Hephaistion held Lydia close, her perfume was intoxicating; she was responsive to his touch. He pressed his lips to hers, encouraging her to open her own to him. Feeling her submit, he guided her behind the column she leaned against, out of sight of prying eyes, reaching to lift her dress.
Realising what was happening, Lydia suddenly froze; putting her hand to Hephaistion's to stop his progress. "I cannot," she whispered.
"No one will see," Hephaistion assured her.
Lydia listened for a moment; she could hear voices. "I cannot."
Hephaistion sighed, bringing his hand up to frame her beautiful face. "Let me come to your room tonight then," he whispered.
Lydia laughed. "You are so sure of yourself, are you not, Hephaistion? Were there no girls at Mieza? I know that you were with Thetis, just the other night. Will I be replaced so soon in your affections?"
"How will I know, unless you let me see what I would be missing?" Hephaistion kissed Lydia with the intention of making her relent, once more. His plan almost worked, she wrapped her arms around him, giving a little moan of pleasure, then pushed her body against him. She had already been with Ptolemy; Lydia was no virgin.
Hephaistion reached for Lydia's gown, lifting it slowly, but once again Lydia stayed his hand. She hesitated, though. "I am not sure that I will be alone tonight, my sister may be with me. I will leave a lamp burning if it is safe, Hephaistion."
"Is your sister pretty?"
Lydia giggled, not quite sure if Hephaistion was joking or serious. She had been delighted to hear the Alexander and his companions would be returning from Mieza to Pella. Hephaistion was the most handsome of them all; she was flattered by his attentions. He was a friend of the prince too, and she would have been eager to spend time with Alexander, but all at court knew the danger his mother could be.
Anyway, both Philip and Olympias seemed to be in agreement that Campaspe should share Alexander's bed.
So here she was, held in Hephaistion's arms. "My sister is ugly," she said, pulling a face.
"That is how she looks? Liar, she could not be so ugly."
Lydia nodded her head, screaming as Hephaistion tickled her. "It's the truth, it's the truth," she laughed, putting her hands into Hephaistion's, to stop him, and pulling away. She led him from behind the column. "But I better make sure she is not there tonight. I will tell my mother I feel feverish."
"Hephaistion."
Lydia and Hephaistion turned to see that Alexander had come into the room.
"I'm not disturbing anything?" Alexander asked, smiling.
Hephaistion looked longingly at Lydia, holding her close. "No," he said, biting his lip. He turned to look at Alexander. "If you are looking for Philotas or Cassander, they were with Parmenion, in the garden, a short while ago.
Alexander looked towards the open doorway that led to the garden, then back to Hephaistion. Seeing Hephaistion distracted by Lydia he went into the garden.
Lydia held onto Hephaistion, she wanted what Thetis could not keep. She watched Alexander until he disappeared from sight. "He looked sad."
Hephaistion turned to look into the garden. "Alexander?"
"Yes," Lydia said wistfully. "I think perhaps he was seeking company. You should go to him."
"He keeps company with Philotas and Cassander," Hephaistion replied. "I am a friend, but not as close as those two are to him. He shares no secrets with me, Lydia."
"My mother says that Philotas and Cassander are wise to keep close to Alexander. That a man can become rich by such a friendship."
Hephaistion frowned and looked down at Lydia. "Why would I want to do that? I could never sell myself so cheap as to be a false friend to anyone. But Philotas and Cassander are true friends to Alexander; you cannot help but be a friend to him. I will happily follow him into battle, I enjoy hunting with him, he is good company, but we are not so close."
"Because Antipater and Parmenion have pushed their sons forward?"
Hephaistion shook his head. "Alexander had to spend more time studying with Aristotle, it kept him apart from us. Seleucus and Perdiccas were my friends at Mieza; it was natural for me to seek them out. Alexander was not often free to spend time with us, and when he was, Philotas and Cassander were always with him." He brushed back a strand of curling hair from Lydia's face, then smiled and leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose. "So you will be alone?" he asked.
Lydia smiled up at him, dimples forming on her cheeks as she did so. "I will be alone," she replied.
0-0-0-0-0-0
At the barracks that night, Seleucus, Perdiccas, Hephaistion and Harpolaus ate together. Having all been at Mieza together, it had been their custom, to spend what leisure time they had in each other's company.
They were all now on the Vanguard, except for Harpolaus who was lame. He listened to their talk of strategy and battles with good humour, even though he would never go to war. Aristotle had told him that his life would take a different path and he was happy to see where that path led him.
When the meal was done, servants brought wine. Not seeing the need to move on, they stayed seated in the dining room.
"Have you no place to be?" The question came from Ptolemy, walking over to them with Cassander.
"We're comfortable where we are," replied Perdiccas, moving along the bench so that Ptolemy could join them. Cassander sat next to Hephaistion, signalling to a servant to bring wine.
"I wouldn't eat here," Cassander sighed. "I eat with my father each night."
"If I wanted to eat with my father, I would have to do a round trip of a thousand stadia each night," laughed Seleucus. "And the food there wouldn't be any better than this."
"Or the company," added Ptolemy.
Cassander looked over at Harpolaus. "Are you allowed to eat at the barracks?" he asked.
Harpolaus looked rightly offended by Cassander's words, but before he could speak Hephaistion spoke up for him.
"He has every right to be here, as does anyone else who chooses to be here."
Cassander sneered and held his hand up. "It was just a question, Hephaistion. What is he to you, that you take his side so readily?"
Hephaistion put down his cup of wine. "What are you implying, Cassander?"
"Nothing," smiled Cassander, raising his cup to his mouth to drink his wine.
Harpolaus stood up, reaching for a jug to fill his wine cup. "If I am not welcome…" he began.
