After a long day, where Alexander ensured that Hephaistion did not have to endure another beating, they were brought back in to the hall.
Alexander was left untied, and guided to sit at a table. He was aware that he was being watched, but they seemed to know that Hephaistion's welfare guaranteed his good behaviour.
He looked for Hephaistion. The giant, Hephaistion had jokingly referred to as Ajax, still held him by the rope around his neck. He was talking to a woman at the far end of the hall, laughing loudly as she poured him a large cup of whatever it was they drank.
Alexander was thirsty, his body ached. He folded his tired arms on the table and rested his head on them, his eyes half open but wanting to close. He wanted to wake up from this dream and find himself back at Pella, safe in his bed, holding Hephaistion close and realising they were safe. He smiled to think of happier times.
"And what are you looking so happy about?"
Hephaistion was with him. Though for a moment, he was shocked again to see his hair shorn, the blue handprint still covering his face, though not so clear as the day before. He had just pictured him as he had always known him. "I was at Pella," Alexander replied, honestly.
He looked to see Ajax sitting beside Hephaistion, talking with some other tribesmen.
Hephaistion nodded in Ajax's direction. "He is telling them about what a great warrior he was, in his day. Until he got wounded. But he reckons he could still hold his own in battle."
"If he touches you again he is a dead man," Alexander replied, sitting up and stretching. As he did so some broth was put before him, and some fresh bread this time. Hephaistion was also given broth, but no bread.
"They intend keeping your strength up," Hephaistion said, noticing his broth held no meat like Alexander's.
Alexander broke his bread in half, sharing it with Hephaistion. "You need to be kept warm," he said, as a servant brought them a cup of water each. "Are you alright?"
Hephaistion smiled, and glanced at Ajax. "I got worse from Seleucus, and you know that he's better with a sword than in hand-to-hand combat. They worked you hard though."
"I'm exhausted," Alexander admitted, lifting his bowl to his lips and drinking down the broth. "They don't use their ponies for cavalry work. Just to get them to where they will fight. It's a waste, but I'm not teaching them anything they can really use, and they don't suspect it. They're copying what I am doing, but not understanding the reasons why. They're following the moves I make, but not comprehending how they follow on, when to strike and when to defend. It's all brute force and trusting to the fates." He put down the bowl and reached for his cup of water, needing to quench his thirst.
Hephaistion drank some water, then passed the rest to Alexander, realising he needed it more. "How are we going to get away?" he asked, before placing some bread soaked in broth in his mouth.
Alexander shrugged. "Just wait for a moment," he replied, and smiled. "They're keen to watch us, for now. After a while, when we pose no threat, they will relax…look away…and that's when we go."
Ajax turned and spoke to Hephaistion, pulling on the rope around his neck. His hand reached out to pull Hephaistion to him, and his comrades burst out laughing. Then Ajax released him, grinning at Alexander, before turning to call for more drink.
"What was that about?" Alexander asked.
"The Sacred Band," Hephaistion replied, choosing not to elaborate further.
Alexander gazed on Hephaistion, trying to judge, by the look in his eyes, just what had been said. But Hephaistion lifted his bowl to conceal his thoughts. He finished his own broth and bread, but he left some of the meat for Hephaistion, and handed his bowl over. Hephaistion thanked him for it and ate it down.
The guards from the previous night them came for them. Alexander stood, Hephaistion went to follow him, but Ajax pulled him back, talking to the guards, who nodded and signalled for Alexander to go with them.
Alexander turned to Hephaistion. "Why aren't you coming?"
Hephaistion looked down, then bit his lip, before he spoke. "He wants to keep me with him." Seeing Alexander about to react, he put up his hands to take Alexander's. "I don't think it is anything. He has been drinking too much, he is keen to show off to his comrades; to brag of the trust he has been given by the chief, in guarding me."
One of the guards stepped forward, pushing Alexander, who stood his ground.
"Go with them, I will be alright," Hephaistion assured him.
Only then did Alexander go. Allowing himself to be tied to the post, once more. Sitting on the dirt floor, hearing Ajax laugh, sing and boast to all of his friends. Tired as he was, he could not rest. When he saw Ajax slump down by the wall, on a rough bed, securing Hephaistion, turning and holding him, he vowed that Ajax would die by his hand.
He watched as Ajax rested his hand on Hephaistion's hip, pulling him close. When the hand moved to Hephaistion's chest. He pulled on the leather ties, binding him to the post, but relaxed when he heard loud snores coming from Ajax.
Hephaistion looked over at Alexander then, and smiled, reassuring him. He pulled himself forward, free from Ajax's grip, as far as the rope around his neck would allow. He could not free himself from it as Ajax lay across the rope, and it was tight around his neck.
Another tribesman came and stood in front of him, swaying from the drink, he let himself fall to the ground, grunting as he tried to find comfort on the floor. His body blocked Hephaistion's view of Alexander. With a silent prayer to the Gods to aid their escape, he closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.