Adventure Story Page #4

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to save our feelings?

Is he really alive and safe?

I can assure you of that, madam.

I saw him escape myself.

Escape?

Well, in that part of the field,

he was outnumbered.

I see. Thank you, sir.

Your Majesty...

Hey, you in there.

-Yes, master?

-Find out if my bath is ready yet.

(HERALDS PLAYING)

Yes?

All is in readiness

for Your Imperial Majesty.

Come and watch me take my imperial bath.

I may not have another until Egypt.

-Egypt?

-Yes.

We shall liberate

Darius's richest province,

hit him where it hurts.

Well, don't you think

the crown of pharaoh would suit me?

(LAUGHING)

Cilicia, Syria and now Egypt!

The envoy of Alexander,

king of Macedon, awaits your pleasure.

Let him approach.

Darius, you should receive him

in the throne room in state.

I'm tired of state.

You should have had yourself

announced by your titles.

My titles are not very likely

to impress the envoy

of the man who is already

usurping most of them.

All the more reason to give yourself

your rightful style.

Is master of the world

still my rightful style?

Certainly.

With my wife, my daughter

and my mother in his power.

They will be returned to you soon.

At the price of nearly half the world

of which you say I'm still the master.

The offer was far too generous, sir.

If you remember,

I spoke against it in the council.

Yes, yes, you did, Bessus, you did.

But then, you see,

it was not your family who were captive.

(HERALDS PLAYING)

-You are welcome to Babylon, sir.

-Thank you.

-You arrived last night, I understand.

-That is so.

-You came direct from Egypt?

-Yes, in 11 days.

You travel very fast.

-Your king is in Memphis?

-No, in Alexandria.

-Alexandria?

-Yes.

It's a new city

we are building on the Nile delta.

It's going to be the greatest port

in the world.

Ah, I should have thought

you would have heard of it.

No, my spies seem to have been very lax.

Where is the exact site?

Do you know Egypt?

You are speaking, sir,

to the pharaoh of Egypt.

Oh, yes, of course.

That was one of your titles, wasn't it?

Yes, it was.

-Where is the site?

-Between Lake Mareotis and the sea.

An admirable choice.

Well, now, sir,

I won't detain you any longer.

No doubt before our conference tomorrow

you have many matters

to discuss with your staff.

My staff? I haven't any staff.

-You're alone?

-Of course.

But these negotiations,

involving, as they do,

the questions of boundaries,

may be very complicated.

I don't think

you'll find the negotiations

as complicated as you think.

I see.

What's more, I have to start back

for Egypt tomorrow at first light,

so I think, with your permission,

I shall come to business straightaway.

-You have my permission.

-Thank you.

King Alexander replies to your

tenders of peace in the following way.

Regarding the ransom

of 10,000 camel loads of gold,

which you offer for your family,

he says that he is

in no immediate need of money,

but that, if he were, he would find

some other means of acquiring it.

-By robbery?

-By conquest.

DARIUS:
Go on.

Regarding the suggestion you make

of a possible future marriage

between your daughter and himself,

he thanks you, but asks me to state

that should he ever consider

making such a match,

it would certainly not occur to him

to ask his father-in-law's consent.

By the Gods, you're a brave man

to come here on such a mission!

Bessus.

-Go on, sir.

-Thank you.

Finally, regarding the offer you make

of Egypt, Asia minor and the lands

west of the Euphrates,

he thanks you again

but finds it hard to understand

why you should have troubled yourself

to offer him what is already his.

Should you on the other hand offer him

the lands of the Persian empire

east of the Euphrates, he will accept.

In addition,

he asks that you surrender

your person to him

and desires me to assure you that,

should do so,

no harm will come to you.

On any terms other than these,

war between you must continue.

He is demanding that I surrender

my whole empire without condition?

The condition is that

you, yourself, will come to no harm.

Come to this parapet, sir.

Look down on the plain.

-What do you see?

-An army camp.

-The size of it doesn't impress you?

-Mere size very rarely does.

I have over half a million men

under arms,

they've been in training all the winter.

More are joining the colours every day.

Does your king really believe

that, if he crosses the Euphrates

in the heart of this vast continent,

thousands of miles from his base

and meets such an army on

the great plains of Babylon,

does he really believe that

he would have more than one chance in a

million of getting back to Greece alive?

Evidently, he must.

Or I should hardly have been

commissioned to bring you this message.

And what answer shall

I take back to him?

Tell him this.

My offer to him was fair,

sincere and generous.

I made it for one reason only.

Because he holds in his possession

the three people

who are dearest to me in all the world

and without whom I cannot live.

For their sake,

I was prepared to betray my country

and make a dishonourable peace.

Now he has relieved me of the choice

and I feel strangely glad.

I shall fight Alexander

without mercy for him

or thought for my family.

And, of course, I shall win.

For it cannot be otherwise.

My chamberlain will escort you

back to your quarters.

One moment, sir, before I go.

I have some painful news

that I must tell you.

Yes?

Your wife...

You had heard that she was not well?

I had heard.

I'm afraid she...

Everything that could possibly be done

for her was done.

She didn't seem to recover

as she should.

It was just a fever, that was all.

It wasn't the doctor's fault.

They said she didn't want to live.

-I see.

-I'm sorry.

I should have delivered

this news less clumsily.

I'm not used to these

diplomatic missions.

I'm commanded by His Majesty

to express his deepest sympathy for you

in your irreparable loss.

You must thank His Majesty for me.

I will.

Here are some private letters for you.

(HERALDS PLAYING)

I need hardly tell you, sir,

what I feel for you at this moment.

Thank you, Bessus.

Call the council for tonight.

-I shall decree general mobilisation.

-Yes, sir.

And training must be intensified.

We have six months

before he can cross the desert.

This time we'll take no chances.

Alexander must be killed!

PRINCESS:
The funeral was very sad

for Grandmother and me.

Mother was given all the royal honours.

Alexander was there

and he was crying dreadfully.

Afterwards he came home with us

and played games to cheer me up.

And then he came every day

after that for a week,

with a different present

for me every time.

He's so gentle and kind.

Not a bit like a soldier.

I wish he wasn't your enemy.

Otherwise you would love him, I know,

as Grandmother and I do.

What kind of a man are we fighting?

ALEXANDER:
So, gentlemen,

I don't think I need spend any more time

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