Chapter 3

Prompt: Wing
Title: Wish I had Wings

"Why? "

The young robber asked his chief in confusion. They had never left their victims alive. It was cleanest, simplest, and safest to kill them after mugging. The blade was at his throat within a flash of lightning.

"Have you forgotten the rules of The Royal Bandit?"

There was nothing what so ever that connected them to the Persian courts, but their chief, Kurroglou called them as The Royal Bandit. They said that Kurroglou was a distant bloodline of Xerxes, King of Kings.

The story was that the night when Xerxes burned the Acropolis, he mated with a daughter of an Athenian noble. Being ashamed, she exiled herself deep into the mountains of Palandoken where she gave a birth to a son; the great grandfather of Kurroglou.

It was just a story, but nobody doubted the verity of it among his men. Kurroglou's slightly lighter complexion was enough evidence to believe that their boss was a mixed blood of the Persians and the Greeks, and it sounded even better if his ancestor was from noble blood.

"R…rule number one, never ask why. R ..rule number two, never ask who."

The young robber stuttered.

"And rule number three?" Kurroglou pressed the knife harder against the other man's throat drawing a thin line of blood along the blade.

"E …ex …expect to be dead when you break rule number one or two."

"Never forget that!"

Kurroglou scoffed as he retrieved his knife. At that moment, another robber brought Hephaistion's mare to Kurroglou after chasing her for a short distance.

"My, my you are such a fine steed, aren't you? Almost as beautiful as my Kyrat."

The bandit chief petted the neck of Hephaistion's horse admiringly. She indeed looked exactly like Kurroglou's horse with shiny chestnut coats with black mane and tail. The only difference was that the chief's steed had four white feet instead of all chestnut.

It was no secret that Kurroglou loved his horse. His men had heard over and over again that their chief said that his steed meant more than his maiden, wife, gold, and silver all together, but next to his life.

Therefore, when he spotted Hephaistion's mare from the distance, he immediately knew that the rider was not an ordinary traveller. He was accompanied by too magnificent a horse for a merchant. Kurroglou knelt by Hephaistion, and turned him over to examine him.

As he suspected, their victim was not a merchant. His body was built with well-toned muscles, yet not as thick as those of men who made their living by physical labor. And along with what he had just witnessed in how he used his sword, the calluses at the side of his thumb and the base of the middle finger of his right hand all confirmed that this man was a warrior.

Kurroglou grinned widely while pulling out a parchment he had confiscated from a caravan he had attacked a couple days ago that was traveling from Babylon.

'Rewarding one talent for the live Macedonian officer with long auburn hair and eyes with the color of the summer sky – Great King Darius'

One talent was a great deal of money; one could almost buy a small town with it. This man must have been very important to King Darius.

He lifted Hephaistion on the back of his mare, bound his hands at his back, and gagged him with a cloth over the mouth. Then he tied him to the horse with a rope, so that he would not fall.

Now he just had to wait and see if the man's eyes were indeed sky blue when he came around. Even if they were not, as beautiful as the man was, he was certain that he could sell him to the slave market for a high price once they got to Babylon.

The first thing that Hephaistion noticed when he became aware of his surroundings again was the warmth and velvety touch on his cheek. He groaned when he tried to straighten himself up, but he could not.

"Ah, you finally decided to join us. Let us see how precious you are."

Kurroglou pulled the rein of Hephaistion's horse to halt her. He placed a finger under Hephaistion's chin to make him look up into his eyes.

"You really are precious, aren't you?"

Hephaistion saw the bandit smile widely from ear to ear baring his teeth. Satisfied with his prey, Kurroglou took the gag out of Hephaistion's mouth, and cut the rope that tied Hephaistion to his mare, and pulled him upright. Hephaistion almost let out a moan again feeling the sharp pain on the back of his head.

A wave of nausea attacked him, and Hephaistion closed his eyes for a moment swallowing the bile before it made it up to his mouth. The chief pulled his sheepskin, and put the end into Hephaistion's mouth and squeezed it until the cool water flowed into Hephaistion's mouth.

