CHAPTER 2.

After such a disappointing beginning of his morning, Hephaestion took the decision to go and fetch something to eat; he could always come with better ideas after a generous consumption of sugar, due to his sweet tooth. He entered the dining room but it was deserted; that was a bit strange but he thought it was still early for many of his Companions.

He turned around and went directly to the kitchen. As soon as he entered, the cook looked at him and bowed, asking him to go back to the dining room so he could take his morning meal there. Hephaestion replied that he would enjoy having his breakfast there where it was cosier. The old cook looked at him with respect in her old greyish eyes and set a place on the table. She poured some milk sweetened with a big dollop of honey; she then set a plate with slices of sweet bread and some dry cookies made of wheat and raisins. She finally added some caramel figs to his little feast. He lifted his gaze and thanked her, making the old woman blush like a shy teenager. She patted his hand and told him that he should eat well because he was about to face difficult times in the near future.

Hephaestion looked at her for some seconds and then asked her why she had just said that. The old woman asked his permission to speak freely and sat at the table. Hephaestion, after granting it immediately, waited for the old woman to begin with her explanation.

She told him that she had been in charge of the royal kitchen since King Philip and Queen Olympias got married. Hephaestion said that he already knew that because she had been the first person to discover he loved caramel figs and, since then, she had been preparing them for him. Lena told him that she had seen many things in all her years spent with the royal family and, with deep pain in her heart; she had seen the changes in her sweet young king. Hephaestion looked at her a bit confused and asked her to explain to him what those changes were.

Lena looked first at both sides of the room, as if she were making herself sure that there was nobody else in the kitchen but them, and enumerated the many changes she had discovered. Hephaestion agreed in silence with each of the changes she mentioned but stopped eating when she mentioned one of the last ones.

- "His eyes are getting darker, Sire. It seems as if they are being invaded by darkness and it had already settled there for the long run" she whispered.

- "Darkness? What do you mean by darkness, Lena?" Hephaestion enquired but at the same time, he was not so sure if he really wanted to listen to her answer.

- "Alexander's eyes are unfocused; sometimes he looks at you and it seems as if he cannot remember who you are; as if his mind is buried in chaos …"

Hephaestion thought about it for a while and then he continued with his breakfast. He had seen that darkness too and he had felt a cold shiver run along his spine because, as Lena had just said, he knew that the darkness was already installed in Alexander's mind and heart.

His break was interrupted by the entrance of Bagoas. The eunuch looked at him and ignored his presence, asking quite rudely to the cook to prepare the king's morning meal. He also added a new pitcher of wine and Hephaestion looked at him again with pain and anger because the eunuch still pursued his aim of keeping Alexander drunk.

Breakfast was over so Hephaestion decided to go and look for his Companions and inform them that Alexander was still indisposed and that he would not probably join them during the day. He was passing by one of the furthest chambers when he listened to many voices speaking loudly coming from inside. Needing to know what was happening, Hephaestion pushed the door and opened it without any care, he was really fed up of all the palace intrigues and secrets, and he found his Companions all gathered there and discussing something agitatedly.

As soon as Hephaestion was spotted by some of the men inside, the conversation died out. Hephaestion let his clear blue eyes travel over the present companions and sighed deeply. He entered the chamber and suddenly the place at the furthest extreme of the table was vacated to let him sit there; that had always been the place reserved for the King but that was still empty. Hephaestion approached the vacant chair but did not sit down, however, he stood beside the chair, on its right, as he was used to doing. He sighed once again and politely asked them what was happening.

Many voices raised their tones at the same time but nothing coherent could be understood among that chatter. Hephaestion sighed for the second time in less than two minutes; his headache had taken permanent residence in the left side of his brain, which was quite painful and annoying.

Ptolemy saw his friend's distress and got closer to ask him what his problem was. Hephaestion told him that it was just a simple headache. Ptolemy nodded but he was not totally convinced that it was just a simple one; he had seen the brunette wince with pain and that was not a common sight for someone who was a master at hiding his own pain.

Parmenion, who had listened to the exchange of words between them, asked for silence and calmness. Being one of the most influential persons in the room, the rest of the Companions made silence immediately. Hephaestion, who had realized of his gesture, nodded towards him and thanked him; the old man just smiled.

However, his expression turned really serious when he looked at the young brunette in the eyes and said:

- "Hephaestion, due to the recent event and the current situation we are all involved, all of us think we have to take some serious measures"

- "I do agree with you and the rest of the Companions, Parmenion, but Alexander is still not feeling well. Maybe if we give him some more hours to recover, he will come back and take the reins again" Hephaestion suggested.

