Hephaestion- Survivor

Chapter 25

From the moment I've step the foot on the city I was mesmerized by their culture. But I was also surprise by their happiness when they've welcomed their new king. Every citizen gathered at the main road to see the army. They were throwing flower's petals and cheered for us. It was so curious since we were the ones that conquered them.

Luxury would be a small word to describe Babylon. The palace was huge full of gold and various treasures. The soldiers were also excited by the sight. If it wasn't for the king's strict orders not to touch anything that belongs to the persians, they would have taken everything right away.

"Nice." I said looking around the golden palace.

"And when you think we called them barbarians." Cassander said.

After the king met the persian princess we were lead to our rooms. After an exhausting fight we were desperate for a good sleep.

"The rooms are huge." I said looking around our bedroom.

"Too much wealth for me." Hephaestion said.

"Same." I said. "Now that we finished this, I hope we'll return home soon."

Hephaestion didn't look at me and neither answered. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"We'll return soon, right?" I asked.

"I don't know, Ella. We'll see. He wants to find Darius."

"That wasn't part of the plan." I snapped.

"I don't want to fight with you, Ella. Please, we are both tired. Let's delay this discussion until tomorrow." He sighed.

I caressed his cheek and nodded. "Do you want me to prepare you the bath?"

I was standing at the edge of the bath tub sliding a cloth over his skin. My heart was aching at the sight of his wounds. I hated seeing him like this. But at the same time I was relieving a lot of passed feelings. It remembered me of that night when I took care of him. The night when we fall asleep in each other's arms. The night before he finally confessed his feelings for me. A small smile crept on my face and my touches became lighter on his skin. He took my hand and brought it to his lips and then brushed the back with his thumb.

"What's on your mind?" He asked.

"Our beginning. When you needed my help that night. I love you." I whispered and kissed his hair.

"Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve you." He said.

"I should be the one asking this. I've never thought that I will ever feel so much love." I answered.

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Weeks passed and the only thing Alexander did was to try to find any trace of the persian king's whereabouts. I started to dislike this place. It was amazing at first. Something new to explore, but soon it became annoying not to be able to understand people. And being always ready for another fight, for another expedition. This wasn't what I've imagined. There were already quarrels between us.

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"Morning." Hephaestion greeted the our friends.

"We would say good but let's not exaggerate things." I added.

"Someone's not exactly happy." Sirius said.

"I just miss home. That's all."

"We shouldn't think about home right now. We still have a long way ahead us." Alexander said.

"Good to know." I said totally unexcited. The others were in the same mood as me. No one wanted to continue this expedition when they had all this gold at their feet. The Persian gold could sustain the army for the next few generations. Yet here we were all. Forced to obey to the king's ambitions.

Whenever we met the same discussion took place. Breakfast, dinner , ordinary training, the people were slowly loosing their patience

"I am against this." Cassander said. "We already have Babylon. Why does he want to continue?"

"I agree with you." I said. Hephaestion elbowed me. "What?" I asked.

"He's obsessed to catch Darius. He doesn't care about anything else." Another general said.

"We could be accused of plotting against the king. We shouldn't have army reunions without our leader." Hephaestion reminded them.

"This is not an official meeting. We are just a few friends having a friendly discussion while drinking the friendship's cup of coffee." I said and took a sip of my beverage.

"Don't drink that at this hour. You won't be able to sleep." Hephaestion said.

"Wouldn't you like that?" I whispered and raised my brows.

The tension was growing between the soldiers and I didn't want to admit but I was on their side. There was no reason continuing this fight. Not from my point of view, anyway.