Heyy! Second chapter of Unwavering Fire, but I published it under a new title, "He Said that He loved Him." Yupp. Hope you like. :P

And remember, if you have ANY CHALLENGES, email meeeeee  thank ou.

I named the chapter titles after songs from Switchfoot's "A Beautiful Letdown." Best band ever. 

Ammunition

Green eyes opened wide in surprise and a tinge of awe. Their owner had wandered into the track after inquiring Ptolemy where the young regent was. Although almost stone drunk, Ptolemy had somehow managed to point a shaky finger towards the direction of where he had been that morning. Now, the boy silently watched the two tanned figures press against each other, desire vibrating from their forms. He watched as Alexander so easily submitted to Hephaistion's caresses- an unusual sight for the golden prince let no one conquer him.

Suddenly, the two men rose, a little shaky with anticipation. After exchanging a little banter: "I think you should finish answering my foolish question…"; they staggered off towards the palace. Gliding discreetly through the halls, he followed them all the way up to Alexander's room. Then the door slammed shut, and what happened inside there would remain a mystery. As the last sliver of light coming from inside the room disappeared, the boy did an about-face, and sprinted quickly through the halls until he came to an embellished, gilded door. The door to Olympias' rooms.

A painted, well-dressed lady answered the boy's knock. Catching her train up in one hand, she pulled the boy inside the dimly lit chambers with another. The whole atmosphere scared the boy- it was almost ominous; smelling of exotic smokes and paints.

"Queen Olympias."The woman shoved him in front of her. A side door opened, and slowly Olympias came out. She was dressed in a yellow wool robe edged with rich marten furs. Her fiery red hair, perfectly coiffed in a knot, made her look like she was glowing.

"Your spy is here, my lady." With those words the lady-in-waiting timidly scurried out in a flurry of skirts, leaving the boy standing alone. He looked more vulnerable and smaller than ever.

"Tell me, spy." Rose-red lips quirked up into a slightly disturbing smile. "What news of my son Alexander?"

Early Next Morning

Alexander slept peacefully in his rooms, hardly a twitch or sound to even show that he was still alive. Suddenly, as if they had been set, his blue eyes opened and he was awake instantly. He always got up in the early morning hours- his tutor Leonidas had demanded that he run twice around the track before breakfast each morning. The tutor was gone, but the habit stayed. Gently he turned on his side to see if Hephaistion still slept. He was, with his bronze hair tumbling all over the pillow and his beautiful face calm.

Silently he got up and walked briskly over to the marble balcony connected to his rooms. Every morning he got up and looked at the sea, at the blue waves tumbling over sandy shores. It reminded him of his dream, his fierce desire, to someday see the Outer Ocean- the Encircling ocean that could take him from the end of the world back to Pella again. He leaned against the ornately carved railing, drowning in his thoughts as men drown in water.

A knock at his chambers made him spin abruptly around. Who dare interrupt him at this hour in the morning? He stalked to the door and pulled it open, failing to notice that Hephaistion was still asleep on the bed. There was a lady-in-waiting, undoubtedly one of his mothers' , standing nervously outside.

"What do you want, my lady?" barked Alexander a little too loudly for the hour. Realizing this, he lowered his voice. "Did my mother send you?"

"Y-yes my prince. She tells you to come now if you can. If the prince does not wish to come now, she says, he can do so at his earliest convenience."

Alexander sighed as he dismissed the lady and quietly shut the door. He didn't know whether to feel frustrated or glad. Whenever his mother sent for him, it was usually to rave about Philip's new wife, or about how he never cared for her anymore. But Olympias was his mother- the one who had always been there in his life.

"Mmm."Hephaistion shifted his long, lean body among the tangled linen sheets. Alexander realized guiltily that his loud voice had probably interrupted his lover's sleep. But he showed no sign of waking.

After looking at Hephaistion for a long while, he crossed the room and dropped a chaste kiss on the bronze head. He then pulled out, from a wooden chest at the foot of the bed, a new blue chiton worked in gold that his mother had made him. Pulling it on silently, he slipped out the door.

He walked so confidently and so surely on his way to Olympias' chambers that anyone watching him could tell that he had walked the route many times over the years. His sandaled feet slapped the ground dully.

