Love and Again - 9. Chapter 9: Struggle Death and Rebirth part two

Struggle, Death, and Rebirth (Part two)

By WL

Alexander had taken his role as King of Macedon, but he would need more than just his own kingdom in order to create an empire beyond the wildest dreams of mankind for ages to come. Hephestion was the only person that Alexander could share his vision with; no one from his mother Myrtle to his closest courtiers knew the extent of his vision to unite mankind.

The first true test and road block to his dream of uniting mankind was Persia. The Persian Empire was an ancient and rich civilization encompassing the trade routes of Egypt, cultural prominence of Sumer, and the mightiest army in the known world. Darius III could easily mobilize an army of 100,000 men in less than three months through his empire's wealth.

Darius had known that Philip, the former king, wanted to war Persia; however, he had no idea as to Alexander's intentions. He thought of numerous ways to test Alexander until a Persian advisor came to him.

"My great king, Alexander is rumored to have a lust for male beauty; why do we not send off a prince to Alexander. He could bring our nations closer together and spy on Alexander's movements. We will continue to bribe Greek leaders to rebel against Alexander and drain his nation's treasury. Eventually, our armies will be ready for an expedition and the prince can act as an assassin to eliminate the Macedonian threat, while our armies march and conquer the weakened foe" the Persian advisor said.

Darius agreed and sent one of his sons to be presented with the mission in mind to lull Alexander into a state of peace. In the morning hours, the Persian embassy entered the Palace at Pella; Alexander was still with Hephestion in his arms. They were sprawled in their bed chamber as they have become accustomed to. It has been one year since Alexander assumed the throne and began mobilizing and training his armies. They were both 20 years of age.

"Alexander, Darius seeks your hand today in an alliance with another male beauty, but he will seek your head tomorrow in the guise of an assassin's dagger," Hephestion hissed at his lover, who had just finished giving Hephestion pleasure.

"My love, Hephestion, do not fear a Persian suitor for you shall always be chief in my heart. I can sense this dangerous liaison before you. I am not tempted by the boy, nor will I take him to bed in any capacity. However, I do think we should instigate a small pretense against Darius," Alexander said as he exchanged positions with Hephestion, who went lower as Alexander rose.

"What do you plan, my king?" Hephestion smiled and engulfed his lover's manhood into his mouth.

"Oh...Hephestion, you endear me too much. I will faint an assassin's plot before it shall occur. When, he is to arrive in my bed chambers; I will ask you to appear and execute him before he comes near my bed. We..." Alexander gasped as his seed was expelled, "...shall place a dagger in his hand and you shall say he was prepared to kill me."

Hephestion swallowed his lover and king's seed, "I sense a bit of your mother Olympia in your countenance today."

"Her wisdom has their uses," Alexander said.

The two were dressed formally for the occasion of receiving foreign ambassadors. Darius' message was given to Alexander and he told the messenger that he would receive the boy in his bed chamber for an audience later. Darius son of 15 years was young and a beauty among Persian suitors. Darius thought Alexander would immediately be captured by the boy's beauty and take him into bed, so the ambassadors had instructions to allow such an occurrence.

All that was planned had occurred as Alexander had thought; the young boy entered and neared his bed and Hephestion came out of the shadows. The deed was fast and the boy fell in a matter of moments.

With the news of the boy's death and the assassination plot, Macedon and Greece were in an uproar. The citizens of Greece had never heard such a cruel deed and the commoners rallied for war against Persia. The Greek leaders, who were bribed by Darius, had to soothe their people, since their armies had grown so angry at the Persian incident. They supplicated to Alexander and named him Chief of the Greeks; making Alexander the Supreme commander of all Greek forces in addition to his title from his father as Leader of the Corinthian league. Now, Alexander had full Greek political and military power at his disposal in theory.

Darius was fearful; his armies had not been ready for war and his possessions in Asia were vulnerable to attack. Thus, he relied on his great wealth again. He bribed the Thracian and Illyrian kingdoms in the north of Macedon to war Alexander in order to buy him time.

