"Wine" Alexander instructed, "I want more wine" the glass spilled over in his hand, as he threw it down, taking the bottle and drinking from it. Alexander was not Alexander anymore, he wasn't anything just a shell.

"I'm having a party tonight" he said drunkenly, "A fond farewell for my dearest friend…"

The men in the room all glanced at each other, as Alexander drank yet more of the bottles brought to him. One by one he downed them, his vision going from bad to worse, his heart rate exceeding what was normal, his eyes glazed over from the alcohol and tears.

"…. We're sorry for your loss, Alexander" Ptolemy said, looking at him with a worried expression.

"Feel sorry not, Ptolemy" Alexander mumbled, " It is fear that brought me here in the first place… why if it wasn't for what my father did to me as a boy I probably wouldn't be here right now…"

"And what is that, Alexander?" one of the men asked, as Alexander glanced at him.

"gave me such a beautiful present… telling me it was mine forever and then it died on me… like a plant" his hands outstretched before him, sadly.

"…. You mean, Hephaistion?" Ptolemy said awkwardly, and Alexander nodded.

"Best gift my father got me and then he broke" Alexander started laughing, feeling his raw dry throat crack under the strain of his bellowing, roaring laughter.

"Not to worry… if I keep drinking like this I'll be in Hades soon" he quipped, standing up he stumbled towards the door.

"Tonight a farewell party and tomorrow… who knows, maybe we'll go to… Arabia"

"So early?" Ptolemy asked after him, "I thought you were waiting for your son's birth?"

"Why wait for that?" Alexander muttered, " He won't be king of anything except air"

"What are you planning on doing, Alexander?" Ptolemy asked him, a worried look on his face.

"…. Maybe a walk of some kind" he put the bottle close to his lips, "later all"

Alexander disappeared as the men all glanced at each other.

"He wants to die" Cassander said coolly as the others turned to look at him.

"No, he doesn't. He is just sad at the moment" Ptolemy mumbled softly.

"No, Ptolemy. Look at his eyes, he is all ready gone" Cassander remarked, glancing through the door way at Alexander who fell over, cursing.

"What do you want me to do, Cassander? Kill him?" Ptolemy sneered, "Would not be a strong man to kick a horse when he is down"

"Alexander's been down too much" Cassander retorted, "He is flailing. We should say goodbye to him and Hephaistion tonight. Allow them to be together… unless you don't want to see home for the next ten years"

Ptolemy groaned, for once Cassander was right. How long would it be before Alexander decided to start a fresh? Kill his old officers, not send the longest serving soldiers home but instead force them to trek through Arabia with him?

"…. Then it is time" Ptolemy muttered, opening his hand to show a tiny bottle.

"What is this good Ptolemy?" Cassander asked, eyeing it.

"Poison from a snake… the one that killed Craterus' son"

" I didn't know you could handle snakes?" Cassander asked, peering at the contents.

" I didn't. I chopped off the dead snakes head and squeezed it dry"

Cassander nodded, admiring the little bottle.

"How affective is this?" he asked, darkly.

'Without an antidote, say … a few months, perhaps"

"Months?" Cassander paused, "We shall let him suffer that long?"

"He made us suffer for years" someone said, "Its only fair"

"He wouldn't want to go easy, he still loves a challenge" someone else said.

"Then its settled. Tonight, we bid farewell to our King and hello to a new world"

Cassander outstretched his hand and Ptolemy put his on top, followed by the others in the room.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-