that 2nd chapter is one of the hottest i've been reading for years! such sexual tension, i felt brearhless and those spasms under my chest all the way through! how did you managed that really?!
and this final chapter is unbelievably sweet, all the innocence, all the new possiblities, chances to start anew, to become everything to each other! oh dear god bless you!
and sorry haven't praise that hilarious first chapter enough, lol, our poor cute hephaestion! XD

That was completely adorable. All of it. Gah! The sweetness!

totally love this idea of how it would be like if they never met in their childhood...and i must agree, no matter when or what, they are fated to be together!...also Hephaeition has a point about being friends first because that way they had more time together...my favorite part will just have to be when Hepharition went to watch Alexander leave and they caught each eyes...i thought that was so sweet...and i just sooo love the ending of this story...the ending is what should happen in the first place...agian just love this!

Well done! :D

ok, this is totally random, but I'd already read this story ages ago and just rearead it right now... and I had to tell you I LOVE IT! and not just this one, but all your stories... you write Hephaestion and Alexander so wonderfully... Thanks so much for writing!

I didn’t mention this before as there were other things, but in the first chapter at some point while Alexander’s sitting so poised, so unbothered by the heat, I got a distinct feeling that he wasn’t quite human. And in this chapter, his absolute certainty, his claim that he can conquer anything, being of the line of Heracles and Achilles, just makes that impression all the stronger. I don’t know if you meant to do this, but his behavior just then also put me in mind of a “possessed” person – as in, a god is speaking through him, or partly acting for him? But he’s in full control of the possession. Or he “knows” a god is watching over him, and will do what he desires and take them back to the beginning at the precise moment of the kiss?

The one small bit in this chapter showing how deeply Hellena was affected by her ordeal leaving Athens just makes it that much better, and now we fully understand that Amyntor’s kindness to her is so much more than mere indulgence, as it seemed at first.

“Yes, just like the prince,” and Alexander’s smile as he said that, really made me gleefully triumphant for some reason. Anyway! Right, all those Alexanders and Nicanors…and as Alexander’s glory grew, there must’ve been even more Alexanders.

All in all I’m so glad you “recycled” this one, though I don’t feel it’s recycled. Recycling is good, anyway!

Oh. I think I know the term for the feeling in the first section: UST, or unresolved sexual tension! Unresolved Tension, period! The rising action was so magnificently written, Hephaestion being unnerved by Alexander’s unblinking stare, then Alexander staying by Hephaestion’s seat, then saying . . . such things as “magnificent physique!” And “abstractedly running gentle fingers down Hephaestion’s bicep!” And just when I think my eyes can’t get any wider and I can't grin any harder, you prove me wrong. Lord, how Hephaestion managed _not_ to choke when Alexander did that is the question! But after that there’s the _back rub_. Then, an offer of wine! Which of course can lead Hephaestion to do rather indiscreet things! (But that’s what he needs here, apparently.) I think I said “magnetic and smoking” in one the reviews for another story – well, this just blows that right out of the water!

Nice backstory on just why Helena is so protective of her son. Another small detail I really like, that further shows how idealistic Hephaestion is beyond anything directly related to Alexander, is how he believes the army would “welcome him warmly” if he had joined earlier; logistics officers are not usually the most popular no matter how long they've served. And I love how finely you describe Hephaestion’s thoughts: that being ignored or mocked (which had been the main problem earlier, during the meeting) are trivial things, compared with the devastation that can follow when one comes to suspect that an ideal one has “worshipped, chastely, faithfully, quietly, without jealousy or demand” all one’s life could be anything less than noble, beautiful, and worthy of such deep devotion.

All right, I know Hephaestion’s . . . right, in what he says at the end. I agree completely that for them, being friends is even more transcendent than being lovers, and usually I’m rather skeptical when it comes to “omens” and “things meant to be.” But still! Part of me wants to shake Hephaestion and tell him just to forget all that stuff – sure they can get to know each other better, working together in campaigns, yeah, together, sure! The mood of the story as he speaks of what they could have had, and his fault in letting that slip by, hearkens back to the scene in which he watches Alexander on the day of departure in Ch.1. Beautiful, somewhat isolated, with the shadows of regret – even now that they are together in the physical sense.

You’ve already made Ayntor such a complex and wonderful character, and here we see his wife is no less likeable. Amyntor calling his wife “Mother” is so homey – it gives a very warm and intimate feeling. I really like how they interact; Helena definitely has a mind of her own but their relationship is open and warm despite their different views on what’s best for their son, and of course the family environment they create this way is so much nicer than whatever Philip and Olympias had! You characterize Helena so well that by the time she “suddenly, quietly” starts to cry at the thought of Hephaestion leaving, we know instantly – without your stating it directly – that it’s only because her love for her son is so deep, and deeply protective, and one doesn’t think Amyntor any less of a man – indeed, he is more so – for giving in to his wife’s wishes. Again, parallel with Philip and Olympias, but different – although Amyntor and Helena are of different opinions, there’s real love and tenderness between them.

