Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 11:26:14 -0700
From: J M <ecclectic_soul@hotmail.com>
Subject: Alexander: The Beginning, Ch. 2

Hi everyone, hope you enjoy this next installment! Feedback is always
welcome, and as always, minors read at your own risk.


A  L  E  X  A  N  D  E  R

A World Untamed


"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I
shall move the world."

-	Archimedes


Just breathe. Just breathe. Just breathe.

   Somewhere between this moment and Alexander's insistent lips, I had
forgotten how to breathe. It was as if my lungs were tasting air for the
first time, awakened into a world newly formed. Would this be the result of
every transgression? How many times can one's senses reincarnate before
they are lost altogether? A barrage of emotions coursed through me-lust,
empowerment, uncertainty, curiosity, fear...but underlying them all was an
untamed, heated magnetism that transformed my blood into liquid fire. It
pumped through my tingling veins and reaching my head, tilted the world
onto an uneasy axis. Unable to bear the sudden dizziness, I stooped over
and emptied the contents of my stomach onto the painted tiles beneath me.

   Braised grouper, goat cheese, and exotic olives tasted very different
coming up then going down. I grimaced and spit, wiping my mouth on the teal
embroidering of my white chiton. Just breathe. I had been walking aimlessly
through the palace annex, desperately trying to regain control of my
careening sensibilities. The encounter with Alexander had been so fast and
intense that I had never had time to process what happened. I was still
mired in doubt, convinced in some small way that I had imagined the entire
thing. Only the residual ache in my groin and the swollen tenderness of my
lips pulled the moment back into reality. Before we could even stop to talk
about what had occurred, the prince was summoned back to the party to help
toast the main course. He had asked me to go with him, but I needed
air...needed to breathe in the cool stillness of the night. I shook my head
vigorously, attempting to dispel the chaos of Eris from my thoughts. As I
braced myself to stand, a kylix suddenly appeared at my side.

   "Too much wine?" The voice was a familiar whisper, however I was too
unsteady and confused to answer or even confirm its origin. I could only
nod slowly as I took the kylix and tipped the beverage into my mouth. I
felt a welcome sense of relief as I discovered it was water. It trickled
down my bottom lip and dripped off of my chin as I forced as much of it
into my mouth as I could manage. Coughing yet feeling reinvigorated, I set
the kylix down and looked up into jade eyes glittering with barely
concealed amusement.

   "Queen Olympias? What are you doing here?"

   I felt vaguely embarrassed as I realized what I must look like,
especially given her striking appearance. She was like a goddess come to
life. Her auburn hair was strung through with gleaming pearls and pinned
up, falling in shining waves down her back. She wore a teal peplos with
golden embroidering along the hemline, accented by a golden snake armlet
and two pearl earrings. I also noticed in the soft light of the courtyard
torches that her face and arms shimmered with ground crystals as if the
stars themselves had kissed her skin.

   As nonchalantly as possible, I wiped at the smudge of vomit on the
shoulder of my chiton as Olympias got up and walked to the edge of a nearby
balcony. I grabbed the kylix and stood, watching her and wondering how she
had found me. The sounds of the party echoed down the pillared corridors.

   "I came here to find a moment of peace. The king has found his wine."
Her soft, rasping voice dropped to barely a whisper. It was a struggle in
and of itself to ignore King Philip's indiscretions; one could hardly
describe him as discreet, and when the wine flowed, it would take a
full-scale war to distract him from an orgy. I felt sympathy wash over my
features for this young woman so dedicated to her son despite her own
personal battles.

   I opted for humor to lighten the mood. "With the grace of the gods,
he'll find his way to the underside of a table to sleep."

   Olympias laughed lightly. "We can only hope."

   I walked over to the balcony and stood next to her. The festivities
continued below, the lights of the city glimmering as citizens of the city
sang and danced through the streets. The world beyond was both dark and
luminous, softly lit as the goddess Selene bathed the waters of the outer
sea with moonlight.

   "What do you see out there, Hephaestion?" Olympias' harmless query was
like a lance, piercing through my insides. That question was forever seared
into my memory, marking the moment that my closest friend suddenly became
something more. Clearing my throat, I managed to find my voice.
   "A world untamed."

   "Exactly! A world shrouded in a darkness that even the great Selene
herself cannot lift." She paused for a moment. "But there is one who might
yet bring light into that world..."

   I glanced at Olympias as a tingling sensation fluttered through my
stomach. Several emotions flared up at once as the name fell from my
lips. "Alexander."

   She turned her gaze upon me, her eyes alight with a fervency I had never
seen in her. "He needs you, Hephaestion. He cannot do it alone, and your
loyalty to one another will keep you both strong. It is rare to find love
in our time, and I believe...no, I know that he has found it with
you. Despite the political necessities that will define him in time, he
still needs you by his side."

   My voice was the smallest whisper in response. "I don't know what to
do."

