The Crowning of Alexander Chapter 5: The Morning Of, an alexander fanfic

Title: "The Crowning of Alexander"

Author: Baliansword

Chapter: 5, "The Morning Of"

A/N: Thank you for those that gave me their opinion on this work. It was greatly appreciated and I am glad that I got responses. Any other comments are still welcome! If I came off rude in the last author note where I asked, I did not mean to. I hope that everyone still reading enjoys this next chapter!

Alexander stretched out his arm and reached out for Hephaestion. Instead of grasping hard flesh he only grabbed a handful of sheets. A slight moan escaped his lips and he let his eyes flutter open. She stared at the empty bed and sighed. He lay on his chest, and pressing his elbows into the bed, he pushed himself up and turned his head to the left. He crawled out of the bed and threw a robe over his bare chest before he stepped out onto the balcony. Silence filled the space between he and Hephaestion before the other turned and looked at him. His cerulean eyes possessed a softness this morning, as well as a sadness. It was unexplained for a moment, but Hephaestion finally caved before Alexander said a word.

"Alexander," he whispered quietly. "What is love?"

"What do you mean," Alexander asked with a laugh. He turned and leapt onto the balcony. He sat, staring at Hephaestion and watched as he downcast his eyes. Alexander drew in a breath, releasing it while looking away, and only then did he try to form an answer. "It differs for everyone. But I know what I have with you is love. I would do anything for you Hephaestion, anything. And I would give you everything. Anything and everything that you asked of me would be given freely."

"Anything," Hephaestion said rather gravely. He then turned his eyes, looking through his lashes, and shook his head at Alexander. "Do you really think that anything is something you should grant someone? Do you worry that I would abuse the power to have anything and everything from you?"

"No," Alexander said as he leapt down and put a hand on Hephaestion's cheek. He lifted Hephaestion's chin and forced him to look at him. There was definitely something wrong. Never did Hephaestion act like this, sadness and philosophy consuming him at the same time, unless something terrible had happened. The last time he was acting like this, his mother had died. It had taken him so much time to get over it, grieving out of the eye of the public. He stared into the blue depths of his eyes and continued to speak. "I trust you completely Hephaestion, with everything that I have. I would never worry giving you what you asked for of me. But tell me, please, what is wrong?"

"Alexander," Hephaestion began to sob as he threw his arms around him. Alexander held him, almost stepping back as Hephaestion clung to him. The sudden rush had caught him off guard. Yet he liked the feeling of having Hephaestion in his arms and could not complain, even though Hephaestion cried.

"What is it," Alexander asked under his breath. There was a pause where Alexander could only hear the tears that fell from Hephaestion's eyes. He felt the cool tears from Hephaestion's cheeks touching his own as he shifted his head. Lightly whispering the same question he kissed the side of Hephaestion's cheek, holding him softly against him. Hephaestion drew in another breath before trying to surrender himself and give the words to Alexander.

"You know that I would never lie to you," he first said through tears. Alexander nodded, suddenly fearing what Hephaestion was going to say to him. "I wish that I could tell you the burden that I carry. But I can't, not now Alexander."

"Hephaestion I do not question you," Alexander assured him. "I only wonder what could make you tremble so. For the first time Hephaestion, I see you completely discomposed, and it scares me. Hephaestion, I do not want to press you, but you would tell me wouldn't you? You would tell me if there was anything that I could do?"

Hephaestion nodded, biting his lower lip as he did so. He then pulled away from Alexander and walked back into the room. Alexander watched him, stunned, as he left his chambers entirely. The prince stood for some time, trying to understand what had just happened. It made no sense. What could make Hephaestion act in such a manner? Was it something he'd done?

"Men's tongues fork like snakes, with skin as scaled, and eyes as cold. Bask in glory as the sun. Men are snakes and, from them, you should run."

Her eyes seemed to glisten, absorbing the light of the candles. She lifted the snake in her arm before placing it on the sheets. It slithered around for a moment. Its scales were a milky white. Unlike the other snakes this one was kept in a basket far away in another room. Wondering why never got him anywhere though. He only knew it was on rare occasions that he saw the snake. It was the only one that was scaled with white.

"Fortune favors only bold," Olympias continued to sing as she crawled onto the bed with the young Alexander. He was twelve now, but still loved his mother enough to sit and listen to her. Never could he refuse to sit with her on nights when she grew weary. Still, she sung to him like a child and would tuck him into her bed, lying sleeplessly next to him. It did not bother him. It was nice to know that there was someone that cared. She had a melodic voice as well. "Turn your eyes and you shall die."

"Mother," he sighed when she said this line. He always did. It seemed to ruin the entire song. He understood every word that she said and took it into consideration. Not all men should be trusted. This he agreed to. But when she spoke of death it made him uncomfortable. He reached up and drew his hand back as the white snake rose its head, staring at him with black beady eyes. It was about to strike but Olympias reached out and grabbed it. She put two fingers on the top of its head, one under the jaw, keeping it from opening its mouth. She then rose, dragging the snake away with her, and returned it to its black woven basket.

"Only truth," she said as she placed the basket under a table. Turning, she looked at her son. Alexander pushed himself into a better sitting position and crossed his arms. A slight frown tugged at his lips. She did not wish to offend him and tried to make the better of her words. "Alexander, I only wish to tell you such to protect you. You know how kingdoms are. You've seen what men will do for power and wealth. Look at your…"

"Do not finish," Alexander immediately stopped her, knowing where this conversation was going. Shaking his head he crawled out of the bed. He stepped over a brown and red snake that made its way across the floor. He hated that his mother left so many of them out, slinking around uncontrolled as if this was their room. Making his way to the doorway she reached out and caught his arm. He brushed her off quickly and left the room. She would have followed, but Philip would have her killed for leaving her chambers. Her head was worth a lot to him these days.

