Title: "After Ecbatana"
Author: BalianswordChapter: 17, "Where Life Led"
A/N: This is the beginning of the end, the last two chapters. It has been great putting this all together. I appreciate all of the reviewers and readers. Again, thanks to Queendel, who has given me the most in depth reviews. I hope that everyone enjoys where this fiction goes. Thanks again. Baliansword
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Hephander was now sixteen. It was summer, hotter than the last if he remembered right, and things were changing. He noticed that he looked at her in a different way now. He was looking at everything a different way now. No longer did he think of Alyssea as the scrawny little girl that he was forced to play with. She was something different to him now.
It seemed as if overnight her black hair had become darker, more voluminous, and it seemed to touch her cheeks in a different way. Those stray ringlets had always done such. Now it drove him mad though and it was not annoying. Her cerulean eyes had a shine that they had not before. They were no longer just her father's eyes, but her own eyes. It annoyed him greatly.
He wanted to be close to her. He wanted to touch her. But most of all he wanted to feel what it would be like to put his lips to hers. But Aphrodite be cursed he could not do that could he? She was Alyssea. He had grown up with her. He had been her friend for as long as he could remember. Their fathers were friends for crying out loud.
But there was something inside of him that told him it would be okay. It was almost like a muse was singing to him, telling him what to do. So he did as he thought his heart would like. He walked up to her, on this hot summer day, and kissed her. To his surprise, she kissed back.
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Olympias and Aryse sat weaving. Both of them had finished speaking long ago. They each were worrying about their own things. Olympias glanced up as Aryse reached for her stomach. Aryse glanced over at her with a smile. Olympias smiled back but then went back to weaving.
This would be her second child with Hephaestion. Alexander had perhaps been the most delighted of all. Olympias had been told immediately. Now, after carrying the child for seven months, Olympias confirmed that this would be a son. Hephaestion had not cared either way, or so he had claimed, but Olympias could tell that it was a son he wanted this time. He would, however, have not been disappointed with another daughter.
Olympias continued to weave. As she did, she worried about what was happening in Arabia. Alexander had decided, when Hephander and Alyssea were older, that it would be good to take Arabia. He still had the entire world. Why he needed Arabia she could not imagine. Yet he had the soul of an eagle, and eagle of Zeus, and could not be caged for long.
Hephaestion had gone willingly, as had all the rest of the army. This meant that Cassander had gone as well. She continued to weave the dark red fabric together and sighed quietly. She missed Cassander more than anything. She so badly wanted him to come back to her. Sometimes she dreamt late at night that he would crawl into her bed and hold her. When she awoke there was no one there though.
Aryse worried for Hephaestion as well. Yet she had always known that some day Alexander would go to Arabia. She had also known that Hephaestion would quickly follow him. Olympias thought that she would be angry. Hephaestion had a family, soon another child would come, and he would need to be around. But Aryse had not been angry at all, not even a little hurt.
She knew that Alexander and Hephaestion were one. It had never bothered her. Hephaestion had never treated her like she was second best. She was his wife, and she was glad to be, but at the same time she knew that she was not Alexander. When Hephaestion had come, he had seemed grave, and worried of what she would say when he told her of Arabia. However, she had smiled, and wished him well.
Olympias worried for them. She worried for Alexander, Hephaestion, Cassander, and even the rest of the men in Arabia. Alexander was her son, and she missed him so much. She thought, he was forty-nine this year. She laughed thinking of how old that made her. She even reached up to touch a wrinkle on her face. She had aged well though, for Cassander swore that he still loved her every night before he left for Arabia.
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Bagoas glanced over at Hephander and Alyssea. A slight smile came to his lips. They loved each other deeply. He thought of Alexander and Hephaestion then. They had loved each other the same way. It only made sense that their children be together. Speaking of which, he was supposed to be watching them to make sure they weren't kissing as they were now.
It was hard to deny love though. So he winked at Hephander, and then turned and walked away. He went far from the palace, knowing that Hephander knew his manners and would behave fine without him. He was walking when he caught sight of another young soldier that had been too young to go to Arabia. The young boy smiled at him, and Bagoas smiled back.
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Aryse continued to weave. She thought of her husband, and wondered how things were going in Arabia. She had not received word from him in some time. It worried her but she tried to remain calm. Sometimes it took a long while for word to get back to Macedonia, where she was now.
To keep her mind off the worries of war she thought of Hephander. He was a man now. She knew that any day he would be asking to join his father in Arabia. The thought scared her. She feared that it would brake Alyssea's heart. Yet she knew that her daughter was strong. Perhaps Hephander would not go to Arabia, for there would be no shame in it. Alexander would not mind either.
She looked up, something out the window catching her eye, and saw an eagle. It screeched, and then swooped down. Olympias' head shot up and she looked out the window as well. When the eagle flew back up into view, it held a snake in its clutches, and it flew off towards the setting sun.