Son of the Star, born of the Mountain Alexander the Great

She threw red eyes at him, and smiled a little:

“Then, okay, but after a year I won’t be able to, and I stroked my stomach,” it is better in two.

– Here, and agreed, said the delighted young man that his wife stopped crying.

Nearh rose along the gangway on the ship, the servant was already on board, the sinks untied the ropes, and the boat prepared to drag the ship to the raid. The young man saw his father waving his hand, and he wanted something good, and his mother and wife waved their handkerchiefs, in memory about Athena-Elicia, covered with its cover of the Hellenes, as a sign of its protection, and the wilted sea. His ship, “Horse of the Sea”, went to the raid and dismissed the sail, the wind was fair, and drove the ship driven by an experienced pilot, to the north, to the new, unexplored distance, leaving the beloved city astern. The voyage took place in good weather, but Nearh did not immediately get used to the shuttering, at first it was swaying well when the ship dived down, and then climbed the wave upwards, the sailors improperly joked at it, an inexperienced navigator. Soon the helper took him into training, and continued the instructions of Androtim, taught how to keep the ship in different directions of the waves, so that the sea would not hit the side of the ship, how to navigate the ship through the stars at night. Here the young man was simpler, the constellations, their names, his wife forced him to learn when he was studying in the Cave of Idea. The helmsman, he is the captain, bore a name very suitable to him – Navkratios, it was a strong, forty year old man with a small beard, which he wore, just not to shave. The servant of the Nearhs bore a good swim, and he and the sailors were addicted to catching tuna, in which he showed himself to be a master, prepared the bait, and deftly hooked the fish on the hook with a net. The fish was cooked when the ship pestered into the small coves of the Cycladic islands, past which they walked. At sea, there were other ships that went past them, some to Athens, some to Eritrea, and some to Megaras or Byzantines. Soon Skyros appeared, where there is also Mount Olympus, this is the place where the legendary Achilles was hiding and where she found the death of the hero Theseus, and from this island to Euboea stages, some of the initiated believed that this was the island of Scherias, the island of Blessed. Half of the way was covered, and now Navcratios was heading along the coast of Euboea, just in those places where the fleet of Xerxes was plowing the waters of the Aegean Sea. Sometimes the helmsman called Nearh to the helm, he would have breathed, and the young man happily took control of the ship, he liked how every movement of the ship was given, the waves pushed against the side, the rolls from waves to waves, and the salt spray that sometimes but ve was equally sad about mother and father, and about Kallifen, whom he left shortly after the wedding. Day went by, and they went around the coast of Euboea, passed by Halkidiki, and approached the mouth of Strymon. The river was divided into many branches, and an experienced pilot, who boarded the “Horse of the Sea”, skillfully chose the right channel, which led them to the city. The water of the river was very clean, although it was overgrown with a cane, and the current was weak, so it was not hard for sailors to climb up the river bed at oars. The crew of the ship saw the already famous Golden Mountains of Pangeon, which gave fabulous wealth to the Macedonian king Philip. Twenty stages separated them from Amphipolis, and the ship overcame them in an hour. They arrived safely, so Nearh watched the unloading of goods into Androtim’s proxenos warehouses, the sailors worked efficiently, used tackles in the work, hooking nets with the goods, and dropping the harbor to the ground, so the proxenos servants didn’t have to grunt, and the documents were drawn up, and the transaction was completed, and a part of the money remained with the young man, and part of the income of Navcratius had to bring a Cretan father, and in Sast they bought goods in Amphipolis, it was shert, skin, the famous Macedonian honey. In the meantime, Nearh wrote two letters to his father and wife.

“Callifene from Nearch hi.

Beloved wife, I got to Amphipolis well, on the way I saw a lot of interesting things, delivered the goods, and bought what was ordered for my father. You, as a Cretan girl, you know, the magic of the sea. Sorry you are not with me, and it would be even better. Narch.”

“Androtyma from Nearchus. Father, reached Amphipolis in good order, nito did not die, the ship was intact, the goods were handed over to the proxen at an agreed price, and took the goods from him according to the list and agreed price, and send twenty minutes of silver with “Navcratia”.