However, it seems both families have produced rather isolated, precocious, prematurely mature children! This characterization of Hephaestion as a bookworm (or, as Amyntor puts it so hilariously, “a lonely, maladjusted little prig”) is adorable; the poor little guy is reminding his _father_ that his pedagogue is arriving and he has homework (it’s usually the other way around!), and wants to “bury himself in his reading” after disappointing both Alexander and his father at the palace! The metaphors he thinks of when he first meets Alexander, and the fact that the day’s hopes died “along with the hope in that small boy’s eyes” – he even feels a little physically sick – just makes one’s heart go out to him. And while Alexander is certainly so mature for his age that everyone thinks him perfect (or he fancies himself so!), Hephaestion driving himself harder in everything from reading to athleticism, thinking he “had to be perfect too” is so wonderful too! The thought that both of them are asking about one another even though they only met for those few moments on the steps, with a not-so-happy parting, really reinforces the idea that it’s meant to be.

And then we have the lovely, lovely image of the two of them, young men now - Hephaestion standing, watching Alexander on his great stallion depart from afar. His thoughts then are beautifully written, they remind me of how Hephaestion in the Utopia novel “relinquishing without ever having possessed.” I can see it – the great masses of the army, the expectancy, the excitement, and a little anxiety in the air. And then this scene just gets even more quietly beautiful, when these two individuals who’ve only spent less than five minutes with each other, years ago, meet each other’s gazes across the expanse, sharing that long moment which finally ends with Alexander’s hand raised in invitation.

(sighing, can you tell?)

Then we get back to the current groan-inducing situation for Hepahestion. Hm, he feels like he’s waking from a dream, realizing that others might be interested in him . . . but Alexander just invited him to stay. Alone. With him! Perhaps, just perhaps, Hephaestion’s still being his maladjusted, socially sheltered and therefore a little oblivious self? Wonderful, hilarious characterization – not just for Hephaestion – as always.

awsome story:) you should make another story using your ending paragraphs. i'd be very interested to read it:)

...and somewhere in the shadow of a column, an amused smile on his sweetly curving lips, the most beautiful of all the gods picks up his quiver of arrows, noting that two will need to be replaced. With a final glance at his latest conquests, he fades into the bright afternoon sunlight.

P.S. If the lovely Lady Helena and her handsome, manly Amyntor continue with their for afternoon "naps", no doubt Hephaestion will soon have several siblings.

Dear, another wonderful story by you! Funny, sweet and nice. ou love so much your characters and you show it.

And you don't talk too much, I'd like to talk with you even more...;) BTW, sorry if you don't hear from me these days, I'm very busy. But I have many things to tell you :)

To begin, I loved your 'pointless afterword', it made me laugh. I don't think that you talk too much at all. I enjoyed the quirkiness of that statement.

I believe that my favorite chapter was number two. The love between Alexander and Hephaestion shone through, even though Hephaestion was nervous. I'd like to think that Alexander was just as nervous about giving himself to Hephaestion. However, I believe he contained the emotions better perhaps.

As for the ending chapter it was good to see what went on between Alexander and Hephaestion at the ball court. It was nice to see what had gone on.

Overall the story was great. I liked the tenderness that you show as well as the vivid imagination you put into ever sentence. Can't wait to see more from you soon.

Baliansword

Many thanks for sharing - and once again thanks for the dedication. I'm feeling very proud to be a source of inspiration to this lovely story.

The surprise ending was a treat! In the first chapter I felt so sorry for the small Hephaestion when he had to go home instead of playing with the lonely young Prince. Now Alexander could change even the Past, with the help of Herakles and Achilles!

All the best wishes,

/NorthernLight

What an hilarious seduction scene! Poor Hephaestion trying to give a lecture upon siege preparations, while being shamelessly seduced by the King, who doesn't listen to his careful report. His body gives up way before his clever and engaged mind! I like the love scene - but the ending shows the complicated relations, when Hephaestion feels it had been better for them to have been friends for a long time before setting out to war.

Off to the conclusion,

/NorthernLight

Instead of relaxed weekend reading, this was a Friday night marathon. I was so intrigued as to where this was going that I read it all at once. Of course, the ending was, bar a dream, the ideal and most perfect one and I didn't find it crazy. A lot of people would kill to have the occasion to make the slightest different choice. Hephaistion's mother was something else, I kinda see Amyntor with a wilful wife whom. Great read!