethegus.
"It may be no matter to you, Roman--what matters to you a myriad of ourtroops?--but not so to Narses. The terrible surprise, the still moreterrible necessity of making a choice, quite prostrated him. A severeattack of his malady came on, and as he sank down, he gave me hiscommander's staff, and I, of course, accepted the conditions----"
"Of course, Pylades must save Orestes!" said Cethegus in a rage.
"And, besides, ten thousand men of the imperial army!"
"I am not bound by this agreement," cried Cethegus; "I shall againattack."
"You dare not! Teja has taken most of his prisoners and all thecaptains with him as hostages--he will slay them if another arrow beshot?"
"Let him slay them! I shall attack."
"See whether the Byzantines will follow you! I at once communicated theorder of Narses to your troops: for now _I_ am Narses."
"You shall die, as soon as Narses has recovered his senses!"
But Cethegus perceived that he could do nothing against the Goths withhis mercenaries alone. For when Teja had retreated to the cloister andchapel hill and the Flaminian Way with his prisoners, and Hildebrand'swing had also reached the road with little loss of life--for the tworivers, and then the news of the truce, had checked the pursuitattempted by Johannes--the Goths had gathered the rest of their troopstogether and taken up a safe position.
Cethegus waited with impatience for the recovery of Narses, who hehoped would never acknowledge the agreement concluded by hisrepresentative.