Title: Royal Slave

Author: Adsagsona

Type: Romance/Drama

Rating: R

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: Character death!

Beta: None.

Pairing: Alexander/Hephaestion

Archive: Right here.

Author's Note: This is a sequel to the story 'By my side'. AU, Hephaestion has come to Philips court as a slave, but found a place as the loyal companion of Alexander.

Summary: Alexanders army stumbles upon the land of Lord Amyntor. Suddenly Hephaestion reacts strangely and reveals something about himself which had not been forseen.

Royal Slave – Chapter 20

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Quickly he dressed himself, trying to do this in pure silence. Alexander normally wasn't a heavy sleeper and he would discover fastly that Hephaestion wasn't in his bed. The young General winced as the tunic rested against some of the more severe gashes on his legs, but he ignored it. He wrapped one of the cloaks he found by the doorway around himself and slipped in a pair of sandals.

Looking over his shoulders towards a still sleeping Alexander, he gave a small sad smile and resolutely went out of the door. He headed straight towards the hills where he had been only a day before. He would not make the same mistake again and be discovered before he reached his goal. There were only a few soldiers of Alexander present and they would let him through. Everyone in the army knew their Generals quite well and they would not say a word as Hephaestion passed them.

That was what he was counting on.

"I just wonder what you plan to do next."

The voice startled him and he turned around to be able to view the source of the sound. Slender fingers wrapped around the handle of the dagger he had hidden underneath his cloak, but it was Cassander who was watching him with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"I asked you first, Hephaestion." The other said with a small smile as he took a few steps closer. It seemed like the wound on his leg had healed nicely and he could walk without the aid of the walking stick he had with him for the passing week. He still limped, but for someone who didn't know him, it would classify as a normal walk.

"It's none of your business." The young General mumbled under his breath before turning around and wanting to walk further towards the city. Of course he knew better than that Cassander was going to let him be.

"Not the correct answer." He heard from very closeby before feeling a hand on his shoulder. The young man didn't turn, but just slapped the hand away.

"Get away from me, Cassander. This is something I need to do for myself."

"Does Alexander know that you are leaving?"

This got to Hephaestion more than he wanted to think and he now did turn around towards the other. Sapphire eyes glanced towards the cocky General, but he did not seem to be in his normal behaviour either. He was hesitating and did not seem to have the brash answers ready like usual.

"No, he doesn't."

"Why are you doing this, Hephaestion? I know now for certain that he loves you more than life itself. Why are you going to leave all of that behind?"

"You are not the man to talk to me about this…" Hephaestion hissed softly, but he did not have the heart to just plainly tell Cassander off. This was the man who had found him at the bottom of the hill and took care of him when Alexander could not.

"No? When Alexander comes to me, yelling and threatening, because I took care of you, I make this my business."

"Cassander…" Hephaestions voice changed, it became pleading. Even though he had been a free man for a long time, he still remembered the time where he had learned how to beg. The young man had also learned early on that he could make both men and women do whatever he wanted, if he played it out right. He had never cared to do so, even when some of the soldiers thought that the only reason for his stay in the army was his place in Alexanders bed.

The dark haired General in front of him was not oblivious to it either. Hephaestions beauty had been the talk of the army at a time and although it had ceased, Cassander had always thought of the slave as a rival for Alexanders love. After the previous night, he felt compassion for him and more than he could imagine.

So when Hephaestion came to him, he opened his arms and embraced the young man, hugging him close. The General did not cry, nor did he speak, he just clung to Cassander for a few minutes, before he lifted his head and looked into the eyes of the other. He lifted his hand and touched Cassanders cheek.

"I finally get the opportunity to… be more than Alexanders lover in everyones eyes. I need to do this for myself, to get away from everything I know. Alexander would have never let me if I asked."

"He would have, to make you happy." Cassander murmured in response. "Hephaestion he'd give you the world on a silver platter if you would swallow your pride and just talked to him instead of this foolishness."

"Listen!" Hephaestion hissed as he now grasped Cassanders wrist. "I don't expect you to understand. Tell Alexander when he comes to you that I have gone to the fort of my father. I accept his offer of taking my fathers place. My army will always be ready if he would need me."

"Hephai…"

"No." He laid his finger on Cassanders lips and shook his head. "This is something I must do. No argument can talk me out of this. Thank you for your good care the other night." He leaned forward, pressing his lips on Cassanders cheek for a moment and turning around again. The dark haired General let him go.

Hephaestion walked towards the city, where some of the soldiers of Alexander, who had been granted a steady place so that they did not need to move around, had been stationed. They would probably marry some of the local women and become a citizen. They did not even look up when one of the Generals of Alexanders army passed them, they were used to it.

Hephaestion walked towards the fort where his father had lived for his entire adult life. He touched one of the walls in the hallway and walked on towards the grand room, where he sat down on the floor right in the middle of it. He had played here as a small child and he had been chained up here just a day ago. So many memories connected him to this place, although he had not seen it for many years until the day before.

"I could make this my home." He whispered to himself. The young man vowed to himself that he would try to be happy here, that he would reign under Alexander and try to give the people what they needed. He wanted to be a good ruler.

Hephaestion needed to forget what happened, what he had done to his father, and make ammends. The only way he saw to do this was take his fathers place and do the best job he could possibly do. If that meant leaving the love of his life, he would make that sacrifice.

Letting his head rest in his hands, he cried.

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Nelia: Hephaestion wants to make amends, although he should not need to do it.

Queendel: The price is indeed incredibly high… and much higher than he knows at this point. Hephaestion is making his own decisions right now.

I Heart Wolf: Thank you so much for the compliments, love :) No, I wouldn't let anything really bad happen to Hephaestion… ;)

Kitten: Well, now you know :)

Baliansword: They both will have a hard time coming to terms with everything. And Cassander.. well ;) There he is again.

Diane: Thank you so much for reading the story :) Hephaestion has gone home… definitely, that's another matter.