With another exclamation of triumph, Seleukos clapped his hands. ‘Wine, Sextus! This calls for celebration.’
‘Yes, master,’ his body-slave replied in his thickly accented Greek, scuttling off.
‘You seem to be having an enjoyable breakfast,’ Thais, his mistress of twenty years, said, joining him on the terrace wearing an almost sheer gown; to her certain knowledge it was Ptolemy’s favourite breakfast attire.
‘Seleukos,’ Ptolemy said, not looking up.
‘What about him?’
‘It would seem that I find myself in his debt.’
Thais sat down and helped herself to a couple of dates. ‘What for?’
‘Cyprus.’
‘But you demanded it from Antipatros.’
‘Yes, but he wasn’t at all keen to agree.’ He looked at Thais for the first time and smiled with appreciation at her choice of dress; absent-mindedly he reached up and stroked the back of his hand down the side of one breast. ‘Seleukos has spent the last three months at The Three Paradises persuading Antipatros that he had no choice but to agree.’
‘That seems an inordinate amount of time.’
Ptolemy put the letter down. ‘Well, obviously he wasn’t at it all day every day. Antipatros was busy reorganising the army, taking units of his, Antigonos’ and the army of Babylon and mixing them together so that the more mutinous elements are dispersed. And then, of course, he was writing to all the satraps and to the rulers of kingdoms outside the empire and waiting for their replies; he wants to go back to Europe leaving Asia reasonably stable. And I don’t blame him.’
‘Which is how Seleukos managed to persuade him to give you Cyprus, I assume.’
‘Indeed. Seleukos knows me far better than the old man does; he knows I would carry out my threat to invade southern Syria.’
‘But why was it in his interest to fight on your behalf?’
Ptolemy looked out over the great harbour to the construction site that was in the process of dividing it in two as a mole was sunk to join the Pharos Island to the mainland. Progress on every front. ‘The fact that Antipatros is forming the three armies into just two, by incorporating the army of Babylon into the army of Macedon and into Antigonos’ army, has not gone down well with Seleukos who needs men to push Docimus out of Babylon; an objective that I thoroughly applaud. However, Antipatros sees things differently and has made demands – what, I don’t know – that are unacceptable to Seleukos.’
‘Thus he’s turning to you.’
‘Exactly.’
‘And will you give him the troops?’
‘Most certainly; once I’ve occupied Cyprus by the end of spring. Seleukos can expect to have them by beginning of summer, I should think; that should give him plenty of time to get rid of Docimus. He can meet me in Damascus and we’ll sign the agreement there.’
‘But I thought you said that you would never leave Egypt again unless it was to visit one of her possessions.’ She looked at him, her mouth and eyes wide with surprise before her face transformed into a disbelieving smile. ‘You cunning old wolf. You were always going to invade Syria whether Antipatros agreed to you having Cyprus or not.’
Ptolemy leaned across and kissed her on the lips, lingering at their sweet taste, dismissing Sextus with a wave as he heard him return, his need for wine now secondary. ‘Why fight two battles if the objective of one of them can be achieved by other means? To get Cyprus I would have had to make a deal with Attalus, something that many people, myself included, would have found repugnant; indeed, I might never have been forgiven for it, which would have made negotiations on other matters more difficult in the future. Much better just to use the threat of a deal with him rather than actually conclude one; and then if I did do a deal with him, what would I have done with the odious man afterwards? Logically, I should kill him as he would just have been a nuisance, but after I did who would ever trust me enough to form an alliance again? No, this has worked out very well: by the middle of next year I shall have Cyprus and southern Syria, up to Damascus and perhaps beyond, safely in my hands and then I can work on getting Attalus out of Tyros and who will be able to level any criticism of my actions against me if I do that?’
‘You’ll have Cyprus, Tyros, Damascus and the other ports of southern Syria in six months, and, added to that, a friendly and grateful Seleukos as your neighbour in Babylonia, all with very little loss of life.’
‘None at all, I would hope.’
Thais giggled, but not in a young girl’s manner. ‘Antipatros will hate you for it.’
