“So you will be accompanying me to Ilandra then?” I asked with surprise. “This is excellent news old boy.”
“And lest you think the two of you are rid of me,” Vettias interjected, “I will be making a pilgrimage to the famed Ilandra to meet the young man I’ve dedicated the last ten years of my life serving. Don’t worry, you won’t have to accommodate me for long; I’m sending word to Babylon that I will be coming home to Yasmina.”
“I will send for you all again when the time is right,” Hiro assured.
The four of us drank well into the evening recounting tales of soldiery and intrigue. We traded insults and raised a glass to one another’s exploits. It felt like an end to one chapter and a beginning of another. It was a great evening.
The next morning the three of us attended Antigonus’ staff meeting which laid out his defensive strategy in the face of a victorious Ptolemy. At its completion, we tendered our resignations to Antigonus, who begrudgingly accepted due to the debt he felt he owed Davos and me for the murder of the Argeads on his behalf. All actions necessary to sell our story and protect the Argeads had now been performed.
The next morning, Davos, Vettias and I made ready for our journey to Ilandra, home of the widow of Alexander and the King of Macedon.
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CAST OF CHARACTERS
Aaliyah – Wife of Malick. From Babylon.
Adea – Queen of Macedon, Wife of King Philip III, daughter of Cynane, granddaughter of Philip II.
Alexander III – Alexander the Great. The God-King. Son of Philip II and Olympias.
Alexander IV – Son of Alexander the Great and Rhoxane. Grandson of Olympias and Philip II.
Alexandros – Childhood friend of Andrikos from Ilandra.
Androkles – Strategos of Andrikos’ taxis within the Macedonian Phalanx under General Eumenes.
Antigenes – Commander of the Silver Shields.
Antigonus – General under Philip II and Alexander III. Lord of Asia. Known as The One-Eyed.
Antipater – Regent to Alexander IV and Philip III. Commander of Greece and Macedon.
Apama – Daughter of Spitamenes. Wife of Seleucus.
Aretes – Commander of the Prodromoi (The Precursors), an elite unit of reconnaissance scouts.
Argeaus – Younger brother of Nearchus in Ilandra.
Argos – Uncle and caretaker of Andrikos and his family in Ilandra. Father of Leandros.
Aristodemus – General serving under General Antigonus in Greece.
Asander – Satrap of Caria, where Ilandra is located.
Asardin – Criminal boss of the Kir-Shamash neighborhood within Babylon. Employer of Davcina and Etana.
Attalus – Admiral serving under Alexander III and Perdicass.
Audata – Illyrian wife of Philip II. Grandmother to Queen Adea.
Bacchylides – Fellow recruit with Andrikos. Serves in the Macedonian Phalanx.
Cassander – Son of Antipater and ally of Orontes.
Chandragupta Maurya – Indian King of the newly-formed Mauryan Empire.
Chariton – Chief house attendant to Argos’ home.
Cynane – Daughter of Philip II and Audata. Half-sister of Alexander III. Mother of Queen Adea.
Crato – Philangiarch of General Eumenes’ army.
Darius – Former King of Persia. Murdered by Bessus.
Davcina – Member of Babylonian criminal underground serving under criminal boss Murdus.
Davos – Fellow operative of Andrikos and Vettias in the dark arts. Member of the King’s Hand.
Demetrius – Son of Antigonus. General serving under Antigonus.
Digger – Staff officer with the Royal Army Quartermaster Corps.
Dion – Fellow recruit with Andrikos. Serves in the Macedonian Phalanx.
Drakon – Ouragos of Andrikos’ syntagma.
Etana – Member of the Babylonian criminal underground. Employee of Asardin.
Eumenes – General within the Royal Army from Cardia. Former bodyguard and general of Alexander III. Former secretary of Philip II. Leader of the King’s Hand.
Galen – Deputy of Aretes serving in The Precursors reconnaissance unit.
Ganymedes – Leader of Ilandra’s criminal underground.
Gilad – Nephew of Malick, employee of the Babylonian Treasury.
