TITLE: FUNERAL
AUTHOR: System1988
RATING: MATURE
CATEGORY: HISTORICAL NOVEL
DISCLAIMER: I do not know the people involved, they belong to History and themsleves
NO BETA: All mistakes are mine- English is not my native language
For your reading convenience the following legend applies to this text:
Italics When in descriptions
Normal When in dialog
Bold When in thoughts
It was a little while after noon when Stesanor's funeral was over and the King chatted with the deceased leader's family and officials, attended to some relevant affairs and rode off with haste, out of the army camp. His guard rushed behind him swiftly but the King, with a raise of his two fingers gave the order as he only wanted two of them to follow. The rest agreed to that. This was quite the often request from the king since there was no possible threat to him anyway; the whole country had surrendered without a fight. If they should insist he would have gone by himself; he was not the one to offer much choice.
The land was rich with decent climate and reasonable locals. They had announced months ago their surrender, they have sent many an animal, food for the animals themselves, wood, metal, strong fabrics for the tends, ropes; for the staff's mistresses delicately knitted cloths, gymnasium equipment, quality oil, perfumes, high quality wine, gold and silver cups, liquors, dry fruit; the finest of all this for the King who knew that within the city temple lay a well-kept golden wreath which was to be bestowed to him after the official ritual sacrifice ended. He had already chosen the sum of talanta that they would pay as tax.
Five days had passed in the campsite before he entered the city officially and the event that led on today's ceremony took place. Funerals were a common sight but not such as that particular one. Stesanor was the head leader of the Thessalians. The King frowned and decreased his steed's speed. He had already thought of the conversation he was about to have with the deceased's fellow warriors, he suspected his military staff's opinions and he knew who he would choose to replace the newly empty position. This had to happen fast so the newly appointed would be accepted by his countrymen, by the rest as well as by the Macedonians. The great battle was really close and the frontline regiments as well as the spies agreed on that. The king held his own sacrifices and foresights along with the seer Aristandros since his dreams were peculiar.
He let the horse's speed drop even more and now one could only tell that he was taking a casual stroll while himself resumed thinking without a stop. The air had a perfume of fresh grass and trees as he crossed a private property, a field. Trained dogs suddenly rushed to his direction but the guards drove them away and signaled the caretaker and the slaves to disband immediately.
Stesanor had been unfortunate as well as idiotic. With total respect to the deceased and his family, the King knew, at least judging from what he had seen, that Stesanor had drunk mixed alcohol, vomited and fell on his own knife while in a hunt with a few of his comrades whom he kept away from himself for no apparent reason. He had honored him with a decent funeral just as the deceased's rank and bloodline demanded, accompanied with many sacrificial animals and musicians. The deceased's brothers had ordered marble for his tomb from the city but he had stopped them by buying the best he could find from Rhodes and placing one of his best architects in charge of the construction. He took a deep breath; his rage had started since that morning, before the ceremony and was building up inside his stomach. Now he felt it in his chest like a series of tiny stings. He assumed that it would keep building up until the afternoon when it would reach his head and then things would get ugly. He called the two guards to join him in a chat, letting them speak somewhat more, nodding his head politely and once the subject had reached the guard's families they had once again entered the campsite.
He trained inside in the palestra ring as well as with his spear until the afternoon. First his guards, some of his friends (his eye caught Perdikas somewhere) then soldiers from all the regiments that had no tasks to perform at that hour came and when they left, others arrived. The hearing hours had passed long before and all the ambassadors, officers and others who had a scheduled meeting with the King sat on chairs of the camp and watched him as well.
With the last throw his anger reached his head, as expected, and the spear cut clean through the wooden target and was pinned a few centimeters away of a merchant's feet who should not have been there but he was obviously lost inside the campsite. The man who had just earned some money saw his coins fall and himself withdrawing, scared.
The king cleansed and dressed by himself and then barely ate. It was obvious that he was sad or troubled, maybe skeptical. The servants were unable to decide which of all the case was and stared at the young sitting monarch who pretended to read a scroll he had randomly picked up; with his two favorite dogs between his legs like moving pillows.
He was invited tonight for dinner at the commandeered house given to Ptolemy. The preparations had begun since the day before but the King had made it perfectly clear that, due to the mourning of those days he wanted solemn music and dressed entertainers. Ptolemy had added with haste to the group two exquisite poets who would sing parts of the King's favorite rhapsodies, Pindar's songs and some of their own works. Ptolemy had dared to recommend to Thais what dress she would be wearing for the evening ("Please do not let the nipples show") but she responded in a cold manner, saying that she was the best courtesan and that dictated her body being seen as she best show fit.