Parmenion and Antipater looked at each other and a single nod was exchanged between them. It was Parmenion's time to sigh and deeply and then, looking back at Hephaestion, he said:

- "Do you truly think that Alexander will be back to his right state of mind in a few hours? He has been out of his mind for a long time and yesterday's actions have only confirmed the chaotic state of his mind and consequently, his irrational behaviour and acts"

- "What are you trying to say, Parmenion? Are you saying that Alexander is mad?" Hephaestion asked and his surprise was reflected in his low tone of voice.

Antipater looked at the young General and said,

- "You, as his closest Companion and Second-in-Command should know better. It is also pointless to state, because we saw it clear yesterday, that it was difficult, even for you, to control his bad temper, and that, my boy, had never been a problem for you before. We all know how many times you had to handle his bad reactions and decisions and you have been the one to save him every single time"

- "I can't deny what you all saw and I suppose I am the one who knows him the best, but I want to think that he was blinded by the wine and excessive tiredness" Hephaestion tried to justify his king's actions, even though, deep in his heart and mind, he knew he shouldn't do it.

As soon as the last words left his mouth, his eyes scanned the room and he could clearly see the disbelief in his Companions' faces. He took a deep breath and said,

- "Let's give him a day or two to set his mind in order. However, in the meantime, there are many things we have to do and we can do it by ourselves"

- "What do you have in mind, Hephaestion?" Perdicas asked, showing in his tone of voice that he would support him in anything he decided it was needed to do.

- "Well, first of all, there's Cleitus's funeral to prepare and then …"

A general gasp stopped his talking and he looked at the surprised expressions in his Companions' faces.

- "What?" he asked demanding an answer.

- "Are you going to organize a funeral for Cleitus? That goes against the rules; he attempted against the king's life so he deserved neither a funeral nor respect to his body" Cassander said, raising his voice so he could be heard clearly.

Hephaestion looked at him with such a deadly look in his stormy blue eyes that if looks could kill, Cassander would have dropped dead in seconds.

- "Of course Cleitus will have a funeral, he was a Companion and one of the best General of this Army" Hephaestion replied.

- "But it goes against Alexander's rules, Hephaestion!" Cassander shouted again, this time a bit louder.

- "I know but I don't see Alexander here to be against my motion. So, is anyone else, apart from Cassander, against this idea?" Hephaestion asked while scanning the room, once again.

The Companions looked among them and they nodded slightly until Parmenion took the leading voice and announced,

- "We are all with you, Hephaestion. Cleitus's life was truly devoted to his land and Army, he deserves his funeral and his last single action will not stain his honourable dedication to Macedon. Let's give Cleitus what he deserves so let's do it soon "

- "I am already taking care of it," Ptolemy said and he was rewarded with a thank-you-smile from Hephaestion.

- "Will Alexander be informed about this?" Eumenes asked; he was already calculating how much it would cost.

- "Of course, he is the king and he should know" the brunette replied.

- "What if he refuses, what if he doesn't allow you to do it?" The secretary asked again.

- "If he doesn't allow us, we will have to explain him our reasons, won't we?" Hephaestion said with such security in his tone of voice that the rest of the military men there nodded fervently.

- "Secondly, we also have to call for a Council meeting and the eldest Generals and Companions will decide which actions would be needed to take until Alexander reassumes his duties" Hephaestion stated, finally sitting in his usual chair.

The young General saw the rest of his Companions nod, approving for the second time one of his suggestions in less than twenty minutes. He also realized that Parmenion and Antipater were looking at him as if they were assessing his words and actions.

The instant meeting was dissolved and so the Companions tried to go back to their everyday duties.

Ptolemy approached Hephaestion and told him that the preparations for Cleitus's funeral were almost ready. Hephaestion thanked him for his efficiency and at that moment he realized that he would have to go to Alexander's chamber again to inform him about it.

The General entered the King's chamber again and he found it a bit more in order, the broken things had been put to a side as well as the torn curtains and pillows. However, when he set his clear eyes on the king, he could see a distressed Alexander who could not take care of himself. The king of the entire known world was still sat on the floor, beside an untouched tray containing his breakfast; however, the pitch of wine was almost empty.

Hephaestion knelt by his side and gently grabbing the king's chin between his thumb and forefinger, he made Alexander lift his head. Alexander did not recognize him at first but then, his mind and eyes cleared a bit and a tiny smile graced his chapped lips.

