CHAPTER 3: First Slave days in Macedon.
Hephaestion travelled quite cramped on a cart filled with provisions for the long journey back to Macedon. He had just a light blanket to cover his battered body and the cold of the nighttime had made all his pains worse. In addition to the cold, the bumps and zigzagging of the travel made no good to his two bruised ribs that finally snapped and broke, making it more difficult for him to breathe. His face showed the excruciating pain he was feeling but he received no help at all, he was a traitor to his own people and a dangerous man for the Macedonians.
Hephaestion, at 17, was a simple pariah, condemned to live in a kingdom that was not his own, under the caprice of a man who could do to him whatever he wanted. Hephaestion, whose passion for life was well known by everyone, had lost it forever. The young man only wanted to die so he could join his family in the afterlife. When that idea appeared in his mind, he immediately rejected it but after some hours of severe pain and loneliness, it became his only thought and so he decided to embrace his death wish and promised to himself to do up to the impossible to get it sooner than later.
The Army decided to stop for some hours to get supplies of fresh water and also to give their king some quality time to rest. While the pages were organizing a camp bed, some of the companions started to ask the Harmonians how many of them would follow up their king to Macedon and who were the ones that had decided to take a different path. Most of the Harmonians had decided to go in search of new lands; only the good doctor and some single farmers would follow Alexander as they did not have any ties at all.
As soon as Alexander was settled in the makeshift bed, he asked his page to bring him some red wine. The good doctor gave him some fresh water instead and then prepared the concoction. Alexander looked at him a bit upset but the man explained that the plant could lose some of its curative effects if it were mixed with wine. Alexander accepted the explanation because his wound was healing well and quicker than he had expected and, even though he knew that the slash would leave a big and noticeable scar, he did not care at all because he was not vain or worried about his physical appearance.
When the doctor finished assisting him, he was sent to check on Hephaestion but the man was hurried in his inspection and dismissed even quicker. The man did not insist, he knew he did not have the right to do it so, in his quick visit, he did not see that the bruises had a darker hue and that the former prince's breathing was much more laboured and in rapid short gasps. He did not realize either that his ribs were already broken or that his food and water had remained untouched.
When they finally arrived at the Macedonian palace, it was after midnight; and even though everybody was knackered, they immediately took care of their duties so they could all go to rest soon.
Alexander was taken to his chamber directly and after a brief visit of his own doctor, he was tucked into bed in spite of his loud protests. Doctor Philip did not want to hear him moaning so he administered a mild sedative in his last drink. Being already tired and with the rapid effect of the sedative, the blonde king forgot about everything and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the silk pillow.
The rest of the Companions forgot about their prisoner too so nobody realized that Hephaestion had not left the provisions cart he had been travelling in and it had been sent to the warehouse, waiting to be unloaded the following morning. Nobody thought about checking as everybody thought that the others had taken care of him.
The following morning, King Alexander woke up feeling much better, with his strength almost recovered and such a bubbling energy inside his body that he got up early and went directly to the small side chamber to check on his "forced guest". However, the room was empty; in fact, there was not the slightest sign that I had been occupied before.
Alexander called his page Eupolos and asked him if Hephaestion was being checked by any of the physicians. The dark-haired page looked at his king with surprise and immediately said that he had not seen the traitor at all. Alexander winced at the hard way of addressing the young man and told his page that the Harmonian prince had only tried to defend his family and that he had made a mistake, drove by his deep pain. Eupolos accepted the explanation and offed himself to look for him.
Thirty minutes later, Cleitus entered the royal chamber and saw Alexander pacing from one end to the other of his room.
- "So has the doctor already seen him? What has he said?" the blonde king asked eager to know about the young man's condition.
- "Who?" Cleitus asked, knowing that there was something he was not understanding.
- "Hephaestion? The Harmonian prince?" Alexander asked exasperatedly.
- "The good doctor left at the wee hours of this morning with two of the farmers in search of some lands up north. Even though he left your medicine for several days, he told me nothing about the traitor's condition" the General said.
