This belongs to my Phainder Universe.
"Father, can I sleep here with you?" a four year-old boy asked timidly.
"Phainder, what's wrong?" asked a still sleepy Hephaestion.
"I had a bad dream" said the boy with his eyes wide open.
"Tell me about it" the former General said while pulling the sheets of the bed open.
"No, father, it was awful" said the boy resting his blonde head over the muscled chest.
"Maybe if you share it, you won't feel that bad" said Hephaestion while caressing his son's hair.
"Umm, well, it was a pitch black night and you were with another man in a battlefield …"
"Another man?" asked Hephaestion interrupting.
"Yes, a blonde soldier, and you were crying over this bloodied soldier and you were asking him to resist for his son's sake"
"Do you know the soldier, Phainder?" asked Hephaestion stuttering.
"No, but when you cleaned his face, I could see he had two coloured eyes and then he looked over your shoulder, directly into my eyes and asked whispering: My Son, Phai?"
"What did you feel at that moment, son?" asked Hephaestion with watery eyes.
"When you said "Yes", something warm invaded my heart and then something cold, as if I knew him and didn't want to lose him" said Phainder looking for his father's eyes with his.
"And then what happened?" the blue eyed man asked.
"He looked at you and said "I will" and both of you smiled" said the little boy, who had stopped sobbing.
"In the dead of night, things look confusing and dark, but the morning sun will always bring its light and the renewal of that promise" said Hephaestion hugging Phainder tightly and praying the gods for his beloved's life.
