Chapter 3
Prompt: Minute
Title: Meeting Minute
Alexander was not happy at all, on the contrary, he was very angry. He had just received a report from two of his generals that they had failed in their mission to secure the bridge ahead of them. Not only had they failed to take over the post, but also they had revealed their plan to the enemy. Alexander now needed to completely divert the original strategy.
"Tell me exactly what happened!" Alexander demanded.
"In the meeting, you told us that at dusk, I would attack from upstream, and Cleitus would attack from down stream. So, I moved to the bridge with my men, but Cleitus never showed up. Instead, he was waiting for us to ambush. You are a fool and a coward, Cleitus!"
Cassander spat out glaring at the other general with his murderous stare.
"What do you mean by I never showed up? First of all, the attack was not until the dawn. Besides, it was I who was supposed to attack from upstream. You and your stupid men almost killed us by sneaking up on us from behind. Was it an honest mistake, or was it your plan to kill me in the beginning?"
Cleitus counter attacked making Cassander scream.
"Alexander! Tell Cleitus that he was wrong!"
"What I told you was to attack at dawn".
Cleitus' face brightened up with pride as if he had taken a head of the devil, but his smile disappeared quickly with Alexander's next words.
"Cleitus, you were supposed to attack from downstream. You both were wrong!"
The two generals hung their heads low as the King groaned. Alexander could not believe that something simple like this could be messed up so badly. He needed to do something to prevent this from happening again. What could he do?
All of a sudden, the idea came to him. What he needed to do was to have somebody taking a meeting minute so that nobody would misunderstand. It should be loud and clear for everybody after reading the minute.
"All right, from now on, I will have somebody write a meeting minute, and distribute it to everybody. So that there will not be any more misunderstandings."
"It's a great idea, Alexander, but who will write a minute? It cannot be one of us who is participating in the meeting."
"Perdiccas is right. We should be concentrating on the discussion, not writing it down. Besides, it has to be somebody who is in a neutral position. Otherwise he could alter the content that fits the best to his advantage. As I know that Alexander does not have time to review every single word in the minute before distributing it."
Ptolemy agreed.
"How about Eumenes?"
"No, Perdiccas, he puts too much of his own thoughts. How about one of your pages, Alexander?"
"No, Ptolemy, they would be too busy preparing for the battle. I have an idea." Alexander grinned mischievously. "I will assign Bagoas for this job. I know that he is well capable of recording facts in precise details."
"How do you know that Bagoas can write?"
"Trust me, I know."
A mysterious smile crept up at the corners of Alexander's lips making Hephaistion nervous.
The generals were confused, because they had never read anything that Bagoas had written, but they had no choice but to agree with the king, especially when he seemed to be so certain of the ability of the eunuch. Hephaistion felt uneasy with this development as well, but since he could not rationalize the reason why, he too had to agree with Alexander's choice.
The day that required Bagoas' service came rather quickly. Alexander had to discuss the plan for crossing the river, since now the enemy was fully prepared, and waiting for them at the bridge. Alexander explained to Bagoas what was expected of him.
Sitting at the back of the royal companion's tent, Bagoas was excited. One, Alexander trusted him enough to attend an important military meeting. Second, he could spend more time by the side of Hephaistion. Bagoas was not sure if he could qualify for this job. He could write, but his speed of writing was not near close to recording every single conversation.
However, Alexander convinced him that he simply had to write what he saw and heard in his own words, just like he did write the incident in the cottage, and later what he heard in the wardrobe in Hephaistion's room. Alexander also told him that he was very satisfied with his job. He dipped his stylus into the ink pot, and waited for the action. This was what he had written in the meeting.
Alexander started to explain the situation. Something like we needed to cross the river without using the bridge to avoid the confrontation with the enemy.
Cleitus spoke.
'Why don't we just cross the bridge, and meet the enemy straight from the front? We have far more forces than they do."
I like his straight forwardness and directness. I wonder if this is how Cleitus does sex; no foreplay, but just thrusting with force. It would not be so bad, rather hot, if you were looking for rough sex.
Alexander rolled his eyes. He has no patience. I guess that is how he is with sex, too. No patience, he has to have it now and in his way. He is so passionate, too! It must be very satisfying if you were totally in tune with him. You would more likely experience a fantastic orgasm. Maybe that is the reason why Hephaistion has eyes only for Alexander.
Bagoas took another piece of papyrus, and wrote himself a side note before continuing.
Try to find a way to break a sexual sync between Alexander and Hephaistion; exhaustion, diversion, and jealousy could play important roles.
"You are too simple and plain, Cleitus. Use your brain. Oh, I am sorry, you do not have any, do you?"
Cassander was quick to criticize Cleitus. He basically criticizes everybody on everything. And from my experience, those who criticize others are usually no better. I bet Cassander is as quick in bed as with his tongue. Also, it must be his deepest hidden complex.
And then Hephaistion explained.
"The width of the bridge is limited. You can fight with only so many soldiers at a time. Having a greater force is not necessarily an advantage for this kind of attack. Besides, we cannot afford losing any food supplies since there is not a single town for another five days of traveling after crossing the river."
Alexander looked at Hephaistion with such an admiration. I do not blame him. Ah, Hephaistion is the perfect lover. He is patient, intelligent, and a tactician. He would love you thoroughly until all the bones in your body melted away by kissing you from head to toe, and kneading your muscles with his long delicate fingers, while responding to your touches so sensually. And his lips, they are something else. Look at all those generals' enchanted eyes that are focused on them as soon as Hephaistion opened his mouth.
Insensitive Ptolemy broke the trance.
"Well, then, how about half of us crossing the river by swimming, and when we are ready, we both attack the enemy at the same time; Alexander from the front by crossing the bridge, and we from the side?"
Ptolemy is so logical and practical. That means his sex is predictable and boring, as well. No fun at all. I feel sorry for Thais. On the other hand, she is so spontaneous. Maybe that is why they are the perfect match. They compensate each other, just like Alexander and Hephaistion.
"All right! That might work. Ptolemy, you will take the half of the soldiers with Hephaistion, and swim across the river before dawn. And at dawn, we both attack."
As soon as the generals heard that Hephaistion would be swimming, everybody's eyes started undressing him, including myself. I saw their eyes glimmer with lust, and their tongues wet their lips with anticipation. Even that shy and quiet Perdiccas looked like a wolf getting ready to hunt the prey.
Alexander's jaw dropped after reading the meeting minute Bagoas wrote that was signed by each general except Hephaistion. He quickly put the minute in his chest, and wrote a new order to be distributed to the generals.
We abort the plan due to a major flaw. We will build another bridge to cross the river. No swimming!
