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not despair. You will see your son again and perhaps in some not so distant future we will all be able to live in peace together.’ He embraced her and left.
    On the stairs he met Seleucus, who had been looking for him, ‘A ship has arrived from General Antipater with an urgent message. Here it is.’
    Alexander opened it and read:
    Antipater, Regent of the Kingdom, to Alexander, Hail!
    The Spartans have assembled an army and are on the march against our garrisons and our allies in the Peloponnese, but for the moment they are alone. It is vital that they remain without allies. Do as you think you must to ensure that the situation does not change, and thus I will have no need of assistance. Your mother and your sister are both well – perhaps you should consider a new match for Cleopatra. The Egyptian Sisines, the man you asked me to investigate, became a trusted servant of your mother the Queen on your father’s death.
    Take good care.
     
    ‘I hope the old man has sent you good news,’ said Seleucus.
    ‘Not quite. The Spartans are making a move and are preparing to attack us – we must remind the Athenians of their commitment. When is the audience with the delegation from their government?’
    ‘This evening. They have already handed Eumenes a note in which they request the return of the Athenian prisoners captured at the Granicus.’
    ‘They haven’t wasted any time. But I am afraid they will be disappointed. Is there anything else?’
    ‘Your physician Philip is attending to Darius’s wife during her pregnancy, but he is very worried and asked that you should be informed.’
    ‘I see. Tell the Athenians I will receive them after the theatre and ask Barsine to go to the Queen in her rooms. Perhaps she will be of some help.’
    He set off down the stairs and met Philip just as he was leaving his quarters, followed by a couple of assistants, loaded down with medicines of all types.
    ‘How is the Queen?’ Alexander asked.
    ‘The situation is stable, but very serious.’
    ‘What is the problem?’
    ‘As far as I can make out, the child has turned and she cannot give birth to it.’
    In the meantime Alexander had started walking and was heading now for the building in which Darius’s wives were lodged together with their court.
    ‘Can you do nothing to help?’
    ‘Perhaps I could do something, but I am afraid she would never let herself be examined by a man. I am trying to train her midwife, but I am not sure it’s of any use. She comes from the Queen’s ancestral tribe and it seems to me she is more expert in magic than in medicine.’
    ‘Wait, Barsine will come now and perhaps she will succeed in convincing her.’
    ‘I hope so,’ replied Philip, but the expression on his face made it clear he doubted it very much.
    On reaching the building which had been set up as the royal harem, they saw that Barsine had already arrived and was anxiously waiting for them in front of the door. They were met by a eunuch and shown into the atrium. From the floor above came the sound of suffocated moaning.
    ‘She doesn’t even cry out when the labour pains come,’ said Philip, ‘decorum prevents her.’
    The eunuch very respectfully gestured for them to follow and led them upstairs, where they met the midwife who was leaving the room just at that moment.
    ‘Please interpret for me,’ said the physician to Barsine. ‘I must convince her, do you understand?’ Barsine nodded and entered the Queen’s apartments. The eunuch in the meantime led Alexander to the threshold of another door and knocked.
    A finely dressed Persian woman opened it and accompanied them first to an antechamber and then to a room in which Sisygambis, the Queen Mother, was sitting. She was near a window, on her knees was a roll of papyrus densely covered in script, and she was quietly whispering formulae to herself. The eunuch gestured to Alexander to explain that she was praying and the King stood respectfully in silence near the door, but