Satisfied by watching Hephaistion drink eagerly, the chief opened his mouth again, his gaze never leaving Hephaistion's eyes.

"Do not worry, we will take good care of you, since you are the most valuable commodity for us."

Hephaistion wondered if it was Alexander who had ordered his capture, if it was, then he needed to flee. He could not go back to Alexander, just not yet. His instinct almost made him kick the side of his horse, but he contained his urge, and assessed the situation.

He was glad that he held on, as he noticed how marvelous the chief's steed was. He might be able to outrun if his hands were free, but with his hands tied at his back, he did not see any chance.

"You are a man of few words. I like you. I can tell that our journey to Babylon could be a pleasant one if you wish it to be. And don't try to run away. King Darius wants you to be alive."

With this, Kurroglou swatted Hephaistion's back not so gently, and Hephaistion lost his balance. Kurroglou laughed delightedly as he caught Hephaistion before he fell to the ground. Hephaistion was relieved that he did not have to escape. All he needed now was to stay captive and this bandit would take him to his destination.

In the meantime, Alexander was also coming up along the Phoenician coast to the North to Tyre. He was frustrated that the large army took so much time to move. He wished he could go searching for Hephaistion by himself with a few guards, or even better had wings like Icarus. His mood stayed dangerously dark.

As to Bagoas, when he heard that Hephaistion had left, and he knew that he did not have to fear being punished by Hephaistion any longer, his confidence raised its head; he thought that he had won the love of Alexander over Hephaistion. Bagoas went into Alexander's bedchamber full of hope on the next night after Hephaistion had gone.

He opened the heavy door expecting Alexander to be all over him. Instead of love and passion, Bagoas was greeted with Alexander's cold gaze and harsh words.

"Stay in your room unless I summon you!"

Alexander roared without even looking at him. As he ran back to his room, he saw Hephaistion's servant, Mikkos' sneering face from the corner of his teary eye. He felt that everybody was against him.

Even those generals who hated Hephaistion looked at Bagoas with accusing eyes. As they now realized for the first time how Alexander could be so difficult and uncontrollable without Hephaistion by his side. They could not blame Alexander, so they blamed Bagoas instead. Bagoas was all alone in this foreign world. How silly he was to even think himself to be the equal to Hephaistion in the name of love.

After days of uncomfortable rides, Hephaistion arrived at Babylon as a captive of The Royal Bandit. As Kurroglou promised, they had treated him well as much as they could under the circumstances. Hephaistion did not have any complains except his sore wrists and shoulders from being restrained for so long during the extensive ride.

The chief was not a fool. He requested the Persian king to do the exchange at the temple of Ishtar on the west side of the Euphrates River. He knew that it was impossible to lure the king to the outside of the city fortress, but he was not stupid enough to make a deal in a room inside of the palace where he had no way of escaping when things went wrong.

At least at the temple of Ishtar, he could escape using either the west side of the Lugalgirra Royal Gate, or the north side of the Enlil Gate. Kurroglou personally preferred to leave through the north gate, which led to the mountainous region where he was most familiar.

Darius agreed with Kurroglou to meet with him at the temple of Ishtar if he left his weapons and the rest of his men on the other side of the gate, and brought only the hostage with him. Darius himself brought only four others with him inside of the temple; his relative Bessus, and three bodyguards.

Inside of the temple was dim even the brazier and lamps were lit as you stepped in from the bright sunlight. Hephaistion blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. The chief of the bandits pulled him down by his now freed arm to make him kneel by his side. As his eyes adjusted, Hephaistion looked up at the Persian king intensely. Hephaistion was rather a tall man, but this Persian king was even taller than him.

Alexander had fair skin, but this king had dark skin. Alexander's hair was blond and soft, but Darius' medium length hair was black and was in tight curls. Alexander never grew his beard, but Darius had a neatly trimmed thick long beard. Alexander was young, energetic, and spontaneous, but Darius was mature, calm, and sound. He was everything that Alexander was not. Yet, both of them possessed some kind of Charisma that made others follow them willingly.