‘He might, but how much longer is he going to be around to hate me for? Besides, I’m married to Eurydike and, as you know and he will soon, she’s pregnant; would he attack his own son-inlaw, the father of his grandchild?’
‘He’ll still hate you.’
Ptolemy shrugged as he stood and offered Thais his hand. ‘Let him. Come, my dear, I have an interesting man waiting to see me but, first, it would be a shame to see all that effort you’ve put into your appearance go to waste.’
But fortunately it was not wasted and it was a very refreshed Ptolemy who walked into the audience chamber, which still smelled of new plaster and paint, no more than an hour and a half late for his meeting with the wiry little sea captain bowing with deference before him.
‘Onesecritus, sire,’ Lycortas, Ptolemy’s chamberlain announced once Ptolemy had made himself comfortable on his chair. ‘Former triarchos under Nearchos the Cretan, admiral to Alexander.’
Ptolemy nodded in a good-natured fashion and then picked up the scroll on the table next to him. ‘This is your memoir, I believe: Voyages with Alexander.’
‘It is, sire.’ Despite his small frame, the man’s voice was surprising low and vibrant. ‘I wrote it soon after his death.’
‘So I believe. It has been circulating amongst my troops here in Egypt. How many copies did you have made?’
‘Ten, sire.’
‘There are three here; where are the others?’
‘I gave one to a friend with Kleitos’ fleet, one to another old shipmate who is with Attalus in Tyros at the moment. One went to my cousin who sails in Antipatros’ navy and the rest are either with the army of Babylon or the Euphrates river fleet.’
‘I see. That’s a wide circulation, especially if all the owners lend out their copies; I assume you asked them to.’
‘Of course. Yes, sire, I want it to be as widely read as possible.’
‘For your own personal glory or to circulate the accusations that you make at the end that certain people conspired to murder Alexander?’
Onesecritus swallowed. ‘I just wanted to write a book.’
‘Yes, don’t we all? It satisfies the vanity. I’m writing one about Alexander’s conquest but I name names. What is the point in writing a book if you make allegations against unnamed people accusing them of doing unspecific things but, nonetheless, murdering Alexander.’
‘I was afraid to name them for fear of reprisals.’
‘Well, my friend, there will be reprisals if you don’t name them now; rather nasty ones, I can assure you. How do you know these things that you’re too afraid to speak of?’
Again Onesecritus swallowed; he wrung his hands and looked around; there was no escape. ‘My cousin, who sails with Antipatros’ navy.’
‘What about him?’
‘He was the triarchos of the trireme that brought Kassandros to Asia when Antipatros sent him to have his orders confirmed: Alexander had summoned him to Babylon and sent Krateros to Macedon to take over as regent.’
‘Yes, yes, I know.’ Ptolemy was immediately interested. ‘Any messenger would have done and yet Antipatros sent his own son to confirm orders that seemed to all to be quite clear enough; and then Alexander falls sick soon after the pimply little shit’s arrival.’ Ptolemy thought for a few moments. ‘Nothing was ever conclusively proven, of course, but I still find it amusing to goad Kassandros with the possibility whenever I can. What do you know about it?’
‘Only what my cousin told me.’
‘I’m listening.’
Again Onesecritus swallowed, then grimaced, squeezing his eyes tight shut before letting out a sigh of resignation. ‘Kassandros came aboard in Pella, at night and in great secrecy; then, the following morning, Archais the Exile-Hunter and his seven Thracian killers came aboard making a great show of their presence.’
‘So spies in the port would not suspect Kassandros of being aboard, just Archias off on another mission of murder for Antipatros.’
‘You understand all too well, sire. Once they were on, my cousin was ordered to sail. When they got to Tarsus, Archias disembarked first and disappeared for a couple of hours. When he came back he had a bag that he gave to Kassandros; he looked inside, smiled and brought out a mule’s hoof that had been formed into a little box. He opened the lid, sniffed its contents, nodded to Archias and paid him, what seemed to be, a great deal of money. Kassandros then left with a cavalry unit that had been waiting for him at the port and Archias ordered my cousin to take him to Ephesus where he had business for Antipatros to do.’ Onesecritus spread his hands and shrugged. ‘And there you have it, sire.’
