Hello all,
Amanda and her friends thinks that they will find peace and calm in Queen Olympias' Secret Garden. Little they know...
Warnings: Love scene in the garden. Also a sequence of seduction and unwanted Kingly courtship.
All the best wishes and hopefully good reading,
/ NorthernLight
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Hazards Of The Healer, Part Twenty one
Pella, 337 BC
Royal Friendship
The Queen's Secret Garden was especially beautiful in the evening. The darkness and the silvery moonlight gave it a very special appearance, adding to the lovely flowers and foliage. In the dimmer light one could not see that most of the plants were dangerous and poisonous.
Alexander admired Hephaestion as he lay in the emerald green grass. He had removed all his clothes and all he had to cover himself was his glossy auburn hair. It spread like a cloak around him, glittering in the moonlight. His body shone like alabaster and his muscular frame was immensely alluring to the young Prince.
Hephaestion looked up to Alexander. His Golden One was beautiful in the dim moonlight. His golden hair shone clearly in the darkness and it fell like a lion's mane down his neck and shoulders. Now he removed his bright red cloak andchiton. Hephaestion gasped out as he saw his friend without all Royal adornments.
He was more beautiful without them!
Their embrace was fond and warm, a sharing of friendship and love in the luxurious warmth of the summer evening.
Afterwards they lay in each others arms, securely wrapped into Alexander's Royal red cloak. They were silent, letting the warm summer night give them calem and renewed strength.
Suddenly there was a sharp thumping noise and a desperate cry.
Something terrible and unexpected must have happened in the Garden. Swiftly they rose and hastily dressed themselves before they ran towards the source of the strange sounds disturbing their nightly pleasure.
Royal Spectator
Queen Olympias liked to watch her Garden from the palace windows. It was calm and beautiful and the moon and stars gave it a very special brilliance. Now she watched her son and his dear friend disappear into the shadows of some silver firs. The Queen knew that the grass was especially soft there and the flowers fragrant and colourful. It was a good place for private moments of love and friendship.
Now Amanda came into the Garden. The young Healer had become a very dear friend to the Queen. She was honest and natural, lacking all the deceit and treacherous manners of the Court. She was followed by a dark maned big man. It must be Cleitus. The Queen smiled fondly. Her favourite Healer would do very well with Cleitus the Black as a friend and protector.
Then Queen Olympias was quite startled. She saw another black haired man follow the fair haired Healer.
It was her husband the King. His intentions were clear and he was up to no good. Queen Olympias quickly gathered a satchel of potent herbal remedies and also a sharp dagger, its hilt adorned with gold and emeralds before she ran down the stairs to her private entry to the Garden.
Time was of the essence!
Royal Seducer
Amanda thought herself all alone in Queen Olympias' secret garden as she silently admired the beauty of the foliage and flowers. She missed her own herbal and kitchen garden way back in Illyria. This secluded area behind the Castle walls had to be second best. Verdant spring had now turned into warm summer. It was still warm even in the evening. Now darkness had come but the garden was lit up by a silvery full moon surrounded by stars sparkling like diamonds. Ares' Planet of War had risen in the East. It glared angrily towards Aphrodite's Evening Star of Love.
The Healer looked up at the star lit sky. She detected many constellations, remembering how her Father told her about them and taught her to find and recognize them. A single tear formed a crystal drop on her cheek. She grasped a violet and a sprig of rosemary and let their fragrances comfort her.
King Philip went with slow strides through the emerald green foliage. He had a bad limp since he had been severlywounded in his right leg a long time ago. It had never healed properly. Still he was swift and nimble as he advanced upon the innocent young woman. She was even more beautiful in the evening darkness. The moonlight shimmered in her fair hair, making it look like a silvery cloak. Her modest emerald green gown hid her alluring forms, making her more desirable. The King felt his amorous wishes awaken. He did not want to hide himself in the shadows anymore.
"Good evening, my new friend and lady-in-waiting. I see that my Queen has introduced you to this Secret Garden, King Philip stated. "You should not wander away all alone on the Palace grounds. One might risk that knaves and scoundrels come sneaking around."
Amanda was startled by the King's bold advance. She jumped and withdrew between two big junipers. King Philip swiftly followed her into the Nature made boudoir.
"Sire, I am not afraid of loneliness, it is people who scare me most, "Amanda answered him. "Most of them are not reliable, some even dangerous."
"My dear friend, you need not be afraid of a King, nor of his heir and his reliable friends."
The moonlight was very bright this evening. It formed a halo around the young woman. King Philip admired her fair hair, her emerald green eyes and her beautiful facial features. She was totally innocent. No man had ever touched her, this he could clearly sense. The King was a skilled seducer. Now he slowly put his arm around Amanda's tender shoulders. He made his touch soft, warm and reliable. Amanda felt secure in his arms. She leaned towards him, feeling almost as if her dear Father were at her side. He smelt good, from rosemary and sage, also from the flowery red wine they all had enjoyed with their evening meal. He was clean and well dressed in a fur rimmed finely woven woolen bright red cloak and tunic. A golden chain adorned with rubies flashed around his neck.
Amanda had never met with such a powerful man before.
"No. Sire, I am not afraid of you. You are a strong and reliable man, you remind me of Cleitus, and he is one of your best and most faithful followers. "
"You are a good judge of character, Healer. Yes, Cleitus is a good man. He has always been at my side, ever since his youth."
Cleitus was trying to cool down his feelings in the shade of a silver fir. It was quite impossible now when he saw the King's advances upon the small and totally innocent woman. He was seething with anger and jealousy when he saw this skilled seducer put his arm around the fair haired Healer. He did not hear the kind and appreciating words that was said about him. The danger of the situation was totally overwhelming him.