The sun was now descending from the sky but he had managed to read with relative ease only to discover that he had been circling around the same sentence over and over again. That was it.
He covered himself with a guard's cloak, ordered the rest to follow him but from a great distance and headed to the place he wanted to reach. He was only recognized by a few people, what with his lowered head and amongst-the-shadows-walking. He picked complex paths to follow so he would avoid any army tents, friend's houses and all the delays the usual route would inevitably cause. Even with this small strategy some heads still turned to his presence. Between now and then he would hear mumblings and exclamations. He was rude to an old war veteran; he found himself in the middle of a dog fight, denied buying from two merchants, almost threw down a basket of pies, bypassed the trickster's camp and ultimately reached a dead end fence. The guard who was closest to him pointed to the right direction and the King felt predictable. He entered the house by passing through a garden full of blossoms. The house belonged to a rich reveler who had left it with no remorse. The man had left in a bit of a hurry and the current householder's servant did not have the time to prepare it for a high- rank Macedonian. The king stepped on a colored fan, pinned the female cook to the wall and glanced with despise towards a small satyr statuette that reigned over the living room.
- Do not drop it. We are guests. said a voice
The man used a dining table which he had altered to a work desk. The King sat silently in front of him. The man clapped his hands and ordered for drinks, fruit, sweet cheese and small breads. The King's presence was not enough to put a halt at some female mumbling from a nearby room. They looked at one another.
- Won't you try something? Why are you here? Did something happen?
- Will you go to Ptolemy?
- No.
- Why?
- You forgot that I have business to attend to. I will postpone it though if you consider it necessary.
- How long will you be gone?
- All night.
- How many will accompany you? Did we agree on a number?
- Five.
- They are not enough.
- You chose their numbers.
- I am changing it now. Make them eight.
- Will you tell me any names?
- No, you choose.
- Fair enough. Aren't you hungry?
- I did not see you after the funeral.
- I left immediately to meet Kleitus and the prisoners.
- How did it go?
- I have their names, fifty of them oligarchics. I stationed them in other campsites.
- Was that necessary?
- Yes, if I had transferred them along with the rest of the prisoners they would have been strangled to death, don't you remember what almost happened six months ago?
- I try to forget some things. Thankfully you always remember. Did you see Filota's face?
- When?
- At the funeral.
- No, what of it?
- He was looking at Mahitas with contempt.
- Is that the one you have in mind?
- Yes. I have been thinking for a while about him. He is the best out of the three. Plus he leads a healthy life and has two commends. His valor during the siege was exemplary.
- Akamas has three.
- Three what?
- Commends.
- Ah, yes. I do not care just for these though.
He had placed his finger inside the ice- cold water of the cup and poked a grape.
- Yes but Akamas is much richer here as well as in his homeland. Perhaps the possibility of him not being elected might stop the current flow of goods from that part of Hellas.
- We will find another source pretty soon and believe me it will be inexhaustible.
- The Gods are with you Alexander. What happened with the twenty robbers in the end?
- They will be executed tomorrow by Koinos's regiment.
- Where?
- At the camp's center.
- It will be difficult.
- Not at all. Hanging.
- I mean that it will be hard for all the equipment to be set at the center.
- Why so?
- Because the center has the two hillocks blocking the way.
- I ordered their flattening.
- Will they be able to do the work in time?
- They will, they are at the site right now, working.
- Was it necessary?
- Yes they all must be taught a lesson, that theft and murders are crimes. After all they were not starving.
- I meant if it was necessary for the event to take place in the center.
- I told you, everyone must see it.
- They can all see it at the great plateau as well, north of the Korinthians.
- I have already given the order… who is the girl in the next room?
- Think the house has five slave-girls; who are you talking about?
- The one singing.
- She mumbles. Does she bother you?
- No. Yes. Tell her to stop. I will suffer enough a headache at Ptolemy's. He has brought poets. New ones with new compositions and I will have to listen to them all.
He pushed the grape with his finger once again this time the other way.
-You know, said the other, I was thinking about that Sicilian engineer's ballista war machines…. he is called Xanthipos… no wait Xenias.
- When did you see them?
- Two days ago. I think that they are better than Aristomenes's. Their throw is weaker but the missile's weight is double.
- Have you already paid him?
- Of course not. He just let me inspect them. When you see them as well…
- Why are you getting up?