‘But do I, though? All you have given me is that a well-known assassin gave a box to Kassandros when he arrived in Tarsus, which, presumably, he took with him to Babylon. If it was poison then his brother Iollas could have quite easily administered it to Alexander; but there is no firm proof that Kassandros did bring poison or that Antipatros was behind the assassination, if, indeed, it was such and not swamp fever.’
‘Ah, but it’s what Archias said as he handed over the hoof; it was a quote from Aeschylus: “no convulsions, the pulses ebbing out in gentle death.”’
‘One of Cassandra’s lines in Agamemnon as she enters death’s realm; well, that certainly sounds like something Archias would say, having been a tragic actor before deciding that murder was more lucrative. But it is by no means conclusive.’ Ptolemy considered the problem. ‘However, I’ve never let lack of proof get in the way of a good story.’ He looked back at the triarchos. ‘You will be well rewarded, Onescritus, but for the time being you will stay here in Alexandria.’
Onescritus was about to ask why, but bit the question back.
‘You said you have an old shipmate who is with Attalus in Tyros?’
‘Yes, sire.’
‘He may be of use to me; later in the year I might need you to contact him. Until then you will live very well.’ Dismissing him, Ptolemy turned to his chamberlain, plump and refined in long, loose-fitting robes, with a shaven head and an inscrutable expression on his pudgy-lipped visage. ‘Lycortas, find me the best literary mind in the city.’
‘As you wish, sire.’
‘I want a book written in an exemplary style that will put names to all those people that Onescritus refused to mention and quite a few more besides. I’m going to make it official that Alexander was murdered and that it was Antipatros who instigated it, supported by a few other people whom I consider to be nuisances – Peithon for one.’ He paused for a look of extreme pleasure. ‘And then, just to make matters really interesting, the book will also exonerate – apart from myself, obviously – Perdikkas and Eumenes, thus making the little Greek seem like a man of honour standing up to the assassins of Alexander; that will divide some loyalties and put a strain on Antipatros’ settlement. In those circumstances I might even take southern Syria unnoticed.’
‘A bold scheme, sire, but may I suggest just one refinement?’
‘I’m always intrigued to hear your refinements, Lycortas.’
‘Would it not be better if it were actually the proven truth?’
‘It certainly wouldn’t hurt. Are you going to tell me you know where the Exile-Hunter is?’
‘Antipatros sent him to assassinate Eumenes, four months ago now; and, as far as we know, Eumenes is still alive.’
‘Of course; the Exile-Hunter never leaves a job unfinished. He’ll still be hunting Eumenes.’
EUMENES.
THE SLY.
THE WINTER HAD been a long, lonely time for reflection for the little Greek. Yes, he was surrounded by his army and, yes, he had some amiable companions amongst his officers, however, they were but social comfort, tied to him by a mixture of personal and financial loyalty. What Eumenes had missed was an ally who saw the future of the empire in the same way as he did: Europe, Asia and Africa united under the royal house of Macedon with Macedonians and Greeks ruling the satrapies and getting fabulously wealthy. He missed someone who really cared that Ptolemy was virtually autonomous in Africa, that Antipatros showed no signs of ruling much more than Macedon, thus leaving Lysimachus independent in all but name in Thrace. He wanted someone who cared that, if nothing was done, Asia would split into rival kingdoms that would, necessarily, be constantly changing allegiance and fighting one another. He needed to share his thoughts with someone who understood these things, unlike Hieronymus, Parmida and Xennias, his main dinner companions. Parmida was Kappadokian and therefore could not be expected to understand and Xennias did not see far further than his own purse and those of his men. Of the three, Hieronymus displayed the most understanding but it was much more from an objective point of view, studying the history in the making, rather than caring about one particular viewpoint.
It was with interest, therefore, that, as the snows were melting, he sat listening to Babrak, a Paktha merchant whose constant perambulations around Asia in the service of trade made him an excellent source of news and gossip. Babrak himself enjoyed being the conveyer of tidings to all who would seek him out as he was as loquacious as he was appreciative of the fine food and wines that always accompanied these sessions; neither was he averse to coinage being as forthcoming as his tongue.
