The Queen of Sparta (29 page)

CHAPTER 37

ARTABAZ’S REVENGE

Persian Military Headquarters

Four days later

As he saw the sun set behind Byzantium across the narrow straits, Sherzada clenched his teeth in frustration. He was so close to his destination and yet reaching it seemed impossible. The Persians had been holding him in gilded captivity for more than a week. Of course, the thought of trying to swim across the straits to Byzantium often crossed his mind. But then again, he had a healthy respect for Persian archery.

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. “There you are,” said the man, in Spartan dialect. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

It was Demaratus. Though still as fit as ever, he too seemed to have aged in the last couple of years. His hair had considerably greyed, and soft wrinkles had appeared on his handsome face. “It is good to see you again. We have not seen each other since Xerxes’ departure from Greece.”

When Sherzada asked how he located him, he replied, “Artabaz is careful in that he rarely allows his guests to meet each other, but his wife, Ariadne, told me where to find you. She seems to be keeping an eye on you.”

“Have you seen Artabaz?” asked Sherzada. “And do you have any idea why he’s keeping me here?”

“His return is expected tonight,” said Demaratus. “And your present situation, I believe, has something to do with Plataea. He believes you conspired with Alexander of Macedon to have the retreating Persian force massacred at the Strymon Crossing.”

“Had I done that,” said Sherzada, “I would not have stayed behind and fought until I was captured …”

“…Only to be released unharmed by my former countrymen, the Spartans, sometime later,” interrupted Demaratus. “It looks all too suspicious, my friend.”

Demaratus continued, “Initially, the blame was directed at Prince Burbaraz. Even the Great King was convinced that Prince Burbaraz was in league with his Macedonian brother-in-law and had conspired with him to destroy the Persian army. The fact that the lady Gygaea had gone missing around that time added to these suspicions. So upon his return, Prince Burbaraz was put in chains and thrown into a dungeon. But he continued to plead his innocence. Burbaraz insisted he had no contact with Alexander; he did not know where his wife was; and the only one who had warned him about the Strymon crossing was yourself.

“Xerxes wanted to execute him, but Burbaraz was one of Queen Atossa’s favourite nephews. So she interceded with her son, the Great King, to spare his life. Soon lady Gygaea also returned, apparently from Illyria where she had been with relatives. She also vouched for her husband’s loyalty. In an emotional speech before the Queen-mother and the Great King, she denounced her brother and insisted that neither she nor her husband had anything to do with the Strymon massacre. Persian intelligence could also find no evidence against Burbaraz. So he was freed, reinstated as governor, and united with his wife and children.

“In fact, everyone has forgotten the whole affair, except for Artabaz. The truth, my friend, is that Artabaz is still obsessed with Plataea – and Mardonius. You know better than I how Mardonius tried to humiliate Artabaz publicly, accusing him of cowardice. The greatest insult you could give a man like him. Then, to add near death to insult, Artabaz would have died at the Strymon had he not got the warning from Prince Burbaraz. So you can imagine his anger.

“Artabaz has always blamed Mardonius not just for the defeat at Plataea but for the entire botched Persian invasion – a view we all share. And now Artabaz has to deal with the aftermath of the Persian disaster in Greece. He resents cleaning up Mardonius’ mess.”

They soon arrived at the Persian camp. “Ironic, is it not,” asked Sherzada, “that I who fought for them stand accused of treason, while you who betrayed them walks around freely?”

Demaratus laughed. “Water under the bridge. Things have changed now. Whatever people like me might or might not have done in the past has been forgotten; except for Artabaz’s obsession with Mardonius.”

And amid the marching of Artabaz’s crack troops and the shouting of officers, Demaratus continued, “In fact, Xerxes has been very kind to me. He has given me a kingdom to rule freely as long as I give him the required annual tribute. And now my kingdom is threatened by Athens and its allies. I am not the only Greek ruler who fears Athenian expansion. Even some of the Ionian cities who recently won their freedom by revolting against the Persians are wary of the Athenians.