Hephaistion then moved his attention to the man who was standing to the left of the king.

This must be Bessus, the close relative of king Darius.

Hephaistion thought. He did not remember seeing Bessus at the battle of Issus, and he had not spoken with him yet, but he took a dislike to him right away. He looked repugnant, sly and nervous as if he was hiding something. He reminded him of Eumenes.

While Hephaistion was studying Bessus, king Darius nodded to Kurroglou to confirm that he had brought him the right man, and signaled the guard to give him rewards. The chief did not waste any time. He put his arm around Hephaistion's shoulder and greeted him before leaving the temple.

"Thank you buddy, and good luck to you."

Hephaistion tried to read the expression of the king to see if he could find out the reason why Darius wanted him, but he could not detect any emotions from his noble face.

"Take him away, and make him clean up."

An authoritative deep voice ordered the guard.

Darius was on the verge of panicking, just like at the battle of Issus. Darius had never been in love. He had been too busy proving himself at the battles with Artaxerxes rather than eying the beauties. Of course he had a wife, but his marriage was purely for the political purpose and to follow the tradition of the Persian nobles. It was arranged among the same bloodline.

It was said that his wife was the most beautiful woman in the East, and he loved her dearly, but she was also his sister. It was not the kind of love that squeezed his heart each time he looked at her, and made him forget everything. When he saw this young Macedonian at the battlefield of Issus, he thought he was one of the Sarmatians, the women warriors.

He was that beautiful and elegant even being covered with blood and grime. And his eyes, they were the most exquisite jewels that he had ever seen. His heartbeats sped up uncontrollably, and he was overwhelmed with this new emotion that he had never experienced in forty-nine years of his life.

For the first time in his life, he lost control and panicked. The only thing he could do was to flee from the source. He forgot everything, the battle, his mother, his wife, and even his daughters. Later he regretted his action, and listened to Bessus to offer a peace treaty to Alexander in hopes of getting his family back, which he regretted even more.

Yet, in spite of everything, all he could think about was that blue-eyed warrior whom he saw only for a moment in the chaos of the battlefield. He dispatched his personal spies to Alexander's army to find out more about this young man. Through the report, he found that the name of his turmoil was Hephaistion who was the most trusted companion of Alexander and the possible lover of the king. When he heard about it, Darius felt his blood boil with envy.

However, the fate was ironic. Soon, he received another report that Hephaistion had left Alexander because of the eunuch Darius left behind with his family. Now, he needed to see him once more. He did not know what he was going to do when he met with him, but he needed to know if this unfamiliar emotion was real, and not just a trick of a god who was playing with him.

Seeing Hephaistion closer right in front of him confirmed that it was not just a trick. His heart sped up again, and he felt a knot form at the bottom of his stomach. The man was covered with dust and grime just like he had seen him in the battlefield, but he was still so beautiful. And those blue eyes, so clear and deep. They were hypnotizing and paralyzed his mind.

Darius tried to contain himself so hard that he would not break down in front of his men, especially in front of Bessus. He knew this much that he should not show any weakness to this sleazy relative of his. He needed to make Bessus believe that the only reason why he wanted Hephaistion was to get advantageous information against Alexander from him, nothing more.

"Are you sure that was the man? I hope you did not throw away a big sum of money for the wrong guy."

Darius cleared his throat, and hoped that his voice would not betray him, but keep steady.

"Yes, that's him."

"Good, then we can use him twice. First, we can get inside information of Alexander's army from him, and then, if he was indeed Alexander's lover, we can use him as a hostage to turn the table around."

Darius' face paled. He did not realize how corrupt Bessus had become. Now, he was not sure if it had been a good idea to bring Hephaistion here after all.

TBC

A/N: Kurroglou was a poet and bandit of northern Persia in 17th century who loved his horse dearly. He was also a bandit like Robin Hood; took from the rich and gave to the poor. I loosely borrowed his character here.

Thank you for your continuous support and interest in this story. I hope I can keep living up to your expectations ^_^