Hetairoi

by scarlett the seachild

Just a poem I wrote about the nature of Alexander and Hephaestion's relationship. Note: the word "hetairoi" is the male form of "hetera" and means comrade or fellow soldier, not prostitute. I learned that the hard way.

Hetairoi

As a sword blade splits the sky in two,

Sending this small piece of our world to hell

a smile crawls up your jaw and settles on dimpled cheeks.

Fresh-faced and gleaming, a serpent's tail flickering like the fires in your eyes.

You stop

And time stops with you.

Beads of sweat slip from your arms as though shaken from a casket

Then thrown into the howling wind,

an offering to the Gods who see themselves in your madness, your glory, your wild, untamed beauty.

And this is love,

the high-altitude clash of steel on steel

The blood and filth of brothers in arms

Stolen kisses hidden from the prying eyes of Apollo

to be saved and cherished under his sister's more tender gaze.

Hushed words of comfort,

desperate declarations of support, loyalty, strength, friendship, love

when there are none left to hear them but the dead and dying at our feet.

We stand upon a precipice,

Below us lies the world.

Your smile, like mine, says it is ours

and still the bards doth sing.