Alexander (Vol. 3) (Alexander Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF

that moved from one village to another bearing wares; but out on the limitless expanses of the desert the two hetairoi who were following him had to discuss matters and make a decision. They were two young Macedonians from the royal guard, among the most valiant and intelligent of Alexander’s soldiers, and they knew their leader very well. If they failed in their mission and anything happened to the boy, the King would certainly never forgive them.
    ‘If we keep him under observation,’ said one of them, ‘he will see us, because there is nowhere for us to hide. If we keep out of his sight then there’s the risk we might lose him.’
    ‘We have no choice,’ replied his companion. ‘One of us has to approach him and win his trust. There is simply no other way of protecting him.’
    They laid out a plan of action and the following day at dawn, when the boy set off again on his journey, exhausted after a night spent half awake, off in the distance he saw a man alone on a horse, riding in his same direction. He stopped and wondered whether it might be better to let him go on ahead and set off later, or to ride closer to the solitary traveller and thus have some company for at least part of the journey.
    He decided that waiting was not a good idea because it would consequently mean having to travel in the warmest hours of the day. He felt sure that one man, alone and unarmed, was certainly no danger and that in any case he would have to face much more difficult situations in the near future. He plucked his courage up, kicked the sides of his mount with his heels and set off along the deserted track, soon drawing level with the rider, who turned on hearing the noise of the horse. Eteocles, overcoming his own shyness, spoke to him in Persian, ‘May Ahura Mazda protect you, stranger. Which way are you going?’
    The man, knowing that he would be understood, replied in Greek, ‘I do not speak your language, my boy. I am a goldsmith from Crete and I am on my way to Babylon to work in the palace of the Great King.’
    Eteocles breathed a sigh of relief and said, ‘I too am on my way to Babylon. I hope you won’t mind if we travel together.’
    ‘Not at all. Indeed, it would be a pleasure – travelling alone on these deserted roads frightens me.’
    ‘Why are you travelling alone? Wouldn’t it have been better for you to join up with a caravan?’
    ‘You are right. The fact is that I have heard so many stories about the merchants on the caravans . . . that they supplement their income by selling off as slaves the lone travellers they meet along their way, whenever they think they can get away with it, so I said to myself, “Better alone than in bad company.” At least I can see right across to the horizon, the track is clearly marked and it’s not difficult to maintain one’s sense of direction – all you have to do is keep going towards the rising sun and sooner or later you’ll come to the banks of the Euphrates. The worst is over at that stage because all that’s needed then is a good boat and that’s it. You can put your feet up and rest until you reach Babylon. But you look a bit too young to me to be travelling on your own. Don’t you have parents or brothers?’
    Eteocles did not reply and for a moment all they could hear was the noise of their horses’ hooves on the desert track, under the empty sky. The man spoke again, ‘Sorry. I shouldn’t have poked my nose into your personal affairs.’
    Eteocles now stared off towards the horizon, flat and monotonous like the becalmed sea, ‘Do you think it’ll take us long to reach the banks of the Euphrates?’
    ‘No,’ replied the man. ‘If we keep this pace up we should be there tomorrow night.’
    They kept going until evening and then set up camp in a slight hollow. Eteocles stayed awake for as long as he could manage, so as to keep an eye on his new companion, but in the end exhaustion won and he fell into a deep sleep. The man then stood up and