Chapter 7
Was Asia worth the sacrifice of Thebes? The people of Pella thought so. They lined the streets cheering our return. How many would cheer if their husbands, fathers, and sons had been the offering? Casualties are only statistics when they’re the enemies’. When they’re ours, one death is more than we can bear. Only love can make the suffering of others truly our own.
As we advanced slowly up the steep slope to the palace, the crowds thinned, becoming increasingly somber. They reject my treatment of the Thebans, I thought. If only that had been so.
Inside the palace, guards snapped to attention and handmaidens bowed low, avoiding eye contact. Too easily, I thought. There was no one to greet me—no Queen Mother, no sisters, no minor wives of Father, no Antipater, whom I had left as