   Olympias smiled, a mixture of wisdom and sympathy outlining her
features. "Love him back, Hephaestion. The rest will unfold as only it can
in the wake of such things. There is no greater act of devotion, and with
that, you both will accomplish wonders this world has never seen."

   I stared at her, a powerful energy borne of awe and fear twisting
through my chest. I felt her words rather than heard them, aware on some
primal level that this was more than idle advice. Before I could respond, a
voice pierced the silence from the shadowed recesses of the palace
corridors.

   "Hephaestion? Where are you?"

   I turned to look behind me, struck by the undercurrent of panic in that
voice...a voice I could never mistake for another. My breath hitched as
time halted yet again-he had come back.



* * * * *



	Prince Alexander walked out onto the balcony, his head turned away
from me. There was now so much more to the sculptured nobility of his
profile, a familiarity in the strong line of his jaw and the way it tensed
slightly when he was unsure of himself or worried. I could see that same
concern etched into his bronzed face now, but as his eyes finally found me,
it all seemed to melt from his features. There was visible relief and then
an almost imperceptible hesitation...but as he came closer, something else
flashed in his blue-brown gaze. It was something tinged with need, torrid
and brazenly ignorant of who might see.

      I opened my mouth to speak but his lips crashed into my own before I
could utter a word. The soft, wine-glazed fullness of them consumed all
protest as his tongue caressed my own, the heady taste of him filling my
mouth. It took more strength than I thought myself capable of to pull away
from him, stumbling back and turning to see if Queen Olympias was still
behind me.

       She had vanished, the ornate beauty of her personal kylix the only
thing that was left behind. I looked back at Alexander, noting his
confusion but unable to vocalize the emotions that threatened to suffocate
me. He glanced at the cup of water, and then returned his gaze to me.

      "My mother was here?" The faintest trace of amused curiosity tinged
his voice.

      I cleared my throat. "Yes."

      He squinted. "I was looking for you. I hated leaving but my father
was too drunk to give a proper dinner toast. It was like listening to a
snoring mule but much louder."

      I couldn't help but laugh. He stepped forward, his expression more
serious as his toned arms encircled my lower back.

      "Help me forget?" His deep, resonant plea was laced with desire,
which rushed through my veins like a cool tonic. I knew then, in that
moment, that he had given me a new power over him. He had relinquished
something, and whatever it was pulsated in the soft heat of his body as he
held me. I reached up, tentatively letting my fingers brush against his jaw
line. His eyelids fluttered and his breath quickened-what a strange feeling
it was to know that I could affect someone with the lightest
touch. Curiosity guided my hand along the contours of his face, my thumb
brushing against his lips. I couldn't wait any longer as I leaned forward
and pressed my lips against his own, softly pushing my tongue into his
grape-sweetened mouth.

      Was this what it would be like to kiss Zeus himself? Electric energy
tingled through my lips and then exploded in a shivering wave of sensation
through my whole body as I turned my head to deepen our contact. A rumbling
moan started in the back of my throat, unbidden and completely out of my
control. Alexander emitted a deep, animalistic growl in response, pulling
me into the shadows and shoving me up against one of the palace
pillars. His fingers tangled in my hair before trailing down my neck and
back, pulling me into him as he grinded his thickening cock against my
own. My stomach tightened with anticipation as the spiced notes of his
sweat enclosed my senses, trapping me somewhere between bliss and my own
uncertainty. I reached down and found the pulsating length of him, using
his chiton as a soft sheath as I stroked the fabric up and down over
it. Alexander broke our kiss as he leaned his head back and groaned loudly,
small pants escaping his open mouth each time my hand passed over the head
of his cock.

      "Uggghhh that feels so good, Hephaestion. Keep...keep doing that..."
He placed his hands against the wall behind me and leaned his forehead
against mine, his brow pinched and his lips curled in an expression of
all-consuming pleasure. This new power surged through me, threatening to
overtake reason and destroy restraint. I wanted to give Alexander the
greatest happiness, but I also had to know that whatever this was would
strengthen him. A world untamed required more than just a military general
to quell its warring factions-it needed a man capable of building the
foundation of a new era...not just a man, but a mover of men. The potential
of such a person could not be dimmed by a weakness for pleasure-that would
make Alexander too much like his father, influential and brilliant but too
vulnerable to the withering effect of excess. I could see the prince
succeeding King Philip in ways beyond even my own imagining. He had the
intelligence and the ambition, but most importantly, he had the vision.

      I knew now that I needed him...we all did. Our culture was defined by
men who chained themselves to tradition, too frightened to reach for the
glory they thought only belonged to the gods. We had to fight the
temptation to tread the well-beaten path, for in the end, it would only
lead us into the aimless darkness of stagnancy. Alexander's fervency for
the vision beyond the darkness would eventually need an outlet. I saw it
there in his twisted features, heard it as pleasure caught in the back of
his throat, knew what I could give him that would eclipse the brevity of
this moment and lead us into the light...and just as his eyes widened and
he reached the brink of that unraveling moment, I let go.