by Jay Penner
I worried each night that we were losing time.
For me to complete my task and return to my family.
For Eumenes to take control and put an end to the blood and tears that would envelop the regions soon.
For Eurydice’s safety.
What was the plan? Why were we here? I would know the answer soon. Eight days after our “comfortable incarceration” a messenger visited us.
“The great Ptolemy requests your presence.”
The great Ptolemy? As if we had any say in the matter whether we wanted to be in his presence.
The grand palace was bigger and airier than the one at Persepolis. The open, gigantic halls were twenty to thirty men high. The walls were of a beautiful orange hue due to the nature of the stone. On either side were statues of Egypt’s Pharaoh’s—kings that lived long ago, even before my ancestors. The large stone slabs of the floor were cold to the feet. The builders had affixed ornate stone lamps on every pillar. I could not marvel at what a great empire this once was, and such glorious men inhabited it once.
The hallway ended in a large hall of pillars rising high up to a decorative ceiling.
On the far end was a wide staircase, and at the bottom on either side were majestic sphinxes. I had heard that there was a giant sphinx somewhere north of Memphis, built by a pharaoh long ago.
On the top of the stairs was Ptolemy sitting on an imposing stone throne. He looked small and insignificant. Egyptian chaperones stood next to him holding lamps.
It was a strange scene.
Afternoon sunlight poured from an opening in the ceiling. As I tried to go up the stairs, two guards, holding long spears, stepped in front.
“Let them up,” commanded Ptolemy.
I made an obscene gesture at one of the guards. Eurydice kept her head high and tiptoed by my side. It was unclear what Ptolemy wanted from us.
“What is your lovely companion’s name, Deon?”
“Eurydice, sir,” I said.
Ptolemy raised an eyebrow. “Do you mock me, soldier?” His eyebrows squeezed disapprovingly.
Eurydice looked confused, as was I.
Ptolemy registered the confusion, threw his head back and laughed. “Ah, you do not know, my wife’s name is Eurydice as well. I have a fondness for that name.”
“The Viceroy’s daughter?” I asked, referring to the Viceroy of Macedon.
He smiled—Eurydice and I laughed in relief.
And then Ptolemy whispered, “Alliance of convenience.”
He leaned towards me and covered his mouth conspiratorially. “Tell no one, but I prefer the name Berenice better,” he whispered.
I had no idea who Berenice was, but we nodded.
“You may sit,” he gestured to Eurydice, but she stood where she was.
“I trust your journey has been uneventful until you arrived here, of course, Deon?” he smirked.
“Yes, sir.”
“You look thinner than I remember you.”
“I cannot say the same to you, General,” I said. Ptolemy had put on some weight; his handsome face was now pudgy—the luxuries of Egypt weighed on him. His usually shaggy light blond hair was now carefully coiffured, and he wore a shiny green silk scarf around his neck. He wore a thick black eyeliner and a large golden ring on one of his ears.
He looked offended, but then recovered and rubbed his cheek absentmindedly.
“Why do you think I wanted to talk to you?”
“I do not know, sir. You think I know something that will help you against Governor Eumenes…”
“Ah, Eumenes. Governor now? What is he governing, goat sheds?” Ptolemy remarked. And then he turned his gaze towards the far nothing. “Why would I care what that little bookkeeper is up to? Craterus was stupid, and Eumenes got lucky.”
Luck had little to do with it. Eumenes had outmaneuvered his adversaries.
“I suppose so, General.”
“You do realize that the Egyptians think of me as the new Pharaoh.”
“I suppose so, Pharaoh.”
Ptolemy bristled at my insolence. I realized that I had to control my tongue considering my precarious position.
“I apologize, sir. I do not know why I am here. We were messengers who arrived too late and would like to leave as soon as we can.”
Ptolemy nodded. “And where do you plan to go?”
“Somewhere North. Away from everything.”
“Away from Eumenes too?”
“Yes, sir. We have had enough coming between the battles of great men.”
“You are a bright man, Deon. But let us say your presence here has nothing to do with the message you brought from Eumenes.”
The hair on my hand stood up, and a chill gripped my bones. I heard the rustle of the light blue curtain, and from the corner of my eye saw a man step out from the shadows.
Arrhidaeus.
“We meet again, Deon.”
“Not under the best circumstances, General.” I wanted to hit the treasonous bastard on his face.
“I gather you two are good friends, but we have other things to discuss,” Ptolemy interjected. “What I am most curious about, Deon, is what did you steal from Alexander’s funerary temple?”
So, there it was. Eurydice cast a sharp look at me.
“I’m not sure what Arrhidaeus has been—"
“We both know what you were up to,” said Arrhidaeus, flexing his palms.
“What was I up to?”
“Your first pathetic attempt was during the raid.”
“I was only protecting the contents from an intruder.” That was a lie, and we both knew it. Ptolemy was no fool, and this charade was clear to him as well.
“The time for grandstanding is over,” said Ptolemy. “We know you stole something.”
“I took nothing,” I protested. But in my heart, I knew that Ptolemy and Arrhidaeus knew a lot more than I gave them credit.