Letters in which he wrote only what happened to him during the voyage, but not what was in his heart, the young man sealed it with his ring and gave it to the captain, and gave him also ten drachmas for the writings to the captain.

It took several hours, and soon the ship was ready to sail to Crete, back to the beloved city of Lato, through the winds and expanses of the sea.

Proksen was called Athenaeus, and he took Nearh to his home to spend the night, and the young man and his servant, Frig, who was loaded with packs, set off. Gates passed, the proxen interchanged with the guards, and the travelers moved further along the street surrounded by a deaf fence of estates on all sides. He conducted the host and the guest to the garden, where everything was covered for dinner, Nearh, walking through the house, but did not notice anything special, an ordinary house, from several rooms, with a tiled roof, made of clay and covered with clay, with a small garden for servants, and a pair of outbuildings, everything is like everywhere in Hellas.

– Pass, Nearh, I will introduce you to my wife, Aglaya, and to the daughters Antus and Diante and Chrysante.

“Take me hostess at home,” Nearh said, bowing, “Your names fully correspond to your beauty,” the young man bowed his head once more, the little girls giggled rather and hid behind each other, Aglaya smiled modestly.

– Come in, sit down, young man. Shared a meal with us, invited him to Athena, Nearh, first we eat on the dining-bed, gave presents to the children and the wife of the proxen, these were ointments and rubbing from Crete, they were very much appreciated, and wooden dolls of very good work in beautiful dresses prepared it caring Kallifena, and once more, Nearh remembered her with warmth. Homework was very happy with the gifts, and the girls lost all interest in the guest, and fled to the nursery, to consider the presents. The owner of the house with visible pleasure watched this action, and after waiting for his wife to leave, and the servant began to pour wine into cups and laid out the treat, he said:

– It is unlikely that Aristodim came up with gifts, which means that you are very lucky with Your wife, Nearh, – he said holding a silver cup in his hand, – if you had not been a wife, forgive my bluntness, you would only take one of your daughters, daughters of the youngest eight, just someone would have liked it when they grew up, “he added laughing,” but it’s not for nothing that they married you, “he looked around the guest again,” well, sorry, he saw that Nearh was all right, and his lips were tight “In line, you can eat better, here’s a beautiful eel, and our wine is not bad,” he added. Liu as a sign of worship, and the Cretan did, too. Nearh ate fish with gusto, on the ground there is still much easier, and the wine was not bad.

– Tomorrow you will go to Pella with a caravan, and bought a horse for you and a mule for a servant.

“Thank you, I will give the money now,” replied Host Nearch.

– Not necessary, your father has already paid for everything before. He and you paid for the house in Amphipolis, if you want, look at the house nearby, bought it, because you will be at the court of the prince, but your house is necessary for the person of your position.

– Thank you, I agree. Tomorrow I’ll come. And bought the servants? – he said laughing

– This is your wife, clever-prudence thought about everything. And about the manor, and about the servants, about everything. There is even a well in the house, it is a rarity here.

Néarh just sat with his head down, and a faint grin touched his lips, which one he is still unreasonable compared to his wife.

“Okay, Proxen, I will try to do everything as it should for my family,” answered the young man, and Athens clapped his shoulder approvingly, touching the bracelet,

– What have you got? – Proxen was surprised,

– Who are you? At sixteen?

Nearh instantly jumped off the bed, being next to the owner of the house, changed in the face of fear,

“Swear, Proxen, you know my father, it’s profitable for you to trade with us, and we never lied to you, it’s not evil for you or the royal family, I swear to you by Ullis – the Savior and Elicia the defender,” and then Nearch cut himself hand and dropped a drop of blood on the ground as a sign of oath. – Do you believe me?

– I believe and I swear by the gods – Olympians, that I will not reveal your secret, – replied that, – so you are a priest, and also an initiate? In your years? he said in a whisper.

– So it happened. Except you, no one has figured it out yet, – replied with a shrug that he smokes.

“That’s fine, but it’s time to sleep, otherwise tomorrow you will be on the road,” remarked the merchant.