- "You finally came, Phai"

- "I have already seen you today, sire"

- "No, you haven't. You abandoned me; you let me suffer all by myself. I felt so alone" he said while pouting like a little child.

- That's not true, sire. You didn't want me near you, my king.

- "Don't tell lies, Phai. I needed you and you weren't here" he said and sobbed loudly.

- "Alright, Alexander, it was my fault," Hephaestion said as he did not want to upset him more before he told him the news.

- "Of course, it was your fault, I am the king" he added.

Hephaestion wanted to answer him so badly but he looked at him resigned; he really didn't want to wake the monster hidden inside him again.

- "So, any news from Cleitus, Hephaestion?"

- "No, Alexander"

- "That's strange; he should have already sent some news about his recovery" he added.

- "Well, that will be impossible, don't you think?" Hephaestion asked, trying to see how much coherent his king was.

- "Why do you say that? Cleitus is capable of writing a letter"

- "I know, sire, but dead people do not write"

- "Dead? Who is dead?" Alexander asked a bit alarmed.

- "Cleitus, Alexander. Don't you remember?" he asked and now he was really worried.

- "Dead! That is not possible. I was talking to him, congratulating him about his new position and then …"

Alexander stopped his talking, his eyes turned into two thin slits and then he opened them as wide as it was possible and he began to scream loudly as if all the pain in the world had taken possession of his body.

With horror in his eyes and voice, he stood up and shouted,

- "I killed him. I killed him. I killed him" and then he began to trash the things he had at arm's reach.

Hephaestion tried to calm him but he was pushed hard by a king who was feeling a piercing pain in his heart. In spite of the blow received, Hephaestion tried once again to help his king and former lover, using some of his older techniques. He was not so sure if they would work due to the state Alexander was in but he tried with one which had been the most successful. He got closer to the knelt king and hugged him from behind very tight so Alexander could not move. At the feel of a broad chest against his back and a pair of arms, as strong as an ox, Alexander tried to get rid of them but he could not. Hephaestion also started to whisper soothing words and ideas to the blonde's ears and that was when Hephaestion won the battle against his king's chaotic behaviour.

Alexander let his weak and sore body fall onto his Phai's chest and he sighed loudly. Then he turned around and setting his arms around Hephaestion's neck, he curled onto the General's lap and he began to cry as if he were a little child.

The brunette did not know what to do; he wanted to comfort him but he also knew that all that pampering might play against his future plans, now that he had decided to step into the light and take a more active part in the Army.

After a long time, Hephaestion could finally soothe Alexander's agitated state of mind and calm reigned inside the chamber. Eris, the goddess of chaos, got mad at Hephaestion because, once again, he had been able to calm the king and break her spell over him. She moved around the room, making the curtains fly while seething after watching Hepahestion's show of control and power. Hephaestion felt the creepy presence of the naughty goddess because she had always made his hair stand on end so he commanded her to leave Alexander in peace. The General heard the last huff and felt the atmosphere getting lighter as she abandoned the room. Unfortunately, she did not want to follow the General's command; Alexander had been hers and he would be hers again so she went in search of the one person who was willing to go against the brunette's orders.

In the meantime, Hephaestion followed with his soothing caresses on the king's back and he could feel how his body relaxed and he finally fell asleep. They were like that for a long time and when the General sensed that Alexander was about to wake up, he prayed to all the gods and goddesses for Alexander's good mood and quick understanding of the situation.

The king looked at his former lover and smiled, Hephaestion returned the gesture and suggesting him moving somewhere more comfortable than the hard floor.

Hephaestion turned two chairs upside down and made his king sit on one while he took the other. He knew he was running out of time but he did not want to rush things with the blonde.

- "Still here, my Phai" Alexander whispered.

- "Until you need me, sire" he replied.

- "Always?" Alexander begged and his tone of voice sounded so piteous that it shook Hephaestion's heart.

- "Alexander, there are many important decisions to take but I have to plead for your appearance in front of your Companions and Army. They are too nervous and restless. You need to reassure them that everything is going to be fine" Hephaestion said.

- "I can't do it, Phai. They will hate me because I killed Cleitus. They will try to kill me because they are surely thinking that I am no longer the fair King they used to know" Alexander replied, feeling much more pity for his own person than the whole situation.

- "Nobody wants to kill you, Alexander. I won't lie to you, they are upset and some are angrier than others but what all we need is your presence to calm things down."

