A Victor of Salamis Part 27

But well that Mardonius had deprecated the wrath of the monarch. Glaucon came with his head high, his manner almost arrogant. The mere fact that his boldness might cost him his life made him less bending than ever. He trod firmly upon the particular square of golden carpet at the foot of the dais which none, saving the king, the vizier, and the "Six Princes," could lawfully tread. He held his hands at his sides, firmly refusing to conceal them in his cloak, as court etiquette demanded. As he stood on the steps of the throne, he gave the glittering monarch the same familiar bow he might have awarded a friend he met in the Agora. Mardonius was troubled.

The supreme usher was horrified. The master-of-punishments, ever near his chief, gazed eagerly to see if Xerxes would not touch the audacious h.e.l.lene's girdle-a sign for prompt decapitation. Only the good nature of the king prevented a catastrophe, and Xerxes was moved by two motives, pleasure at meeting a fellow-mortal who could look him in the eye without servility or fear, delight at the beautiful features and figure of the Athenian. For an instant monarch and fugitive looked face to face, then Xerxes stretched out, not his hand, but the gold tip of his ivory baton.

Glaucon had wisdom enough to touch it,-a token that he was admitted to audience with the king.

"You are from Athens, beautiful h.e.l.lene," spoke Xerxes, still admiring the stranger. "I will question you. Let Mardonius interpret."

"I have learned Persian, great sir," interposed Glaucon, never waiting for the bow-bearer.

"You have done well," rejoined the smiling monarch; "yet better had you learned our Aryan manners of courtliness. No matter-you will learn them likewise in good time. Now tell me your name and parentage."

"I am Glaucon, son of Conon, of the house of the Alcmaeonidae."

"Great n.o.bles, Omnipotence," interposed Mardonius, "so far as n.o.bility can be reckoned among the Greeks."

"I have yet to learn their genealogies," remarked Xerxes, dryly; then he turned back to Glaucon. "And do your parents yet live, and have you any brethren?" The question was a natural one for an Oriental. Glaucon's answer came with increased pride.

"I am a child of my parent's old age. My mother is dead. My father is feeble. I have no brethren. Two older brothers I had. One fell here at Sardis, when we Athenians sacked the city. One fell victorious at Marathon, while he burned a Persian ship. Therefore I am not ashamed of their fates."

"Your tongue is bold, h.e.l.lene," said the good-natured king; "you are but a lame courtier. No matter. Tell me, nevertheless, why you churlishly refuse to do me reverence. Do you set yourself above all these princes of the Persians who bow before me?"

"Not so, great sir. But I was born at Athens, not at Susa. We h.e.l.lenes pray standing even to Zeus, stretching forth our hands and looking upward.

Can I honour the lord of all the satrapies above the highest G.o.d?"

"A nimble tongue you have, Athenian, though an unbending neck." Xerxes sat and stroked his beard, pleased at the frank reply. "Mardonius has told how you saved his and my sister's lives, and that you are an outlaw from Athens."

"The last is all too true, great sir."

"Which means you will not pray your G.o.ds too hard for my defeat? ha?"

Glaucon blushed, then looked up boldly.

"A Persian king, I know, loves truth-telling. I still love and pray for Athens, even if unknown enemies conspired against me."

"Humph! You can learn our other virtues later. Are you blind to my power?

If so, I pity more than I blame you."

"The king is kind," returned Glaucon, putting by a part of his hauteur. "I would not anger him. I only know he would rather have men say, 'Xerxes conquered a proud nation, hard to subdue,' than, 'He conquered a feeble race of whining slaves.' "

"Excellent! In all save your vain confidence of victory, you seem wise beyond your youth. You are handsome. You are n.o.ble-"

"Very n.o.ble," interposed Mardonius.

"And you saved the lives of Mardonius and Artazostra. Did you know their n.o.bility when you rescued them?"

"Not so. I would not let them drown like sheep."

"The better, then. You acted without low motive of reward. Yet let the day never come when Xerxes is called 'ungrateful' for benefits done his servants. You shall come to love me by beholding my magnanimity. I will make you a Persian, despite your will. Have you seen battle?"

"I was too young to bear a spear at Marathon," was the unflinching answer.

"Learn then to wield it in another army. Where is the archsecretary?"