“We know you stole something during the transfer in Sidon!” Arrhidaeus shouted, turning red.
“Transfer, indeed! Do you have no shame for saying so Arrhidaeus? And you accuse me of stealing!” I shouted back. I moved forward, and two guards stepped in-between.
“Remember who you are speaking with,” Ptolemy warned.
I muttered under my breath.
“So, what did you steal?” asked Ptolemy again. But this time the smile was gone.
I sighed. “Jewelry.”
“You know better than that. All you had to do was join me, and I would have rewarded you,” Ptolemy scoffed. One of the attendants stepped forward and began to fan him. Arrhidaeus moved closer to the fans.
“It was an impulse, sir.”
“I see. Well, Arrhidaeus, it seems we have a common thief here?” Ptolemy asked Arrhidaeus in a mocking tone.
Arrhidaeus responded. “What can I say, Ptolemaios, we wasted all our time on a rascal with loose morals!”
Ptolemy stood up. And with an exaggerated motion swinging his arms and swaying his hips, he pretended to walk away. He and Arrhidaeus were having fun at my expense. My cheeks burned.
Just before the curtains Ptolemy stopped and turned. “But wait, there was one other thing. We heard there was some document that you might have possession of. Is that true?”
I froze. Eurydice was now staring at me with an upset expression. She must have realized I had not been truthful about the mission.
“I do not know what you mean, sir,” I said, looking at Ptolemy.
Ptolemy stood still. His eyes had gone cold and distant. He nodded to someone behind me, and for some time, there was nothing but absolute silence.
Eurydice gasped, and I turned.
Nekh-Aser walked from an antechamber by the side of the throne.
He was pulling something.
He finally dropped the rope, and I looked at the thrashed and bruised figure lying on the floor. A low moan came from his crushed lips.
Iotros.
That man who confronted me in Damascus and took me for a
common thief because he could not read my papers. Nekh-Aser’s spiked club had ripped chunks of Iotros’ flesh off his back and thighs. The rest of his body was purple. The inquisitors had pulled the hair off his scalp, revealing skull underneath. They had gouged an eye.
But tortured breath still emanated from him, and I prayed for his end. I clenched my fists. Ptolemy’s amused expression at what he had sanctioned ensured that I would not bargain with the man.
Nekh-Aser walked behind and slapped me on the back of my head. I looked up at Ptolemy and decided to take a different tactic. “Since when did Egyptian dogs get the authority to strike Alexander’s soldiers who stuck by you and the King’s side?”
Ptolemy flinched. No matter what our differences were now, we were all together for a long time, serving the same King.
“Nekh-Aser, enough! Await my orders,” said Ptolemy, and the brute scowled at me as he stepped back. He made a show of intimidation by flexing the muscles of his broad, hairless chest. He then swung the club back and forth and his eyebrows danced.
“You need to tell us what you stole, and why it was important. I know that Eumenes, that cunning snake, is up to something,” Ptolemy said.
“I already told you, sir.”
“Iotros here was quite clear that you had several papyri that you guarded. He said they had two different writings, though unfortunately for us it seems the fool could not read.”
“That is because those were official papers from Regent Perdiccas. It had two languages on it, Greek and Persian.”
“Where are they?”
“I threw them away, too much trouble.”
“Is there a reason for a Regent to send administrative papers through the captain of a procession?”
I said nothing.
Ptolemy continued. “I know you to be very bright. You should remember every letter in those administrative papers.” He accentuated the words ‘administrative papers.’ He looked at Arrhidaeus, and they grinned at each other.
I stared at a pillar behind him.
“You test my patience and take advantage of my patronage.” His puffy face turned a dark shade of red. “You have two days to think and come to me with the truth,” he finally said, coldly.
Ptolemy turned to Nekh-Aser. “And if I am not satisfied with Deon’s answer, the woman is yours. And once you are done with her, and I am still unsatisfied with Deon’s answer, he is yours as well.”
With that, Ptolemy stood and walked away. Arrhidaeus locked his eyes on mine, and I thought there was pity in his eyes before he vanished behind the curtains. Guards restrained us and began to march us back to our quarters.
Nekh-Aser strolled to my front, towering over me. He smirked and turned to Eurydice and flicked his tongue between his yellow teeth. He traced his finger—from her forehead, along the bridge of her nose, and all the way to her waist. Eurydice began to tremble. I seethed as he bit her lips, while thrusting his hips on her. He stepped back, laughing. “That man,” he pointed to Iotros, “not last too long, but you I make,” he said. He then tapped his forefinger on one of the metal tips on his club.
Nekh-Aser walked towards Iotros. He swung his club and smashed Iotros’ head—splattering the contents of the man’s skull on the pristine floors of the palace.
The guards took us back, but this time we were together. At first, I wondered why. Ptolemy must have surmised that if we were stuck together, Eurydice might wear me down to come up with the truth. Even report what she learned from me.
Pressure on the mind before pressure on the body.
Ptolemy's threat had frightened us. But right now, I had to handle Eurydice and come up with a plan. And for the last quarter of the day, she sat shooting daggers with her eyes at me.
Sullen, silent, and angry.