They parted, a servant came to escort the guest into the room, he walked with a lamp along the corridor, and opened the door, where the bed was already made, and he went to bed. The dream came immediately, even if it was in a strange house. Rustling the cicadas, the scent of the garden, the flowers and the fruits of the earth that began to ripen came to the window, the bed was excellent, and the straps were taut, the straw in the mattress was fresh, so Nearar slept well, the servant brought a jug of water and a basin that the young man would clean up, he did, called for breakfast. Breakfast was also usual – flat cakes, cheese, honey, dry apricots, washed down with diluted wine, and soon the meal was over, and Athena and his servant went on a cart to accompany Neararch to the gate of Amphipol, where a caravan was waiting for him, going to Pella. They drove past the nonarchov house, the fence was beautiful, recently whitened with lime, they knocked, the gatekeeper quickly opened it, and the married couple approached the house, Nearh greeted them, gave instructions that they would keep order, and Atheny promised to keep an eye on the property son of the archon. Soon we reached the gate, behind which a caravan was already assembled, these were three dozen mules with luggage, five carts, and ten mounted guards, two merchants and their servants. The young man took out a bow and a quiver of arrows from a bag, and the dagger hung on his belt next to the purse, and the servant was armed with a club, and he had a staff. The young Cretan man shook Athenaeus’s hand in farewell, and reminded him of the oath. The senior merchant ordered to get under way, and the travelers set off along the road. The terrain was very picturesque, drove past a lake of a large lake, the trees of the role of ze fue are lake-like than in the rest of Greece, but in fact it was not Hellas, but Thrace, and besides, it was necessary to take care not to please the robbers, but not a few of them roamed here, mostly Thracians and peons, though guard towers with several dozen garrison equestrians were built along the road, although, to be more precise, a man of thirty is no more. There were inns along the road, but it’s not too often. Eight horsemen, armed with darts and swords, moved at the head of the caravan, and a small round shield was behind each of them, then carriages moved, and behind them mules with luggage, merchants with servants drove with them, and this system Neararch with servant. We moved for several hours in a row, giving rest to the horses and people in the middle of the day, and then we went to see how it began to get dark, then they set up camp, set up carts in a circle, and the guards changed, guarding the luggage and people, and the rest quietly had supper and rest. So four days passed, during this time, Nearh managed to communicate with both merchants, they were called, no matter how ridiculous Levkon and Melon were, and I must say, their names corresponded to their appearance, Levkon was bright, and Melon had a black head of hair, they were both from Amphipolis. But the next day did not start well, and ended even worse. The servants harnessed the mules into one wagon incorrectly, tightened the clamps too much, and they became obstinate, began to harnessed to the cart, and broke the wheel, it fell to the side, the goods flew to the ground, began to collect the scattered bales, Levkon and Melon ran to deal with the disorder, and All this took a lot of time. Finally they set off, but impatient guards galloped forward, and the Thracians were ambushed, so everyone heard only the screams and neighing of horses, three of ten horsemen escaped and rode back, and at that moment fifteen lightly-armed mountaineers attacked the tradesmen. Thracians Pelttachs shouted something and darting aptly, so they killed two drivers and three servants, but Nearh quickly pulled out his bow, and remembering with gratitude the lessons of Diokles in Crete, he kissed, pulled the arrow, and one Thracian was already rolling on the grass, whirling around in terrible pain, and sending an arrow after an arrow struck four more, the other attackers hid behind a boulder fifty paces from them. And already several darts flew into Nearh, and it was very good that I noticed them in time, and they stuck into the side of the cart next to the Cretan, and one of them scratched the young arrow and cut the sleeve of the chiton.Both merchants with swords and shields crawled over to the young man, and Levkon patted him on the shoulder approvingly, leaned out from behind the wheel and received a dart in the forearm, dropping the sword from his hand and moaning deafly at the same time.

“Nearkh, you are a great shooter, you helped me a lot,” Melon said with a twisted face, “be careful, you have all hope, the servant Nearh is sitting next to them with a bunch of darts and a club.

“Things are bad, Melon, take a dart and cover yourself with a shield, you’re on the left, I’m on the right, hit the target, and hide until the Thracians walked around us, then our three mounted gallopers gallop and cut down the Thracians,” said the young man, “Come on, quickly.

