A/N: To GaBo0: Ah, he remains a stranger to many, this man they call Hephaistion. ;)
To Valo: Oh dear, a lifetime? That sounds rather serious! But I guess this fic won't last a lifetime… Does it apply to sequels as well? :P
To Maryanne: I'm glad you like the story, and I will definitely read 'the Persian Boy' as soon as I am done with all the other stuff I still have to read. I'd love to discuss it with you then!
To moonstrucked: Ah, you have truly made my day! ;) I've only been writing in English for a little more than a year, not being a native speaker, so I'm really happy with your comment. Oh and I'm a big fan of Hephaistion/Alexander as well! Or actually I'm mainly a big fan of Hephaistion… Hehe.
-----------------------------------------
They had quarrelled over him again. Neither of them seemed to have remembered him after Hephaistion had sent him away with a motion of his hand, and he had sneaked away to the little room that used to be his. And seemed to have realised that he was still around, and did not only hear everything said between them that evening and their moans of passion a while later, but that he was also easily woken up by their argument this morning. An argument about him.
There was no excuse for what you did to Bagoas. What had Blue Eyes meant by that?
The more Bagoas tried to understand the strange man, the more he was puzzled. Hephaistion had been nothing but nice to him, but also nothing more. He was willing to accept he loved Alexander, but then… Why did they keep fighting over him? Why, if not for the reason Hephaistion was jealous? After all, he had refused to answer the king's question. It was all so strange… Neither of them paid much attention to him, yet it seemed to be about him all the time. Why did Blue Eyes not just join him and Alexander? A warm feeling spread through his body.
Bagoas got up from his small bed as silently as possible. He did not know what the king had done after Hephaistion had left the room. But Alexander scared him less, now that he had heard Blue Eyes talk to him. This man was not made of stone. Of course he had known that before, after all he had had a week to get to know this new king… Alexander was actually nicer to him than king Darius had often been, though sometimes the former king had pretended to really care about him. But at other times king Darius had been cruel, while Alexander had never hurt him. He had kept his promise.
He quietly stepped into the large bedroom, filled with purple light filtered through the curtains. The king still laid upon his bed, his naked form only covered by a thin sheet, but Bagoas could not make out if the man was asleep. Slowly, he walked through the chamber, his eyes intently focused on Alexander's face, that looked even more tired than it had the night before. He halted, suddenly not able to look away from the features that his beloved seemed to love so much.
Bagoas understood that Blue Eyes thought Alexander arrogant, but did not understand the problem in that. All kings were arrogant, they had the right to be. Alexander ruled all and everyone. Except for Hephaistion! Perhaps Hephaistion wished that Alexander would be more like himself? Was he to blind to understand that there was no one like him? Son of a god, that's what his blue Eyes was!
As if he had felt the thrill going through the Persian boy as he made his discovery, Alexander opened his eyes. They immediately fell on him. "Ah, boy," he spoke softly. His voice sounded not at all unfriendly. "Come over here, would you?"
Bagoas complied with his head bowed deep, not taking the chance of the king noticing the glitter in his eyes.
"Bagoas…" Alexander spoke to him, and patted on the space next to him on the bed. Bagoas looked up, for the first time hearing his name from the king's lips. Where did the power of Blue Eyes find an end? Not within the heart of this man, it seemed. He slowly sat down, just as Alexander sat up and took a deep breath. "It seems I owe you an apology."
"You have done me no wrong, my king," Bagoas dared to say. He glanced up again. Alexander was staring at his hair, rather than his face.
The emperor sighed, and when he spoke again his voice seemed far away. "I know that, you know that, but Hephaistion seems to think otherwise."
"No one can deny his wishes," Bagoas whispered softly. He didn't know what had possessed him to say this, only knew that it sounded right. This king had already learned it.
To his surprise, Alexander laughed, and the next moment his chin was lifted and he looked into the king's amused eyes. "You really have fallen in love with him, haven't you? Perhaps we are less different then we thought."
"Hephaistion is yours. I will tell him that." And with those words Bagoas slipped of his lord's bed, out of the room, leaving the king to his thoughts.
No, Bagoas thought with himself, Alexander was Hephaistion's, but no one did himself any good by insulting a king. He knew the secret behind his beloved's blue eyes now, and it was alright to leave them to each other. He would not be tossed aside, for a god watched over him.