Author: Baliansword
Chapter: 14, "Twists of Fate"
A/N: Okay, so we are back on track now. Isn't that wonderful? I was amazed that I received reviews, for I thought that perhaps I had bored some people, and they wouldn't come back to read on. Thank you so much for doing so and I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Have a wonderful day, and if you celebrate Easter, I hope you had a great one!
0
0
0
There were always lines laid out with those that were closest to Alexander. Not only was he a great ruler but a man that paid great attention to detail. This, amongst other things, was perhaps why he had the greatest army in the world. This was why he was not beaten. Yet for all of these lines, there was always someone willing to push them. There was always one willing to test the connection between the link of subject and king. Of all the men who feared Alexander, there were only a handful that did not. Yet there was only one that would never back down to the Great Alexander.
"Does it surprise you," Cassander asked as he stood and tossed the dagger he'd been playing with down on a couch. Alexander just stared at him as if he'd never seen him before. He was willing to kill him in that moment. Of all men Cassander was the one that he would least want Hephaestion with. Hephaestion was pure, innocent in even the battlefield, and Cassander was the complete and polar opposite.
"I can see why you like him," Cassander continued as he drained the contents in his cup and then tossed it onto the same couch he'd tossed the dagger. He was not afraid to walk around the room and turn his back to Alexander. At times he wondered why Alexander was so feared in the eyes of men. He had power only because others gave it to him. Otherwise he was nothing, just as mortal as them all, and just as condemned to be a toy of the gods on this plane.
Alexander stopped listening after Cassander said this. He wanted to hear nothing more from him. Instead, he began to think. Hephaestion had been different here, not as he had been before. Yet so was he. Were they not just both growing into men as they'd always dreamt of doing? There was only a slight problem though. In all the tales he'd woven he'd never finished correctly. He'd always said Hephaestion would always be with him, always. He would go to the end of the world with him and in turn Alexander would bring him and praise and love him all the way. Yet in his tales he'd never said what happened to them separately. He'd then always assumed they would be the same. Could it be that they were no longer going to be what they were and that they would be molded here in Persia to something else? As he continued to think he began to think of a time long ago and as Cassander prattled on he did not listen. This was good, for if he'd heard what Cassander said next in its full entirety, perhaps Cassander would not have left the room.
0
0
0
There was silence as Hephaestion entered Alexander's chambers that night. As he stepped into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him, he could feel almost the pain that spread through the room. After a moment's pause at the door Hephaestion stepped further into the room. Alexander he soon saw sat out on the balcony. He sat in one of Darius' padded chairs and he stared out at the world. It was growing darker out but the stars were what Alexander was admiring. Hephaestion had taught him the trait really, after viewing them as Aristotle suggested. Hephaestion merely looked at Alexander's back for a moment, the pain still drifting through the room.
He then approached quietly and Alexander senses him but did not turn. Hephaestion stopped behind his chair, but put a hand on Alexander's shoulder. Alexander did not respond instantly but found it hard to be angry with Hephaestion for something that was partially if not entirely his fault. Hephaestion walked around and then knelt before him, placing his chin on Alexander's thighs. Alexander glanced down at him, but the stars as dim as they seemed compared to Hephaestion's eyes, still produced enough light to catch the tears he tried to hold back. Silently, and with all the affections in the world, Hephaestion reached up and put his hand to Alexander's cheek. Turning his head back to center Hephaestion looked up at him. It pained him to see Alexander in this state, more perhaps than Alexander was pained.
"What is it," Hephaestion whispered. Alexander was not as open as he normally was though. Instead he glanced away, without moving his head, just his eyes. Hephaestion drew his lower lip into his mouth, and glanced down as well, then looked up. It pained him greatly, and he was beginning to believe that Alexander knew of his doings without him. "Alexander, please, tell me what is wrong. Are you angry with me?"
"No," Alexander whispered quietly. "I could never be angry with you Hephaestion."
Hephaestion lifted up and kissed Alexander lightly upon the lips. With this kiss he wanted to tell Alexander everything his heart was saying. He loved him, loved him greatly. There was only Alexander in his heart no matter how many others there may be elsewhere. As he brushed his lips against Alexander's, and them moved away from him, Alexander seemed to warm. He stared deeply into Hephaestion's eyes for a moment. Then, as if waiting to be nearest to Hephaestion, the tears he'd been holding slowly began to fall from his eyes.
"Forgive me," the king then whispered softly. Hephaestion only lifted himself again and kissed Alexander deeply this time. Putting both hands on his cheeks he then kissed his forehead, his eyelids, his brows, and every other sliver of his face. Hephaestion then rested his head against Alexander's forehead, and smiled softly as he stared back at him.
"Alexander," he chuckled, "there never has been anything between us. I love you, and only you, for now, always, and forever. Do not apologize to me and I will not do so to you. Our love, Alexander, is deeper than any known. We rival even Achilles and Patroclaus. Small things cannot come between us. Look at me, it is and always will be you. If you love me, as I love you, then you know this already."
"I love you," was all that Alexander said. He loved him, as Hephaestion loved him, and he knew that nothing would ever keep them apart. Yet he was beginning to suspect that it might drive a wench between the tight bond they had shared this long.
0
0
0
He sat next to her and took her hand in his. She glanced over at him as she ran her hand over her stomach. He then put his hand beneath hers, stopping where she had. Still believing that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen he tried not to stare too deeply at her. After a moment he removed his hand though and stood. He went to a shelf, taking a small vile from it. The content was a liquid, a dark sanguine, which he poured over her stomach. Judging by the beading he then knew what she already had suspected.
"You carry his child," Bagoas confirmed. He now sat down across from her. There was a glow about her that had not been there before. All women that carried children had the glow. Quietly he kept his eyes upon her. She grew restless though after a moment. She leaned closer, putting a soft hand upon his cheek, and made a move to kiss him. However, Bagoas turned his cheek. Rising, he left the room, leaving her to herself.
Miskaelah sat, watching him go. It hurt her greater than she'd ever known before. He had sworn to always love her. Perhaps she had been a fool though to think that such a vow would still be good when she carried the child of another man. She did not have much time to think of such things though. For as soon as she had wiped the oil from her stomach and put on another outfit, the door opened. Hephaestion entered the room quietly and glanced over at her, a slight question apparent on his face as he saw and smiled at her.
"Is everything alright," he asked and she nodded. He began to strip down from what he wore. By the looks of him he'd been out with Alexander again, walking through the courts no doubt. They tended to do that when they were making up with one another. She knew tonight they'd been on Alexander's balcony, speaking of something, but Bagoas had not known what. He merely told her they'd been speaking.
Neither of them said another word until Hephaestion was bare chested, wearing only a pair of Persian trousers he'd put on. Running a hand through his hair he came closer and sat down on the bed next to her. He lay back and ran his fingers over her back. Smiling she glanced over her shoulder and laughed. He knew not why, but knew that something about her was different.
"Let me see your hand," she said quietly. She took the hand he offered her and she placed it over her stomach. Pausing she then glanced back at him. He moved slightly to get a better view. "Do you feel that?"
"I…no I don't feel anything," he said. Yet he kept his hand there. He felt it then. It was not a kick for the child would be too young to do such. It was instead just a feeling. Many cultures believed that at the moment of conception a woman would know. As he kept his hand over her stomach her felt something close to such a statement.
"I feel it," he said after a moment. He then looked up at her. His cerulean eyes looked as if they'd just been stars, plucked from the heavens. A soft smile crossed his lips and he looked all the more beautiful.
"That," Miskaelah said softly, "is our son."