“May the blessing of God, the Almighty, the Eternal, the Ancient of Days, rest upon you!” said Belteshazzer, solemnly, laying his hands upon the Prince’s bowed head. “Remember when you come to the throne that Cyrus promised that my people should return to Jerusalem and recover their homes and property.”
“I remember, and it shall be done. Let me send guards with you beyond the camp.”
“It is needless. I shall go as I came, without the need of guards. Farewell!”
With a smile he disappeared, and the Prince was left alone, to stand awhile in deep thought and then to pace back and forth many minutes. Presently he called his orderlies and directed them to call the chief captains into council. They soon arrived, and he greeted each affectionately. When a score of them had assembled, he said:
“I have called you together to hear the orders made necessary by the death of Cambyses, King of Kings. It has become necessary for me to depart at once to Hamadan. I take with me the Imperial Guard. I leave Alyates in command of the army. He shall see to it that the King’s body is properly embalmed. It must be buried at Pasargadæ with the other Kings. Let the army march leisurely to Damascus and there halt until the orders of the new King shall have been received. Let it be known that this army stands ready to enforce obedience to the house of Achæmenius.”
Alyates, a tall, soldierly Mede, saluted and said, “Your orders shall be obeyed, my Lord Prince.”
After other suggestions concerning the movements of the army, the Prince dismissed the council and sat down to write letters to his father and to the Princess Athura. He related what he had heard from Belteshazzer concerning the false Bardya, gave an account of the death of the King, and stated his own purpose, to march at once to Hamadan and seize the impostor. He prayed that his father would declare himself King of Kings and lead an army of Persians to Hamadan at once. These letters he entrusted to Gobryas, who, with a dozen trusty men, at once set out for Persia, riding at courier speed.
At daybreak, the Prince and his ten thousand men, in light marching order, moved quietly out of the camp and proceeded to Damascus. Thence, by forced marches, they moved across the desert towards Babylon, taking for guides trusty Arab sheiks to whom Belteshazzer had commended him. Nor could the uneasy Gaumata and the scheming Patatheites, at Hamadan, discern his movements and so lay plans to intercept him. When they heard that he had started for Hamadan at the head of ten thousand Persians, they made haste to gather together an army with which to resist him, and a portion of the army was moved out towards the fords of the upper Tigris. But the Prince and his guards came not that way. It was his plan to seize Babylon and Susa and form a junction with the Persian army which he knew would march up from Persepolis.
CHAPTER XVII
THE EARLESS KING
KING HYSTASPIS, ruler of Iran under the shadow of the King of Kings, walked leisurely through the park surrounding his palace at Persepolis and meditated upon the doctrines of Zoroaster. Student and mystic, loving rather the peace and quiet of his home than the martial camp or the ruler’s throne, he found his greatest enjoyment in his beautiful park where he might be alone. Quiet walks, dreamy hours by running streams beneath shady trees, communion with the learned and wise, and meditation on the mysteries of life and of nature occupied his leisure moments. Delightful indeed were the October days. Brown and golden were the leaves where deciduous trees made ready to cast their burdens. The evergreen of pine and fir interspersed the more brilliant colors. The sky was hazy and the sunbeams, softened by shimmering mists, had lost their great heat and vivid glare.