Now Amanda begun to realize that the King's interest in her was very far from fatherly. His arm was warm, soft and gentle around her shoulder, but still it held her in a strong and firm grasp, almost like a vice. Now he discretely pressed his legs against her. Amanda could clearly feel his arousal. It was warm and pounding towards her thigh.
Suddenly the Healer became alerted. She discretely looked for something to use to defend herself. Her hand grasped a round, moss clad stone. It was soft and gently polished but if needed it could become an adequate weapon against unwanted seducers.
"Sire, this is quite improper "she tried to tell her Royal admirer. "I went here for loneliness, not for any amorous interlude, not even with a King! You must have many Kingly duties so with all respect I think that you sure must bee needed elsewhere."
King Philip was totally overwhelmed by his desire for this most alluring and innocent woman. He did not hear her reproachful repudiation. Her resistance made her even more desirable. Now he was all over her, embracing her, caressing her and kissing her neck, face and mouth. He even managed to lift her skirts.
Amanda became very frightened. She cried out in horror.
"No. No. NO! Sire, you may not do this to me! I will not allow it."
King Philip did not hear her. He continued his advances. Amanda was quite surprised that an old and injured man could be that swift and nimble with his arms and legs. He was stronger and more ardent than Hippolyta's finest stud stallions. She had to forcibly defend herself from his improper advances. With feelings of both regret and necessity she lifted her right hand and let the round polished stone descent on the King's head.
King Philip fell like a clubbed oxen in the emerald green grass. Some monkshoods formed a large makeshift crown around around his grizzled brow that now quickly was covered in blood. Amanda stood watching with horror and disbelief.
"Oh no. It is just like before - but now I have killed the King! His Guards will soon be here and arrest me. I must takeMegaira and flee, now at once!"
Friendly Helpers
Cleitus watched with horror how his King made more and more ardent advances upon the woman he cared for. Things went very fast, almost too fast for him to intervene. When he made the leap to forcibly restrain the King from continuing his improper advances Amanda had already hit King Philip with the stone. Simultaneously Cleitus managed to grasp the King around the waist and drag him away from the hard stone. It just glanced the Royal head. King Phlip fell into the grass as a clubbed oxen. Cleitus watched the blood freely flowing from the head wound in utter horror. He closely examined his King, thinking him dead and gone. To his great happiness King Philip was still alive. He was breathing and the pulse was strong at his neck. He was flushed from his amorous exertions and it was sure that he would survive the Healer's powerful defense.
It was not so sure that Cleitus himself and the fair haired Healer would be that lucky.
It was a serious crime to beat a King so that he became unconscious.
Cleitus rose and folded his arms around Amanda, trying to comfort her in this dangerous and surrealistic situation. He did not know what to say. His loyalty had always been towards the King - but now he felt that he wanted to protect this formidable woman against all the dangers and injustices of the world.
"You will not need to flee all alone, Amanda. I will find a way to help you. It was WRONG of King Philip to do these things to you. I have always respected him - but now his frivolities against women has simply gone too far. A King must know how to restrain himself! And - he is not dead at all. He will survive - but I fear for what he will do when he wakes up!"
The Healer knelt at the King's side, closely examining him.
"Yes, you are right. He has a bad head wound, but it will heal with proper care and ointments, "the Healer stated. "After injuries like this the patient often loses his memory of what caused the damage, but we cannot be sure of this. You stay here and watch over him. I will go and fetch a potion that will see to it that he NEVER remembers what happened in the garden this evening!"
There was a soft rustling in the grass and foliage.
"Amanda, you need not bother with that. I have this potion with Forget-Me-Not, strengthened with poppy. It sure will help. If not, I saw all that happened and I will not allow that my favourite Healer and the King's faithful Guard must flee from Court! "
It was Queen Olympias. She was dressed just in her orange glowing night gown, with a fiery red cloak cast over her shoulders. Now she produced a clay flagon from a gold embroidered satchel. She knelt and held up King Phlip's head and put the flagon to his lips. He drank willingly. Fortunately he must have thought that it was another wine he sank down into the grass, sleeping calmly.
"There, there. I can assure you that he will remember nothing of this. My dear Amanda, you need not be afraid. I will see to it that my lecherous husband will never make improper advances to you again, " the Queen adamantly stated. "We need just carry him back to his chambers and see to his head wound. When he wakes up he will think that he stumbled and fell on his way from the evening supper. It is not the first time..."
Now there was more rustlings in the foliage. Two more visitors to the Secret Garden came to the scene.
"Whatever happened here?, Alexander asked, filled with horror. "Has there been an attempt to kill the King?"
"No, no, Alexander. Your Father will be fine. He just had an encounter too much with Amanda, forcing himself upon him. She gave him the same treatment as I had, and he sure deserved it!"
Cleitus explained all the evening's events to Alexander. The young Prince was now even more filled with horror.
"I told him that Amanda was off limits for his amorous desires, but he did not listen. He NEVER listens to me, "Alexander cried in outrage.
"Calm yourself, my dear son, Olympias admonished him. "Your time will come, then all the world will listen to YOU instead!"
They took good care of King Philip's head wound with salves and bandages before they carried him to the Royal bedchamber. When he woke up in the morning he remembered nothing of his nighttime pleasures and ordeals. He had a pounding headache and his faithful Guards, Cleitus amongst them, told him that he had taken a bad fall after the evening's Royal Banquet and hurt his head.
"Well, well, "the King answered, "It is not every evening one welcomes ones Son and Heir back! "
TBC
Author's note: The Forget-Me-Not potion is of my own invention, as needed for the tale.
Hazards Of The Healer will now take a break since my Muses want to work on other tales, later on in Alexander's career. I will tell more about the Gordian Knot, The Granicus, The Cydnus and also the Aftermath Of Gaugamela.
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