There was only one place that he felt truly safe. So he went there, despite the fact that it was the middle of the night. Most of the guards even slept as he crept through the dimly lit halls. Had he been a mercenary it would have been far too easy to sneak into many of the rooms. After a few minutes of creeping he found the hall he wanted, and walked past many doors of the training quarter's before he found the door he wanted. It really was not more than a thick sheet placed over the threshold into the room. Alexander rolled his eyes, wondering why Hephaestion chose to spend his nights here. He had the perfect room awaiting him near his. A room that was far better than this. Silently he entered the dark room though and picked up a candlestick holder, with a simple white candle shoved into the metal. He reached out of the room and lit the candle on a torch. Then, reentering, he drew closer to the bed. The orange illuminant light soaked onto Hephaestion's cheek, and his eyelid twitched as he moved a hand. He put the hand over his face, blocking out the light, and then rolled over without even a moan. Alexander smiled, and tried not to laugh. He did not want to wake others up. Instead, he carefully placed the candle down on a stand, and crawled over Hephaestion and onto the bed.

Hephaestion did not move, sleeping heavily from a hard days training. Alexander watched him sleep, the light of the candle brightening the room just enough. After a few moments he reached out and gently pulled a lock of Hephaestion's hair away from his cheek and forehead. He smiled as Hephaestion twitched, but eventually went back to sleeping. There was something wrong in touching him while he slept. Alexander was well aware of this but found his hand sliding over Hephaestion's bare chest, the hardened muscles overworked from the day's assaults, and biting his lower lip his hand slid further and further down. He stopped just below Hephaestion's navel, when Hephaestion finally stirred enough to open his eyes. Alexander froze, neither continuing, nor pulling his hand away. There was silence between them. Up until now there had been kisses here and there, but never anything more. But they both wanted more. They wanted it, but finalizing it had been hard. Not to mention, neither knew if the other would accept such bodily offers that they envisioned in their dreams.

Tonight was different though, for Hephaestion did not panic. Instead he blinked once before leaning in and pressing his lips to Alexander's. He took the prince's mouth with his, immediately showing that he would be the dominant of the two. Alexander did not mind in the least either. He felt the sensation of Hephaestion's soft tender lips pressed to his, the wetness of his own lips as they glided over Hephaestion's. He did not want it to stop, but knew that Hephaestion was still unwilling to completely take him. For a year younger, he thought that he knew so much more. He still thought because he was no woman, nor a prince, he was not worthy of Alexander. But Alexander wanted only him. It did not abruptly stop though. Instead, Hephaestion put a hand over Alexander's, and finished for Alexander what he'd wanted to do. Hephaestion guided his hand beneath the sheets, keeping his palm to his flesh, and Alexander for the first time noted that he was completely undressed under the sheet. Hephaestion stopped though, just above where Alexander desired to touch him, and withdrew his hand. Alexander glanced up at him, and as he placed a kiss on his cheek, he pressed his palm against Hephaestion's genitals.

Hephaestion let out a gasp at the initial touch, not expecting it, even though he'd helped Alexander lead his hand to the spot. It was no secret that he'd touched himself in the same way that Alexander was touching him now. The only difference was that it felt a thousand times better as Alexander pressed his hand firmly against him and glided his fingers around his stiffened erection. Suddenly his thighs ached, burned, and it hurt for a moment as Alexander pressed his fingers tighter against him. He let out a quiet protest, a stifled moan into Alexander's shoulder, but Alexander only brought his body closer to Hephaestion. Erotically, the young prince thrust his own erection and hips against Hephaestion as he let go with his hand. He brought both hands around Hephaestion, grabbing his buttocks, and ground himself against him as he held him from moving. Hephaestion wrapped an arm around Alexander's neck and lightly bit his shoulder as he felt the sway of Alexander's sacs against the flesh just above his penis as he pulled himself up and down on him. As soon as he did this Hephaestion could not keep himself from Alexander more. He came, a rush of his viscous seed spilling onto Alexander. Biting his lip kept him from screaming, but he'd moaned loudly enough to wake others. But luckily, no one listened, or no one cared. Alexander spilled himself as well, still pressed against Hephaestion. He clung to him for a moment as Hephaestion panted.

Neither said anything, for words would only distract from what they'd just shared. Even though this was not completely satisfying one another, it was good enough, for the moment at least. It was the furthest they had gone, and they'd crossed some line society had made for them. In doing so, they were free.

Alexander searched desperately for Hephaestion. He should have done it last night when he had the chance. He should have told him that he loved him completely, as he always had, and he wanted to give himself completely to him. He wanted to throw his body at him for some reason. He needed to!

Hephaestion had gone though and it seemed that he could not be found. Already, everyone was preparing for Alexander's return to his father's employ. Alexander no longer cared about the games though. He cared only about Hephaestion. Something was dreadfully wrong with him and he needed to know what it was. He yearned to know. Hephaestion had always been there for him and now he could not help him at all. Cursing, he scavenged the palace, looking for Hephaestion. By the time that he got news of where he was, it was too late. As Alexander mounted Bucephalus he learned from a page that Hephaestion had left hours ago, eager to scout ahead he'd said, looking for any possible threats to Alexander.

Little did he know as he set out that Hephaestion was not scouting ahead as he claimed. He was riding full speed, almost breaking his horse in the process, just so that he could get to Pausanias before Olympias did. If there was one thing that he could do to keep the man from killing Philip, he would do it. Even if that meant throwing his body in front of Philip, he would do it. He would not be the cause of Alexander's grief upon his father's death. He would not be the one to crown him. He just had to get to Pausanias first.