A Murder in Thebes (Alexander the Great 2) by Paul Doherty Page A

banquet.”
    By the time they reentered the camp, the revelry had already begun. They were stopped by cavalry patrols and sentries in the
     iron ring Alexander had placed round his sprawling camp. Alexander was cautious. A small portion of the Theban army, including
     the cavalry, had escaped.Alexander was wary of the silent assassin, or the madman who might try his luck in delivering one blow, one knife thrust.
    They found the king in a banqueting tent, a huge pavilion of costly cloths, now turned into a drinking hall. All around, shaped
     in a horseshoe, were small banqueting tables, cushions, and other costly chairs and stools looted from hundreds of Theban
     homes. Torches burned brightly on lashed poles or spears thrust into the ground. Huge pots full of burning charcoal sprinkled
     with incense provided warmth. The tent flaps were open allowing the cold night air to waft away the smoke.
    Alexander lounged at the top of the tent on a makeshift couch, his household companions on either side. Perdiccas, Hephaestion,
     Niarchos, Ptolemy, and the principal commanders of the different corps. Food was being served: lamb, beef dressed in different
     sauces, great platters of stone-ground white bread, bowls of fruit. A makeshift banquet but the unwatered wine was copious
     and flowed freely. A page led them to a table on Alexander’s right. The king lifted his head. He had bathed, his hair was
     cut and oiled, his face closely shaven. In the torchlight Alexander’s face had a burnished look. Miriam smiled and winked.
     Alexander loved to imitate the appearance of a god and now he posed as a victorious one. He had deliberately donned his dress
     armor; a gold-wrought breastplate, where snakes writhed and turned; silver armlets on his wrists; a thick military cloak fastened
     around his neck by a silver clasp.
    “Greetings, Miriam, health and prosperity! And you Simeon?” He drank from the cup and went back to whisper to Hephaestion.
    Miriam groaned. “It’s going to be a long night,” she whispered.
    Dancing girls, accompanied by a dispirited group of musicianswere ushered in, but the revelers were not interested in dancing or music. Some of the guests started throwing scraps of food
     at them. Alexander clapped his hands and wearily dismissed the dancers. His commanders were intent on eating and drinking
     their fill, reveling in their victory, boasting of their own prowess. And, of course, the toasts began.
    “To Alexander, lion of Macedon! To Alexander, captain-general of Greece! To Alexander, conqueror of Persia!”
    Miriam leaned back on her cushions and smiled across at Eurydice, Ptolemy’s mistress, a beautiful, olive-skinned young woman
     with oil-drenched ringlets framing her perfectly formed face. Her gray eyes had a glazed look, and there was a petulant cast
     to her mouth.
    “She’s like us,” Simeon whispered. “She’d prefer to be elsewhere.”
    Miriam absentmindedly agreed. She was settling down, slowly drinking her cup of very watered wine. Alexander was now in full
     flow.
    “We will wait for Mother,” he declared, “and then take counsel.”
    “Not return to Macedon?” Perdiccas asked.
    Alexander shook his head. “We shall not return to Macedon,” he slurred, “until we have marched in glory through Persia. By
     the spring we shall be across the Isthmus. I shall sacrifice to Achilles among the ruins of Troy.”
    “Oh no!” Miriam whispered, “not Achilles!”
    “And then,” Alexander lurched to his feet, swaying tipsily, cup in hand, “we will march to the ends of the earth.”
    His triumphant shout was greeted by roars of approval. Alexander sat down.
    “For those who wish to,” he smiled, “you may retire! But those who drink can stay!”
    Some of the women left, followed by some of the lessercommanders who had duties to carry out. Miriam excused herself, but Simeon said he would stay. She put down the cup, slipped
     out of the tent, and stood allowing the night breezes to cool