CHAPTER 16
It was full dark as I made my way back down to the camp that Philip had set up on the battlefield. Men were still carrying the bodies of the slain to the funeral pyres dotting the plain; others were stacking the armor and weapons they had collected.
Pausanias cast a baleful eye at me as I showed up before the cook fire in front of his tent.
“Where’ve you been, Orion? The king assigned you to young Alexandros; you don’t have leave to wander wherever you choose.”
“I was communing with the gods,” I said drily.
“Never mind that,” he snapped. “Your post is at Alexandros’ side. Find him and stay with him.”
“Yes, sir.”
He softened somewhat. “I hear you did well in the battle. Have something to eat before you go on duty again.”
I was not hungry, but I thanked him and sat by the fire. Women camp-followers had shown up, and one of them was cooking for us. She was middle-aged, missing several teeth, but some of the guardsmen were already ogling her. After a bit more wine she would look ravishing.
I gnawed on a leg of goat, took a cup of wine, and then went to the river to clean the blood and grime of battle off me. Within the hour I was presentable enough to report for duty. I went searching for Alexandros.
All of the generals, I was told, were at Philip’s tent, enjoying the fruits of victory. Alexandros was considered a general now. He had commanded the cavalry that had struck the crushing blow of victory.
There was much wine at Philip’s tent. And the women pouring it were young and slim and smiling. Alexandros sat in a corner of the tent, his wine cup untouched on the ground beside his chair. Parmenio was lurching after one of the young wine pourers. Antipatros snored loudly on his chair, head thrown back and arms hanging almost to the ground.
Philip was joking with Antigonos and a few of the younger officers. Alexandros’ Companions were nowhere in sight.
I went to the prince. “I am reporting for duty, sir.”
He gave me a wan smile. “I won’t need a bodyguard this night, Orion. I’m more in danger from boredom than anything else.”
“I will stand watch outside the tent, then.”
He nodded.
“Do you want to leave and return to your own quarters?” I asked.
“The king has commanded me to stay with him. I am a general of the army now, he says, and I must be part of all the conferences that the generals attend.”
I looked around the tent. Philip had clutched one of the serving girls around the waist. With his free hand he was beckoning to another of them.
“It doesn’t appear that military strategy will be discussed this night,” I said.
Before Alexandros could reply, Philip staggered toward us, half supported by the two serving girls.
“We’ve won!” he said drunkenly to his son. “Why aren’t you celebrating?”
“I am celebrating, sir,” replied Alexandros. “I am with you.”
Philip grunted. “I suppose you’d rather be with your own Companions, eh? I’ll bet Ptolemaios’ got a girl or two with him.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Alexandros said.
“But Hephaistion won’t. He’ll be waiting for you, won’t he?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Taking a deep breath, Philip clutched the two young women closer to him. Then he asked, “D’you know what we’ve won today, my son?”
“A great battle.”
“No, more than that.” Philip wagged his head from side to side. “We’ve won peace, my boy. Peace! There is no other power in all of the Greek states to oppose us. Macedonia is safe now. We can dictate terms to the Athenians and stop them from nibbling at our coastal cities. The tribes of the north and those savages in the Balkans will all calm down now, because they know we can turn our full power against them whenever we choose to. We’ll have peace, Alexandros, for the first time since I took the throne.”
Alexandros’ brows knit. “But what about the Persians?”
“They’ll accept us as supreme in Europe, we’ll accept them as supreme in Asia. That will do it.”