A Murder in Thebes (Alexander the Great 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

reminding everyone that Thebes had rebelled not only against Macedon but against the League
     with Corinth. The League, too, had voted for Thebes’ destruction, recalling stories ofhow Thebes had helped Xerxes and his Persians during the Great War, citing all its other petty infidelities and treacheries.
     Alexander had used the League to legitimize the destruction, but in the end, he’d simply delivered a stark warning to all
     of Greece. Alexander was their captain-general. Any revolt would be ruthlessly crushed.
    Alexander took a breath, rubbed his face, and walked on through the palisade built by the Thebans to hem in his garrison in
     the Cadmea. He stopped at a cross thrust in the rocky earth. He touched the wood still stained with Lysander’s blood.
    “I have avenged him,” Alexander murmured. “I’ll avenge all who died here.” He gestured at Simeon and Miriam. “Follow me! You,
     too, Hephaestion. The rest of you,” he gave a lopsided smile, “show our delegates around Thebes. Let them see how a city burns.”
    Alexander walked on up the rocky path, through the gatehouse and into the courtyard of the Cadmea.
    The garrison was assembled in full armor, breastplates and shields gleaming. Their officers stood in front of them, their
     helmets, adorned with bright horsehair plumes, held under their arms. Alexander’s mood changed as it always did when he moved
     among soldiers. He walked slowly along the ranks, stopping to chat and joke, slipping silver coins into the men’s hands. He
     clasped them by the shoulder and kissed them on the brow, calling them his companions and friends, praising them for their
     valor in holding Cadmea against a hostile Thebes. The soldiers responded: guffaws of laughter broke out as Alexander shared
     some private joke. Miriam noticed he had no words for the officers. These four were left standing in front, eyes ahead. Alexander
     gave them no order to relax or stand at ease. When he had finished his inspection, Alexander simply clicked his fingers. The
     men were dismissed and the four officers followed Alexander upinto the tower along a stone-vaulted corridor and into what must be their mess hall. Tables stood around the room. These and
     the floor had been carefully scrubbed and washed. Servants had laid out bread, cheese, meats, bowls of fruit, and a jug of
     watered wine. Unceremoniously Alexander sat on a bench and gestured for the others to join him. He took a bunch of grapes
     from the bowl and began to pop them into his mouth, like a child, cheeks bulging as he slowly chewed. He nodded at Hephaestion
     who ordered the officers to introduce themselves. All four were Macedonians, grizzled veterans who had fought in Philip’s
     armies. Patroclus was the youngest: blond-haired, one eye half closed due to an old wound, front teeth missing, nose slightly
     broken. He reminded Miriam of a boxer. Alcibiades was thin and swarthy-faced; his hair was cropped close to his head and he
     wore a brass ring in one earlobe. Slightly foppish, Miriam thought, with an ornamental bracelet that he kept shaking. Demetrius
     was gray-haired, cruel-faced, with sharp, deep-set eyes, and a thin nose above thick lips. He kept scratching at a scar that
     ran from the top of his right ear down beneath his chin. The fourth, Miletus, was bald, fleshy-faced; his eyes were almost
     hidden in rolls of fat; he had pursed lips and was clean shaven. He reminded Miriam of a eunuch, an impression greatly enhanced
     by his rather high-pitched voice. Nevertheless, despite their appearance, Miriam recognized that all four were skilled fighting
     men, though now very nervous. Alexander had praised the defence of the citadel against the Thebans but they must have expected
     to be closely questioned on what had happened to cause the deaths of two favorite officers, Lysander and their commander Memnon.
    Alexander finished the grapes. He filled the cups himself, chattering about the citadel, how thick its walls, and