Free God of War: The Epic Story of Alexander the Great by Christian Cameron Page A

of his feat and I praised him extravagantly, both while I cooked the fish in clay and later, when my belly was full.
    Trout, rabbit – by the gods, we ate more than we ate in the pages’ mess, and we slept as long as we wanted. It makes me laugh to think of it.
    The second night, we were watching the stars come out. We’d been talking about war – as a generality.
    ‘I want to conquer Persia,’ he said, as if the stars had just told him.
    My belly was full and I was sleepy. ‘I want a cup of good wine,’ I said.
    He shook his head. ‘Don’t be an ass,’ he said. ‘Pater is not going to get the invasion together until Athens is subdued. Athens can’t be subdued until the Chersonese is cleared. The Chersonese can’t be cleared until the Athenian fleet is neutralised. The Athens fleet can’t be neutralised until Persia is conquered. Persia can’t be conquered until Athens is subdued.’
    He grinned, proud of his deliberately circular logic.
    ‘But this season he’s campaigning in Thrace, against the Scyths and the Thracians,’ I pointed out.
    Alexander laughed. ‘You know as well as I that fighting the Thracians and the Scyths is merely an extension of fighting for the Chersonese.’
    I did know that, so I laughed. ‘But we don’t have to beat Athens,’ I said suddenly.
    ‘Why not?’ the prince asked.
    ‘Athens is a democracy,’ I said.
    Alexander nodded. ‘Good point.’
    This was, I have to add, one of the chief features of discussing anything with Alexander. He was so intelligent that when you did make a good point, he always – or almost always – understood immediately, which had the boring effect of keeping the rest of us from ever getting to explain ourselves. What I had meant was, Athens is a democracy, and sooner or later one of their factions will screw up their alliance with Persia, or lose interest in the war, and then we’ll have them. And the moment I said it, Alexander understood.
    It saved time in argument, anyway. But our conversations may have seemed stilted to outsiders. The insiders – Hephaestion, Cleitus the Black, me, Craterus – we could often have whole conversations in single words.
    At any rate, he lay there and finally he said, ‘Until he defeats Athens, he can’t send all his force against Persia.’
    ‘True,’ I said.
    ‘I will need you, when I go to conquer Persia,’ he said. What he meant was, Philip will never finish with Athens, and I will have a turn.
    I laughed. But he sat up and put a hand on my arm.
    ‘I am serious. There’s only a hand of you I really trust. I need you. And to be the man I need, you must stop surrendering in contests,’ he said. ‘Here, in the woods, you kill game, you cook, you find trails, you cut bedding – you are the perfect companion, afraid of nothing, quick with good advice – but among the pages, you lie down and let lesser boys triumph over you.’
    I remember a hot flush of anger – which of us likes to have our innermost failings exposed? And the temptation to tell him that I was practising, that I meant to strike back, was like the pressure of a swollen river on a dam. But I resisted.
    ‘Aristotle has spoken to you about it,’ Alexander said.
    ‘Yes,’ I said, my voice thick. I wanted to say fuck of , or words to that effect.
    ‘Get it done. Our time is coming.’ Alexander sounded very sure of himself, but then, he always did.
    I struggled for words. But none came, and suddenly he turned to me.
    ‘I know where Calixeinna bathes,’ he said. Again, it was as if the stars had spoken to him.
    ‘You can see her naked any time you want,’ I shot out, still full of emotions.
    ‘Isn’t there something terribly . . . ignoble, in giving orders to a woman purchased for you by your mother?’ he said. He shrugged. ‘I love to look at her. She has the most beautiful body I have ever seen.’ He shrugged again. ‘But I will not order her to disrobe for me.’
    I shook my head. ‘Give her to me, then,’ I said. I