Thalia   

by Cambyses, who slew his son with an arrow; they were also aware that
it was by his hand that Smerdis the son of Cyrus fell, and that he was
the only person privy to that prince's death; and they further found
him to be held in the highest esteem by all the Persians. So they
called him to them, made him their friend, and bound him by a
promise and by oaths to keep silence about the fraud which they were
practising upon the Persians, and not discover it to any one; and they
pledged themselves that in this case they would give him thousands
of gifts of every sort and kind. So Prexaspes agreed, and the Magi,
when they found that they had persuaded him so far, went on to another
proposal, and said they would assemble the Persians at the foot of the
palace wall, and he should mount one of the towers and harangue them
from it, assuring them that Smerdis the son of Cyrus, and none but he,
ruled the land. This they bade him do, because Prexaspes was a man
of great weight with his countrymen, and had often declared in
public that Smerdis the son of Cyrus was still alive, and denied being
his murderer.
Prexaspes said he was quite ready to do their will in the
matter; so the Magi assembled the people, and placed Prexaspes upon
the top of the tower, and told him to make his speech. Then this
man, forgetting of set purpose all that the Magi had intreated him
to say, began with Achaeamenes, and traced down the descent of
Cyrus; after which, when he came to that king, he recounted all the
services that had been rendered by him to the Persians, from whence he
went on to declare the truth, which hitherto he had concealed, he
said, because it would not have been safe for him to make it known,
but now necessity was laid on him to disclose the whole. Then he
told how, forced to it by Cambyses, he had himself taken the life of
Smerdis, son of Cyrus, and how that Persia was now ruled by the
Magi. Last of all, with many curses upon the Persians if they did
not recover the kingdom, and wreak vengeance on the Magi, he threw
himself headlong from the tower into the abyss below. Such was the end
of Prexaspes, a man all his life of high repute among the Persians.
And now the seven Persians, having resolved that they would attack
the Magi without more delay, first offered prayers to the gods and
then set off for the palace, quite unacquainted with what had been
done by Prexaspes. The news of his doings reached them upon their way,
when they had accomplished about half the distance. Hereupon they
turned aside out of the road, and consulted together. Otanes and his
party said they must certainly put off the business, and not make
the attack when affairs were in such a ferment. Darius, on the other
hand, and his friends, were against any change of plan, and wished
to go straight on, and not lose a moment. Now, as they strove
together, suddenly there came in sight two pairs of vultures, and
seven pairs of hawks, pursuing them, and the hawks tore the vultures
both with their claws and bills. At this sight the seven with one
accord came in to the opinion of Darius, and encouraged by the omen
hastened on towards the palace.
At the gate they were received as Darius had foretold. The guards,
who had no suspicion that they came for any ill purpose, and held
the chief Persians in much reverence, let them pass without
difficulty- it seemed as if they were under the special protection
of the gods- none even asked them any question. When they were now
in the great court they fell in with certain of the eunuchs, whose
business it was to carry the king's messages, who stopped them and
asked what they wanted, while at the same time they threatened the
doorkeepers for having let them enter. The seven sought to press on,
but the eunuchs would not suffer them. Then these men, with cheers
encouraging one another, drew their daggers, and stabbing those who
strove to withstand them, rushed forward to the apartment of the
males.
Now both the Magi were at this time within, holding counsel upon
the matter of Prexaspes. So when they heard the stir among the
eunuchs, and their loud cries, they ran out themselves, to see what