a hostile incursion.

Atossa spent much time in calculating the distance from the palace to
the fortress, and she came to the conclusion that a body of persons
moving with some encumbrance might easily reach the stronghold in half a
day. Her plan was a simple one, and easy of execution; though there was
no limit to the evil results its success might have upon the kingdom.

She intended that a revolution should break out in Media, not under the
leadership of Phraortes, lest she herself should perish, having been
already suspected of complicity with him. But a man could be found--some
tool of her powerful agent, who could be readily induced to set himself
up as a pretender to the principality of the province, and he could
easily be crushed at a later period by Phraortes, who would naturally
furnish the money and supplies for the insurrection.

As soon as the news reached Stakhar, Darius would, in all probability,
set out for Media in haste to arrive at the scene of the disturbance. He
would probably leave Zoroaster behind to manage the affairs of state,
which had centred in Stakhar during the last year and more. If, however,
he took him with him, and left the court to follow on as far as Shushan,
Atossa could easily cause an incursion of the barbarous tribes from the
desert. The people of the south would find themselves abandoned by the
king, and would rise against him, and Atossa could easily seize the
power. If Zoroaster remained behind, the best plan would be to let the
barbarians take their own course and destroy him. Separated from any
armed force of magnitude sufficient to cope with a sudden invasion, he
would surely fall in the struggle, or take refuge in an ignominious
flight. With the boldness of her nature, Atossa trusted to circumstances
to provide her with an easy escape for herself; and in the last
instance, she trusted, as she had ever done, to her marvellous beauty to
save her from harm. To her beauty alone she owed her escape from many a
fit of murderous anger in the time of Cambyses, and to her beauty she
owed her salvation when Darius found her at Shushan, the wife and
accomplice of the impostor Smerdis. She might again save herself by that
means, if by no other, should she, by any mischance, fall into the hands
of the barbarians. But she was determined to overthrow Zoroaster, even
if she had to destroy her husband's kingdom in the effort. It was a bold
and simple plan, and she doubted not of being suc