Dark Prince

'She did you both great harm, and I do not excuse it. But had she not done so then my vision could not have been realized. The strategos would not have come to the aid of my world.'

'What are you saying?'

'Let us assume that your Parmenion had never become the Death of Nations. How then could he help the Sparta of this world? He would never have come here, for there would have been no Alexander to follow, to rescue. Do you understand?'

Derae's mind reeled and she shook her head. 'Then you are saying the Tamis of my world did right? I cannot believe that!'

The older woman shrugged. 'You misunderstand me. In the context of your world she was wrong, for her actions led to the birth of the Chaos Spirit and destroyed your dreams of love. But here? Here the child may be Iskander and the hope of the Enchantment.'

'This is beyond me, Tamis.'

'It comes down to this, my dear. Every action we take has many consequences, some for good, some for evil.

Consider your own life as an example. When you were kidnapped as a young girl it brought you and Parmenion together. An evil action, but the outcome was good. And though my namesake was wrong to take you from Sparta, you became a Healer. We none of us know where our actions will lead. That is why the followers of the Source must not use the weapons of evil. Everything we do must be governed by love.'

'You think that love cannot lead to evil?'

'Of course it can. For love creates jealousy, and jealousy hate. But love also conquers, and deeds inspired by love bring harmony far more often than discord.'

'And do we deal with Philippos with love?' countered Derae.

'I do not hate him,' answered Tamis. 'I feel great pity for him. But I did not bring Parmenion here — though I could have done. Nor have I used my powers to see Philippos slain — though this also I could have done. For I do not know the will of the Source in this.'

'That sounds like evasion,' said Derae, 'for you cannot escape the simple point that my Parmenion is here, and he is a warrior. He will attempt to fight Philippos, and in that battle thousands will be slain. Surely that involves using the weapons of evil?'

The other woman nodded. 'Perhaps. But I cannot, of my will, change the world. All I can do is to maintain my own principles in the face of the world's evil. When a cancer is spreading through the body and the surgeon cuts it out, is he acting on behalf of evil? He is hurting the body and causing pain. Is that evil? All principles can be made to look foolish in the eyes of the world's wisdom. Once there was a city under siege.

The enemy King said that he would spare the city if the inhabitants took a single babe and sacrificed it to him on the battlements. Now the city could not hold against him and surely, it was argued, the slaying of a single babe would be better than seeing all the babes of the city killed when the attacker breached the walls.'

'What did they do?'

'They refused.'

'And then?'

'They were slaughtered. No one survived.'

'What is your point, Tamis?'

'That is a question for you to answer, my dear. You think them wrong?'

'I cannot say. But the babe they might have sacrificed died anyway.'

'Yes.'

'Then why did they refuse?'

Tamis sighed. 'They understood that you do not turn aside a great evil by allowing a small one to be committed. Evil grows, Derae. Give way once and you will give way again. . and again. Would you have killed the babe?'

'No, of course not.'

'Not even to save the city?'

'No.'

'Then why do you ask why they also refused?'

'Because I am used to the evil of Man and I understand the nature of selfishness and compromise. I am amazed that an entire city should exhibit such nobility of spirit.'

'They had a great leader, my dear. His name was Epaminondas and he was King Parmenion's closest friend. The people loved him for his virtue. They died for him.'

'What became of the enemy King?'

'He marches on Sparta, Derae. For the man was Philippos.'

'I will not stay to see it,' said Derae. 'I will travel south to the Giant's Gateway. I will not watch Parmenion with. .

with his wife. Nor will I wait to see him die.'

'You think he will fail?'

'How can he succeed, Tamis?'

The old woman had no answer.

* * *

Parmenion lay awake, deeply unhappy about the subterfuge. He knew himself to be an imposter, and it irked him.

Yet what choices were there? Could he say to Leonidas, 'I am not your king, but a warrior from another world'? And if he did, would he still command the Spartan army? He sat up and gazed around at the camp.

He could see Nestus, the swordsman he had slain for ordering Derae's death. And Learchus, the boy he had killed in Sparta on the night of the attack on Hermias. Here and there were other men whose faces he recalled but whose names were lost to him, vanished in some dim corridor of memory.

He stood. 'Officers to me,' he called. They rose and moved to sit in a circle around him, all of them bowing save the giant Nestus. Parmenion met the man's eyes, sensing the hostility there. Leonidas appeared from the woods and joined him. Parmenion looked at his handsome face, the tightly curled hair of red-gold, the clear blue eyes. My enemy and my friend, he thought.

'We learned a great deal,' said Parmenion, 'even though the battle was lost. Philippos is not a good general.'

'How can you say that?' asked Nestus. 'He has never lost.' There was an edge in the man's voice which was almost a sneer.

'The golden eye gives him a power to read the thoughts of his adversary. Then he reacts. Do you understand? He has no need of a battle plan. He merely thwarts the plans of others until they are overcommitted. Then he strikes.'

'How does that help us?' queried Leonidas.

'By telling us that strength merely disguises a weakness. If we can find a way to nullify his power, we can destroy him,' Parmenion told him.

'How do we do that?' asked the slender Learchus.

'I will find a way,' Parmenion promised, with a confidence he did not feel. 'Now tell me, Leonidas, how many men can we gather?'

'Men, sire? There is only the army. Five thousand.'

Parmenion fell silent. Back in the Sparta he knew there were the Sciritai, warriors from the mountains to the north-

west of the city. But did they exist here?

'If we had to assemble a force that was not purely Spartan,' he said carefully, 'where-would you look to find men?'

'There are none, sire. The Messenians have sided with Philippos. If we had time we could enlist the aid of the Cretans- but there is no time. We stand alone.'

'If every man in the city was given a sword, how many warriors would we count?'

'You mean if we armed the slaves?'

'Exactly.'

'Fifteen thousand. . twenty. But they are not warriors, they would have no discipline. And afterwards — even if we won — how would we dispossess them of those weapons?'

'One step at a time, my friend. First we must win.'

'You think the Spartarf army cannot win alone?' asked Nestus, his dark eyes angry.

'Given the right terrain, there is no force in all the world to equal us,' said Parmenion. 'But tell me, Nestus, where is such a terrain between here and Sparta? On open ground Philippos will surround us, his cavalry perhaps passing us by and raiding the city itself. And we cannot defend the city. We must bring Philippos to the battlefield and hold his entire army. We cannot do that with five thousand men.'

'Then what do we do?' Learchus demanded.

'As soon as we arrive back in Sparta you will gather all the slaves, and every Spartan man under the age of sixty-five and above the age of fifteen. Those slaves who agree to fight alongside us will be offered their freedom. Then it will be up to you to give them cursory training. We will have maybe five days, perhaps less.'