The Last Exaltationists

(i) Raor. Bactrian identity: Theonis, courtesan. Her clients include Zoilus, a well-connected minister of the treasury, who will tell her the details of King Euthydemus' plan to sally out against the Syrian invaders.

(ii) Sauvo. Bactrian identity: Xeniades, chief of Raor's household staff.

(iii) Draganizu. Bactrian identity: Nichomachus, Theonis' kinsman and a priest of Poseidon, authorized, even during the siege, to visit a small temple endowed by Theonis outside the city.

(iv) Buleni. Syrian identity: Polydorus, aide to the Syrian King Antiochus and devotee of Poseidon. When the pickets inform him that the priest from the city approaches the temple, he will go there to make an offering. Thus, he and Draganizu will exchange military intelligence, eventually to include Euthydemus' battle plan.

Buleni and his "kinsmen" from within Bactra plan to control the court of a victorious Antiochus in a changed history. Subtle but deadly.