Leaders of Macedonia Chapter 10: An Entrance to Pella, an alexander fanfic

Title: "Leaders of Macedonia"

Author: Baliansword

Chapter: 10, "An Entrance to Pella"

A/N: Here is the next chapter, Alexander's return to Babylon. Again, reviews are always welcomed. Thanks everyone that is reviewing. You guys are all great. Can't wait to hear from my regulars again soon.

Warning: There will be some sexual scenes between Alexander and Hephaestion. If you get uncomfortable, skip it where you start getting uncomfortable, or if you're really scared go ahead and skip the chapter. Thanks.

Bucephalus stopped and Alexander slid off of his back. He handed the reins to a young page and then glanced over his shoulder as the stallion was taken away. Hephaestion still tenderly nursed Aleda along the way, not even bothering to try to ride the horse. The horse walked slowly, trying to keep weight off of his front leg. Hephaestion let a young boy take the horse, telling him that the trainer of the royal horses should be sent for immediately. The young boy nodded, taking the horse, along with the help of another page. Hephaestion watched them for a moment as they led the horse away, then turned to face Alexander. There was a sadness in Hephaestion's eyes that Alexander had not seen before, a sadness for the spoils of war, and it ripped through his own heart like a dull dagger.

"Come," Alexander said, as they began to reach the stairs that would bring them to the entrance of the back of the palace. As they made their way it was Hephaestion that glanced up. On a near balcony Olympias stood, holding a blood red serpent in her hand, staring down at them with a slight smirk upon her face. Hephaestion expected any moment for her tongue to shoot out of her mouth. Then she would be a snake. Pausing, he glanced at her once more before looking away, saying nothing to Alexander.

Hephaestion tried to think of where Olympias stood. She was constantly defending herself from Philip's attacks, his lovers, and whatever else he threw at her. Macedonia was not a world for a woman. Men controlled it, so she had no power over her husband, except for in the mind of her son. Some of what she did was actually for his benefit, Hephaestion admitted. However, there were other things that at times he called into question. Yet, he understood her motives, all of them, even if he agreed with only a few.

"My father is not back yet," Alexander said as he entered the palace. Hephaestion followed, looking around in the shadows, shadows that Alexander took no note of in his mind. Without a care in the world Alexander continued down the hall until he reached his rooms. He entered, shutting the door when Hephaestion entered. "It is too quiet for him to be here. When he returns he'll feast for days, proud of his win over the Athenians."

"You are the one with the victory," Hephaestion said as he glanced around the room. It was in his nature to look around for changes. Everything appeared to be normal though. Smiling slightly, he glanced over at Alexander, who was watching him, laughter in his eyes.

"It is just a habit," Hephaestion assured him. Alexander only grinned before crossing the room. He put a hand on Hephaestion's cheek as he placed his lips against his, kissing him fondly, wanting him now that they were back to the security of his rooms. Half of him wanted to take Hephaestion then, throw him onto the bed, show him how much he meant to him. Yet the other half of him remembered that they'd been riding for hours, that they were both sweating, and that sometimes what he wanted to do had to be considered through Hephaestion's eyes.

"I'm going to take a bath," Alexander said, his lips still lingering against Hephaestion's. He ran his hands over his hair, letting his fingers glide over Hephaestion's shoulders, but Hephaestion moved away. He brushed past him, making his way to the door. "Where are you going?"

"I thought that…"

"No," he said, laughing almost as he said it. He'd never dismissed Hephaestion from his presence and he would not begin to do so now. He stood, then motioned with a hand for Hephaestion to follow him. Hephaestion did so without an utterance.

Alexander entered the bathing room. Already the water was warming over the fire. Apparently his mother knew that he was coming, as he'd suspected. Carefully he lifted the water and poured it into the tub. Hephaestion helped, and soon the pails were empty. Hephaestion piled them all in the corner then turned back to Alexander. Silently Alexander moved closer, filling the space between them, wrapping his arms around his waist. He pulled Hephaestion against him them kissed him, breathing lightly against Hephaestion's cheek as the kiss broke.

Within seconds he was kissing him again though. Alexander ran his tongue over Hephaestion's lips, asking for entrance. Hephaestion's lips parted and Alexander let his tongue slide into depths he'd not delved into before. The heat between them grew and Hephaestion let his hands roam up and down Alexander's back. His hand cupped his butt at one point as he pulled him even closer. Yet it was Alexander's hands that found Hephaestion's thighs, and began to slide up and under his chiton. Alexander let his hand wander until he in turn cupped Hephaestion, causing Hephaestion to gasp, his breathing becoming more uneven yet filled with passion.

Alexander relieved Hephaestion of his clothes and in turn Hephaestion did the same. Alexander placed his lips against Hephaestion's neck, kissing his pulse. He then drew Hephaestion back, leading him closer to the water. Once in, he pushed Hephaestion's back against the tub, then crawled on top of him. Delicately he kissed him, hands still wandering; Hephaestion's doing the same. Hephaestion placed his hands on the back of Alexander's thighs, holding him against him as Alexander's lips began to cover his chest.

