I found this ring in Egypt. The man who sold it to me said it was made in the time when men still worshiped the sun and stars. To me, you'll always be the sun, no matter what. And I'll always be with you.
The rain pounded the ground mercilessly, dripping from Hephaistion's hair and face. Whether there were tears mixed in, he didn't know. I'll always be with you. As if he cared. As if Alexander, the most powerful man in the world, cared how he felt. As if Hephaistion was even in the back of his mind as he rushed off upstairs with that barbarian whore.
"One day, Hephaistion, I will beat you." In that much he had spoken true.
"There was a time when I knew you cared for me."
Alexander looked up from his battle plans. As he stood alone Hephaistion could still remember exactly how Alexander had looked at him. "I do care for you. You know that."
"I want to believe you. I really do."
"Trust me as you once did."
Things were different then, Alexander." Hephaistion gazed out into the rainy Indian jungle, though what he sought there he did not know. "We are different men, you and I. All these years…I am not without a scar. And you- you have half the world…and three wives…at your feet."
"A king must have a queen," Alexander said, rightly guessing Hephaistion's mind, "A king must have an heir."
"Neither of which I can give you." He turned and walked out into the rain.
The rain began to fall harder, if that was possible. Had it been but a day since those words were spoken? So few words, yet none could mean more. He sank to his knees, the unrelenting jungle surrounding him, enclosing him, suffocating him. He was utterly soaked, and utterly alone. He couldn't believe this could happen. Couldn't believe he could have let it. It had only been a matter of time, he knew, and perhaps he was foolish ever to have thought he could have loved such a man. But still…he hated to admit it, but he was nothing without Alexander.
Alexander. Alexander, so lovely, even after years of war and bloodshed and endless journeying through unkind land. Alexander, with his mess of golden hair falling carelessly around his head, his face grown rough over the years, worn with care but still strong, his sharp eyes still commanding the gaze of all around him. Hephaistion could still see just how his muscles shifted beneath his clothing every time he moved, calling to him, beckoning, his entire body emanating beauty and power.
Hephaistion bowed his head, clutching it between his hands. There was nothing more he could do. He loved Alexander. He loved him, and he always would.
"Hephaistion."
He turned. Alexander stood behind him, his hand held out. In it lay a ring. "You were right," the king whispered, "Everything you spoke was the truth. I don't believe I deserve to wear this anymore."
Shaking, Hephaistion took the ring from Alexander's palm. As he looked up, their eyes met, and for a moment that seemed a thousand lifetimes, they lingered there, not moving, lost in each other's gaze. Finally, without looking away, Hephaistion took Alexander's hand and quietly slipped the ring back on.
At that moment, Alexander the Great, emperor of the Greeks, fell to his knees and sunk into his lover's arms. "You are my life, Hephaistion," he wept, "You have always been my life." He could say no more. The two of them remained there, for how long they never knew, holding each other and weeping. At last Alexander looked up. "I love you," he said simply.
Hephaistion tried to reply, but no words passed his throat. He took Alexander's hand in his own, raised it to his lips, and kissed it. Alexander's eyes fell upon the ring once more. "When you gave me this," he began, and his voice caught, "you said I would always be the sun to you." Tears filled his eyes once more. "If that is so, then you are the stars to me. I can only be lost without you."
"Then be lost no more." Their mouths collided like two rivers that from the beginning can only converge. Hephaistion could feel Alexander's strong hands grasping his rain-soaked face as he poured all he had into this one moment, this one drop of time that enveloped his body and blotted out the rest of the world. He reached his arms around Alexander's back and clutched him to his chest, wanting only to draw him closer until he could feel the blood rushing through his veins. Around them the rain fell harder and harder, blending their two desperate forms into one.
At last they parted, their lips still touching, their eyes still closed, their foreheads resting against one another. In a voice barely audible, Hephaistion spoke.
"On the eve of battle it is hardest to be alone."
"I know," his love answered.