Chapter 23
That self was now West and East, for though I may have conquered in the name of Greece and Macedon, I ruled in the name of Persia, with a princess of the empire now as my bride and queen. In my newfound joy, I had miscalculated the extent to which I could make my happiness—some would say, my willfulness—a reality for others. It was not long before that error in judgment caught up with me late one night while I was in the bath.
Apart from the release I found in the arms of my lovers, the bath was one of the few places where I experienced any peace. Even the pain and weariness that shadowed me like dogged campaigners would ease then, if only for the moment. It was a place where I did not like to be disturbed, which is no doubt why Bagoas’ customarily elaborate ministrations seem