Alexander had to move quickly as the Thracian army was his immediate threat, since they were poised to capture his strategic gold mines. At the moment, he personally led the trained Macedonian infantry northward and engaged the Thracians, while Hephestion trained their cavalry at home. An uncommon battlefield strategy, but Alexander assured his love that he could win without a cavalry force.

At the battlefield, Alexander ordered his slings and bowmen to the front in a long line, enticing his enemy to advance at the weak response that Alexander had sent forth. However, Alexander and the bulk of his infantry army were hiding behind the hills.

The Thracian commander, seeing no danger, ordered a full charge of men and horses against Alexander's long line of missile infantry. The Thracian force was larger than Alexander's army, but, by making his missile infantry line so long, he gained battlefield supremacy in the concentration of force. It was tactic from his new allies of the former Sacred Band of Thebes, which he developed separately almost like a memory.

The Thracian army was stretched to cover the line of Alexander's missile infantry and charged, while Alexander's line fired and retreated to the hills. Alexander had split his weaker forces into two concentrated columns of hoplites and swordsmen. As the missile infantry retreated below the crest of the fateful hill, Alexander rose from depths of hades itself and counter-charged. The Thracians were completely surprised by the army that had appeared from nowhere. Alexander quickly broke through their lines and caused panic as the Thracian commander was killed. The Thracian troops surrendered to Alexander, who treated them with mercy and respect. He used the army that he gained from Thrace to invade the nation of Thrace itself. Never before in the annals of human history has a general gone into a battlefield numerically outnumbered, then reversed the situation and invaded the enemy kingdom with their own army. Thrace sued for peace and Alexander annexed the kingdom into Macedon.

Alexander next had to deal with the Illyrians, who were more cautious and calculating than the Thracians. They had assembled a good sized army in ambush for Alexander, who had received his lover, Hephestion, back into his arms with the trained cavalry. They were marching to Illyria as the forward column of troops, when suddenly the Illyrian army surprised them.

Alexander and his new cavalry were encircled by the superior forces of Illyria. Alexander had no fear and asked Hephestion several questions.

"Hephestion, my love, are you willing to die for me?" Alexander asked firstly.

Hephestion answered, "Yes, you are my king and my great love. I would die a million deaths for you".

"Will this band of horsemen die for me?" Alexander asked secondly.

Hephestion answered, "They are all loyal to you and will most assuredly die for you".

Finally, Alexander said, "Then, you must make sure that neither shall be lost. For loyalty is the highest asset of any great king. Tell the men to follow me in parade formation and dare not to charge until I give the sign".

Hephestion nodded and the men followed Alexander's lead. The horsemen paraded with Alexander; they rotated and twisted their formations. The Illyrian commander did not understand the formations and stood watching the display. He did not want to attack Alexander, fearing this was a stratagem as the news of Thracian defeat had reached him. The Illyrian troops watched for hours anticipating a battle and grew tired.

Then, a roar from Alexander was heard and the entire company of horsemen began their charge at the Illyrians, who had left their guard down. The Illyrian army broke and Alexander's parade formations had bought enough time for the whole of his army to appear behind the Illyrians. The surprise and fear gripped the entire Illyrian army and they routed.

The Illyrian commander immediately called for a general retreat back to their main fortress. Alexander and Hephestion had given chase to the entire army of Illyria, so they stood at the gates of the Illyrian fortress. The commander had supplied the place well; it would take Alexander years to break through a siege. The fortress also held a majority of the Illyrian army's grain supply.

Knowing his foes had prepared for a siege, Alexander left the fortress. On the next day, the Illyrian army commander had thought that Alexander was advancing deeper into their territory and the commander ordered his men to give chase. He also sent messengers for the reserve army in the Illyrian capital to fight Alexander in a holding action as his forces would flank Alexander upon their arrival.

