A/N: This chapter deals with Hephaistion's past, as told by Hephaistion to another who rides after him. You'll have to read to find out who. For the record, there are three new characters introduced, and their names are pronounced as follows:

Heshaylae- Heh- shay- lay

Arties- Are- ties

Media- Me- dee- ya

I don't own Alexander, Hephaistion, Cassander, nor any other names you recognize... then again no one does, Oliver Stone brought them to life again so us writers could have fun with them. All original characters are my own creations, please ask before using for your own devices.

Reviews always welcome.

Chapter 8

I rode through the plains of India, not bothering to stop for food, nor drink, nor anything else, unless my horse bucked slightly, letting me know it was time for a rest. Dismounting, I built a fire using the sticks I had collected whence I'd had a bit of time to myself. The horse lay down next to the fire, which was strange. I had never seen a horse that would do such a thing.

Just as I was getting ready to retire another horse came riding toward me. I could not see the rider, but immediately I jumped to my feet. Mounting my horse again, I rode toward the intruder with my spear in hand.

"Stop!" I heard a shout. Suddenly, by the light of the moon, I saw Cassander dismount his steed at the exact moment I did. "Hephaistion!" he shouted again.

"Cassander!" I responded, going toward my beloved and enveloping him in an embrace. My eyes closed as I inhaled his scent. He smelled of sand; the crisp, Indian air; and his own unique odour.

My beloved? Since what time had I ever called Cassander 'my beloved'?

"Why in the name of Zeus did you come after me?" I asked against his shoulder. "You understand you are abandoning your troops to see where I go…"

"No less than you did, General," he answered.

I winced. He knew that would plague my conscious for days, perhaps weeks to come.

"I could not take it any longer, Cassander," I told him, letting him go and clapping my hand on his shoulder. "I could not stand to see him with that pretty boy Persian whore any more than I could stand to see him with Roxanne…" I growled.

"With all the abuse he's given you, I am surprised you did not leave sooner."

"It was because I was blind," I raised my hand and let it rest upon Cassander's cheek. "I did not realize until I lay with you, Cassander, that I could love another."

"Is this true?" his eyes narrowed.

I nodded, my hand still remaining on his cheek. "If I could, Cassander, be so bold, ask why in the name of Aphrodite, you rode after me?"

"Because you are a General," he answered. "You had abandoned your troops," his voice was stern. "I saw you ride off in the morning; I knew not where you were headed."

"Nor did I," I confessed. "I just rode," I took my horse by the reins and led him back to where I had built that fire for the night.

"Shall you come back with me?" he asked me whilst he followed me to the camp I had made.

"No," I answered, gritting my teeth together. "I shan't be. I can no longer stand to be in his presence."

"But Alexander is nothing without you, Hephaistion!" Cassander pleaded. "What happened between us was not what the Gods consider to be love," he pleaded with me again, "it shan't happen again…"

"Then what would you consider it?" I asked him, sitting down in front of the fire and throwing a few more sticks in to make sure it still had life.

"Twas nothing but my foolish desire to feel what it is like to love another," he insisted, casting his eyes down.

"Consider this foolish, do you?" I gestured for him to come and sit with me. "A desire to lay with another is a need, Cassander; it is nothing to be ashamed of." I put my arm around him. "One cannot practice self gratification for the rest of their days, tis not natural."

For only the second time in my life I did not view Cassander as one who would seemingly turn on me with a dagger clenched in his fist. Twas odd, most assumingly. Before me I saw a man whose eyes betrayed all he had attempted to tell me.

"I am not ashamed that I lay with you," I answered that yearning question. "In fact, you are one of the best lovers I have ever taken to bed with me."

"Had you other lovers before Alexander?"

"Most assuredly I did," I hugged him closer. "To please my father I lay with a Macedonian virgin, and she bore me both a son and a daughter."

"Carried two in the womb?"

I nodded. "Arties and Media, she called them."

"Laid you eyes on them?"

Again, I nodded. "The most beautiful children I could have ever seen."

Once again, Cassander was silent. "You have all these stories, Hephaistion, yet you share them with no one. Why?"

"The same reason I had never laid with another man besides Alexander before last night." I told him. "Perhaps I was blind, or in denial, I do not know."

"And now you are not," Cassander realized. "You are free to go wherever you may please."

"So you see why I enjoy it so…" I insisted. "My freedom. I would like nothing more than to return to Macedonia and see the children I left behind."

"What of their mother?"

"Her as well," I answered. "She was absolutely beautiful." I closed my eyes as I attempted to recall her features. "Gorgeous brown eyes, hair the colour of fine honey..."

"Her name?" Cassander interrupted me.

"Shaye."

"Shaye?"

"Twas short for Heshaylae."

Cassander nodded. Getting up, he clasped my shoulder and looked me in the eye.

"Farewell, General," he mounted his steed and turned the animal to face to all encompassing darkness. "May the Gods bless your journey home..." he sighed. "Home to Heshaylae, Arties, and Media with you now."

With that, off he rode, leaving me to fend for myself the rest of the night. Perhaps it would be the last time I would lay eyes on him.

"Farewell, Cassander," I whispered before sitting back down and tending the fire one last time before letting sleep overtake my body.

"On to Macedon…" I muttered to myself, taking a drink from my flask. "To home…"