- "Well, what about our doctor?" Alexander asked, worried with every passing minute.
- "That old man is still sleeping," Cleitus said and laughed loudly.
- "Well, take me to him so I can see him with my own eyes and then we can decide what we will do with him," Alexander said, taking a cloak with him.
Cleitus stopped his walking and looked at Alexander with surprise in his dark eyes:
- "My king, I thought the blow was to your chest and not to your head. You offered yourself to take him as your life slave because he became an outcast to his own people and you don't want to pass him through the sword in spite of his attack to your person" Cleitus said, refreshing the king's decision.
- "I know, I know but I do understand him and I don't want to punish him more than he really deserved. He lost his whole family and kingdom all in one day; we can be more tolerant, don't you think?" Alexander asked.
- "Alright, alright. I will go and investigate myself where he is but listen to me carefully if I find out that he has escaped or even tried, I'd kill him with my bare hands" Cleitus stated loud and clear.
- "Don't you know where he is?" Alexander asked more worried than before.
- "Why should I know? I had more important things to take care of last night" he replied and left.
- "Bring him to me soon so I can decide what to do next" Alexander shouted trying to calm down himself as well as the angry General.
An hour later, running steps woke Alexander up. His page Eupolos was standing next to him, trying to get his attention.
- "Sire, the boy is very ill. His skin is cold, bluish and when I touched him to wake him up, it seemed as if it were covered by scales. His lips are bluish too and his eyes seem bright less. I was afraid to touch him more but he looked as if he was dead" Eupolos said and he felt so nervous while giving his king the news that his knuckles were white.
- "Where did you find him?" he asked.
- "He was still on the cart inside the warehouse. His water was dirty and his food seemed to be off, but I don't think he had touched any of them" the page added, knowing that every word would make Alexander feel angrier.
- "By Zeus's balls, he might be a slave but he still is a human being. Go and fetch the doctor" Alexander shouted at him angrily.
- "I already did that. He must be going to see him at the moment" the page added.
- "Where?" the king asked, already knowing the answer.
- "Still on the cart", the young boy whispered.
- "Bring him inside and set him in the chamber next to mine. I don't have to say you must do or bring anything the doctor tells you or asks you to do"
- "Of course, Sire. I would do everything he commands me" Eupolos assured him.
Some minutes later, loud noises were heard inside the palace and then Alexander heard the loud and deep voice of his good Doctor shouting and more running footsteps coming and going along the corridors of the royal house.
Alexander got up and crossed his own room towards the smaller one, adjacent to his. He saw two of his guards laying the thin body onto the bare bed and his old doctor touching the young man's chest with extreme care. He turned round and seeing Cleitus, the doctor asked the General to help him turn the youth's body over, to one of his sides.
As soon as he was lying on that side, Hephaestion vomited gushes of thick black blood and his half-open eyes rolled backwards showing the whites of his eyes completely shot with bright red veins.
- "I think two of his ribs are broken and they might have punctured one of his lungs. Apart from that, you can easily see he had been rudely beaten by big men with big hands and fists" the doctor added and his tone of voice showed his disgust.
- "I didn't order any beating or punishment at all. Who did that?" Alexander asked in rage.
- "Your men, sire, after your attack" one of the guards answered.
- "But I didn't order that," Alexander said and got closer to have a better look.
- "But that is the punishment for a traitor before their death" the second guard added.
- "I know but we have already decided a different thing. He will not die, he will be under my personal service as we had already decided back in Harmony" Alexander stated loud and clear, once again. The memory of that day was coming back clearer to his mind.
- "I will kill you whenever I have my first chance" Hephaestion whispered and every word he uttered made him feel his pain deeper.
- "Why? I did not kill your family and I am trying really hard to keep you alive" Alexander said, trying to reason with the wounded man.
- "You are lying again. YOU were the one who attacked my kingdom" Hephaestion said, spitting venom with each of the words that left his bloodied lips.