However, after the general left, the fortress had only a small garrison, Alexander returned and attacked, capturing the grain supplies. Upon hearing this news, the Illyrian commander returned to the fortress and was met by Alexander's forces in ambush. They surrendered and Illyrian reserve army upon hearing the news of the recent defeats had mutinied against their king.

Through these actions, Alexander had seized two kingdoms with little cost, but a large trove of grain, men, and gold necessary for Persian wars to come. However, Darius was also hearing the news of Alexander's victories and knew that something must be done.

He sent secret envoys with promises of his support for a rebellion against Alexander in Greece. Darius had particularly chosen his aims at Thebes, which was a city that Alexander had loved so dearly due to the men by his side and their traditions for male lovers. Again, Darius was using Alexander's preference for male lovers in an attempt to destabilize his reign.

Alexander was perplexed at the current crisis and took Hephestion into his bed chamber, when news reached of Thebes' rebellion along with Sparta, Thebes' traditional enemy.

"I can't harm the city that was the home of my favorite and beloved soldiers. I can't harm the ideal of our love. Perhaps, Darius has won a victory against I, who have remained undefeated," Alexander wept with his lover.

"I do not know what I or we could do. The Thebans want independence, but if we grant them their wish, then we will be denied any further hope of defeating Darius," Hephestion wept with his lover.

The Queen Matriarch, who had changed her name from Myrtle to Olympia in recognition of her son's godhood, heard the conversation and weeping of the two men, who she considered her sons. Olympia as always was woman of strong convictions and wanted her son to reach the full potential that he could despite any man's denial. Olympia saw the clear path to victory for her son, but she knew he would not allow such a deed to be done. Thus, she sent messengers to the Queen's private guard forces, which Alexander had entrusted to her for the protection of Macedon against foreign invaders.

Her order was direct and clear, "By order of Alexander; King of Macedon, King of Thrace, King of Illyria, and Supreme leader of Greece, the city of Thebes will be burned to the ground, but her people shall be spared if they relinquish their claims of independence and rebellious acts".

Alexander did not know what occurred until days later, when messengers told him of the Queen's actions. He was furious and angry at his mother's use of his authority to blatantly harm a people that he admired. Hephestion was by his side and they summoned the Queen for a private meeting in Alexander's chambers.

"Mother, Why hath' forsaken me?" Alexander asked in a deep mournful and angry tone.

"I have done what you cannot Alexander; the city of Thebes must be burned down in order to force Greece to comply with our wishes. I know you and Hephestion do not possess the ability for such an act to be done, because you are both lovers as many of the Thebans. You see a connection between them, but you cannot afford such connections, if you are to defeat Darius. I want you to be greater than Philip and conquer Persia," Olympia answered expressionless.

Alexander and Hephestion would not remember the burning of Sodom and the horror that they witnessed in their past lives as Matt and Zeke. However, their souls had the pangs of pain from the burning of Thebes. It was their hopes and dreams, but it was also their own faults that the city was destroyed. A perfect symmetry and tragedy can be observed by this act; it is a tragedy equal to the tragedy of Thebes's king, Oedipus and his daughter Antigone. A full circle had been reached in the paths of these souls. They had become the destroyers of a city that they had helped create.

Olympia left them to weep. Alexander could not blame his mother; it was the right decision that he could not make. Yet, he hated the cost of his destiny and his goals. In his mind, he wondered "how can a man seek peace on earth, when he must commit deeds so despicable to do it?"

"Did I aim for the wrong goals Hephestion? Is this desire to eliminate conflict and unite mankind merely a dream beyond my creation?" Alexander asked.

"Alexander, we may never see an Eutopia ever created. All we can do is struggle and hope that our toils will mean something to the men that shall come after us. We have failed to protect Thebes, but we shall not fail to protect those lovers, who inhabited Thebes. We shall keep their memory alive and spread their ideals for honorable love to the edges of the world. We may lose a battle, but it is too soon to say we have lost the war," Hephestion fought through his pain and roused his soul to keep fighting for their dream.

Thus, creation has turned to ashes, but hope for rebirth may still abound.