The Road to Alexander

by Jennifer Macaire

  My guide stayed in the street hanging onto the horses.

  ‘Where is my baby?’ I hissed, catching the woman by the arm before she could flee.

  ‘How did you get here?’ she moaned.

  ‘An earthquake destroyed your city,’ I snarled. ‘And if you don’t lead me to my child, I will destroy this city. Now, take me to him.’

  ‘He’s Marduk’s,’ she whispered.

  ‘No, he’s mine.’ I stood up straight and threw off my dusty travelling cape. Torchlight shone off the pure white silk I’d donned, and my pale hair glittered.

  The woman put her face in her hands and sobbed. ‘We brought the baby here as the message insisted. But spies found out whose it was, and Darius has taken him to Persepolis. He left last night, before his daughter’s wedding. He thought no one would expect him to leave before the ceremony. The baby is gone.’

  Gone? Nausea twisted my gut, and I clutched at the doorway to stay upright. My baby was gone? Then I realized that he was in fact safe. He wouldn’t be offered in sacrifice to a pagan god. I would go to Persepolis and get him back. Relief made me weak.

  ‘What baby is to meet Marduk?’ I asked, my knees trembling.

  ‘A slave’s child.’

  ‘And my baby, how shall I know him? How old is he now?’

  The woman glanced at me fearfully. ‘The goddess’s baby is three months old. He has hair like moonbeams, like yours, and his skin is fair as white coral. His eyes are silver stars. He has a scar, a crescent moon, on his right arm, here.’ She pointed to her shoulder. ‘No one dared to give him to Marduk. Marduk isn’t his god. He would have killed us all. Now do you understand? But beware, the lady wants to destroy him.’

  ‘Which lady?’

  ‘The one who caused you to be brought to us. Ours was the Temple of Healing, under the order of Gulu. However, Gulu is an Assyrian goddess. She couldn’t hold you or your son. We should never have accepted the gold.’

  ‘Why did you?’ I asked.

  ‘Because we were told you were only Iskander’s consort, and that you had no divine powers. We were ordered not to listen, which was why we assigned the deaf-mute to watch you. But you were well cared for. We didn’t mean any harm!’ She knelt on the floor and pressed her forehead against my feet. ‘Your gods are stronger than ours. We have reached the end of the fourth kingdom! It is as Daniel said, “Strong as steel, fragile as the clay. Our city shall perish and shall leave no trace.” It is written in the stars.’ Her words ended in a high-pitched wail, and I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming at her. Then my childhood training took over. I pushed my emotions away and cleared my mind. I had to find a way to get my baby back and I would. After all, I was a child of adversity. Just getting to Babylon was a triumph.

  ‘Where is Iskander? I must see him!’

  ‘I will take you to him, but please, if the lady his mother sees you she will surely have me killed, and she will try and kill you too. This time she will not settle for kidnapping you.’

  I cursed under my breath. How could I have been so blind? I had been so intent on getting Paul, I hadn’t thought about asking who had kidnapped me. Olympias! I hissed her name and the woman at my feet wailed. ‘Hush!’ I commanded. ‘Let me think. How can we get to Iskander without alerting his mother?’

  ‘I don’t know, I have never seen Iskander. I only know where his quarters are. His mother has spies everywhere.’ She looked over her shoulder. ‘I never know when they are listening.’

  ‘Help me to understand. Olympias wanted me away from her son. She wants to give her own grandson to Marduk, and she doesn’t know that Darius has taken the baby to Persepolis. Is that right?’

  The woman nodded miserably. ‘We were to have hidden you for ever in our temple.’

  ‘It’s destroyed now. I’m sorry,’ I said.

  She gaped at me. Minutes dragged by as we stared at each other. I felt the tingling of the nervous energy that had filled me ever since I’d woken up during the earthquake. She seemed to feel it too, because she covered her face.

  ‘Don’t be frightened. I need your help. I only want my son. Then I will go.’

  I helped her to her feet, and she straightened her shoulders and took a shaky breath. ‘Very well. We should hurry if you want to see Iskander. He is going to begin the purifying ceremony soon.’

  I poked my head out of the door and gave half of the gold I had left to my guide. Then I told him to keep the horses and to consider himself freed.

  He nodded. ‘To free me you must take my contract to the court and have it stamped. Only then will I be a free man.’

