A Soldier's Duty, Chapter Twenty-Nine
Takes place about an hour after Alexander and Ptolemy meet.
Olympias gestured to her women for privacy as she led her son towards an inner chamber of her quarters. Garbed in soft yellow wool with shining garnets at her throat and ears Alexander thought she looked lovely and told her so. The compliment made her smile and she eased the anxiety that had her worrying her lower lip.
Keeping a hand on his arm, she propelled him toward an ornately tasseled blue cushioned couch and shoved a cup of wine into his hands. After taking a hearty gulp of her own she studied him thoughtfully and sighed.
"What has he done now besides sending Hephaistion away?" Alexander's eyes widened in surprise at her words.
"Did you have a hand in this – for how did you know?" He rose in sudden anger, but she waved him down.
"No, but I have my own spies." She paused a moment and took a deep breath and held up her hand. "No, do not argue with me. I cannot say I am sorry, and well you know why, but I cannot see you so unhappy. What would you have me do?"
After giving his mother a brief synopsis of the situation, Alexander did not hesitate in the request he made. He had decided he would go around his father, and the one person who could help was his mother. "Mother, can you find someone to take a letter for me in secrecy."
She shook her head even as she spoke. "Aye, how quickly?"
"Tonight." Quickly Olympias sprang to her feet, went to a small olive and ivory writing table, and set out parchment, ink, and the other writing instruments. While Alexander set himself to writing, she poured him more wine and then went to her altar to make an offering to certain gods. The rich scent of perfumed gums permeated the room and for a moment, Alexander felt himself sway. He closed his eyes, pausing listening to his mother's soft chanting to Hermes.
"Mother?" He looked over, the puzzlement clear once her voice stilled. "You invoke Hermes protector of thieves?"
She inclined her head as a soft, secretive smile rose on her rosy lips. "Aye, do not ask me, but I promise what you ask will be done."
"I will entrust this to your care then." Alexander rolled the scroll and set his seal to the hot red wax. His eyes met hers giving voice to a warning he would not set in speech, but she understood.
With a nod she turned and heating more wax, she applied her own seal beside her son's on the parchment. For the first time since he had entered her rooms, Alexander's lips parted in a smile and he sank down on a chair with a sigh.
"I no longer know what Father will do." He said as he pushed the scroll into a leather traveling case. "How do I stand beside him in battle unknowing of his plans for Hephaistion or I? I no longer know if my every step is shadowed by his spies or not." He drew to his feet with a yawn, but she pulled him back.
"Show him nothing but your honor."
"Honor!" Alexander swung about abruptly, his eyes blazing with heat. "He knows nothing of such things! His insult to you with this new marriage! Gods below! He knows nothing of fidelity, devotion, he is…"
"And that is why you must stand firm in yours." She cut him off, admonishing him softly, but rose and began pacing. "Do not give him cause to question your actions or thoughts. Stand firm in your restraint. You are his heir, Alexander; give him no cause to reconsider this." She warned suddenly matching the fire in his eyes with her own. "Do not give him the slightest cause to doubt you for he is a man who is shrewd and cruel even as he takes your hand in good faith and swears his devotion. Do not discount him." Resting her hand on his arm she attempted to calm him. "We will wait and watch how this new wife serves him, and, how he treats us. The gods will not allow him to disgrace us so. I hold myself with dignity in the face of his insult, and you must do the same." Gracefully Olympias sank back on the couch composing herself by soothing the folds of her gown about her.
"Mother, he has already dishonored you, and for that alone I cannot forgive him." Affectionately he embraced her tightly. For a moment, they were held in a mutual embrace of love and secretiveness. "I'll not let him hurt those I love."
"Keep your resolve strong, but remember, Alexander he is king." He kissed her hand and smiled softly.
"I know, but I cannot allow his ways to shame us, you, Kleopatra, what have either of you done to be so dishonored, would that she had been borne of another man's seed."
"Hush," Gently, she placed her hand over his mouth. "Do not speak so of your sister, she is loyal to you and loves you as do I, now hush." As she had when he was a small boy, she held him close and hummed a lullaby she had sung to him a baby.
"Mother, I am not a child anymore, although at times I think you would see me so." With a gentle smile, he pushed her away. When he left her rooms, he felt more confident than he had earlier.
To be continued…
