'She was a young girl of marriageable age, and the Macedonians said that she was the most beautiful woman they had seen in Asia...Alexander straight away fell in love with her and even though she was a prisoner he took her for his wife.'

____Arrian

I threw myself at the conqueror's feet, and offered myself in marriage. Much to my suprise he accepted me. In return my family was set free to go their way.

I was determined to follow my lord anywhere and to make myself useful. I was able to master many languages and often served as an interpreter. If I was not the only one in his affections, I would make myself indispensible. This I knew was the only way to survive.

We were heading east and my lord seemed to have no fear of the giant ants that we would be sure to confront. He was strong and fearless, and I could have done much worse, or so I thought at the time. So then we and his vast army headed eastward toward the sea.

The army was over 110,000 men and they came from all tribes and all nations. Part of the army was sent ahead to build a bridge. My lord recived a flesh wound. He became riled and vexed and then he ordered all opponents to be massacred. He offered them a place in his army, would they but give up, and when they did so, he shot them all down with arrows.

When the snows thawed we headed into a warm fertile countryside. In the town of Nysa we encountered the temple of a local god. I was afraid that my lord would desecrate this shrine. His temper had become feirce. The builder of boats pleaded with him to be merciful for these people had offered no resistance.

I persuaded him to stay for a while and rest. He was badly in need of rest and relaxation, so were we all. It would be important to learn about the customs of this new mysterious land.

The chief came to our camp with thirty of the temple priests to plead for the sanctuary not to be desecreated. When they entered our tent they found our Lord seated on the floor, with his helmet on his head and a spear in his hand. Amazeingly they fell to the ground and began to worship him as if he was the very god they had come to beg protection of. Alexander told them to rise and not to be afraid. Then he gave them the freedom to govern themselves.

In Alexander they saw befor them the incarnation of Skanda their son of Shiva and the god of war. Alexander was clean shaven and was the color of their pale skinned god of vigor health and beauty. He was like their god not like any other stranger they had ever seen. He wore a helmet and carried a spear and sat cross legged, as so did their god.

I found these people so interesting and so fasinating and the land was full of all kinds of exotic plants and animals. This was one of the very happiest times of my life. They invited us to visit their temple and there we saw, a sacred grove surrounding the statue of the seated god Skanda.

'The mountain on which Nysa stood was covered to the very top by beautiful plantations, divided by neat pathways. When they ascended it they found a temple dedicated to Dionysus. Here there was a polished, white stone statue of the god, in the form of a youth, seated at the heart of the grove of sacred trees and vines. These trees had grown together to form a roof above the god which protected it from rain.

___Philpstratus

This god is called Karttikeya by some. He is the son of their god Shiva, as my lord is Hercules the son of Zeus, and Horus the son of Ammon, and Mithra the son of Oromasdes; here he is Skanda the son of Shiva.

The open-air shrines to Skanda are surrounded by groves of the sacred fruit, when burned the smoke has an intoxicating quality and one experiences mystical visions of the sacred dieties.

My gift of languages has enabaled me to converse in Greek, Bactrian, and Persian, and now I speak the Gandarian dialect well enough to dispense with all other interpreters. Oh my, but the questions these scholars want me to ask! It is too embarssing to mention them here. My lord assures me we have only a little more way to go, and we will arrive back in Egypt. This is a land that I have always wanted to visit, and I love the stories he tells me about it. Many of the scholars are sure that we are now on the continent of Africa.

I have advised my beloved husband that to understand this land he needs the help of a native scholar. He has given me permission to find someone who is right for the job.

Kalyana is an aristocratic sage of the Punjab land and he has taught me much. He is eager to learn much as I am. He is a devotee of the god Skanda from the temple in Taxila. We have made a pact to exchange all the knowledge we have. Already his Greek is as fluent as mine.

Alexander was most impressed by the sages and scholars of this land of mystery; and has asked Kalyana to join him as an adviser, as he continues his expedition.

In the summer we continued southeast to the kingdom of the Pauravas. After spending the winter in a freezing wasteland we entered a sub-tropical jungle.

It was a terible ordeal for everyone, and I have never experienced such hardship, but the very worst was yet to come.

The man my husband was to fight was a giant. He rode a huge beast called an elephant. The horses were frightened by these beasts. I was sure that we would all perish, but my god it was a miracle and my divine husband prevailed! Then he showed an act of true courage and nobility and set hes advisary Porus free.

It was sometime after this that his beloved horse Bucephalus died. At this time I thought the horse was the only rival to my husbands affections, and he mourned over the loss for days. He founded a city and named it for his companion of thirty years. If only he can love me as much as he loves his horse I thought, and in the midst of all the carnage and chaos I was still in a state of deluded bliss, for I belived that I had found true love, and my own true love, loved me.

It was when we entered Magadha that we were approached by a group of Brahnmin priests who stomped their feet and shouted at him:

In the heat of the summer the great rains came and the army refused to travel further in the stiffling, humid heat.

Alexander ordered his men forward, but they stood their ground. He had never been openly defied befor. He threw a childish tantrum screamed and told his officers that he was going on whether anyone followed him or not.

A few weeks befor there had been an eclipse of the moon this was avery bad omen. Kalyana confirmed what I said. It was a matter of saving face, now he had an honorabe reason to turn back and head west.

Roxane had been devoted to Alexander and the royal court loved her. She was an inspiration to everyone and lived up to her name 'Little Star'. She was loved and respected as a queen of the greatest empire in the world. Soon she was to be awakened rudely from her dream of bliss.

It was a long journey home. Alexander put Meleager in command. He had been forced to turn back by his own troops, and he took it out on them. He became so obnoxios that Meleager had every reason to want him dead.