“And the Theban Sacred Band is worth two or three times its numbers,” said Antigonos.
“We need some scouts,” Parmenio insisted.
“I’ll take a look at them,” Alexandros said.
“No. It’s too risky. You stay in camp.”
“But I can do it!”
“So could I,” said the king. “But I’m too valuable to risk on a mission that others can do as well.”
“All our necks will be beneath the blade once the battle begins,” Antipatros said, trying to make peace. “There’s no sense taking risks now that we can avoid.”
Alexandros raised no further objections, and the meeting broke up with the agreement that Parmenio would pick the men who would cautiously scout the enemy encampments.
But as I followed Alexandros and his Companions back toward their tents, Alexandros pulled me aside. Waving the others to go on, he walked me toward a small clump of trees near one of the horse corrals. I had become accustomed to the smell of the horses and their nervous snuffling when they were penned into the makeshift corrals. It was almost sundown and the horses were anticipating the arrival of the slaves with their bundles of hay.
“Orion,” said Alexandros, in a low, confidential tone, “it is clear to me that my father and his generals need information from inside the enemy’s camp.”
“I’m sure—”
He cut me off, impatient to have his say. “Parmenio’s scouts won’t be able to glean the kind of information we need.”
“Your father has spies in the enemy camp, though. Surely they’ll bring out—”
“No, no! We need someone from the army to go into the enemy camp and see for himself how they are arrayed, who their leaders are, what their plans are.”
I thought I understood what he was driving at.
“You want me to do this?”
He had to crane his neck to look up into my face. “Not exactly, Orion. I am going to do it myself.”
“You!” I was thunderstruck.
“But since my mother told me I must not go anywhere without you,” he went on, unperturbed, “you will have to accompany me.”
“But you can’t—”
“I can’t let Hephaistion and the others know; they’ll want to come with me.”
Appalled, I blurted, “You can’t go into the enemy’s camp!”
“And why not?”
“You’d be recognized! You’d be killed or captured and held for ransom. You could wreck your father’s entire plan!”
Alexandros smiled at me, pityingly. “How little you understand, Orion. I cannot be killed. Not before my time. My mother is a priestess of the Old Gods and she has prophesied that I will not die until I have conquered all the world.”
“Not all prophecies come true.”
“You doubt my mother?” he asked coldly.
I knew where that would lead, so I evaded with, “Even if you are not killed, if the enemy captures you they will hold you a hostage until your father surrenders to them.”
“In the first place, Orion, my father is more likely to be Zeus than mortal Philip. In the second place, if I am discovered I will fight to the death rather than allow myself to be captured.”
“But—”
“And since I am not destined to die until I have conquered the world,” he overrode me, “I obviously will not be killed now.”
There was no way to penetrate such logic.
“You must accompany me; that is my mother’s command.”
“And the king’s,” I reminded him. “Your father commanded me to protect you at all times.”
He laughed and headed for his tent.
CHAPTER 14
We waited until the crescent moon was setting behind the jagged mountains to the west. All our camp was asleep, except for the sentries standing muffled in their cloaks against the night’s chill.
I slipped out of my tent without waking the other men of the royal guard sleeping there, and wrapped the scabbard of my sword with a long strip of cloth as I made my way to Alexandros’ tent. Silence would be our ally, and I wanted no clink of metal to reveal our presence—either to the enemy or to our own sentries. I wore a dark woolen vest over my chiton, leaving my arms and legs free. The cool night air was no discomfort to me; I simply adjusted my body’s circulation to keep myself warm.