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Going twice…

What did he offer me the second time around?

His territorial concessions had not changed, though he doubled the ransom for his family from ten thousand talents to twenty thousand talents.

He would now offer me the hand of his daughter Stateira in marriage, effectively making me the son-in-law of the King, with all the benefits that come with it.

Not bad, not bad at all! But by now, time had passed and the naval base of Tyre was in my hands. My leverage was far greater.

What do you think I did?

I accepted…

Yeah, right!

Come on! Stateira would be mine when I would say so. I was not coming all the way from my neck of the woods for slim pickings like Cilicia and Lydia.

My goal, had he not figured it out yet, was Persepolis as well as the Eastern provinces. I wanted to fight him, and if he wanted to retain his empire, he would have to fight me.

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