Wow, I missed one day checking FFnet and there is a new story from you; I like great surprises.

The warning at the beginning of the story was too vague (intentionally?) to give any specific indication of what and how going to happen, and the first chapter was "peaceful" enough. Parmenion was his traditional self of harassing Alexander to get married and it actually surprised me that Alexander succumbed. There are so many different versions of how Barsine ended up being Alexander's mistress (written by different authors) but I always wondered if she was indeed his mistress or the affair was just idle the rumours. Herakles was never official recognized by Alexander as his son, let alone heir, which sort of strange, after all, why not?

I agree with your note about Parmenion, I think he did a lot for the sake of Macedon and he supported Alexander; he probably was never involved in any plotting even if Philotas was. I think that if by the time of "Philotas' affair" at least one of Parmenion's other sons was still alive, Alexander wouldn't order the old general's elimination. Pity that Philotas' outlived his brothers.

The second chapter is a quiet before a storm which allowed yet again to enjoy your beautiful writing - everything is described in a very natural way and I think you have a special talent of making the minutiae details informative and interesting.

Oh... the third chapter is quite a surprise. Honestly. Somehow I didn't anticipate such a reaction from Hephaistion. Out of character, maybe? Alexander's reaction to Hephaistion's reaction was very convincing, somehow I imagine Alexander reacting in this exact way. The description made me wonder, if Hephaistion reacted in such a way to Alexander taking Barsine as a lover, how would he react to Bagoas later on? :)

Thanks for writing and sharing and I hope the story won't stop here.

Your writing is perfect. I think you do a great job of making both Alexander and Hephaestion sympathetic, though I do feel especially sorry for Alexander who didn’t really have a say in being Philip’s best heir. It seems like he will pay a high price for his ambition, given the way you describe it as pretty all-consuming. I guess Hephaestion recognizes that better now and needs to reassess his position in Alexander’s life, which is reasonable.

Then again Alexander has a lot more to lose than Hephaestion, so his decisions carry a lot more weight, making it that much harder for him to choose. From your story, I think Hephaestion probably knows this and only holds the whole mistress-heir deal against him because of his own pride, which perhaps isn’t as easy to sympathize with as Alexander’s duty.

A romantic (which I often am) would prefer to see love as more important than pride or duty, but I like that you have kept things pragmatic, what most likely happened. I’m curious how you think their relationship progressed as he fully became Great King, thought himself a god, Siwah, India and Craterus, etc ...

I hate to see them like this. Surely Alexander did not mean it that way, but Hephaistion sounded so sure of his new 'position'. Was he so insecure of Alexander's feeling towards him? I mean before this, he was given his own tent just like any other officers. I don't think it is any different when Alexander said that he will assign him to quarters near to his. And Barsine was not going to replace him in Alexander's room. She will have her own room. Why did he react on such ways?

Hi! I really liked this, especially your writing style, it's very rich and detailed… I'd love to read more!