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The sky grew yellow in colour as dawn finally broke over the Zagros Mountains and the herald blew his horn to rouse the troops. Thousands of them woke and began to ready the royal caravan.
'Is it time?' asked the voice in the largest tent. The older man beside him nodded. 'It is time, my Lord King. By high sun, we should be in Shushan and your people will welcome you and honour you.' 'If only there was a way to avoid it, Haman. I hate such pomp and circumstance.' 'It is necessary, my Lord King. With respect, you are no longer merely King of Babylon. Now that your father has passed into the realm of the gods, you must assume the full responsibility of World Emperor over all the jurisdictional districts belonging to Media and Persia.' Khshayarsha nodded gravely. 'So be it, my good friend. You have served me well as advisor while I have been co-ruler with my father. Will you remain with me when I am sole King?' 'I would gladly do so, my Lord King, if that is your wish. I am of the Magi and will therefore speak the words of our chief god, Ahura-Mazda. He will guide you in the ways to rule your mighty empire.' 'Then you will speak his words to me, Haman. And I will listen and obey.' The Magi bowed. 'It is the way of the gods, my Lord King.' Khshayarsha rose to his feet. 'I must bathe before I inspect the Immortals.' Haman raised the tent flap to call a servant. 'I will arrange water for you, my Lord King.' 'Nonsense. I will bathe in the river. Please see that Artabanus has the troops ready for inspection in one hour.' 'As you command, Sire.' Haman bowed once more and backed out of the tent as several young women entered to attend to the King. With entourage in tow, thirty-four-year-old King Khshayarsha of Persia strode towards the waters of the mighty Choaspes as the sun began to feel warm on his face. Dismissing all but a few, he stepped into the ice-cold river and sat on a rock as his assistants began to smooth the water over his strong, manly body. Khshayarsha closed his eyes to the bright spring sun as the cool waters washed away the dust from the road and the sweat of the night. After twelve years as co-ruler with his father, was he yet ready for the responsibility ahead of him? He would have problems, he knew, from his older brother Artabazanes. Long before his death, their father had decreed that he, Khshayarsha, should rule, but there might well be objections to face. Also, there was his brother-in-law to consider. As General of the land forces, Mardonius wielded much power. If the worst came to the worst, he may have to call on the ten thousand Immortals to defend the throne. Only he himself could rule in the way his father had wished. The King opened his eyes as the bathing stopped and his attendants started to mutter among themselves. 'What is it?' he asked, a little annoyed at the disturbance. The eldest maid bowed low. 'With respect, highness, there is a body in the river.' He instinctively stood up to get out of the impure liquid and stared towards the place where the roaring waters rushed over and between rocks, before gathering themselves to plunge over the edge into the deep Karkhem ravine. 'It is a child,' he said with feeling. 'Send for soldiers. We must recover the body so it may be buried with honour.' 'Very well, Highness,' said the woman who rushed away to do her ruler's bidding. 'It moved!' shouted one of the other girls excitedly. 'The child lives.' Khshayarsha instinctively stepped forward and, as he watched, the head moved slightly. Despite calls from his people, the King waded into the water. Suddenly, the voice of Haman prevailed. 'My Lord King, it is too dangerous. Let one of the men go.' The King hesitated. His advisor was right. Already, the raging waters were tugging at his legs, threatening to pull him over the lip of the precipice and, between himself and the rock, there was a thrusting torrent which washed away everything in its path. He motioned and three or four young soldiers plunged into the mainstream and worked their way towards the rock. Inch by inch, the men edged closer, holding onto one other to prevent themselves being swept away by the current. When within ten feet of the rock, one slipped and it took all the strength of the others to prevent him plunging to destruction. The King watched as, time after time, they tried and failed until, unexpectedly, a shadow fell over him. 'I go,' said the deep voice and Khshayarsha looked up at the giant beside him. 'It is dangerous, Hegai,' said the King. The big man pulled back his shoulders and flexed the muscles in his back and bull neck. 'I go,' he insisted and strode forward into the water. 'Take a rope, Hegai,' suggested one of the men. 'We will hold the end and prevent you going over the edge. The giant turned and nodded. Within a few minutes, they had knotted a long hemp rope around his waist and he was inching into the raging water. Slowly, he pushed against the current and side-stepped towards the prone figure stretched over the rock as if in sacrifice. Suddenly, he lost his footing and slipped into the water and disappeared under the surface. The men on the bank held on tight to the rope and bore the big man's weight as he vanished over the edge. They slipped and skidded on the muddy limestone bank until several others joined in the tug-of-war with death. Gradually, Hegai was hauled back up and he hung onto the rock to rest. 'You pull now!' he shouted and swung his great body out across the foaming brink. Several times, they tried the manoeuvre until, with a gasp, he clutched hold of the slippery rock and looped the rope over it. It was a mistake. Under the weight of two, it shifted and, before he could react, the young child was tipped into the frothing torrent. Hegai let go of the rock and grabbed the long hair in passing. He swung the child round and held it with his strong legs as he fought for breath. Slowly, Hegai hoisted the child into the crook of his arm and then looked round at the situation he was in. Whilst holding on to the limp form, he had only one arm free and it had taken both his hands to get to where he now was. He was stuck at the end of a rope while the icy flood waters from the snow melt of the Zagros Mountains cascaded over them both. The King was quick to observe the predicament of his senior eunuch. 