- With your permission, I must get ready.
- You intend to put on this breastplate?
- Yes it is much lighter.
- What is this?
- A sword from Sidon. Do you like it? I bought it from some camel caravans.
- Have you tried it since?
- No, I haven't.
- Then how are you going to use it?
- I don't need to try it and you know it… I will take two…. this one you like, no?
- He committed suicide did he? What are you looking at? Stesanor I mean. That's why he went alone out there so no one would be able to catch up to him. He planned the whole thing in order to save his dignity as well as his relatives's.
The man placed the swords in their places, crossed his hands on his chest and looked at the king with sorrow and solemnity. The king looked back at him with anxiety, full of questions. A long silence fell among them. The king spoke first.
- Did you ever encourage him to…?
- No.
- When you were travelling together… you were with him for forty days…
- Thirty the other corrected him with haste.
- Even so the king answered a bit ironically.
- Thirty the man repeated.
- And during the exercises… you were with him quite frequently.
- Yes we were both riding together along with six hundred other men.
The king let the obvious irony go unanswered.
- Yet you were smiling at him… since the beginning of the campaign…
- I always found him a nice fellow. You think that was enough?
The king gave him a log stare. In the end he said:
- Yes, it was enough.
- He had other problems as well, Alexander.
- Seriously? Tell me one….. fair enough you will tell me if you remember any. I, on the other hand remember that three years ago…. yes it was three years ago…. I had heard…. that during a rumbling of his after he was wounded on the throat, he kept repeating your name. The Macedonian doctor told me so not theirs.
- Yes but he had many lovers, that youth for example from Argos.
- Yes indeed he had many lovers, men and women alike. He kept hopping from one to another. That must have meant something; he was not a lustful man.
- The orgies he organized were famous; Filotas was excited when he was invited.
- He offered the best courtesans and the handsomest youths but he himself would get drunk so much that he always fell asleep before the main events even begun. And two days ago…
The other one frowned, waiting patiently. In the end nothing could remain a secret in the camp. The officials were spying on each other under the table through their followers, mostly for their own entertainment and the King, with more experienced staff on his side, on all of them at the same time. The King continued speaking, lifelessly.
- Two days ago…
The man looked at him full of questions.
- Look, it was simple; I just wanted to be informed about his movements and my mind rushed to your recent ones. He asked you to meet with him didn't he?
The other one sighed
- It was a coincidence
- For you. He, on the other hand, knew that you would go there and he went as well. So…..?
His voice had taken the tone of a man with power who waits for an answer that he demanded and will surely receive.
- So he had the audacity to proclaim his love for me and that if I did not respond he would forfeit his life.
- And what was your answer to him?
- By the gods, Alexander, why would you want to know all these pointless details?
The King had now taken a solemn and angry look.
- My response was…. that he stopped talking immediately and never dare to utter a word of that matter again… at the start he was speaking attic dialect but then he continued speaking in his own so I could not understand a word that came out of his mouth.
- So?
- So, I was not very polite.
Silence struck, yet again between the two men. The one in front of the King then spoke.
- It was impossible for him not to know about you…. That is why I thought of the gesture really rude from his part, almost an insult to your person.
Again; silence. In the end the King said
- He may not have been aware of it….. you know that….. for years now it has been kept a secret…. our bond….
- Even so… gossip about that has been circling like crazy… and it happens to be the very first thing a new recruit learns in his first day, even before his first salary is drawn…. It was highly improbable for him not to know…. that stupid empty- headed Thessalian, that…..
- Do not speak ill of the dead! Do not blaspheme…
- I blaspheme, he answered furiously, the one who brought you in this difficult position of having to choose a new leader really fast…. in this Thessalian wasp hive, with Darius on the other side of our army and to have all these gossiping reaching his ears, making as a laughing matter in the whole army…
- Who else knew? the king asked suddenly
- Everyone and no one.
- That is not an answer.
- I cannot know Alexander; I tried not to pay attention to such matters and you have said that I should be indifferent. Once he was drunk and said something about me, then, another time, he punished one of his men for speaking ill about me…. I am sorry it ended that way….
-It is not your fault… after all it remains in its essence…. an accident.
- Yes, the other one replied bitterly, without looking at the king.
