Title: "Fire and Signs".
Author: too_beauty
Feedback: yes, please any kind of them will help me to improve my writing or leave it forever.
Pairing: Alexander & Hephaestion. Kronos and Athina were born from my imagination and I really loved creating them.
Rating: PG for first chapters.
Category: Historical AU so some personages will appear to serve the purpose of this story.
Disclaimer: I don't know the people involved; A&H belonged to themselves and to History, if not Hephaestion would be still among us, living under my "protection".
No beta so all mistakes are mine.
Chapter 3:
Two months later, Kronos and Hephaestion were summoned to the palace; the King was going to put Hephaestion's idea into practice but there was something in the drawing that his engineers couldn't figure out.
I was very difficult for the young boy to make himself understand. Hephaestion was in pain, his headache was increasing and he couldn't focus his eyes, which were also sore.
Hephaestion was standing near a stone column and he began to hit his forehead against it, once, twice, several times, but once his forehead hit something soft and warm. Hephaestion lifted his forehead, opened his eyes and he forgot how to breathe: a young Apollo was standing near him and he had prevented his hitting against the stone wall.
"Hitting your forehead won't make your headache disappear. Come with me and I'll give you some herbal tea to calm the pain."
Hephaestion followed the young Apollo; he couldn't believe that a boy could be so handsome. He also was wondering what had made him follow a stranger.
Alexander opened a heavy wood door and let Hephaestion in, he asked him to sit down on a couch outside in the balcony, which faced the garden.
Alexander went back with a cup filled with a dark liquid; he handed the cup to Hephaestion and warned him that it was bitter but that it would help.
Hephaestion sipped and frowned his nose, Alexander laughed at the gesture; listening to it, Hephaestion looked at Alexander and in that very moment, the young prince knew he had lost his heart forever; he stared at him during some minutes, drinking in those blue pools of heaven; when he realized he was still staring he coughed and asked the brunette boy what his name was.
Hephaestion pointed to his mouth and shook his index finger in a swinging movement in front of it.
Alexander said: - "Oh! You cannot speak, but you can hear me" he said pointing to his ear.
Hephaestion nodded and went on drinking the concoction. Some minutes later, he looked around the room, his face had an annoyed expression and so Alexander asked:
"Do you need something?"
Hephaestion nodded again and made a gesture for writing.
Alexander caught a scroll and a stylus from his desk and handed them to Hephaestion. The brunette boy wrote his name with a childish and trembling handwriting. He showed it to Alexander blushing, he was embarrassed about his writing, he didn't have time to learn how to write and read well, but at least he was good at drawing and calculations.
"So you are Hephaestion, were you named after the god of Fire Hephaestus?" Alexander asked gently but when he looked at Hephaestion's cerulean eyes they were filled with horror.
"I am sorry, what did I say?" the young prince asked.
Hephaestion shook his head meaning nothing but Alexander encouraged him to tell what had suddenly saddened him.
The brunette took the scroll again, drew four people inside a farm house, and then he added flames and wrote "family". When he showed it to Alexander, his eyes were teary, the golden boy approached his broken friend and with gentle hands, he pushed Hephaestion's head against his chest while drawing small circles on his back; the prince, lowering his head, whispered in his ear:
"Don't worry Hephaestion, I got you" and when Hephaestion listened to those words, all his pain was released and he cried for some minutes, wetting Alexander's chiton.
When Hephaestion stopped, Alexander looked at his new found friend and asked him to wait for a moment, Alexander came back soon bringing a wet towel and cleaned Hephaestion's face. The builder boy looked at the prince and was about to write something when King Philip entered the room.
"Alexander, son, I want a word with you. Oh! Good, you have met Hephaestion; maybe you can learn how Kronos communicates with him, they have a set of signals to speak. " the king explained.
"Only if Hephaestion wants to share that with me" Alexander said and looking at Hephaestion, he saw him nodding.
"So if that is okay, you may stay here with us while we build the siege towers. Would you like that, Hephaestion?" the king asked
Hephaestion shook his head and made a signal of missing his family, especially his mum, Alexander understood the signal but he couldn't help pouting, Hephaestion saw that and he felt the need of comforting the young prince. He made Alexander look at him and pointing to his chest and Alexander's, he joined his both index fingers meaning together and then pointed to his eyes and rolled his finger.
Alexander took a moment to think and then said: "We are staying together and seeing each other everyday". Hephaestion nodded and mouthed "thank you"; Alexander's face illuminated because he had just discovered that he could read Hephaestion's lips and also had found the best excuse to look at those so tempting lips.
Alexander really didn't know what he was feeling, he was dizzy, sweaty, with his heart running inside his chest, suddenly his mouth went dry and thousands of butterflies were tickling his stomach.
In that moment Kronos appeared at the door with two guards and asked Hephaestion if he was ready to go back home. Hephaestion nodded towards his father, and looking at Alexander, he waved his hand and mouthed "tomorrow". Alexander nodded and mouthed the same reply.
A very quiet Hephaestion went back home that evening, not knowing really what was happening but he was sure that his life had reached its most important turning point and, for the first time since the fire that took his everything away, another fire, gentler this time, was born in the shape of a young Apollo with golden hair and tender flames in his eyes.