'You men. Move further round and hold the rope tightly. We are going to swing them in to the side.' Men nodded and moved, others arriving to tie more ropes to the first. The King slithered down the side of the waterfall and raised his arm in signal. The first men let go of their line and the mighty Hegai swung like a pendulum across the main body of water. Gradually, the men hauled and pulled until, with a great cry, Hegai hurled himself onto the cliff path. For one dreadful moment, Khshayarsha was sure he had lost them both. However, he had underestimated the strength of the big man who pulled himself to safety and lay, panting, on the cliff path. The King was the first on the scene and he gently turned the child over onto her back. 'Why,' he said with feeling. 'It is a young girl and she is beautiful.' 'She may also be badly hurt,' said the Captain of the Guard. 'With your permission, highness, I will have the men take her to Haman.' The King stood up and nodded. He had seen a great many women and girls in his life and, already, he had gathered a harem of a dozen or more concubines from Babylon in addition to his own queen, Amestris. However, young though she may still be, this child already had the basis for much more beauty than all of them put together. As he watched, the procession made its way back to the camp and the girl was placed in front of the Magi. 'Leave me,' Haman told the soldiers. 'Oil and balsam,' he commanded the servants and, several minutes later, she lay before him as he examined her carefully. The King raised one eyebrow in a request for diagnosis. 'There would appear to be no bones broken, my Lord King. However, the girl has been badly hurt here,' he pointed to her lower ribs and then her flat belly, 'And here.' 'Can you heal her?' 'I know not how long she has been in the water. I would think most of the night and who knows what damage the cold may have done to her? Additionally, she may be damaged inside. I cannot tell until she wakes and can tell me where the pain is.' 'You can save her life?' Haman shrugged. 'She is in the hands of Zurvan, the god of time and destiny. I will do only what I can.' Khshayarsha smiled. 'The gods are with us, my friend. Have we not saved her from Azhdahak, the dragon of the deep? Mithra will be generous and spare her life so that she may serve me at Shushan the Castle.' 'We have to consider how she came to be in the river, Highness; where she came from.' 'You are right.' He turned to a guard. 'Send Artabanus to me at once.' The soldier left and, a few moments later, a man of around fifty entered in the uniform of a High General. 'My Lord King?' 'Send scouts to search upstream. The girl's family must be somewhere nearby. They will be missing her. Artabanus nodded. 'It shall be done.' He left to give the order. 'Well?' said the King to Haman who was now carefully rubbing soothing balsam into the skin of the girl's belly. 'I cannot tell, highness. She is starting a fever.' 'How soon will you know?' 'Not today,' Haman replied. 'I ask your permission to remain here with her while you continue your journey to Shushan.' 'We will all wait.' 'With respect, Highness,' the Magi grovelled. 'You are expected. The Queen will have arranged a great banquet for you.'The mention of Queen Amestris caused Khshayarsha to stiffen. His marriage had been a political one, arranged by his father in an effort to keep the peace with the Babylonians. He had tried to live up to his responsibilities not only as ruler but also as husband, but Amestris continually flaunted her acquired position, often to the detriment of the Empire. One day, he thought to himself, that woman will go too far. Khshayarsha looked down at the child with sadness. 'She is so like my own daughter, Haman. Do everything you can for her.' 'I will treat her as if she was one of your own children, my Lord King.' Khshayarsha smiled and laid his hand on Haman's shoulder. 'I have total confidence in you.' 'My Lord King. May that always be true. I will serve you with honour as I did your father.' The King watched him working and asked, 'Are there many as loyal as yourself?' 'I regret, not many, Your Highness. There are Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, and Tarshish of the Persians as well as Meres and Marsena of the Medes. They would each serve you unto death.' 'Then they will be my advisors in Shushan.' 'By the law of the Achaemenids, you will need seven.' 'You, my friend, will lead them as my Chief Advisor, my Prime Minister.' Haman bowed to hide his sly smile of triumph. 'I am honoured, Sire. What of Hegai?' 'Hegai is no longer eunuch of the concubines. I shall give that position to Sha-ashgaz. For his bravery today, Hegai shall become eunuch only to the Queen and her daughters.' Haman bowed. 'It shall be as you have spoken, my Lord King.' The King left and Haman and his assistants continued to minister to the girl as she lay on the couch. Outside, the hustle and bustle of an army getting ready to march sounded across the narrow valley. In the midst of the preparations, several riders drew up and prostrated themselves before Khshayarsha. 'We have found the remains of a wagon on the road from Babylon, my Lord King. It has been recently burned by fire and there are two bodies inside it.' The King's heart grew sad. 'The child's parents perhaps?' The Captain nodded. 'I fear so, Sire. The man looked as if he had been struck down with a sword but the woman...' 'Go on, man.' 'She... she had been tied for rape.' The King's anger flared. 'Who would do such a thing?' The Captain looked down. 'I can vouch for my men, Sire. Not one of them would do such a thing in peace time.' 'I need to know,' roared the King. He called for the Commander of the Armies. 'Artabanus, investigate this matter fully. I will not rest until the perpetrators of this evil crime are brought to justice.' He turned to Haman. 'Let it this day be written into the law of the Persians and Medes. Whoever did this foul deed shall pay by being dismembered and his house will become a public privy. From now on rape within the city limits or even outside in peacetime is punishable by death.' 'Sire, by Achaemenid tradition, once a law has been written it cannot be changed.' The King turned on his Chief Advisor. 'You would presume to change my law?' Haman drew himself erect. 'Never, Highness. You are the Ahasuerus, King of Kings. Your word is the word of Lord Ahura-Mazda.' The King relaxed. 'I confess I am upset over this matter.' 'My Lord King,' soothed the Magi. 'I feel as you do.' Khshayarsha glanced down at the prone form in front of him. 'If I had the guilty ones before me now, I would give them to Hegai who, I am sure, would tear them apart with his bare hands.' | ||||
 CHAPTER
TWO
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