Chapter 8: The Prince's Duty – Part II –

"Couldn't we just go through the plains?"

"No, Hephaestion, for the twentieth time, we cannot." Ptolemy replied, annoyed, riding by his side. "Not unless you want to run into the Persians"

"But we are way faster than the Persians! I'm sure it'll be fine! Ugh… we would have been there already…"

"Only a couple more hours", cheered him Alexander, who rode behind him.

The City of Olynthus was almost a two-days ride away. Alexander, Waver, Ptolemy and Hephaestion took the long way through the mountains.

Hephaestion's stomach grumbled.

"We've been riding for hours…I'm so hungry," he cried.

"That's because you didn't eat before we left", said Alexander. "Here, stop whining, you big baby."

The prince took a satchel he was carrying, and threw it to Hephaestion.

He caught it, sighing when he opened it.

"I want real food", he said, looking at the olives with disappointment.

"Hunger I can cope with", said Ptolemy, "but I can no longer feel my butt. That is a bigger issue. Don't you agree, Waver?"

Waver's, who had not been listening to their conversation for a long while, had his full attention into the forest. He rode silently, trying to hear if anyone was nearby.

"Although Waver doesn't have much of a butt to start with, anyway", joked Ptolemy to get Waver's attention.

Waver did not pay attention to his joke. He had the feeling someone was watching them for a while, but he did not want to worry the rest for nothing, not until he was sure it was not just a feeling.

A branch cracked, and Waver could not help jumping. It brought him back the memory of the encounter with the abominable creature, Zurvan. That night in the palace gardens, when he saw the stranger in the hooded cloak. All the images from that night flashed before his eyes in that instant. He was overcome with fear again.

Waver was shaking on his horse, horrified, hesitant to tell the others about his suspicion of being followed. It had been three weeks since that happened, but he only had the chance to tell Alexander a few days ago. He recalled their conversation that day:

"I understand", said Alexander, after listening to Waver's story. His reaction was unexpectedly calm and thoughtful

"So, you believe me?" Asked Waver, surprised

"Of course I do" Alexander frowned, confused, "Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know…Attalus didn't believe me…"

"Attalus…He is a man of science. He wouldn't believe anything that is not understandable by the laws sciences, or by what the gods "whisper" to him", he said in a mocking tone.

"Still, I could have died…"

"Waver," Alexander's expression became suddenly serious, "that thing will not harm you again, we won't let it."

"I'm not scared", lied Waver, perhaps to himself.

"You should be, if you are as smart as I think you are. I am quite scared, frankly. Dealing with the unknown is scary. We should be careful."

Waver gulped.

"You should not tell anyone else about this. Not until we know what we are dealing with. We can't discard for sure that this thing is not working for the Persians. It might be just a trick, a spy. The enemy might have sneaked among the council already. We must learn who to trust first. Until then, the secret must remain between the two of us. Understood?"

"Y-yes"

Waver's mind stopped wandering between his memories, and suddenly realized he was riding in the middle of the night through the forest.

"Waver?" Ptolemy called for him, now slightly worried

"Yeah?" Waver replied, distracted

"I think we should take a break," suggested Alexander, "even Waver looks worn out"

"It's only because you want to stop and eat too, isn't it?" Asked Hephaestion, cheeky

"A prince's duty is to look after his subjects' well being", he said, getting off his horse. The other three imitated him, and they all settled for camping there that night.

Alexander collected some wood while Waver tied the horses and gave them water. Ptolemy kept guard, and Hephaestion started a fire to prepare dinner.

"Haaa!" Hephaestion slurped the rabbit stew he had just finished cooking. "Real food at last."

"I must admit, it's quite good," said Ptolemy

"Waver, you haven't touched your food", observed Alexander, concerned

"Huh?" Waver turned to them, spaced out. "S-sorry! I'm just a bit tired that's all", he said, taking several spoons of his stew at a time. He stopped for a second to appreciate the flavor.

"Wow, it is actually pretty good, indeed" Waver agreed

Hephaestion smiled, flattered.

"Hephaestion has always been the cook. Sadly, neither Alexander nor me learned from him. He is the cook, I'm the brains and Alexander is the pretty one". Ptolemy joked. Alexander gave him a deadly glare, which Waver found even funnier.

"You will make a good wife," said Alexander, patting Hephaestion's back, who was serving himself some more stew.

"And you will make a good idiot," he replied, throwing some stew to him, but he missed. "Perhaps you'll want to take me as your wife? That will make me a queen. I wouldn't mind being a queen. I could have stew everyday."

"I don't know about being a queen, but I wouldn't mind marrying one…" thought Ptolemy out loud

"And that would make you what?" Alexander turned to Ptolemy. "My brother and my brother in law at the same time?

"Stop with your nonsense" Ptolemy said, slurping his stew

"For your information, where I come from -as in many other places- cooking is no longer associated to a gender role…That's absurd, cooking is a basic need for-"

Waver stopped and took a moment to analyze Alexander's words echoing in his mind.

"Wait…what?!" Yelled Waver, confused. "Did- did you just say "brothers"?! How…what?!"

