Hephaistion was in deep sleep. One hand was under his pillow with face buried in it….in the middle of a very pleasant dream… of him and his golden one riding their horses side by side without a care in the world. It was the coldness that woke him up. Normally his golden one slept like a vine entwined around him. As royal his king was elsewhere…inside their chamber he was an overgrown youth. Hephaistion had grown used to wayward limbs holding him captive to the kingly chest and rosy half open lips breathing in his ears. All these little things had been a part of his sleep for far too long. He had grown up accustomed to them since his childhood. So the absence of the warm body disrupted his sleepy haze instantly.
It was then that he heard some voices within his chamber.
"What am I supposed to do with the third one?" he heard Alexander say in a perplexed voice.
"Who's he speaking to?" Hephaistion thought.
His query was answered by a female voice. "Leave it my king. It's supposed to hang like that." Hephaistion frowned.
Then another female voice spoke up, "Look closely my king. We can't show it again."
Hephaistion couldn't pretend to be asleep any longer. He had to know what his golden one was up to.
He sat up on the bed and looked at the scene in front of him. Two young women and Alexander were standing in the middle of the room . One of the women was standing with her back to the others and her companion was braiding her long brown hair. Alexander was watching it with an intense concentration. It appeared as if he was formulating a new battle strategy.
"What's going on Alex?" the brunette blurted out.
Alexander looked at his lover and smiled widely.. as if the conqueror of the known world wasn't learning the intricacies of hair braiding. "I'm glad that you're awake my dear! Remember I told you about the braid that would look good on you? Well now I have learnt to do it myself" Alexander declared to his horrified lover.
Hephaistion shook his head in fond exasperation. He knew this would happen. A few days ago they were in the market along with their companions. Their aim was to mingle with common people. Alexander looked at a little flower shop at one corner and dragged his lover there…to buy him some.
When they reached the little shop they were surprised at the sight in front of them. A beautiful woman was sitting in the middle of the sweet smelling flowers… she wore a sky blue robe and her hair was tied in an exquisite braid. She refused to take money for the flowers. Instead she had looked at them with her intense blue eyes and said, "Love each other my lords..a little more each day. That's the price of my flowers."
Since that day Alexander had been fixated about braiding his hair just like that beautiful woman. But Hephaistion couldn't believe that he would take so much trouble for it.
The women left. Alexander rubbed his hands madly and announced in a voice full of glee, "Come on Phai! Let's braid that beautiful hair."
Hephaistion took a deep breath. He didn't need all the finery. He had his golden one and he was happy. Alexander…as always heard his thoughts . He took his lover's cheeks in his palm and murmured…."You take care of everyone but yourself Phai…and I can't let that go on!"
The hair braiding session was an interesting one to say the least. ..filled with loud and painful yelps of "Owww Alex!" and and stern rebukes of "Don't move Phai!"
The end result was beautiful. No one could say that the Hephaistion's braided hair was a work of inexpert hands. Two little braids emerged from both sides of the head and merged themselves into an intricate fishtail braid in the middle. The brunette turned to look at his lover and blushed at the expression in his love filled eyes.
"Satisfied my king?" he asked.
At his words Alexander's face was suddenly flooded with dismay. He rushed to the bedside table and shouted, "By Zeus! I'm forgetting everything. I was supposed to use all these on your hair!"
Hephaistion went to his king and looked down at the tray lying on the table. It was filled with every item that maidens used to dress up their hair. Golden threads, beautiful beads, fragrant flowers, silken scarves and everything imaginable. His eyes widened with surprise. "Are you crazy Alex? I don't need them! You did just fine with my hair!" he exclaimed to his pouting lover. Then an idea occurred to him.
"Let's take them with us!" said the brunette with a crooked smile. His king blushed.
What happened next was a song…sung by two souls and brought to life by two beautiful bodies. It had Hephaistion and golden threads and beautiful flowers and gold beads and scarves and Alexander….and Alexander…..and Hephaistion.
In the middle of it…Hephaistion reached for the tray on the bed and picked up a handful of gold dust. It was meant for his hair…but he wanted to put it to a better use. He flung his hands and scattered the golden dust upwards. It began to rain on them….appearing like blessings raining from heaven.
Alexander looked at the scene and smiled. He looked at the cyan eyes and murmured "Each day a little more Phai!"
Hephaistion kissed the golden hair of his lover and nodded. "Each day a little more…..my king." he answered back.
The song continued uninterrupted.