'King Darius says: Eight of my dynasty were kings before me; I am the ninth. Nine in succession we have been kings'-Darius the Great
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"Bring in the witnesses." Artabanus beckons. With his word, a dozen or so guards, servants, and maids are dragged in similarly to Artaxerxes.
'This looks interesting...' Artaxerxes thought with an amused glimmer in his eyes.
Dragging a maidservant from out of the group, a pair of guards bring her to the forefront of the trial space. The trial was occurring in the Apadana of Susa, surrounded by massive columns and rows of guards, wary of an assassin on the loose.
The maidservant, an average-looking woman, had tears streaming down her eyes and seemed to be having a mental breakdown. "Servant girl, answer these questions truthfully and you'll have nothing to fear." Aspamitres, Artabanus' companion spoke.
The girl, composing herself, nodded her head in understanding. "Tell us what you saw entering the King's chambers this morning," Artabanus questioned, and the entire royal court listened intently to her response.
"Entering the royal chamber to awaken the king-*hic*-I saw blood everywhere!" The girl, unable to cope with it all, let out a scream at the trauma of the morning's events. "Mm yes, that tends to be the case. Girl, you must tell us if you noticed anything important! Was anything out of place?" This time it was Dariaios who spoke, wanting to get a straight answer from the girl.
Recollecting herself yet again, the girl responded, "There was something odd,-*hic*- guards wouldn't allow anyone inside the Kings chamber, not even a member of the royal clan, while he slept." Saying this the girl's knees buckled and she started sobbing heavily on the floor. "Take her away," Artabanus said with a dismissive tone.
The girl, grabbed by members of the royal guard, was dragged out of the Apadana and taken to Ahuramazda knows where. "She makes a valid point!" Dariaios addressed the court. "Thus, it makes it also doubtful that my brother, Artaxerxes committed the murder."
'Looks like my brother may see some sense' Artaxerxes thought, still standing awkwardly in the center of the Apadana buck naked.
"That's not necessarily the case, my Prince." Artabanus, the obese eunuch, said.
'Here we go...' Artaxerxes was certain by now that Artabanus's sole purpose in life was to cause chaos and discontent in the Achaemenid clan, why, however, still remained a mystery to him.
"Oh? What do you mean Artabanus?" Dariaios responded, having trust in the eunuch. After all from Dariaios' point of view, Atabanus was captain of the Kings guard and not a suspect, but rather someone to trust.
"I've only heard rumors, but supposedly there is a secret passage to enter the King's chamber, it was installed as a precautionary measure to any assassination attempts. Though ironically it seems to have achieved the opposite of its intended purpose." Artabanus said, revealing the once-secret passageway out into the open.
"And where did you hear this?" Dariaios asked. "I heard it from a close aide of the King, Themistocles!" Artabanus announced to the bewildered spectators, for too many things had been revealed at once.
Scoffing, Artaxerxes decided he had let this go on long enough, "Themistocles?, He is close to the King, aye! But trusted? Brother, you of all people must be aware of fathers wariness towards the greeks, Artabanus is spinning webs where there are none!" Hearing this, Artabanus' face reddened in humiliation.
"Spoken like a kinslayer! Guards! Beat him!" Artabanus yelled. His guards, long bought over, took out their spears, ready to use the blunt ends to teach the chained Prince a lesson. "Don't forget your place eunuch! It was my father who created you, don't think I can't destroy you." Dariaios warned, glaring at Artabanus for ordering the beating of his brother.
'He's made a good point, perhaps I was too hasty in jumping to conclusions.' Dariaios thought. Having been raised in the Persian Court, he was unsurprised when he received news of his father's death, after all, the old man had long since been losing grip on the game. And there are only winners and losers in the game, winners are kings, and losers are dead.
So upon notice of the king's murder, he had immediately suspected his younger brothers, who had most to gain from the chaos. His second-youngest brother, Hystaspes, was in Bactria. With him eliminated from among the suspects, only Artaxerxes remained.
Upon further thought, it seemed strange to Dariaios that Artabanus had been the first to tell him of his father's death, just moments after the first shouts and screams of the king's passing, almost as if...
Then again, Artabanus was the commander of the royal guard, but even he didn't hold sway over the guards in the king's chambers. The guards who guarded the king's chamber were Immortals, zealous warriors who swore their lives to the Achaemenids, not for gold but in their firm belief that the Achaemenid bloodline was the descent of godhood.