  I sighed. ‘Well, try to find some lodgings. Meet me tomorrow morning an hour after sunrise near Ishtar’s gate, and we’ll go to the courthouse.’

  He left, leading the limping ponies.

  The priestess took me into the temple and led me through the labyrinth beneath the ziggurat. We came out on the other side near the market square. It was teeming with people; the caravans had arrived, and the city was a bustling hive of activity. Stands were being set up. Merchants would trade through the night and the next day, up until the ceremony which took place at midday, when the sun was directly over the ziggurat. Camels and donkeys were being led to the stables just outside the city, and the streets were thronging with people and animals jostling one another.

  We threaded our way through the crowd, heading towards the imperial palace. I wore my old cloak, so no one gave me a second glance. The priestess hurried, looking now and then over her shoulder at me. Her skin was white where it pressed against her bones. I hoped nobody would notice her fear. Just before we reached the palace I tugged on her sleeve. We ducked into a small recess in the wall. From there we could just see the palace gates.

  ‘You look like death,’ I snapped. ‘Can’t you put on a happier face?’

  ‘I'm terrified,’ she confessed.

  ‘Where do you usually meet Olympias?’

  ‘Shh! Don’t say her name!’ She twitched nervously. ‘I send messages through a man. He comes to see me. I don’t know his name. Iskander is here, in this building. His rooms are guarded.’

  ‘Here’s what you must do. Go to his captain. His name is Lysimachus. Say these words, “Ashley of the Sacred Sandals”. Tell him I am here, and I want to see him. Then bring him to me.’

  ‘Ashley of the Sacred Sandals.’ She looked doubtful.

  ‘It’s important.’

  She drew a deep breath and then vanished into the crowd. I saw her speaking to the guards at the gate, and they let her through. I hoped that Lysimachus was still guarding Alexander’s door. If not, all my efforts would be in vain.

  After what seemed a long time, I saw her coming back. At her heels was Lysimachus, and I nearly cried with relief. His face lit up when he saw me, and he prostrated himself. I reached down and yanked him to his feet.

  ‘Not here!’ I whispered. ‘Too many eyes. I must see Iskander, but not in the palace. It’s too dangerous for me.’

  ‘It is you,’ he whispered. ‘We were told you’d been eaten by the crocodiles. We found signs of a struggle, and blood, and one of your leather sandals. There were traces of crocodile footprints in the sand. Huge ones. Iskander went mad with grief and cut all his hair off. He would have killed every crocodile in the river if Plexis hadn’t stopped him.’

  ‘Plexis?’ I was surprised. ‘Wasn’t he with Nearchus?’

  ‘He was, but he came back. He was there when you went missing.’

  I thought about this for a minute, but I didn’t see any link between him and Olympias. I turned to the priestess. ‘Where can I hide until Iskander can come to me?’

  ‘In the temple. If Iskander comes to pray, no one will think it odd. He has gone to nearly all of the temples in the city. I will get you a robe like mine, and you can stay in my quarters.’

  Lysimachus reached his hand out and touched my shoulder. He shook his head. ‘You have come back from the dead,’ he said. His face was pale beneath its tan.

&
nbsp; ‘Just get Iskander to the temple as soon as you can,’ I said, patting his arm. ‘Don’t worry about anything else.’

  ‘I’m glad to see you,’ he said, ducking his head.

  ‘I’m happy to see you, too.’ I’d only known him for a short time, nearly a year ago, but he was a familiar face in a strange city.

  We looked at each other, then he said, ‘You can count on me.’

  ‘I know I can. Thank you.’

  ‘Tell Iskander to ask for Nabonida,’ the priestess told him.

  We waded through the tightly packed crowd, and Nabonida led me to her quarters, taking the smaller passages to avoid being seen. Once in her room she asked me what I wanted, and without thinking I replied, ‘A bath.’

  She bowed and clapped her hands. A slave girl appeared, and Nabonida told her to bring a basin of water and some scented almond oil.

  When I was clean, my body soft and fragrant, and my hair carefully dressed, I put my white robe back on. Then I sat by the window and waited for Alexander. The energy that had sustained me was still running like electricity through my body, making me quiver. It also gave me a strange radiance. My eyes glowed, and Nabonida covered her eyes with her hands when I looked towards her. We didn’t speak. I had spent too much time in her presence wrapped in silence.