- But, in reality, Alexander said with some black humored joy, the real accident was him falling hopelessly in love… WITH YOU …. Only the gods might know about the poor guy…. what he must have went through…. Look, I was in his position once… and don't take that reproachful look with me, because I won't take that bait… or don't you remember…
He was about to count dreadful hours of doubt, waiting and frustration, countless hours which had to be hidden under the look of an unapproachable prince who observed, powerless his object of love being chased mercilessly by so many and not being able to act on it. It was the only case he couldn't and didn't want to exercise his power. The sun rose and descended, the exercises repeated themselves, tougher each time (they are easy, I will propose something more complex, these ones the Athenians can do while sitting), his mother arranged sexual meetings for him- the slaves gossiped that the son of the Epirot queen wanted two women for the night instead of one- the sun kept his circling route – the prince was always so busy (I will propose to my father that I replace him during the hearings; at least I should tell him my opinion and then he can decide for any punishments) he should pursue and further his mental growth (Aristotle wanted to stay in Pella and of course I always have time for him; he speaks of interesting matters every time) and when his friend would return frustrated and angry from all the love-talks, the letters, the gifts and the armies of his potential lovers who pretended to just be in his way, at the ring, during the symposiums, the military exercises, the hunts, the journeys, the celebrations, the walks alongside their Master, when he returned from them, sometimes with quite the good mood (he is a remarkable man) sometimes disgusted (by the gods that man is twenty years older than my father!) they had to talk about anything else than this… Why? He himself did not understand the reason anymore. He had set many high goals that his friend had pledged himself to as well, with quite the enthusiastic manner; from their very first childhood years and as the time passed….
He threw his head back; in front of all these memories something new was happening inside him. He cowered and at the same time felt guilt for that initial emotion. He did not want to remember the hours of anxiety and waiting that he had been through until that being he was talking straight to his heart, had finally said to him… what was not told to Stesanor. So simply. To tell him more, to swear anything to him, to smile at him… to talk angrily towards him, to fix his belt that was a little loose. Just like now. He pushed his hand back.
- That's enough, thank you
He took a step back from him and they shared a long stare. They talked in lower voices until the evening birds flew lower, crowing louder; the guards getting ready to change shifts, the food to boil in the room and a slave barely remembered his brother's laughter.
- I will cover this up as best as I can; you don't change your schedule.
- Yes but if anyone even makes a hint otherwise I will crush him Alexander!
- No you will not react at all.
- Not react… give me a break!
- You will do as ordered you arrogant head… or else…
-Or else...? Please continue I shall enjoy this!
- And you will be present at the commemorative occasion, just like today at the funeral but you won't leave with haste.
- Yes, I will remain to mourn the loss of the simpleton drunk!
- Yes and when you return tomorrow you will come to report straight to me.
- Peukestas can report to you as well.
- I WANT YOU.
They were both out of breath. The conversation was over. Alexander returned to his sovereign look.
- Too bad, I am really sorry. He was worthy, brave; and we communicated well. He must be replaced swiftly.
He got up.
- Will you go to the symposium right now?
- Yes, when I am late Ptolemy remains up, circling the tables of the guests telling everybody nonsense about my childhood.
- So nothing remains for me now but to wish you to a nice evening.
- Hmm…. You come back here safe.
He touched his shoulder and turned his back at him while moving away. The other one followed him, they reach the door and said their goodbyes once more, while the guards were approaching, offering him a horse.
- It's Leonnatu's your Majesty; he wishes you to have a great time for tonight, said the guard
At his return a lot of people saw him and cheered. The other one remain back at the door, thinking. A final ray of sunlight was playing with his hair and it responded, shinning full of color gracefully, as the King was moving away. The secretary coughed.
- Sir they are asking if you intend to dine here.
- No I will be gone all night. You focus on translating these letters and then you are free till tomorrow noon.
Then he waved at the secretary while being abstract, then his companions came and together they rode in the new darkness.
After a while the secretary had finished and the cook brought him aromatized wine. He was writing in papyrus to his brother in Miletus who had chosen to stay with his family and not follow the Macedon king and his allies to their campaign. He sipped some wine and continued.
"You ask me under who I serve brother? The gods have been in my favor so far in that matter as well. My current superior goes by the name Hephaestion and they say he is the King's lover as well as his closest friend. He visits him day and night and sometimes the King pays visits to him as well. I do not blame the King for being so attached to him. Will go past his obvious polite ways, his competence in military matters, his education which is superior from all the other Macedonian officials' staff. What I want to point out is his beauty which is godlike, gods forgive me. He of course is a twenty- five year old man but that does not apply to his ability to attract all sorts of ages, men and women alike. When he smiles…."
THE END