"My mother requested to see me. Tell her I am here." With eyes lowered respectfully, the lady who had answered his knock hurried off. After a few minutes she came back, and beckoned him in.

"Olympias is waiting for you, my prince."

How many times had he heard those words over the years? Shaking his head in disbelief, Alexander stepped into the chambers and made his way to Olympias'. As he always did before he spoke, he studied the walls. They were painted with huge murals depicting the fate Troy. Priam dying, surrounded with crimson blood. The infant Astynax crying even as he was casually tossed off the walls. Queen Hecuba, going mad as she saw her world come crashing down through the merciless hands of the Greeks. He had grown up looking at these scenes. It seemed strange, but when he was a child these murals had seemed much larger.

"Alexander." Olympias was perched on the edge of her bed, still dressed in her sleeping gown. "Come here, I want to talk to you."

"What is it this time, Mother? Philip is on campaign." To please his mother, Alexander referred to his father as Philip. Never "Father".

" I know that, and I know that you are Regent of Pella. I also know," here her smoky eyes narrowed dangerously, "that you never listen to me."Suddenly she seemed like a pot about to boil over.

"Tell me what I am doing that displeases you. I told you, I am not putting a fool in charge of a whole regiment just because he is your friend's son."Only a couple of days before Olympias had summoned Alexander into her rooms, begging that he make the son of her friend a commander. His refusal had sent her into a rage.

Olympias now crossed the room and gripped his broad shoulders. They were nearly the same height now, though Alexander was all tanned skin stretched over muscle while Olympias was pale smooth skin over delicate bones.

"Tell me, my son,"she breathed into his ear making him tense. " How did you fare yesterday? I am curious, as you did not bother to come visit me. Did you have a good day? No doubt you were busy with your duties as Regent."

To Alexander, his mother seemed to have morphed into a snake, conniving and wily- never telling, just suggesting. But he answered her truthfully. "I was not busy with my duties yesterday, Mother. Antipatros gave me a day off."

"And what did you do?"

"I went down to the racetrack with my friends. I raced Ptolemy- his best horses against mine. Then I went to a party that Philotas gave in the evening."

"I see."She now circled around him, stroking one of her pet snakes- beige with a grayish underbelly. "And where was Hephaistion?"

Suddenly Alexander knew all too well where she was heading. He wanted to lie, but he knew it would do no good. "He was down at the racetrack as well. But he didn't want to watch, so he read Homer. He came to Philotas' party as well."

"Lies!" She screeched and shoved him forcefully. "You are telling me lies! Why, Alexander? Do you think I am witless?" Pounding at his unmoving shoulders, Olympias raged at him with a frightening abandon.

"Don't lie to me, Alexander. I know what you did yesterday. Down at the racetrack, you kissed Hephaistion. After that, you slept with Hephaistion. Then you got drunk at Philotas' party, and you couldn't keep your hands off him, could you. And then you slept with him again!"

Alexander's lips thinned and turned a ghastly shade of white. Throwing his mother's hands off him he seethed, "And you had spies following after me the whole time."

"Well, not the whole time. They gave you some privacy."

"Well, that's good." A deaf man could have detected the sarcasm.

Olympias saw she did not yet hit him where it hurt most. "I have asked you many times, Alexander, why you don't...visit women. I send you the most beautiful, notorious beauties around. You say that you don't have the time. But it seems like you have time for your pretty boy Hephaistion."

Rage broke over Alexander like a wave breaks on the shore. He looked around wildly. An expensive chair, carved with ivory and precious stones, stood nearby. With alarming speed, his sandaled foot lashed out and kicked it across the breadth of the room. His face didn't change expression even as his foot was sliced open by a sharp edge, with blood flying out.

But Olympias' face did, changing from one of mocking satisfaction to one of concern. No matter what her son may have been doing and with whom, it was forgotten for the moment as she stared at the crimson puddle forming on the floor.

"Oh, Alexander- you're hurt. Here, let me-"

"No."

His gray eyes looked back at her, flashing as if a thunderstorm were occurring in them. They stared at each other for a long minute before Alexander stalked out, his blood leaving a trail behind him.

Next chapter up:

After a week, Alexander and his Mother are still angry at each other. She sends him a gift. He sends her one too.

hehe...any guesses on what the "gifts" may be????

(HINT: no, it's not a new chiton :P)