Ptolemy sighed

"See what you did? You are confusing him. Stop saying those things please."

Alexander laughed, and Waver looked at Ptolemy with eyes wide opened. Now that he thought about it, the king treated the three friends equally. He had trusted Ptolemy with great part of this important mission, and Hephaestion to be part of it. Were they all siblings? But then… wasn't Ptolemy older? Shouldn't he be the heir to the throne? Waver wondered about all these things, but most importantly…

"But if he is your brother, then Cleo…"

"I'm not", Ptolemy said, slightly irritated. "We are not siblings. Well, not really", he said, taking a bite from his stew.

"The three of us grew up together", clarified Hephaestion. "Alexandros and I have trained together all our lives. My father was a nobleman, friends with the king. Ever since my father died I've lived in the palace with them. Then one day, Ptolemy came to us…", he said with a smile.

There was an awkward silence. Waver knew this was a very personal subject. He wondered if the did the right thing by asking. Alexander wanted to explain some more, but he waited for Ptolemy to talk by himself.

"I was around 10, just two years older than them," finally said Ptolemy, still eating his stew. "My mother was one of king Phillip's wives' sister. Both my parents died, and I had no where to go. My aunt took me in as her son, and so did the king. He has always been like a father to me."

"And he has always seen you as his son", said Alexander, "and I as my brother."

Although Ptolemy knew this in his heart and felt the same way, he had a hard time when talking about it. He became quite emotional every time Alexander brought it up.

Ptolemy put his bowl down, and slowly turned to Alexander. He rubbed his head harshly, shaking the prince violently from side to side.

"Ah!" Alexander complained. "W-what was that for!?"

Ptolemy sat and finished his stew in silence, while Waver and Hephaestion chuckled.

They all finished their food, Waver offered to wash the bowls. They took turns to keep guard. Hephaestion was the first one. Ptolemy and Alexander were already asleep when Waver lied by their side.

He closed his eyes, but something was bothering him. The didn't notice the temperature had suddenly dropped so much. He looked around for something to cover himself with, but there was nothing. Watched how Ptolemy and Alexander slept so soundly, and wandered how they didn't feel cold. He rubbed his own arms, trying to warm up, and then stared at the space between him and Alexander. He imagined how warm the prince must have been, and frowned at this thought. Oh, fuck it, he thought. He stared at Alexander's peaceful expression, making sure he was asleep, and then threw away all his pride to curl up close to him. He was too cold and tired to care about his pride, and the prince's body warmth was too pleasing. He tried to make himself comfortable on the rough ground, touching Alexander's leg with his own by accident. He looked at Alexander's face, who had been awake the whole time and was now looking directly at Waver.

"What are you doing?" Alexander asked

"I- I was… I just…"

"If you are cold you can just tell me, you don't have to be so proud", he said, sitting up and taking off his cape to give it to Waver. "Here, take it. You are not from here, so it's only normal for you to take some time to adjust to the climate"

"I'm fine!" Waver said, turning his back at him and closing his eyes. He felt the weight of Alexander's cape over him.

Waver woke up in the middle of the night when Hephaestion and Ptolemy did the change of guard. He opened one eye and watched Ptolemy walk away, annoyed. It took him long to fall asleep, and now it he was probably going to be up for the rest of the night. He tried his best to go to sleep again, but Ptolemy returned right away making noise. He must have forgotten something, Waver thought as he listened to how Ptolemy looked for something in between the pots and bowls.

"Hey Ptolemy, cut it out I'm trying to sleep here," Waver whispered loudly, now sitting up. "What are you-"

Nobody was there. He looked around. Alexander slept by his side. A few meters father, Hephaestion was already fast asleep.

"What happened?" Ptolemy suddenly came from behind a tree, whispering

"Very funny. Now can I go back to sleep?"

"Uhh… sure", Ptolemy scowled at Waver's back, puzzled, and walked back into the woods.

Waver closed his eyes once again.

"Waver"

A deep, underground voice whispered his name.

Waver jumped but fought the need to open his eyes. It's fine, it's nothing… he tried convinced himself, but his mind was playing tricks on him, giving into fear. There in the middle of the night, in the darkness and silence of the forest, he could not fight his thoughts. He opened his eyes, and he swear he could see a shadow running through the trees. The same feeling he had hours ago. Someone was watching him. He turned around to make sure that Alexander was still there. That made him feel somehow more at ease. Everything is fine, it is all in your mind… he kept repeating. His eyes now forcefully closed.

Then it happened. Again, he could hear it, loud and clear. The sound of footsteps cracking the branches, walking towards him. Something evil was coming to get him, it was there, right in front of him. He wanted to open his eyes, he really wanted to, but he was petrified. He shut his eyes tight, as if by keeping them closed the evil would go away.

And it did. It went away. His mind wasn't as weak as he thought, maybe. He opened his eyes. Nothing. Just the trees and the campfire, making the wood chip crack from time to time. One last time he turned to Alexander.

"Waver…"

The deep voice of the creature was the last thing Waver heard before his sight faded to black.