"Alexander," he gasped out as Alexander's hand went under the water, then began to rub against his thigh. He let his head fall back as Alexander's hand wrapped around his arousal, hand stroking and fondling him. Calmly, Alexander moved forward slightly, then bent his head. He kissed Hephaestion on the mouth, sucking on his lower lip while kissing him, his other hand joining the other. He continued to caress Hephaestion while he did so. It was not until he let his hips lower slightly, allowing his own arousal to brush up against Hephaestion's thigh that Hephaestion broke away from his kisses.

"Oh Gods," he panted, hands holding Alexander's thighs. He caught his breath, Alexander still kissing his neck and shoulder, fondling him beneath the water. While he tried to catch his breath Alexander touched him in such a way that he felt him body tense before his release. Unable to stop himself, he let his body go weak, then slid lower into the water.

"Shh," Alexander soothed him, kissing his brow as he held him, hands firmly on his back as if to never again let him go. Hephaestion then looked up at him, cerulean eyes full of trust. He gently lifted up, kissing Alexander tenderly, his hands guiding Alexander's to his hips. It was then that he shifted, moving his thighs further apart, placing his back firmly against the tub. He drew Alexander closer, kissing him deeply.

It was Alexander that put his hands on the back of Hephaestion's thighs, lifting, so that his legs bent. Alexander pressed against Hephaestion, then kissed him as he entered him. Hephaestion wrapped his arms around Alexander's neck, then shifted, allowing Alexander to enter him further. All the while he continued to kiss him, his lips, his neck, shoulder, and anywhere that he could reach. Alexander rocked against him, kissing him, loving not only the feeling that he got, but also the moans that were coming from Hephaestion each time he thrust into him. After a few minutes he wrapped his arms around Hephaestion's chest, holding him against him as he gasped out, almost whimpering as he felt himself release.

Neither said anything for a moment. They both panted, trying to still their breathing, each feeling the same feeling of the bond they'd shared. Alexander leaned against Hephaestion, unable to move for a moment, and Hephaestion wrapped his arms around him. They held each other, saying nothing, but when their eyes met they'd said it all.

"A peace treaty," Olympias asked as she raised the cup to her lips and took a drink. She had done this several times as he told her what had gone on. He did not know if she was uninterested, or if she was just waiting for him to finish. She stared across the room though, out into the city where the sun was coming closer and closer to the horizon. Then, she turned to him, a smile growing and her eyes glittering with tears.

"What's wrong," he asked.

"Nothing," she assured him. "I am proud of you, that is all."

"What do you think father will say?"

"I do not know," she shrugged, her satisfaction in him soon turning into hatred for his father. Her smile faded and she rose, firmly putting the cup back down on the table. She took up her regular pacing, as she thought, hating Philip while she did so. "Your father was a fool to send you Alexander. He wanted you dead, whether you believe me or not. When he comes back from Athens, which I actually hope he will not, he'll see you and he'll laugh. He'll tell his companions that he is proud of you but will later curse you. When he finds that you are perhaps more a man than he, changing the ways of things, he will then become even angrier. He will hate you Alexander."

"He won't hate me mother."

"Yes," she snapped. "You have already surpassed him. What has he left to do, but hate you for being his better?"

"Do you think that he will hate me," he asked Hephaestion as the other combed his hair. Hephaestion glanced up but then went back to his work. He hated the ideas that Olympias put into his head. Yet what he hated most was the fact that her ideas were likely true, or worse, were indefinitely accurate.

"I do not think you will ever be hated," Hephaestion told him. "I believe that your father does love you, just not in the way that perhaps other fathers love their sons. Yet I do not believe that he could hate you. It may scare him to realize that you are rising in power. Not because it is you, but because he'll realize that age is catching up with him, and that perhaps already you've done more than him in his life. He wants history to remember him, and he doesn't want you interrupting his page in the scrolls. Hate you, no. But he may be jealous."

"I am his son, how could he want me to hold myself back?"

"I do not know," he said as he placed the comb down and then ran his fingers through Alexander's hair. "Perhaps it has nothing to do with you. Perhaps he is just worried about the bond you share with your mother. He does not wish her to rule through you."

"No, he wishes to rule through me."

"Alexander," he said as he turned Alexander around and looked at him, staring into his eyes, loving him. He kissed his forehead before going on. "You are not a vessel for your parents. You are merely Alexander. Do what you feel like doing, not what they try to tell you to do. Only then will you be great, and the world, yours."

"Phae," Alexander asked as Hephaestion went to the bed, crawling onto it and finding the copy of the Iliad that Alexander kept under the pillow, silently finding the page that they'd left off on. He looked up as Alexander said his name. "You're not going to leave me, are you?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Not unless you wish me to."

"I don't mean now. I mean years from now, perhaps. If I am not what you want me to be, if I do not take the world for my own, will you leave me?"

"Alexander," he vowed intimately, "you are my world. I want you, and nothing more. You are everything to me, and I am never going to leave you."

A/N: Well, this is the end of the chapter. Feel free to let me know what you think. Hope to have the next chapter up by tomorrow, if not tonight. Have a great rest of the weekend everyone.