- "I can't, I can't, I can't" Alexander repeated like a mantra.

Hephaestion could easily see that Alexander felt so much pity for himself that it would be almost impossible for him to accept this suggestion. He knew that he needed another tactic so, taking the king's hands in his, he made him look into his eyes while he spoke.

- "My king, feeling pity for yourself and being unable to get rid of this pain will only bring your own destruction. You have to think that even great men sometimes had to take serious decisions after they had made a mistake and you are a mere mortal so your Army will accept your explanation and eventually forgive you for Cleitus's murder because you are their king and you have always recognized their efforts, virtues and defects and that is one thing why your army loves you dearly, you have always made them feel proud of themselves and that is what you should reassure them"

- "Are you sure they will understand me?"

- "Of course, you have always given your men the opportunity to speak their minds loud and clear, why won't they do the same with you?"

- "Because I am not sure I can give them an explanation they could believe, especially when I do not know why I did that" Alexander explained and Hephaestion felt sorry for the former unbeatable Alexander.

- "Alexander, talk to your people with the truth and they will not find an excuse to not believe you" Hephaestion suggested.

- "What about you, Hephaestion? Why do you think I did it?" Alexander asked, his two mismatched eyes totally focused on his General's cyan ones.

Hephaestion remained in silence. He knew that he had to tell him the truth but he was sure that Alexander would not understand him. For the last year, Hephaestion had talked to many people about Alexander and all of them had agreed with him; there was darkness inside Alexander and that darkness was making him lose his grip on their everyday issues; it was creating an internal disorder that also provoked his changes of mood, his abnormal inconstancy and the loss of concentration on what was important to fulfil his dreams.

Those same people had given Hephaestion their support but he had felt inappropriate to take the reins at that moment. He was not so sure at the moment, especially when his closest and most faithful friends had spoken loud and clear; master Aristotle had promised to be by his side in his way to regain the power and consolidate his position as the new ruler of Alexander's dying empire, a position at the front of the Army and Companions, leading them in the light and no longer hidden as he had been doing during the last years. His beloved mother Olympias offered to help him find a solution to bring back Alexander to his former sane state of mind. However, if that were impossible, she would be by his side to remove the weak element to preserve the unity and greatness of Macedon and his kingdom. She also whispered that the eagle would have to fly well again or be put down without giving it a second thought.

Even the young queen supported him as she was completely terrified of Alexander's latest behaviour and she was afraid of her son's wellbeing. She had also promised that she would follow Hephaestion until the edge of the earth if that was he needed or wanted.

Minutes went by and Hephaestion was not saying anything, his mind was still lost in those memories, trying to find in them something to give his king an answer. However, none of those memories would give him the real answer he had to say to Alexander.

- "Why do you keep your mouth shut? Why don't you give me an answer? Why don't you leave me alone?!" Alexander shouted and then standing up, he ran to the big and heavy doors of his chamber.

- "Bagoas, Bagoas, where is my sweet lover, the only one who understands me?" he started to shout while running through the corridor.

The Persian eunuch, who had been warned by the naughty goddess Eris, came running towards his king and immediately embraced him, caressing him with soothing movements. They entered the chamber after pushing aside a startled Hepahestion and when they reached the inner room, Bagoas changed his soothing caresses for ones more intimate that got the king completely excited and out of his mind again.

Hephaestion heard some moans and went in search of his king to see what was happening. If he had not been so worried, he would have realized that Alexander was no longer in pain. His moans were the simple result of the eunuch's touches which were quite explicit and revealing. Hephaestion went inside the inner chamber to find Alexander entering a willing Bagoas and thrusting hard and repeatedly inside him while Bagoas screamed, asking for more.

A naughty smile graced the eunuch's mouth and Hephaestion could have sworn he saw his dark eyes tinged with purple, the colour of chaos.

When Alexander came hard and long inside the eunuch's pliant hole, he looked at his General and shouted to go away, that everything he needed right at that moment was the man between his legs and that he could no longer trust in someone who could not tell him the truth.

Hephaestion left the room, convinced that Alexander could do nothing to fix the situation he had created so he would ask the Companions to take some actions on his behalf.

He returned to his chamber because he was not feeling well. He almost did not get to his inner bathroom to vomit; the whole situation with Alexander and seeing him having sex with Bagoas had finally broken him. He felt used, impotent but mostly empty. He cried bitter tears, full of anger and shame because he had fallen on Alexander's tricks once again; but no more, this was the last time he helped Alexander with his dirt, this was the last time when he tried to keep the order of things following the hierarchy, it was the last time he let someone step on him and treat him like rubbish.