- "But you were forging swords and violating your principles," Alexander said trying to justify his invasion but his voice revealed his own doubts after what he had learnt about Philoares.
No one knew where the young man took the strength from, but he propped onto one of his elbows and looking at the king of the known world with hate in his eyes, he whispered:
- "Didn't you see my men running away instead of fighting your men? They were trying to protect or save their women and children" he said while spitting more blood and trying to drag more air into his damaged lungs.
He really wanted to go on speaking but a fit of coughs made it impossible for him to go on.
Doctor Phillip could no longer see his patient in such conditions so he sent everyone outside, the king included, because he wanted to check the young man over and see what he could do to the suffering boy. However, the king stayed behind because that man was his possession and he wanted to know what he needed to do to look after him.
Alexander had never had a slave before, even less personal ones; it was not a custom in his lands so he was completely in the dark as regards their duties or his treatment.
Phillip looked at Alexander and finally understood that the young Harmonian could not be in better hands as the young king was well-known for being a fair man and ruler.
The doctor cleaned the man with careful hands and after having checked his condition, he wrapped a soft piece of linen around Hephaestion's chest to immobilise his ribs so in that way he would try to prevent him from losing more blood. While he did this, the old man whispered soft and caring words in the young man's ear until he was much calmer.
Alexander remembered the herb that the Harmonian doctor had given him to recover from the blood loss and went back to his room to fetch it. When he came back, he saw the worried look in the doctor's face, the old man was preoccupied with the internal bleeding but he hoped that the youth's former good health would help him. He was happy to know that he could use that amazing herb to help the young man in his recovery.
The bruises started to get better after a few days; however, a very high fever broke up one day in the middle of the night. The brunette was still too weak and the good doctor feared that he would not make it through the night. The constant supervision and care of the young king helped the young Harmonian a lot, even though the young brunette did not realize who had been looking after him with so much dedication and so carefully because he had been delirious or unconscious most of the time since the fever appeared.
After all the slow nursing and when the doctor was almost sure that there was no more internal bleeding, he tapped Hephaestion's broken ribs as tight as the young man could tolerate and after the initial pain, it helped Hephaestion to breathe a bit better and also to feel more comfortable for the long period he would still be lying in bed. However, it took Hephaestion a whole month until he could breathe without feeling pain.
Hephaestion's bruises disappeared and the cuts healed and so Alexander could, for the first time, see how handsome Hephaestion was. The young king felt something weird inside his chest that squeezed his heart and then made it fluttered and then squeezed again.
He finally realized that Hephaestion was someone special and he could not help feeling something for the blue-eyed man lying on a bed so close to his own bed; but he did not want to fall for him, the brunette was a conquered man; a man who did not want to be in his palace or under his command; a Harmonian prince who only wanted the king very far away from him, a man who would never see him just as a simple man but as the one who had attacked his peaceful kingdom. Alexander realized that he'd better leave this blooming crush behind and move on.
During his recovery, Hephaestion's heart had had time to harden and he did not want to see any good in the man who had been his caretaker but most importantly, his crush for the last ten years.
At 17, Hephaestion was no longer a child but a man and, in spite of all the chaos and disaster, he felt that he was still a Harmonian at heart and so he would dedicate the rest of his life he had to look for the truth behind his family's deaths and to serve the blonde young King because he was just his slave but Alexander would never get anything else from him.
It took Hephaestion four whole months to recover fully; his ribs were healed but he still felt some pain whenever he took very deep or rapid breaths or if he had a fit of cough. His bruises had completely disappeared and his strength was almost totally restored. However, his mood and attitude had not got any better. He did not utter a single word except when he was commanded to do it, and as it was generally Alexander the one who ordered him, his hate for the Macedonian ruler had escalated to astronomical proportions, being fueled by the constant interference of the king in the slave's life. According to Alexander, it was only his intention to see to his recovery promptly but Hephaestion saw it as another way of domination.
