What do you get for the King of the known world, a man who has everything he needs or wants? You give him something he has never had before.
Okay….before the flaming starts, let me just warn you ahead of time.
I don't like Bagoas. In the movie I kept hoping he would meet an untimely demise. In Mary Renault's book "The Persian Boy", I still wanted him to go away, even though he was the main character in it. In my story "The Challenge", I was actually nice to him and I don't know why…except the boys (Alex and Phai) told me to
Well, it happened again. The boys kept bugging me about this one until they convinced me to write it. And damned if Bagoas is not a major player in this one, and I'm nice to him. WTF?
I have to admit, some of the parts toward the end that he is in, I had trouble writing because it just felt wrong! OH well, I wrote it and here it is, for whatever it is worth,
Now the usual stuff: I don't own the movie, the characters, the book, Alexander, or Hephaestion (though that last one is really tough to accept).
Rated: M (not so bad at first, but a big Capital M for the last bit)
Alexander was confused. He was a bit angry. More than anything, he felt a little hurt.
Today was his birthday, damn it! And nothing at all from Hephaestion. He hadn't even seen him all day. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen him since he returned from his supply mission the day before yesterday. Alexander had been busy himself and hadn't thought too much about it….until this morning.
How could Hephaestion forget his birthday? Had he done something to upset him? He couldn't think of anything. Things had been fine between them when Hephaestion had left, and, after two weeks apart, he thought sure his Phai would have been eager to see him.
He sat down on the edge of his beautiful Persian bed, in his beautiful Persian robe, in his beautiful Persian palace, feeling irritated and dejected. He picked up a pillow and tossed it across the room, and then flopped back on the bed. He wasn't enjoying any of it at the moment.
There was a banquet tonight being held in his honor, with special entertainment planned and a huge feast. He suddenly wasn't in the mood.
Where the hell was Phai? He frowned. He was starting to get royally pissed off now. If Hephaestion didn't want to see him, then that was just fine with him. Well, it really wasn't, but he tried to convince himself that it was.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Time to get moving. He had business to attend to and a meeting with several of his generals. Hephaestion wasn't required to be at this particular meeting, though he rarely missed one. Somehow, Alexander doubted he would see him this time.
Fine. Whatever.
He changed out of his silk robe and pants and put on a simple chiton, throwing a red cloak over it. He grumbled to himself the whole time he was lacing up his sandals. Where the hell was Bagoas? He should have been here helping him. He hadn't seen him since breakfast either.
What the hell was wrong with everyone? Was it "ignore Alexander" day?
Still grumbling and cursing under his breath, he stomped his way over to the large room where his meeting was to take place. Most of the generals were there when he arrived. He was greeted with smiles from all around, even grumpy Cleitus and sarcastic Cassander smiled at him. Weird. Must be because it is his birthday. At least THEY remembered!
"Joy to you, Alexander!" Ptolemy came forward and kissed him on the cheek. The others stepped forward and did the same.
"Happy Birthday, Alexander" Leonnatus grinned at him as he leaned in to kiss him.
"Yes, Happy Birthday!" Nearchus echoed.
The others all chimed in with well wishes for his special day.
He faked a smile and thanked them, but it didn't do anything to improve his mood.
"If we are finished with the social chit-chat, can we get down to business here please?"
He sounded annoyed and none of the others knew why. It was obvious Alexander was not in the best of moods, so they got right to their reports.
He sat through each one of their presentations and pretended to be interested. He knew he really needed to listen, but he just could not bring himself to care at the moment. All he could think of was Hephaestion…or rather, the lack of Hephaestion.
Where in the hell was he?
"Alexander? Did you hear what I said? What do you think we should do?" Parmenion asked.
Alexander had absolutely no idea what he had asked and was even more annoyed because of it. He waved his hand dismissively. "Do whatever you think is best, Parmenion. I trust your judgment."
Parmenion nodded, but was fairly sure Alexander had not been listening. He would just do what Alexander said and use his own judgment, and hope it pleased him.
Alexander stood finally and stretched his aching back. "That is enough for today, gentlemen. We will meet again in a few days and go over everything." And maybe this time I will pay attention, he thought.
He turned and walked out of the room, leaving the generals looking slightly confused.
"Is it me, or was he not paying attention to anything we said?" Cleitus asked.
"Oh, I'm sure his mind was on something more pressing, like a certain individual who was not present in this meeting" Cassander sneered.
"Oh, for the love of the gods, Cassander! Give it up, will you?" Ptolemy snorted.
Parmenion raised his hand to silence them all. "Gentlemen, Alexander was right. Let's call it a day and we can pick this up when we meet again. I don't think we accomplished much here today. It was obvious something was bothering him, so let us just leave it at that. I will see you at the banquet this evening. Health to you all."
They went their separate ways, mumbling about their wasted time, but they all loved Alexander and would forgive him. It was, after all, his birthday!