‘So Peucestas has taken it unsurprisingly badly that control of the treasury at Susa was removed from him?’
Babrak’s dark eyes twinkled in the lamplight and his weathered, high-cheekboned face broke into a grin revealing red-stained teeth. ‘Master, when one sees the object of one’s desire being violated by another and one can do nothing but stand and watch, it greatly affects the view one has of one’s own manhood; of course one would still desire the boy but would one have the courage to force one’s attentions on him knowing that he had already enjoyed the ardour of one more powerful?’
‘I see,’ Eumenes said, not seeing at all but pleased at the plain fact that Peucestas’ source of finance had been greatly limited. A man who lacks money is ever keen to make friends. ‘And Antigenes has set out west again, from Susiana?’
‘He was still there when I left four months ago in January. Indeed, I had a very pleasant evening with him; he was more than generous as you—’
‘Can imagine being in control of such a haul. I’m sure I can; it’s always easy to be generous with other people’s money.’
‘Master, it is the only money one should be generous with; to be generous with one’s own is an act of folly and the sign of a weak man.’
‘Alexander was always generous with his and I wouldn’t call him weak.’
‘With respect, master, Alexander was generous with the wealth of Asia; it was not his it just fell into his hands. But I digress; Peucestas has vowed to have vengeance on Antipatros for the shabby way, as he sees it, that he has treated the East. As you know, Peucestas is much taken with the East and its people and customs – the wearing of trousers being an outward manifestation of such – to the extent that he speaks three or four languages now with admirable fluency. He does not see the East as being—’
‘An inferior appendage of the West.’ He would happily split the empire East from West which is against what I believe in and yet he and I could make common cause against Antipatros. ‘Thank you, Babrak, old friend; as always you have been most informative and I shall be only too pleased to take your shipment of linen off your hands for the price that you mentioned.’
Babrak rose and bowed with the middle finger of his right hand touching his forehe
ad. ‘The master is too kind, but if I may, I would also—’
‘Ask a favour of him?’
‘The master has a talent for—’
‘Finishing other people’s sentences? Yes, most people find it annoying. Name your favour.’
‘I believe your destination is Sardis?’
Eumenes looked at the Paktha in surprise. He had not divulged the army’s destination to anyone; he had just set out west along the Royal Road from Kappadokia the moment it was clear of snow. ‘What makes you think that?’
‘To ravish the boy one must first catch him out in his field.’
That did nothing to enlighten Eumenes. ‘Meaning?’
‘I mean, master, that if you are to defeat Antipatros you must take the fight to him; if you stay in Kappadokia you will become increasingly irrelevant, especially seeing as Nicanor is now the satrap and you are an outlaw. So it makes sense that you go west and it makes sense that you go and seek the help of the only person who you might consider a possible ally, seeing as both Alketas and Attalus have made it perfectly clear—’
‘What they think about Greeks.’ He is well informed; Alketas refused his brother’s direct order to help me subdue Kappadokia and there is absolutely no reason that he would join with me now, even though we have a common cause.
‘So therefore Kleopatra is your only option and I would like to accompany you there for safety; I have some valuable merchandise that is destined for that fair city.’
Eumenes smiled. ‘You would be most welcome, Babrak.’
‘The master is too kind.’ Again a bow. ‘However, I feel obliged to inform you that we will not be the only ones upon that road. Archais the Exile-Hunter has been waiting for you to leave Kappadokia in the hopes of acquainting you with the sharpness of his blade before you reach Sardis.’
But it was not the sharpness of Archias’ blade that Eumenes became acquainted with on the road to Sardis but, rather, the sharpness of Kleopatra’s tongue upon his arrival. ‘You should not have come here!’ He voice was imperious and quite unlike her manner the last time he had had an audience with her; when he was still pressing Perdikkas’ suit as the doomed man chased Alexander’s funeral cortège south. She had refused to marry him once she had learned that Ptolemy had taken the cortège to Egypt whence it would never return, thus lessening considerably Perdikkas’ claim to the crown – Macedonian kings traditionally claimed legitimacy by burying their predecessor.
The Three Paradises Page 11