That functionary was present instantly. Mardonius, taking the whispers of the king, dictated an order which the scribe stamped on his tablet of wet clay with a rapid stylus.

"Now the chief proclaimer," was the king's order, which brought a tall man in a bright scarlet caftan salaaming to the dais.

He took the tablet from the secretary and gave a resounding blow upon the bra.s.s gong dangling from his elbow. The clatter of wine cups ceased. The drinkers were silent on pain of death. The herald sent his proclamation in stentorian voice down the hall:-

"_In the name of Xerxes the Achaemenian, king of kings, king of Persia, Media, Babylon, and Lydia; smiter of the Scythians, dominator of the Indians, terror of the h.e.l.lenes; to all peoples of the world his slaves,-hear ye!_

"Says Xerxes the king, whose word changes not. Forasmuch as Glaucon the Athenian did save from death my servant and my sister, Mardonius and Artazostra, I do enroll him among the 'Benefactors of the King,' a sharer of my bounty forever. Let his name henceforth be not Glaucon, but Prexaspes. Let my purple cap be touched upon his head. Let him be given the robe of honour and the girdle of honour. Let the treasurer pay him a talent of gold. Let my servants honour him. Let those who mock at him be impaled. And this I proclaim as my decree."

What followed Glaucon was too bewildered to recall clearly. He knew that the archchamberlain lifted the great jewel-crusted hat from the king's head and set it on his own for an instant, that they brought him a flowing purple robe, and clasped about his waist a golden belt, every link set with a stone of price. The hall arose _en ma.s.se_ to drink to the man whom the sovran delighted to honour.

"Hail! Thrice hail to the Lord Prexaspes! Justly rewarded by our gracious king!"

No man refused his plaudit, and Glaucon never knew how many envious courtiers cheered with their lips and in their hearts muttered dark things against "the manner in which his Majesty loved to play the G.o.d and promote this unknown h.e.l.lene above the heads of so many faithful subjects."

Glaucon had made shift to speak some words of deprecation and grat.i.tude to royalty; his bow was deeper when the supreme usher led him away from the throne than when he approached it. As he made his way out of the banqueting hall, a score of n.o.blemen, captains of thousands, over-eunuchs, and more trailed at his heels, salaaming, fawning, congratulating, offering all manner of service. Not on the days following his victory at the Isthmia had his head been in such a whirl. He hardly heard the well-meant warning which Artaba.n.u.s, the shrewd old vizier, gave as he pa.s.sed the door of the great hall.

"Play the game well, my new Lord Prexaspes. The king can make you satrap or he can crucify you. Play the game well, the stakes are high."

Neither did he hear the conversation betwixt Xerxes and the bow-bearer whilst he was being conducted away.

"Have I done well to honour this man, Mardonius?"

"Your Eternity was never more wise. Bear with his uncourtliness now, for he is truthful, upright, and n.o.ble in soul-qualities rare in a h.e.l.lene.

Give me but time. I will make him a worthy Persian indeed."

"Do not fail therein," ordered the monarch, "for the youth has such beauty, both of body and mind, I am grieved he was born in Athens. Yet there is one short way to wean him from his doomed and miserable country."

"Will Omnipotence but name it?"

"Search out for him a Persian wife, no, three or four wives-although I have heard the custom of these witless Greeks is to be content with only one. There is no surer way to turn his heart than that."

"I thank your Eternity for your commandment. It shall not be forgotten."

Mardonius bowed himself. Xerxes called for more wine. The feast lasted late and ended in an orgy.

CHAPTER XVII

THE CHARMING BY ROXANA

Glaucon's longing for the old life ebbed and flowed. Sometimes the return of memory maddened him. Who had done it?-had forged that d.a.m.ning letter and then hid it with Seuthes? Themistocles? Impossible. Democrates?-"the friend with the understanding heart no less than a brother dear," as Homer said? More impossible. An unknown enemy, then, had stolen the fleet order from Themistocles? But what man had hated Glaucon? One answer remained,-unwittingly the athlete had offended some G.o.d, forgotten some vow, or by sheer good fortune had awakened divine jealousy. Poseidon had been implacable toward Odysseus, Athena toward Hector, Artemis toward Niobe,-Glaucon could only pray that his present welcome amongst the Persians might not draw down another outburst of Heaven's anger.