He stood up, rinsed his mouth to get rid of the bad taste, washed his face to get rid of the track of his tears and left the bathroom to get to his desk. He had a look at his list of duties and decided that they could wait until after the funeral. He dusted his chiton, combed his long hair in a low ponytail and left the room to look for Ptolemy.

On his way, he found Parmenion and Antipater who were gossipping quite animatedly. They stooped when they saw the young General's face and they knew he had no good news from his former conversation with the king.

- "General, how did it go?" Parmenion asked.

- "Bad; I don't want to admit it but his state of mind has not improved at all, however, he seemed to have recovered his sex drive because he was fucking his lover and throw me out of the room" he confessed.

- "Oh … that bad," the old man said and looked at Antipater, who nodded slightly.

- "Well, I am looking for Ptolemy, have you seen him?" he asked, trying to get away from those men who were staring at him like two hawks.

- "He was talking to Perdicas in the main room" Parmenion added and then they continued their way.

Hephaestion was about to enter the main room when a commotion outside made him turned around. He saw a woman walking fast, followed by one of her servants.

- "Where is my son? Where is my son?" she asked in a loud and commanding tone of voice.

A palace page who was carrying some logs for the kitchen fire told her that he was in his chamber. At that moment, the woman lifted her head and started to run quickly towards the man standing.

- "There you are, my son," she said in a whisper and Hephaestion found himself with an armful of Olympias, who started to cry onto his broad and warm chest.

- "My Queen, calm down. Your son is going to be fine" Hephaestion whispered back while hugging her tight.

- "He has not been my son for a long time and I am not your Queen, I am your Mother and never take that honour away of me, please" she replied while looking at those blue sky eyes she loved so much.

The commotion had also alerted the young Queen who left her room to see what was happening. She was carrying her son and he was quickly passed to the loving arms of his grandmother. Olympias looked at the sad face and reddish swollen eyes of her daughter-in-law and whispered,

- "My dear, everything is going to be alright. Don't be afraid, Hephaestion will never let something bad happen to you and Alexandros"

- "I know, that is why I still feel safe while being here"

Both women looked at the General, who was standing tall and strong by their side and they sighed, one feeling pride for her son, the other feeling so much love that she had to be careful not to reveal it.

- "If you excuse me, I want to see Ptolemy and talk about Cleitus's funeral"

- "Will he have one?" Roxanne asked, a bit surprised.

- "Yes, shouldn't he have one?" Hephaestion asked seriously.

- "Of course he should but I thought it was prohibited"

- "It is but I think I am not in the mood to follow that law" Hepahaestion replied and with that simple reply, and without knowing, he settled the basis on which his new position would stand.

- "Go, my son, take care of that and we could speak later," Olympias said while setting a kiss on the mans' cheek.

Hephaestion caressed her cheek and then he did the same to Alexandros's who smiled at him with his big blue eyes and Roxanne could only smile at the sight.

After a long talk with Ptolemy, Hephaestion decided to call another brief meeting to let them know about the news. Everybody was not surprised at knowing that Alexander was still so out of himself and at that moment there was no more choice than to tell Hephaestion that they had reached a decision.

- "After a very short conversation, we have all decided that you are going to take the reins of the government until Alexander shows signs of getting better," Parmenion said.

- "That's impossible; there are more adequate people to take that position" Hephaestion protested.

- "There aren't. We have seen how you have ruled side by side with Alexander; you know everything and more about the whole empire than many of us and you have many virtues but one outstands the most, you are a fair man and you can keep your head and mind calm in the middle of the most chaotic situations" he added.

- "But …"

Hephaestion was about to protest again when Parmenion said,

- "No more buts, General. It is the Council's decision and you should follow it" and Hephaestion just nodded.

The funeral was modest but meaningful. The whole Army was there to pay their last respects to their former General. A short speech from one of his men brought tears to even the toughest men and finally, Hephaestion gave a message on behalf of his Companions and himself.

When it was over, a murmur coming from the men standing there reached the front lines and the Companions could hear clearly that they were asking for Alexander.

Parmenion, being one of the eldest, approached Hephaestion and looking at the Army, he spoke loud and clear,

- "Here is your General, the new ruler because as the king one day said "He is Alexander, too" "

A weak round of applause started to sound and in seconds, thousands of hands were clapping and cheering the brunette's name.

It was a fact, the rise of the General had become real.