The rest of the Companions could not understand Alexander's behaviour towards Hephaestion. The man had tried to kill him and then had threatened to do it again as soon as he had the opportunity but Alexander continued treating him politely as if he still were royalty.
Cleitus had promised to keep an eye on the brunette and, at the mere threat towards Alexander, he would not hesitate to send the brunette down to the house of death.
Hephaestion was now in a new room, sitting on a hard chair and a thick chain kept him attached to it by his ankle. As soon as his health had been fully recovered, Alexander was away for two months. Being left behind, Cleitus had seen his chance to have his own little revenge on the brunette so the day after Alexander's departure, he went to the slave's room and kicked him out of there, telling him that he had new accommodations. So here it was Hephaestion inside the tiniest cell he had ever seen and chained to a chair, with the threat of death hanging over his head if he ever dared to get loose.
Hephaestion had looked at him with anger in his cyan eyes at first but then he understood the General's reaction, he had not only threatened the king twice but also violated the three virtues that had been his guides during his whole life as a free man, so it was true that he deserved his slavery.
Truth did not only involved knowledge but also doing what it was right. Alexander was his captor and as his superior, he deserved Hephaestion's service as his personal slave.
Hephaestion would only recover his peace of mind when he had fully achieved the other two virtues. The young brunette did not have a problem accepting his truth but serving Alexander was a completely different thing and even though it was necessary, he would postpone that service as long as he could, trying to become invisible and forgettable; his peace of mind could wait a bit longer.
Alexander had been away for two months and on his return, he decided to visit the inner garden, his special place whenever he had something in his mind that was worrying him deeply. Alexander was walking towards it when a maid passed him by with a tray of food. She greeted him and followed her way towards the furthest part of the palace. Alexander was intrigued; his Companions, the ones who still were single, used to sleep in the palace but in the bigger chambers on the front part of the palace, so he could not understand who would choose those rooms that were no larger than a cell.
Alexander followed the maid with a certain distance and saw her push the tray through an opening in the lower part of one of those doors. When the woman disappeared, Alexander approached the chamber and looked inside through the tiny barreled window. There, chained by one hand to the wall and one leg to the sturdy chair was Hephaestion trying to eat one-handed his meagre breakfast.
Alexander was very angry with what he was seeing but he also knew he could not overrule his men's orders without knowing what had made them taken them during his absence or provoking more chaos and misunderstandings among his men.
He was not happy about how things had changed so drastically during his absence so after sighing loudly, he returned to his own chamber, thinking how he could improve Hephaestion's lifestyle without pissing off his Companions, especially Cleitus, who was really mad at the brunette.
The Black General had been summoned and he explained that all those new measurements had been taken due to Hephaestion's constant hostility and his frequent looks filled with hate and murder towards any men but especially against the Macedonian ruler. What Cleitus had forgotten to mention was that Hephaestion had not done anything wrong during the previous two months but his only presence annoyed the General a lot.
Alexander, during his time away, had been thinking about Hephaestion quite frequently. He had finally decided that he would give Hephaestion some minor tasks so he could still be in contact with books and knowledge so in that way; he would be able to live one of his virtues, even if he was no longer a Harmonian. Alexander could only think about Hephaestion as being the Harmonian prince still.
The young king decided to communicate his decision personally so he went in search of his slave. Hephaestion was still sitting on the hard chair; there was a cot on the floor but it was so thin that Alexander thought it should be extremely uncomfortable to sleep on it.
The king entered the cell and Hephaestion lifted his gaze to see who it was and Alexander immediately saw the anger and danger in those cerulean eyes. The blonde stopped immediately and for the first time in his life, he did not know how to speak up his mind.
He cleared his voice and asked:
- "Are you fully recovered?"
- "As if you care," Hephaestion said between his clenched teeth.
- "Well, believe or not, I do care that is why I am asking you" Alexander replied, trying to keep his nerves calm.
- "After ignoring me for the last two months? Not that I am complaining. Well, I am fully recovered so now that you know, you can go" Hephaestion spat back.
