Title: By my side (3 of ?)

Author: Adsagsona

Type: Romance

Rating: PG – PG 13

Disclaimer: Nothing about the movieverse Alexander belongs to me, I don't own a thing, sadly enough. I believe the real Alexander the Great and his companions belong to history and themselves.

Warnings: None, really.

Beta: None.

Pairing: Alexander/Hephaestion

Archive: Note: It is a slight AU from the Alexander movie verse. Hephaestion is not the son of Lord Amyntor, but a slave.

Spoilers: For 'Alexander'

Summary: At a young age, a slave gets captured by the soldiers of Philip. Alexander needs someone to wrestle with, because his friends always let him win. Too stubborn for his own good, the slave causes problems.

By my side – Chapter 3

--------------------------------

Alexander bit his lower lip as he watched how the soldiers dragged the young slave away from the practice area. He did not know how he could make this right, but he needed to do something… it was partially his fault that Hephaestion now faced another day of imprisonment in the slave quarters. As the crown prince thought about it longer, he knew that the boy would have stayed a slave no matter what, but this was not the way he had wanted to tell him.

Looking around, he knew full well that he could not go back to his father for his help. He would get a lecture in stead and from the foul mood Philip was in lately it was quite believable he would get a spanking as well for lying. It was so unfair that Kings and Queens, fathers and mothers were allowed to lie, but he was not. Stomping his foot he walked off to the slave quarters himself.

Knocking on the heavy wooden door, it took a while before anyone let him in. A soldier, who seemed to have the task of a guard, looked at him with disdain, but he masked the expression quite well. He bowed curtly.

"My Prince."

"Could you show me where the slave was brought in? A young boy of about my age, with dark hair…"

"The mute one? He is sitting in the courtyard, somewhere against the wall."

Mute? So he was playing that trick here as well. Despite himself Alexander smiled at the stubborness of the boy he had gotten to know only briefly. Walking into the courtyard, where all the other slaves were quickly assembled and brought to their cells, he waited until Hephaestion would acknowledge him. That only happened because of all the racket the other slaves made.

"What do you want?"

If any other would talk to him like that, Alexander was sure that the soldiers would have the culprit whipped. A gesture with his hand was enough to send the soldier away though and now the two were truly alone.

"I don't know exactly." The young Prince answered honestly to the question.

Hephaestion looked up with sapphire eyes, but the smile directed towards Alexander was made out of ice. It was clear that even at this young age he had seen enough of the world to recognise betrayal.

"Then there is no reason for you to be here."

The harsh words struck Alexander unexpectedly. He had hoped that Hephaestion would be… maybe not happy, but joyful to see him because the Prince was a way to escape the cells of the slave quarters.

"Your stubborness will be the death of you, you know that, don't you? Already the soldiers think that you are mute. You will make easy prey."

Alexander didn't know what he wanted to reach with those words, but they expressed a kind of worry towards the other boy. The eyes didn't even blink though and Hephaestion shook his head.

"I'm capable of defending myself, you have seen that, my Prince." The last words were meant more as an insult than a title, but Alexander couldn't bring anything in against it. He just bit his lip and waited for Hephaestions next words.

"And everyone likes a slave who doesn't talk back…"

The young slave trailed off and one single tear slipped from his cheek, the sign that this didn't leave him as cold as he wanted others to believe. He had wanted his freedom so very badly, but it was not the first time he had been on the bad end of a not held promise. Lowering his head so that Alexander wasn't able to see his tears, he waited for the other to leave. But he did not.

"I'll make sure that you get a good home… that you don't have to work on the fields like the others."

"You promised me freedom. What is this, your way of making a compromise?"

Hephaestion sounded too educated to be a slave, but the young mind of Alexander didn't register that. He didn't know how to answer the one year older boy and he sighed in defeat. He couldn't apologise, it was not what the royal family did and certainly not against a slave.

He didn't answer the question of Hephaestion and just left him in the courtyard without another word. The young slave glanced after him, but he didn't budge. He had just been pushed back towards the lowest existance.

Alexander found his way to the warden of the slave quarter. Not the guards, who looked like they had much more muscles than brains, but the one who had the theory behind it. He knocked on the door of the small room where the man was settled in and walked in before he got an answer.

"My Prince." The older man, already with grey hair, looked up rather surprised at seeing the young boy walk in. He knew Alexander quite well, although he had only seen him from a distance.

"Can you help me, sir?" He explained some of the ordeal, but left out the most of his own part in it. He was just a young one who wanted to do something good in the world. That is what it appeared and the old man grasped the bait.

"A young boy… I think something can still be arranged for him. With the right education I can make a proper house slave of him. Did you say he was mute?"

"He isn't… he just doesn't like talking."

"That wouldn't be a problem… you might even encounter him in the palace, My Prince. If he prooves to be of any worth, that is."

"I am sure he will do fine, sir, thank you."

The boy walked out of the room and breathed in relief. At least he had been able to make some things right. Freedom was something totally different, but at least Hephaestion wouldn't be condemned to hard labour.

Alexander walked out and glanced back to the slave quarters for a moment. He knew that it would be hard for him to forget those sapphire eyes… they would haunt his dreams for the next few nights.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Josephine: Here is your update!

Queendel: Thank you for again a lovely review. I know the chapters are a little short, but I write in the time I can.

Lexy: Little Hephaestion is very stubborn, yes, hehe. I hope you like this chapter.