“When were you going to tell me the truth, sir?” she asked, her chin resting on her folded knees.
“Never. The plan was to let you go on your way once I was closer to what I was seeking.”
She seemed surprised by my honest answer, and her demeanor softened. She rested her back on the wall, tucked her feet under her thighs, and cast her eyes to the floor.
“You are willing to let that beast rape me and die for a cause I would never know.”
“You’re not dead, are you?”
“You lied and deceived me even though I was loyal to you,” she said. Her intense green eyes focused on me.
“We are at war, Eurydice. And Eumenes sent you to support me in the mission. It is not your place to question my decisions,” I retorted with irritation.
“I am now a soldier and not a trusted partner as you told me before. You were lying then.”
This woman sounded like my wife!
I stood up to flex my limbs, and through the little window, I could see the Great River beyond the palace walls. The greenery across the river was a contrast to the yellow sands beyond.
“You are my partner Eurydice. I would not have guarded you with my life if I did not see it that way.”
“So why am I not privy to your mission? And does it matter anymore given our circumstance.”
“I am not going to let that animal harm you.”
“That is not under your control, is it, sir?”
I nodded. And then I walked towards the door, which had a little opening of its own, and peered through it. As I expected, there was Nekh-Aser and a younger Egyptian who I had seen the past few days. The two conversed in short sentences in their language. I went back and sat next to Eurydice. She was still sulking—irritated at my dismissal of her concerns. She pretended not to recognize my presence but instead began to examine her palms.
“Those are lovely palms,” I said and saw her trying to suppress her smile.
“They may be smooth but not as smooth as the back of my head,” I continued, imitating Eumenes' voice. She guffawed.
“Inside that smooth head is a deceitful mind.” She said, feigning anger.
“As that may be, I promise I will reveal the truth in time. For now, we must figure out a way to escape.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“Why not tell them what you know, what do you have to lose? Let the generals quarrel.”
“It is not that simple because you don’t know what this is about. They will shackle and drag us along until we serve their purpose, and then put us to death. We will not be screaming for days if we are lucky.”
“What makes you so sure?” She asked. But her tone conveyed her doubt.
I ignored her question. "If the wrong people find out my mission, there will be a far bloodier war that will engulf the continents. Have we not had enough?"
"Yes, but we are immaterial actors on the stage of gods and kings."
"That may be so, but right now this insignificant agent knows a secret to the play that the others do not. And you are safer not knowing it."
Eurydice’s eyes bore into mine.
“Why do you risk so much for this, what is in it for you?” she asked.
I paused and considered my options. Eurydice had proved to be a trustworthy companion. She was bright, and my lies would only hurt my chances.
I took a deep breath.
“General Eumenes promised me a generous retirement,” I said, hoping she would not ask for more.
Eurydice continued to stare.
“It seems like you accepted a great deal of risk to make some money. Is your family in trouble, sir?” she asked. There were times she spoke like a royal, which made me question her background. But here she was, with me, facing the same terrors.
I sighed. “Yes. A terrible lender controls my wife and daughter's fate, and I am in significant debt.”
She blinked.
“You do not seem like a gambler, what did you do to incur such debts?” she asked, encouraged by my momentary truthfulness.
I opened my big mouth and spluttered what I did not want to reveal. “I opened a—a brothel, I thought I would—" I blurted. And then I looked away.
For a fe
w torturous moments I heard nothing. And then for the first time, I heard Eurydice laugh—a full-throated, uncontrolled laughter.
I turned to her. It struck me how beautiful she looked as she laughed, unabashed, open mouthed and loud. Her laugh had settled to a chuckle as she looked at me. “I could never imagine you to be a pimp!”
“I am not a pimp!” I protested.
But yes, I did try to be one. What was I thinking O’ Poseidon?
“Are you going to try to sell me too, sir?” she pouted, putting her hands together as if I had tied them. “I will fetch a good price as a whore.”
I swatted her hands away. “Enough! That is a life I left long ago. I was younger, naïve, and stupid. Yes, I thought it was a lucrative business on a trade route. I learned the hard way that you need a lack of moral compass to make money from it,” I said. I hope that my serious voice conveyed the business-like ambition.
“Hard way, indeed,” she said and began to giggle.
This woman.
“It was a long and hard road, Eurydice!” I admonished her, but soon we fell to fits of laughter.
Absurd.
She nodded and leaned back on the wall.
Silence.
“Eurydice?”
“Yes?”
“I know so little about you. I think me revealing my filthy past earns me the right to know something more.”
She nodded, and I could see her struggling with what to say next. Eventually, without meeting my eyes, she asked, “What do you want to know?”
“Tell me about your childhood.”
There was a pause, and sadness showed in her face as she placed her chin between her drawn up knees.
“I grew up in Persia. My father is Phrygian but was part of the Persian forces. He married my mother who came from a Greek trader’s family.”
“Do I know your father?”
“No,” she said curtly, and continued, “I grew up happy, among brothers and sisters, and a difficult but protective father.”
“Did he teach you the dagger skills?”
She smiled. “Yes, but it was another man that taught me how to wield it as I do.”
