Title: "After Ecbatana"

Author: Baliansword

Chapter: 15, "An Unneeded Vessel"

A/N: Hope that everyone is still enjoying. My muse just keeps speaking, so I hope that we can put up with him! Again, thanks for all of the support, readers and reviewers alike. You all are great, especially Queen!

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Cassander felt something slide against his thigh. At first, he liked the feeling, and he liked it when it reached his chest. It was cool, and lightly grazed his skin, causing him to stiffen in areas that all men did when they were touched this way. However, when he opened his eyes and looked down at his chest he cursed loudly. He rolled quickly, causing the snake to dart off of the bed. It slithered quickly under a dresser. Cassander tried to catch his breath as he listened to Olympias laugh.

She put a finger on his chest and ran it up and down. She then kissed him lightly on the lips. He was still catching his breath. His heart was beating like a rabbit's. It was enough to make her laugh. Cassander put his head back though, and cursed quietly again.

"Good morning," Olympias said as she crawled on top of him. She began to kiss his chest. She then slid her hand down, beneath the sheets that still covered him, and stroked him where he desired to be touched. She continued to kiss him, and stroke him, until he rolled himself upon her.

"Indeed," he replied as he brushed a lock of hair away from her face and gently kissed her forehead. "Sleep well?"

"Not as well as you."

Cassander kissed her softly on the lips. Deep down Olympias knew that perhaps there was something wrong with this relationship. He was younger than her, and was loyal to her son, but she had to see past that. She loved him, oddly enough, and none of that mattered to her. She smiled, liking having him with her, this close to her.

"Where is Alexander," Cassander asked as he kissed her throat. He played with the soft flesh he found there until he was sending shivers down her spine. Olympias laughed, and tried to move from under his grasp playfully. Playfully he took both of her hands and pinned them above her head. He then continued to kiss at her neck.

"He went to get Hephaestion," Olympias asked. She laughed heatedly as Cassander playfully bit at her. She wriggled, but continued to tell Cassander the details of the day. "He should be back soon though, so you should make yourself presentable."

Cassander glanced down at his nudity. "Is this not good?"

"I doubt Alexander will find it appealing," Olympias teased him. She was only teasing, but Cassander knew that she had a point. Alexander wasn't interested in him as he was Hephaestion. Cassander knew what Olympias meant though, and he left the bed and began to dress himself.

"Cassander," Olympias whispered quietly as he was finishing putting his shirt on. He looked over at her, and she sat up in the bed. There was a hint of yearning in her eyes. "Will you come back tonight?"

"Of course," he replied with a sly smirk.

He came back to the bed and kissed her once more before he left the room. He would not have to go back to acting as if everything with him were normal. Yet it was not. He knew this, and he thought it would be easy for others to see. He was in love.

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Olympias entered the room quietly as to not distress the babe or anyone surrounding him. She was glad to see Hephaestion when she entered the room. It was he who currently held Hephander in his arms. The small infant had grabbed onto Hephaestion's strong finger with his small hand and was not ready to let go it seemed. Olympias grinned slightly. It was Alexander and Hephaestion's child, not Roxanne's. She would never have the chance to play mother to the babe as long as Hephaestion was around.

"Come here," Alexander said when he saw Olympias standing back. She came closer, as he beckoned, so that she may better see the infant. He had golden hair like his father, and his eyes were a dark blue. Olympias knew that those eyes had come from her genetic line, but did not mention it aloud. Alexander surely knew this as well. His skin was tan, not light like his father, or dark like his mother. He was somewhere in the middle, but would pass as a Macedonian before he did a Persian.

"He is beautiful," Olympias said.

"Here," Hephaestion said as he shifted the child in his arms, "try holding him."

Olympias took the child. Yet Hephander did not let go of Hephaestion's finger. Instead he held on and once he was in Olympias' arms he was still clutching Hephaestion. Olympias laughed at this. It was the first time Alexander had seen her so soft in his life. It was as if she were a completely different person.

"He is beautiful," she repeated.

When Roxanne entered the room from wherever she had been Olympias looked up at her. Suddenly something gripped at her heart. It was the way that Roxanne looked at the babe, and then at those that surrounded him, that made her uneasy. Olympias narrowed her eyes, hoping that Roxanne would see the threat they held. It was Bagoas that entered after Roxanne, carefully carrying a bowl, that looked Olympias straight in the eyes. With his dark eyes he seemed to scream his thoughts out to Olympias.

Do Not Trust Roxanne!

Yes, that was what he was trying to tell her. Olympias looked down at the babe and then back up at Bagoas. Without moving his head he nodded at her. It was in the way that he looked at her. Yes, do not trust Roxanne, he said again with those dark orbs. Olympias glanced over at Roxanne, saw the way that she looked at Hephander, and it was confirmed. She planned this child harm.

Alexander took the child from her before she could protest though and handed him to his mother. Olympias watched as Roxanne took him, and then glanced up at her. Olympias left the room with Alexander and Hephaestion then, but she knew what she must do. Roxanne had just become an unneeded vessel.