One quickly lowered the arrow, another threw a dart, both of them fell, and eight enemies remained, and the Hellenes instantly fell to the ground, and the counterstrike hit only the edge of Melon’s shield, rebounding from the copper upholstery. At this time, the servant was pulling Levkon’s forearm, his face gray with pain. Three horsemen, waking up, jumped to the robbers and first threw darts, and hit the three at close range, rushed to the others with swords, but experienced mountaineers could get one of the mounted men, and he rolled to the other three, who fell into puddles of their own blood, but two mountaineers were able to hide in the thickets.

– Fine! – Levkon cried enthusiastically, taking the dart in his hand, “Those who beat our horsemen will come running now,” Melon sighed with a twisted face, and a battle chill began to beat him.

– The servants got ready for a fight, managed to arm themselves, and our horsemen must be hidden behind a boulder. And the carts move, because of them, we stand against the fights, said Nearh.

“Well done, boy,” Melon praised him, and quickly began ordering carters to make a barricade of carts, the servants immediately began to do what was required.

Suddenly the sound of hooves on the ground was heard, fear appeared in front of the merchants, and what if it was the horse Thracians? But fate was favorable to the travelers, they were Macedonians, and in front of thirty horse-drawn, heavily armed soldiers, a young man, almost a boy, with blond hair fluttering in the wind, then told Nearh that this was Alexander.

At the court of Alexander

– Greetings, guests! I am glad to see you here, and you probably even more than me, but I came to meet Nearch, a Cretan appointed to me in retinue! I hope he is alive and I was on time! – loudly and distinctly, as before the formation of troops the prince said. Meanwhile, the horsemen of his retinue, scattering like a fan and combing the neighborhood.

– I’m here! – exclaimed Nearh, removing the bow in the fire and throwing it with the quiver behind his back, came forward, Alexander seeing him immediately dismounted, and the tall and handsome young man, as it became known later, Gefestion, sitting astride, took his horse by the bridle.

– Hello, Nearh, I-Alexander (then his name was a childish name, but it was forgotten), the son of Philip, Argead. Are you from Crete?

Yes, from Crete, I am the son of Archon Androtima from the city of Lato, arrived in your retinue in pursuance of the will of the gods.

“Yes, all Cretan sorcerers,” he said, smiling, and slightly tilting his head to the left. He walked leisurely to the boulder, inspecting the dead and wounded Thracians lying in the grass. He was followed by ten people on horseback.

– Huckers! Servants here, bandage the wounded! “And he leaned toward one, a red-haired freckled Thracian, who held his thigh pierced through with a Cretan arrow.

– You are a great archer, Nearh, but what kind of a doctor are you? Come here, let’s tie up the guy, – he called the new officer, he looked doubtfully at Hephaestion, he just shrugged his shoulders, it could be seen that he was familiar to him.

– Go, come here Nearh, I do not finish captives, bring a clean cloth and take the vinegar.

Nearh took the required things in the wagon and walked over to the prisoner already seated on the grass, the prince already cut his trouser leg with a knife, and taking a flask of vinegar, soaked the cloth in it, wiped the injured place, saw that it wasn’t offended, the sides of the thigh slightly pulled the arrow

– Do you have Scythian tips? Lobed? Hope without unnecessary thorns? he asked, and the Cretan man only nodded in response, supporting the wounded man’s leg.

“Hold tight,” and said something to the prisoner in Thracian, which tightly squeezed his jaws, and the prince cautiously, but quickly pulled on the wound canal, the wounded man gasped, and leaned on Nearchus, but he deftly picked up thick tissue on the wounds, and became firmly and skillfully bandaged, so that the blood quickly ceased to flow.

“He is yours,” the prince nodded to his new Ethera, “It’s good that I didn’t want to finish him off, I don’t like it.” Then he will swear to you, and you will have a great squire. Look at the rest, can anyone help! – He shouted, – and the servants of the merchants rushed to perform.

“King, take the Thracians yourself, you saved us, they are yours,” said Levkon and Melon,