The Heart of a King

The Heart of a King
By: Missfortune
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, and then again, neither do the anime studios since they are all historical figures. I, however, am using their portrayals of said people and therefore have no rights to make money from it, which I don\'t, and blah and so forth.
Series: Reign: The Conqueror
Warnings: Shonen Ai
Notes: This is told from his wife\'s point of view, Roxanne. Anyway, yes, this is after the Alexander assassination attempt. There is just about no information on this anime out there so instead I used historical essays for name spellings and such. Also my first venture into this fandom. Hopefully not the last, I like pulling History\'s strings ^_^

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\"You have chosen this life,\" he told me. I wasn\'t sure what he meant until this moment. Such silly notions filled my head about true love and being the queen of his heart. Now I know that I had no chance. In mere moments I had grown up from the silly naïve noblewoman that I was. I never had the stuff to hold the heart of the king.

At our wedding Alexander was poisoned. He\'d needed to recover, so I never went to his bedchambers, as was custom. I gave him time to recover. When he was well, I knew that he\'d be leaving soon; I could see it in his eyes. So I wasted no time.

I went to him that afternoon, when he had retired for a nap I silently entered his chambers. Through years of training, I entered silently, holding my dress so that not even a rustle escaped. My bare feet made no sound on the expansive marble floor as I approached the shrouded bed in the center of the large room.

I drifted through the shadows, not wishing to wake the king. Not yet. But, the room was not silent. The closer I got, the louder came the murmur of voices. Clutching my dress tighter, I dared to get closer to the bed, moving silently around one of the marble pillars to get a good look without being seen. As I rounded the column, I had a perfect view of the bed with its curtains drawn open.

On the bed sat Hephaistion, the King\'s companion. I had often noted his extreme closeness to Alexander, but dismissed it as friendship, as duty, or even a job done well. However, their closeness was hard to dismiss as Alexander lay comfortably on his stomach between the other man\'s legs. His head was cradled on crossed arms that draped over Hephaistion\'s lean stomach. Their faces were tilted towards one another as they spoke softly, Hephaistion twisting his finger around a single lock of Alexander\'s hair.

The scene was comfortable and tender and it made my heart ache. But I did not turn away, for I could not. They were close true, but then Alexander was close with all his men, casual touches were often exchanged. This could be nothing more, I told myself. I knew I was lying. My hands curled in on themselves, clenching tightly, my nails pressed into my palms as I watched Alexander reach up and trace the curve of Hephaistion\'s lean cheek with a single gentle finger. Hephaistion smiled and leaned into the tender touch, his hair shifting down over his shoulder.

Alexander reached up and pulled out the ties that bound Hephaistion\'s amethyst hair. It tumbled down over his shoulder, some small fly-aways landing on his face. Hephaistion scrunched his face and blew at them and an endearing smile crossed Alexander\'s face as he brushed the strands behind Hephaistion\'s ear. Then his fingers drifted down to card through the fall of jewel-tinted hair. Even I, with my perfect honey colored locks, was jealous of Hephaistion\'s violet hair. It was exotic and beautiful. It reflected the light in wondrous ways and it currently had Alexander\'s attention locked upon it.

Hephaistion made a soft comment and tugged lightly on Alexander\'s own rich brown tress. Alexander\'s reply was to put his hands on either side of Hephaistion and lean up to claim his lips. It wasn\'t hard or fast or even terribly passionate. It was soft and slow and lingering and it made my stomach flutter with desire. They slowly pulled away and Alexander resumed his position with his head cushioned on Hephaistion\'s stomach.

I felt fixed to the spot, torn between leaving and watching more. I stayed. After some time, Alexander shifted, pulling Hephaistion down so their faces were level as they lay side by side. Alexander\'s back was to me and I watched as Hephastion\'s arms wound around his narrow waist, pulling their bodies together. They lay in each other\'s arms, the murmur of voices a mere whisper. Hephaistion leaned in and whispered lightly in Alexander\'s ear, tracing his ear with a flick of his pink tongue. As he did so, he raised his eyes up to meet mine.

I stepped back in shock. It was then that I knew. Faced by the truth in Hephastion\'s eyes and the tender tangle of limbs in which they lay, I found the truth. There were many parts of Alexander that I could have, but his heart was not one of them. The person who held it nodded at me and I inclined my head in silent defeat, acknowledging that I never had a chance. He sent a sympathetic smile over Alexander\'s shoulder as he curled up with the great king and their breathing evened out into the shallow tones of sleep.

I emerged from my hiding place, walking softly on my toes until I reached the bed. I looked down at the men upon it. Both of their faces were unguarded and so much kinder than the everyday masks they wore. My hand fluttered in the air above them. Perhaps it was a wistful caress. Perhaps a silent blessing. Turning, I retreated to my chambers and now sit staring out at the sky. How lonely it is to be Queen of the World and not have someone to share it with. But I cannot bring myself to grudge them the comfort they have found. I suppose even the Queen of the World cannot lay claim to the wild heart of the Great Alexander.

The End

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Note: I call her Queen of the World because she is the wife of Alexander who is sort of the King of the world, the known world that is. They\'re very pretentious titles, but oh well.

Anyway, I hope that you\'ve enjoyed and some feedback would be lovely. Thanks ^_^