Seleucus made a grab for Harpolaus' chiton, but Harpolaus pulled away. "Stay, Harpolaus, Cassander has a spiteful tongue, we all know it; it is his way…"
"I do not have to listen to it," complained Harpolaus, making his way from the room.
The table went quiet.
Ptolemy turned to Cassander. "When I asked you to come and join me here, I did not expect for you to insult our friends. Cassander, you must learn to curb your tongue before you cut yourself on it."
Cassander shrugged. "If it will please you all, I will apologise the next time I see him."
"Make sure you do," replied Ptolemy. He drank his wine and looked around the table. "So what were you talking about?"
Hephaistion stood up and smiled over at Seleucus and Perdiccas. "You'll have to excuse me, I have somewhere to be," he said. He stood up on the bench and then jumped down to the floor, to save Cassander the trouble of moving for him. It was late enough that Lydia should be alone by now. Her company would be a remarked improvement on that of Cassander's. He left the room, planning how to get into the palace unseen.
"No doubt he's gone to find Harpolaus," muttered Cassander. On seeing that his words had been heard, he tried to make amends. "To see he is well, not for anything more."
"And what if it was for more?" asked Perdiccas.
"There would be nothing wrong in it," added Seleucus.
Cassander laughed. "I'd have thought even Hephaistion could do better than a cripple."
0-0-0-0-0-0
Before the light of dawn, Hephaistion rose from Lydia's bed. She was sleeping. He leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips, then dressed and walked silently to the balcony.
It was the route Ptolemy had used, the other option being to walk through the family quarters and risk being seen by guards and servants alike.
He would only bring trouble for Lydia if he were seen. As he planned to see her again, he chose the safest route to avoid detection. He would say nothing about this night to his friends. Unlike Ptolemy, who liked to tell a story.
He lowered himself down from the balcony, and then, keeping close to the wall he moved silently along it, keeping a watchful eye out for trouble.
It wasn't until he reached the courtyard to the royal stables that he found it. A horse was being led back to its stable. Hephaistion hesitated, looking to see who was
leading it. On the second look he instantly saw that the horse was lame, as was the person leading it. Harpolaus.
Hephaistion broke cover and ran across the courtyard. "Harpolaus!" he whispered, "What are you doing?"
"I just borrowed him."
"From the royal stables? You cannot take a horse from the royal stables; don't you know that? What have you done to him?" Hephaistion reached down the injured foreleg, feeling the wetness of blood. The hind leg had obviously struck the fore. "He has overreached."
"We need to get him back," Harpolaus cried out.
Hephaistion wondered when Harpolaus had decided it was their problem. By moonlight, he saw the panic in Harpolaus' face.
"I just wanted to try him…I don't know what came over me…once I was away from the palace, I realised…and he's lame. So I waited until it would be quiet and I could return him."
Hephaistion put his hand on the horse's neck, feeling the drying sweat, he had been ridden hard. Taking the reins, Hephaistion pulled the horse over to the stables, but not inside, he would need to work by moonlight to see to the horse, he could not leave it unattended. "Fetch a wet cloth, Harpolaus, and be quick about it," he ordered.
Harpolaus hurried off and Hephaistion crouched down to see if he could see the extent of the injury. Just a short while ago he had been lying with Lydia. If he had not chosen to leave so soon, if he took another moment, then this would be solely Harpolaus' problem.
"Guards! Over here!" A shout reverberated around the courtyard and soldiers appeared, encircling Hephaistion.
A small, stout man, pushed his way through them. Menander, the head groom of the royal stables. "Thief!" he cried, pointing at Hephaistion.
"I am no thief," retorted Hephaistion.
"Then how do you explain that you have the King's horse?" snapped Menander, grabbing the reins from Hephaistion. He walked it forward. "You've lamed him! You've lamed him! Do you know how much this horse is worth?"
Hephaistion looked over at the horse. He hadn't realised it was the King's and Harpolaus had not offered the information. He was in trouble. He looked around for Harpolaus, expecting him to appear at any moment and own up to what he had done. Instead he saw Cleitus, striding over.
"What is it?" Cleitus asked. "What's the commotion?"
"He took the King's horse and lamed him. I thought I heard a horse and I did, this thief here was leading him across the courtyard. I dressed quickly and called the guard," Menander said, hardly pausing for breath in his eagerness to win praise.
Cleitus looked at Hephaistion. "Is this true?" he asked.
Hephaistion shook his head.
Menander pointed at Hephaistion. "He has the nerve to deny it…"
Cleitus held his hand up, to stop Menander from speaking. "What are you doing with the King's horse?"
"I did not take it," Hephaistion replied. He was sure now that Harpolaus must have seen what was happening and chosen not to step forward.
"Then who did?"
Hephaistion could not bring himself to betray Harpolaus. He looked at Cleitus, willing him to see that he was innocent.
Instead, Cleitus took his silence for guilt. He shook his head. "I would not have believed it of you, Hephaistion. The King will have your guts for this, you better hope the injury is not so bad."
"Do you not think we should inform the King now?" asked Menander, hopefully.
Cleitus turned and frowned at the man. "Go away, Menander. Take the horse and deal with it, let me do my job."
Menander looked affronted. He glared at Hephaistion, then led the horse away.
Cleitus watched Menander go, then turned back to Hephaistion. "You'll be in trouble for this, Hephaistion. You'll be flogged for it. You may even lose your place on the Vanguard." He shook his head and then stepped back. "Take him away. Hold him under guard until the King sends for him." Cleitus shook his head once more, then walked off in the opposite direction as Hephaistion was led away.
When everything was quiet, Harpolaus emerged from the shadows, and then ran as fast as he could to his room. If Hephaistion betrayed him he could say he had been in his bed, asleep.
TBC