- "I don't have to give you any explanation but I was away on a diplomatic mission for the last two months. I also think that you are not in the position to order me around because you are my slave and you are the one wearing chains" Alexander replied.
- "Alright, that is true but this is my cell" Hephaestion replied stubbornly.
- "Yes, it is but you can end chained to a tree if you don't change that horrible attitude, boy" Alexander shouted, forgetting his own desire to remain calm.
- "I am an adult, I am 17, no longer a boy" Hephaestion replied loudly.
- "Ah … so now you're back to be a Harmonian. I remembered very well when nine months ago you told me that you were an outcast" Alexander rebuked.
- "I …. I …"Hephaestion stuttered, not knowing how to answer.
- "I came here to offer you some tasks but I can see that you don't deserve that chance yet" Alexander informed him.
- "What?" Hephaestion asked in a whisper.
- "I was going to offer you some task as a scribe but I can't now," Alexander said, sensing the brunette's despair.
- "Why not?" he asked.
- "You don't want to serve me and I know that you embraced Truth and Service a year ago" Alexander answered.
- "Who told you that?"
- "Your former Doctor"
- "Well but I am an outcast now"
- "There you go again. No, you are neither an outcast nor a Harmonian, you're just a capricious and confused boy and until you decide what you really are, you will be chained to that wall or a tree if I decide that" Alexander stated seriously.
- "You can't do that, I am an heir" Hephaestion replied.
- "No, you are not. There is no longer a Harmonian royal family or kingdom" Alexander said and immediately regretted his hard words when he saw the agony in those blue eyes.
- "So what am I? Just a spoil of war?" Hephaestion shouted with tears in his eyes.
- "You are my slave and you will live to serve me," Alexander said.
- "But you have never had slaves before" Hephaestion reminded him.
- "No, but any man who had attempted against my life is dead, except you. I didn't kill you at that moment because I pitied you due to the whole situation but I was wrong. From now on, you will serve me in any way I want and you will obey me because it is the truth" Alexander said and when he finished speaking, he left the cell without looking back.
Some minutes later, two eunuchs came and took him to a nearby room where they gave Hephaestion a thorough bath. Then they braided his bronze tresses and dressed him in a short white chiton. Two armed guards were there during all the process and when they were over, they took Hephaestion to Alexander who was about to receive some ambassadors. One of the guards handed Alexander a gold chain with a wide collar. The king set it on his slave's neck and immediately attached the chain to one of the legs of his own throne. He then looked at Hephaestion with a very serious and cold look in his mismatched eyes and whispered:
- "You will remain by my side, quiet and looking pretty because you are my slave and you will obey me"
Hephaestion could not believe his bad luck, the man who he had loved for many years despised him because he had spoken the truth and now he had been turned into a mere decorative object at the feet of the Macedonian king.
Hephaestion knelt by his side and remained like this for hours until Alexander remembered to give him some water and food. Hephaestion felt humiliated but, deep down in his heart, he started to believe that he deserved that due to his hostile attitude and changing mind.
Several ambassadors were attracted by the handsome slave at the king's feet and many of them had asked Alexander to hand him out to satisfy their desires to have him to warm their beds. Alexander looked out of the corner of his eyes and saw fear in the cyan eyes so he diplomatically explained that that slave was his personal one and was out of reach.
He asked one of his guards to take Hephaestion back to his cell so he could defuse some of the ambassadors' moody temper. The young king had a bitter flavour in his mouth at the mere thought of those fat hands all over the brunette's body. The boy was his and his he would remain forever.
As months went by, Alexander saw with satisfaction how Hephaestion had finally accepted his position as his personal slave, without realizing that the brunette was no longer a whole man but a broken one; a man who had nothing to lose because he had nothing, no self-esteem, no self-respect, no homeland or family.
Hephaestion was just a shell of the lively young man he used to be and that worrying feeling that his mother had had about him had finally become true.
Hephaestion was no longer helpful but servile, submissive.
Hephaestion had finally become a true slave in mind and heart.