Glaucias – Chief Steward of Alexander IV and Rhoxane during their sequester in Amphipolis. Serves under Cassander.
Gull – Merchant ship captain from Amphipolis.
Helena – Sister of Andrikos.
Hieronymous, ‘Hiro’ – Fellow Cardian countryman of General Eumenes and serves as his chief advisor on his battle staff. Member of the King’s Hand
Hyllos – Captain within the Silver Shields.
Iakovina – Daughter of Helena, niece of Andrikos
Iatrokles – Deceased father of Andrikos.
Ilan – Employee of Malick’s inn.
Ladon – Agent serving under Polyperchon in Pella.
Leandros – Cousin of Andrikos. Son of Argos. Veteran of Alexander III’s eastern campaigns.
Lykos – Commander of the Pydna Syntagma where Andrikos serves within the Macedonian Phalanx.
Lysimachus – General under Alexander III. Commander of Thrace.
Malick – Jewish friend of Vettias from Babylon.
Mara – Scythian courtesan and ally of Andrikos and Vettias.
Markos – Chief bodyguard of Queen Adea.
Murdus – Criminal boss of the Bel-Uzur neighborhood within Babylon. Rival of Asardin.
Nearchus – Best friend of Andrikos from Ilandra.
Neokles – First Officer within Andrikos’ lochos.
Olympias – Mother of Alexander III. Wife of Philip II. Grandmother of Alexander IV.
Orontes – Former member of the King’s Hand. Leader of a faction combatting the Argead Dynasty.
Pallas – Agent serving under Polyperchon in Pella.
Patrochlus – Childhood friend of Andrikos from Ilandra.
Peithon – Former general and bodyguard to Alexander III. Satrap of Media.
Perdiccas – Deceased Regent of the Kings and titular commander of all Macedonian forces in Asia.
Peucestas – Former General and bodyguard of Alexander III. Satrap if Persia.
Philip II – Deceased King of Macedon. Father of Alexander III, Cynane and Philip III. Husband of Olympias. Grandfather of Queen Adea.
Phillip III – Mentally-challenged son of Philip II. Half-brother of Alexander III and Cynane. Husband of Queen Adea. King of Macedon.
Philotheos – Surgeon within the Macedonian Phalanx.
Polemaeus – Commander in Asia Minor serving under General Antigonus.
Polyperchon – General serving under Philip II and Alexander III. Ally of General Eumenes. Member of the King’s Hand.
Priskos – Alcoholic father of Nearchus from Ilandra.
Protus – Servant of Mara within the Silver Shields’ baggage train.
Rhexenor – Fellow recruit with Andrikos. Serves in the Macedonian Quartermaster Corps.
Rhoxane – Bactrian widow of Alexander III. Mother of Alexander IV.
Seleucus – General under Alexander III. Ally of Ptolemy. Satrap of Babylonia.
Sosigenes – Naval Commander serving under General Eumenes.
Sotirus – Employee of a general store in Amphipolis that makes regularly deliveries to the fortress atop the acropolis.
Spear – Fellow recruit with Andrikos. Serves in the Macedonian Phalanx.
Spitamenes – Deceased Sogdian warlord and leader of a failed rebellion against Alexander III in Bactria and Sogdiana. Killer of Bessus. Father of Apama.
Spyro – Friend of Vettias from Amphipolis.
Stateira – Widow of Darius III.
Steph
anos – Fellow recruit and best friend of Andrikos. Serves in the Macedonian Phalanx.
Talos – Son of Andrikos and Mara.
Thessala – Wife of Hyllos, Captain of the Silver Shields.
Tuetamis – Deputy Commander of the Silver Shields.
Tyro – Mother of Nearchus and Argeaus from Ilandra.
Vettias – Spymaster serving General Eumenes.
Yasmina – Babylonian Madame and lover of Vettias.
Zaduga – Babylonian eunuch in the employ of Yasmina.
Zenon – Macedonian soldier assigned guard duty of the fortress housing the Argeads in Amphipolis.
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