Heirs of Alexandria

For 300 years it was believed Alexander the Great had no heir.

The Roman armada descends on Alexandria. Friends flee, allies bicker, and foes multiply in the night. The fragile city-state teeters on the brink of annihilation. As the naval blockade looms and palace intrigue thickens, Heron must find the heir of Alexander the Great or nothing will stop the Romans from overrunning the wondrous city.

Heirs of Alexandria

The animated figures stand
Adorning every public street
And seem to breathe in stone, or
Move their marble feet.
—Pindar (trans. Rev. C. A. Wheelwright - 1830)

An hour after the last curfew bell had rung, an Alexandrian soldier died on a secluded street corner near the Canopian Gate. Radric regretted the necessity of it, but the individual he was going to meet had requested complete secrecy.
The soldier hadn't been much older than a boy and had been easy to take, not that an older one would have caused him trouble. Now maybe one of those Northmen would have given him pause. They were tall, broad-shouldered, and coarse like an animal.
A few days ago, Radric had watched a trio of the Northmen eating and drinking in an outdoor café. They'd broken a half-dozen earthen mugs in their revelry and scared off the clientele. He saw how the citizens of Alexandria watched them. They won't survive much longer, not even with the miracles of the Michanikos giving life to metal.
A week before that, Radric had paid a man a ha'penny to examine one of the mechanicals that made the miracles run. He'd never been one for the gods, but he wasn't sure about a device that didn't serve any. The heavens were full of jealous folk.
Still, he couldn't understand how it worked, either. The man he'd paid told him that it was fed with wood and fire and water, and breathed like a dragon when it was full.
A brief search of the boy soldier's pockets returned more than a few ha'pennies and a Roman denarius. Radric bit down on the coin and shoved it into his purse. The irony of the Alexandrian soldier carrying a Roman coin amused Radric.
The boy soldier was Egyptian with a smooth, hairless face. Probably drawn to the Northman's army because of the miracles. The Egyptians were a superstitious lot. They saw favor in the new Satrap, but if the winds soured, he'd be dead before dawn.
Radric tucked the body into the dark shadows of the alley and moved to a more advantageous position. It was a pity the boy had chosen this alleyway to take a piss.
That was the problem Radric saw with the Northman's army. Too many boy soldiers and not enough of those steam dragons or Northmen. The Roman army supposedly had a million men. Words were thick that they'd be marching on Alexandria by the spring.
A shape bled around the corner toward his position. The Noric steel blade slipped into his hand in readiness. The hood was pulled high and over the face, but Radric could tell it was a slender person and most likely his contact.
"Aite," whispered the shape.
Radric was standing to the right of his contact. He could tell by the whisper that it was a woman. If it weren't for the size of the promised payment, he might have considered other entertainment for the evening.
"Hermes," was his reply.
Another reason he stayed his blade was the choice of meeting word. Hermes was the messenger god of travelers and thieves. Radric always gave a ha'penny at a temple of the trickster god. The goddess Aite was unfamiliar to Radric, but now he knew the reason for the choice.
"Have you been seen?"
Radric's own hood was up which hid his scowl. He wanted to hiss back - of course not - but then he remembered the soldier and stayed his tongue.
"No," he replied, resisting the urge to glance back at the body.
"Can you do it?"
The woman had a hard, but seductive voice, and Radric found himself growing excited.
"You wouldn't ask me here if I couldn't."
Radric heard the sound only a moment before it would have been too late. He yanked the woman against the wall and reflexively threw his hand across her mouth. She bit down on the meat of his palm and he had to do everything he could not to knee her in the stomach.
"Soldiers," he whispered through gritted teeth.
She stopped struggling and stayed pressed against him. The thump of soldier boots passed. In the moonless night, he saw vague shapes reflected in distant lanterns. Flashes of steel and oily leathers that absorbed light.
Radric was holding his breath, but he was also acutely aware of her soft, feminine shape. He squeezed a little tighter.
Once the soldiers were safely down the street, he loosened his grip, only to find a shiny blade tucked under his chin.
"I thought we were friends?"
"Only if you want to live your life as a eunuch."
Most folk who carried a blade didn't have the stones to use it. Except for whores, Radric didn't think a woman could. The woman didn't smell like a whore, she smelled like lilacs, in fact, but Radric didn't have any question in his mind whether or not she'd cut him from gap to gullet like a gutted fish.
"I'm strictly a business man."
Radric released his grip and the blade disappeared. As she backed away, he thought he saw a brooch beneath her cloak. It was only a glimpse, but it looked like a sunburst.
She stepped away and stared back blankly in the dark. Radric wished he could see her. He hoped she was beautiful, expected it.
"What's the job?"
"You're a messenger, right?"
Radric chuckled. "I guess that's one way to put it."
She didn't seem to agree with his sense of humor. "You take things from one location and put them in another. A simple messenger."
He perked up at the last bit. "Simple? You'd best not think my services are cheap." He found his voice rising at the end, much louder than he intended.
Then he sensed a subtle shift from the woman. "Apologies. My intent was not to insult."
But you did, he wanted to retort, but kept his mouth shut. The price for his services were not cheap, but he was low on funds, despite the denarius he got from the boy soldier. Living his lifestyle required a steady income.
"So what's the job? This delivery you want."
She shoved something into his stomach. She moved quicker than he expected. A wooden box of some sort. It fit in his hand and was rectangular. There was just enough light present that he could tell it was painted, but he could tell nothing else. Something shifted inside, maybe more than one object, or a material. Dust, maybe. Did she want a poisoning?
"You'll be taking it to the palace."
It was Radric's turn to get angry. "Palace? I may not be a simple messenger, but that's impossible. Those Northmen would cut me open and put a rat in my belly if they caught me."
"I thought you could do it?" There was a hint of playfulness in her tone that he didn't like.
"I can, but do I want to?"
"What if I can get you past the outer guards and payment is triple?"
"Triple?" When he said the word, he knew he would do it. His fee was high enough, but triple would set him up for a year. Radric thought of all the whores he could have for that fee.
But then he realized the implications of what she'd said. If she could get him in, then she was royalty of some kind, or at least a noble. And he didn't like the sound of that. Radric played the games he knew, the royal's game was not one he cared to play. For all he knew, she could be using him as bait, so she could get credit for catching him, to gain favor with the Northman Satrap they called Agog.
But triple the fee was...
"Will you do it, or not?" He could hear the finality in her tone.
"Yes," he answered as his balls cinched against his groin. Her tone and the job cured him of his lust.
"When?"
"Five days hence, mid-morning. Meet me at the Temple of Artemis near the pier and dress like a well-kept slave."
"Five days? I know what's going on in five days." Triple the fee wasn't going to be enough.
"Don't back out on me now. It's a simple job. Just a delivery."
Radric was thinking of far off cities he'd always wanted to visit when she added, "If you're not there, then I'll double what I'm paying you as a bounty on your head."
She shoved another object into his gut. Coins clinked together.
"A little upfront to keep you happy while you wait. I'll give you the rest of your instructions and your fee when I get you in. Don't forget to bring the box."
Radric opened his mouth to answer, but she was gone, like a shadow fading into the night. He'd never felt so confused by a woman in his life, another reason he stuck strictly to whores.
Five days. He knew what was going on in five days and didn't like it. He never minded being used for the right price, but he suspected that he wasn't getting paid enough, but there was no backing out now. In five days, he would make his delivery for the mystery woman, and after five days, anything could happen.