And now, Themistocles' name was mentioned, 'Artaxerxes was right, father acknowledged the man, but never trusted to give the location of a secret passage away.'
Suddenly, loud shouts erupted from the background. Causing a stir in the tense courtroom, everyone turned to the commotion.
Speak of the devil and he will appear. Themistocles along with a trio of greek mercenaries that had routinely served as his escort were dragging a man to the room. His identity was given away by the bald head and overweight build, another eunuch.
"What's the meaning of this?!" Artabanus shouted, not expecting a distraction at such a critical moment.
"Merely a rat found in the sewers, Artabanus, your kin no doubt?" Themistocles spoke, looking at the eunuch in disgust. "Tell me then Themistocles, who is this rat-man?" Dariaios asks.
Chuckling, Themistocles responds, "This is Mithradates, the King's physician."
Hearing this, there was a commotion in the court, "Physician? A eunuch? The king's physician is the honorable Firuz" this sentence was murmured throughout the gathering of nobles.
"Mm, that is true, the king's official physician was Firuz, but he had a private physician for personal reasons... thus came about this man, Mithradates," Themistocles said.
"Many moons ago, when I was unaware of his secret position among Xerxes' close advisors, I had tailed him in the night. It was truly a surprise when I saw him enter a hidden passage in the palace walls." After saying this, there were gasps in the crowd.
'A secret physician?' Artaxerxes thought, curious of the sorts of ailments the king suffered alone.
"Thus, when I heard of the king's murder and saw Prince Artaxerxes being blamed, I realized that I had to go and bring this man here for questioning," Themistocles concluded.
" You've done well Themistocles." Dariaios spoke, "Release my brother from his chains"
A pair of guards unclasped the cuffs around Artaxerxes wrists, much to Artabanus' dismay. "Good to see you having some sense brother," Artaxerxes said, massaging his sore wrists. " I apologize, brother, I had to take emergency precautions to secure the stability of the empire"
Turning away from Artaxerxes, Dariaios faces Mithradates. "Worm, speak now, or ill have you skinned alive and then crucified. Better yet, ill have you impaled."
Mithradates, a weak man at heart, gave absolutely no resistance after hearing such a fate may await him. "It's all true my Prince! The King had severe insomnia and needed a herbal remedy overnight to sleep soundly, I would use the passage to go in the King's chambers and give the remedy then leave!"
Shocked by the revelation, the audience listened on. " One night, I had drunk too much and my lips were loose. Someone heard me mention the secret passage. It wasn't long after I received visits from a man. He would threaten me if I didn't show him the passage, unable to bear the strain I decided to guide him the way. The very same night, the king was murdered!" Mithradates sobbed out, realizing that he had criminalized himself to face certain death.
Mithradates went down on his hands and knees, kissing Dariaios' feet, "Please spare me! If not give me a painless death!"
Dariaios, getting his thoughts in order, asked the question on everyone's minds, "Who was the man you led into the passage, Mithradates..."
A grim look appeared on Artaxerxes and Dariaios' faces, realizing whoever was about to be named, was the murderer of their father. "It was---" Before he could finish a bolt flew between his eyeballs, ending his life immediately.
The entire court erupted in chaos, men unsheathing swords, and women screaming. No one knew who screamed it but someone shouted "Kill the Prince!" Half or so of the soldiers in the Apadana unsheathed their weapons, ready to fulfill this command, but in response, Amestris shouted, "Defend my children!" Which warranted the response of another half of the room's men, along with members of the Achaemenid clan unsheathing their blades.
After these shouts, the Apadana descended into a blood bath. Artaxerxes, by his brother's side, was swept away by the tumultuous current of the fleeing body of noblemen and women alike. Finding a moment's respite, Artaxerxes orientated himself, standing before him was a trio of spear-cladded guards. Each of them had a purple insignia of a spider on their shoulders. The sign of the eunuchs.
Noticing the Prince, the trio lunged their spears forward in order to skewer their target. The Prince, still very much naked, nimbly moved between the spears, and ducked beneath them.
'Huh, who would've thought fighting naked makes room for so much agility'
After years of harsh training, Artaxerxes was extremely nimble, even more so naked. Abruptly standing up, Artaxerxes grabbed the shafts of all three of the spears that were lunged at him, gripping them under his armpit, he flexed his muscles, smashing the fragile wooden spears to bits.
The three guards could only piss themselves in shock as the prince, a towering 6'8, marched over to them, with bits of wooden shrapnel in his hand.
"Ahhghghh!!"