“And then there is that other Athenian fixation – democracy,” he continued. “They are trying to replace the rulers of the cities they ‘liberate’ with democracies. The Athenians claim that only democracies can support the interests of Greece, whereas oligarchies and monarchies will serve the interests of Persia. While I used to have some sympathy with that argument, I do not believe this argument any longer – nor do I trust the Athenians. They are becoming quite skillful at manipulating democracies for their own interests. Democracy or not, eventually each of these states will become subservient to the Athenian Assembly – a prospect as, or perhaps more, terrifying as being under Persian rule. So I have come to reassure Artabaz that my loyalties remain with Persia.”

“Ah, but will he believe you?”

“He has no choice. Artabaz now commands all the Persian forces in Ionia and neighbouring regions. But these are not sufficient to defend the whole of the Western Asiatic sea-board from the Hellespont to Caria against the Athenians and their allies. So he has to rely on the allies he can get along the coast. He needs people like me to create further obstacles for the Athenians.”

“And what of Pausanias? Does Artabaz need him also?”

“Pausanias is a different story,” said Demaratus. “Artabaz is willing to give Pausanias a great deal if Pausanias would offer earth and water to Xerxes. But Pausanias refuses. As a result, all he has got from Artabaz is some funds to repair his tiny fleet and hire some mercenaries for Byzantium’s defence. Artabaz has told Pausanias that more generous funds will be on hand if he formally ‘defects’ to the Persians. Pausanias continues to resist.

“You see,” Demaratus continued, “I gave up being a Spartan a long time ago, but Pausanias is still very much a Spartan. His dealings with the Persians are merely a marriage of convenience.”

Sherzada told Demaratus about his mission and how he ended up being detained on the wrong side of the Straits.

“Happy for me that you did,” said Demaratus, “but do you think you can convince a young man as stubborn as Pausanias to do the very thing he would rather die than do?”

“I can at least try,” Sherzada responded, “but only if Artabaz releases me from this wretched imprisonment.”

As they neared Sherzada’s tent, Demaratus excused himself. So, alone, Sherzada had an early, though as ever delicious, dinner, with fowl and meat cooked with exotic vegetables, fragrant rice, and several varieties of bread. Sherzada finished his meal and went to sleep. When he awoke, over him stood a familiar figure. It was Artabaz. “So good to see you again, old friend,” he said to Sherzada.

Artabaz sat down on Sherzada’s bed next to him, as the latter uncomfortably pulled himself up to a sitting position. He came straight to the point. “Ariadne tells me that you are keen on catching up with your friend Pausanias. But as you might have guessed, there is a little matter of the Strymon ambush that we need to resolve.”

Sherzada tried to plead his innocence by reminding Artabaz that the last time the two of them had seen each other was he was defending the ford at Plataea against a Spartan onslaught, but Artabaz merely smiled.

“Rumours are that you escaped from Sparta by seducing King Leonidas’ widow,” he said. “If I put that together with another rumour that you had killed Leonidas in battle earlier on, this was such an audacious act that very few people other than yourself could have pulled it off. Such is your reputation.

“But there is still a detail that does not fit,” said Artabaz. Sherzada quietly reached for the dagger he had been keeping under the sheets next to him by his pillow.

“Reliable eyewitnesses report,” continued Artabaz, “that on the night before battle, you were visited in your tent by a Macedonian officer.”

“That was not a Macedonian officer, my Lord.”

Artabaz’s angry stare told Sherzada that he did not believe him.

“It was a woman, my Lord,” Sherzada responded. “To get into my tent unnoticed she wore a Greek helmet that masked her face and wore a long cloak that covered her body. She told my officers that she was a Macedonian cavalry officer with an important message to gain access to my tent.”