  She straightened her meagre belongings, washed her robe and hung it to dry out a window, then mended a tear in one of her sheets. I watched her as she worked. I’d seen her every day for a year. She was familiar, yet alien. Why hadn’t she ever spoken to me? Why help me now? Why was she here, and not in my temple prison? The questions stayed locked in my head. I simply watched as the woman, short, spare and homely, did the everyday chores of her existence. She seemed used to silence, and I began to wonder if I hadn’t been in a sort of Carmelite convent, where speech was forbidden. Even while I’d been in the temple, I hadn’t heard any voices. No babble, no murmur. I stirred myself and asked her if that was the case.

  She looked confused. ‘What’s a Carmelite?’

  ‘It’s a person who’s taken a vow to worship her God in silence,’ I explained. ‘Is that why no one spoke to me?’

  She seemed to consider this. Then she nodded once, which meant no. ‘The temple where you were kept was for the dying,’ she explained. ‘We keep silence out of respect. Gulu, our goddess, whispers only. If we talk we may not hear what she says. We have gotten into the habit of listening, not talking. But we didn’t speak to you because we were afraid. Our goddess is not your mother.’ She looked at me miserably. ‘I’m not any good at explaining. I am unhappy about this whole affair. Please forgive me.’

  ‘I only want my son back,’ I said to her. ‘There is nothing else to forgive. You looked after me well. For that I thank you.’ I saw a faint glimmer of surprise in her brown eyes and felt guilty for some reason.

  I turned back to the window. The sun was setting, and orange shafts of light glittered off dust floating in the air, cloaking the city in a nimbus of gold. The priests in the fifty-three temples of the city blew their trumpets as soon as the sun disappeared below the horizon. My skin prickled. Trumpets filled the city with their brassy wails. The last notes died away. The air seemed to settle, and there was a silence.

  In the quiet I heard his footsteps and rose to greet him.

  He hesitated in the doorway. He had changed in one year. His face was harder, and he was thinner. His skin pressed against his cheekbones, and his eyes were greener. The jaguar stared out of them. His mouth had a different set to it, one I’d never seen. His hair was cut short and lifted off his temples and the back of his neck in fine curls. It was no longer gold; it had reverted to its normal colour, warm brown. It made his skin whiter. It turned whiter still when he saw me, and he stood quite still, not even breathing.

  I froze. My breath caught in my throat. Then I felt the hot rush of blood in my cheeks and I swayed forward. ‘Alex,’ I breathed, and fainted.

  He caught me before I hit the ground. He hadn’t lost his extraordinary speed or grace. He picked me up and held me to his chest, calling my name until I opened my eyes.

  ‘Is it really you? Are you back to stay?’ he asked. He started to laugh, or maybe it was a sob. “Ashley of the Sacred Sandals” indeed. Your nose is bleeding again.’

  I looked down and saw the scarlet splash of blood staining my robe. I put my hand up and stanched the flow. ‘It’s just nerves. I have so much to tell you, and we have no time.’ I could hardly look at him; everything I’d lived through in the past year was like an explosion inside me that I had to defuse somehow. I took a deep breath to steady myself. ‘We need to speak.’

  ‘Nabonida?’

  ‘We can talk in front of her. We may need her help, and she has something important to tell you.’ I wiped my face with the hem of my robe.

  Nabonida paled, but, to her credit, she didn’t try and wriggle out of it. She told Alexander everything she knew. While she spoke she took my soiled robe and handed me a clean one. I put it on and turned to Alexander. He was looking at me with a queer expression.

  ‘Your body?’ he said falteringly. He raised his eyes to mine, and I read the unspoken question.

  I told him about our son.

  When he heard about the baby his face twisted and he buried his head in my chest. I held him. I could feel him shaking, but when I saw his eyes I realized it was from rage.

  Afterwards, Nabonida and I sat while Alexander paced across the room. His fury was terrible, but mine was equal to his, and our eyes met with a clash that could practically be heard.

  ‘I will kill her.’ His voice was as bloodless as his face.

  ‘No.’ I stood up and levelled my gaze at him. ‘No. You cannot kill your own mother. Send her back to her country.’

  ‘To Macedonia?’

  ‘No, to her own people. To Epirus.’

  ‘Why can’t I kill her now?’

