By the time Hephaestion made his way to their meeting, the others were already there and waiting. Silence greeted him, several pairs of eyes watching him as he walked to the front of the room. Turning to face the men, he took a deep breath to steady himself. He saw a mixture of fear and apprehension from most, and outright hostility from some.
"Gentlemen, we have just received a letter from Alexander's camp. I wanted to read it to you all, here, now."
He turned towards the messenger and held out his hand, taking the scroll from the younger man who bowed his head respectfully. Hephaestion fought hard to keep his own hands from trembling as he unrolled the parchment. He could not afford to show fear or uncertainty.
He read the letter over quickly, feeling his heart pounding at the ending. Dare he hope? He felt emotions wash over him, threatening to break his composure, but he straightened his spine and did his best to keep his face neutral.
"Well?" Craterus said impatiently, "are you going to tell us what it says?. What news is there?"
Hephaestion exchanged a brief look with Ptolemy, who nodded at him encouragingly. Clearing his throat, he looked around at the other generals. "The letter says that Alexander is indeed still alive…"
He was interrupted by shouts of joy and cheering from some, looks of skepticism from others. He waited patiently for the room to settle down before continuing.
"The letter does state that Alexander has been shot but that he has survived, though barely. Abreas was killed protecting the King, Leonnatus and Peucestas were injured defending him. By the time it was all said and done, the men slaughtered every living thing in the city to avenge Alexander."
Hephaestion stopped, reading a little farther ahead in the letter, shaking his head incredulously. "It says here…" he paused, taking another deep breath, "it says that Alexander is coming here…that he will be here in within a week." He could scarcely believe what he had just read.
Medius frowned. "If he was hurt that badly, is it safe for him to travel that far, so soon?"
"You know Alexander" Nearchus shook his head. "I would expect nothing less from him. He truly believes he is invincible." He sighed. "Let's hope he's right."
Craterus was still skeptical. "How do we know this is true? How do we know they aren't covering up his death to keep the men from panicking?"
Hephaestion was quite tired of Craterus and his constant negativity, not to mention the fact that the man was chomping at the bit to take command away from him. Hephaestion walked over and stood in front of Craterus, shoving the parchment in front of his face. "Because he signed it himself!" He indicated Alexander's scrawling signature at the bottom of the letter.
Ptolemy shot Craterus a dirty look before turning his eyes on Hephaestion. "I suppose we just wait now. If Alexander says he's coming, then I for one have no doubt that he will be here as he stated."
Nearchus pondered all this a moment. "Hephaestion, how will we convince the men that he lives still? Most of them believe him to be dead already. I suspect many of them will believe this letter is a concoction of Alexander's high command and his bodyguards to keep order."
Hephaestion nodded. "Well, then, it is our job to convince them otherwise." He sighed and rolled the parchment back up, tossing it onto the table. "I don't have to tell you how important it is to maintain order and try to keep morale up. We cannot afford to have panic and disorder. Should the Malians believe that Alexander is dead, they will no doubt try to retaliate. We have to keep our guard up. The men need to be aware of that, more so than before." He crossed his arms and looked around the room. "That is all for now. I'll let you know if I receive further word. In the meantime, we all know what we have to do."
The generals filed out, talking quietly amongst themselves. Hephaestion wasn't so sure they really believed that Alexander was alive and coming here, but they had to sell it to their men regardless.
Ptolemy was one of the last to leave. He turned to Hephaestion and laid a hand on his shoulder. "My friend, I don't envy you. But you have my support." He smiled gently at an exhausted looking Hephaestion. "If you need anything, just ask." He turned and left Hephaestion alone.
Hephaestion sighed heavily and sank down into a chair, dropping his face into his hands. He wasn't sure what he felt at the moment. Part of him felt like crying from sheer relief, but another part of him, part that he would never admit to anyone, was afraid to believe it was true. A tiny part of him wondered…what if he really is dead?
He stood, shaking his head in disgust. No. He refused to believe that. He couldn't afford to. He would make his sacrifices to Asclepius in the morning and pray that all would be well. May the gods help them all.