Artabaz’s left eyebrow went up, he was silent for a long while … and then he laughed. “I would not have believed you were it not for your reputation. Women seem to seek you out, it seems. Be careful, my friend, they might get you killed, one day.”

After a deep sigh, Artabazus said, “excepting that one detail which you have now explained to me, I do not have any proof against you. In fact, on the contrary, I have evidence that supports your innocence.”

Sherzada’s hand moved away from his dagger. “What evidence, my Lord?”

“The word of Alexander of Macedon, no less.”

“Surely you would not believe one so treacherous as the Macedonian King?”

“I would not have,” said Artabaz. “But Alexander and I have lately reconciled. Even as we speak, his forces are once again massing on the Strymon border, this time to attack the Athenians.”

Sherzada could not hide his astonishment, and so Artabaz went on. “Let me tell you what I have to deal with. I have less than forty thousand troops and I have to defend Phrygia, Aeolia, Ionia, Caria, and Bythinia, not to mention Rhodes and the other Aegian islands still in our possession against the relentless attacks of the Athenians and their allies. I have asked King Xerxes for reinforcements but none are available; and moreover the treasury is nearly empty. We have money to bribe some of our foes, but not enough to raise and maintain armies. The fleet I have asked for will not be ready for another ten years. I simply don’t have enough forces to repel the Athenians. I need to find creative means to defend Persian territories. And that is where Ariadne comes in. She is trying to create a spy network similar to Datis’ for me.

“However, my problem is Thrace. The Athenians are there in strength. Cimon, the son of Miltiades, is also the nephew of the King of Thrace. So he is using his blood ties with Thrace’s king to build up local support as well. Another Athenian fleet has been sighted near here, apparently closing in on Byzantium. But I can do nothing to stop it.

“Pausanias, unfortunately, will not be able to keep the Athenians at bay much longer. Once the Athenians take both Byzantium and Eion, Thrace will be theirs. And then they will try to force their way on to the Asiatic side – in fact, the very spot you and I are standing on right now. If they succeed, Persia will lose this entire sea-board.

“And that is where Alexander of Macedon comes in. Alexander has long claimed Thracian soil as part of his kingdom. Now that Persia has all but evacuated Thrace and the Athenians are stepping in to fill the vacuum, Alexander has become alarmed. He sees his former allies – in fact, his favourite former allies – the Athenians, as a threat to his domain. So he has decided to attack them to take back what he thinks is his. He is here right now, asking for more money and weapons, which I shall give him, even if it causes me to empty my war chest. He has already cut off the Athenian land supplies along the Strymon border. His troops are getting into position as we speak, to attack them across the river. While I don’t expect Alexander to take all of Thrace, I do expect him to stop the Athenians. Which is why I am helping him.

“When I asked Alexander about your alleged role in his earlier Strymon attack against us, he was very surprised that you knew about it at all. As far as he was concerned, it was a secret he had not shared with anyone beyond his inner circle in Macedon. And you have just clarified the story about the ‘Macedonian officer’ in your tent. So, my friend, I owe you an apology.”

Finally, he would be free to leave.

“One last thing,” said Artabaz. “The recent defeat that we suffered would not have happened were it not for Mardonius. We would not have invaded Greece in the first place and suffered the humiliation that we did.

“But this past week, Themistocles, Pausanias, and Alexander have all been at my court asking for my help. These are the best of the Greeks – their heroes. Yet each one of them bowed low to me. Each one of them promised to fight their former allies on my behalf. Though Leotychidas, the victor of Mycale, is not here, he has been my best agent and has taken the lion’s share of my bribes. The greatest of the Greeks are doing my bidding and are helping to sow chaos in Greece. I have thus avenged Persia for its defeats at Salamis, Plataea, Mycale and the Strymon. Pity the nation that has such heroes; and pity the heroes that have such a nation.” Artabaz smiled a broad satisfied smile as he turned and walked out of the tent.

Sherzada could now finish his journey. His only hope was to reach Pausanias in time.