  I shuddered, imagining what the Time Senders would do if Alexander killed his mother. We’d all be erased, including Paul. ‘Because the gods will take care of her. You have other things to do. We must go to Persepolis. We must get our son back. Please, Alex.’ My voice broke. ‘I want my baby.’

  He gathered me in his arms again and I wept. The energy that had carried me for days across the burning plains was deserting me. I was simply a mother who wanted to find her child.

  It was as if a dam burst inside me then. The pain I felt threatened to overwhelm me, and I sobbed until my throat was raw. Finally the storm within me ebbed. I looked up, and saw that Alexander had wept too. Tears still glittered on his cheeks. But he pulled himself together and smoothed the hair back from my hot face.

  ‘What did you name him?’ he asked me.

  ‘Paul.’

  ‘Paul?’ His face fell. ‘Not Iskander?’

  ‘I called him Paul Alexander.’

  He tried the name out a few times then nodded. ‘I think I like it.’

  I smiled. ‘I think you’ll like him, too.’

  He bent over and kissed me gently on the lips, giving me gooseflesh. ‘I love him already. We’ll find him. I swear it. If I have to go to the ends of the earth, I will find Paul.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘We’ll go after Darius. We’ll leave as soon as the wedding is over.’

  I thought of his army, camped just outside Babylon. Would they pack up and leave at a moment’s notice? That hadn’t been in their plans. Alexander must have sensed my doubts. He took my chin in his hands. ‘I swear, we will leave tomorrow. As soon as I return to the palace, I will give orders to Lysimachus to start getting everything ready.’

  ‘Will Darius fight?’

  ‘He has his army. Other than that, I cannot say.’ He rested his head against my shoulder, and I could feel his muscles quiver. Bells rang again, chiming softly in the dusk.

  Nabonida stood, her hands clutching at her robe. ‘The evening bells have rung. You should leave.’

  He hesitated, but I nodded. ‘Go now,’ I said. ‘Oh, I fo
rgot, I have a gift for your bride.’

  ‘For Stateira?’

  ‘You must give her Chirpa. My slave girl. She’ll need her. Make her understand how special she is. However, there is one condition. You must free her, and she must want to stay of her own free will. Do you promise?’

  ‘Yes. Thank you on behalf of Stateira.’

  ‘Is she nice? Is she beautiful?’ I had to know.

  He smiled and kissed me again. ‘She’s as sweet as an adder and as beautiful as a hippopotamus. I’m marrying her for politics. But as soon as the wedding is finished, I intend to go to Persepolis. Her father lied to me, and I won’t let him off lightly. I gave him Persepolis in exchange for Babylon and the government here. Perhaps he thinks to hold my son ransom. I will leave within two days, with you at my side. I want to marry you. We will marry for love. I swear it. Wait for me here. Tomorrow I will be busy,’ he grinned wryly. ‘But at midnight I will knock on this door, and you must be ready to come with me.’

  ‘I’ll be ready.’

  He kissed me again, gently, and then left. His eyes had been as hard as flint, and his mouth was drawn in a thin line of rage. I wouldn’t want to be in Olympias’s place that evening. I only prayed he didn’t kill her.

  I spent the night in Nabonida’s room. When Alexander left to return to the palace, all the strength drained from my limbs and I collapsed. She laid me on her bed and gave me broth to drink. When my eyes grew heavy she drew the curtains and let me sleep. And when the dawn started to colour the sky she woke me and we crept out of her room and made our way to Ishtar’s gate. I had to meet with the slave who’d brought me to Babylon.

  His name was Seleucos, and he was twenty-four years old. During our journey he’d told me his life’s story. He was a garrulous man, easy to listen to. He had been born in Pella, which was in Macedonia, but he’d been sold as a slave to a merchant from Athens, where he learned to speak Greek and Egyptian. When he was seventeen, his master died, and he was sold to a galley ship as a rower. The work didn’t please him, so he asked to be sold again. A warehouse owner on the isle of Crete bought him. His aptitude with languages enabled him to work with the merchants at the docks. But one day pirates captured him and took him to Tyre. The pirates sold him to an Arab merchant who had a caravan, and Seleucos helped him trade up and down the Euphrates River before finally coming to the city of Mazda. That was where the earthquake had destroyed my temple prison. In the aftermath of the earthquake his master had sold him to me, along with two horses, and he’d brought me to Babylon.