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Chapter Text

Taking a risk: India, 325 BC; main characters: Alexander, Adea Eurydice

Cynane lives (2 parts): 322 BC; main characters: Adea Eurydice, Cynane, Perdiccas, Eumenes, Aristonous, Cassander; Cassander/Adea Eurydice

At the end of the journey (sequel of Taking a risk): India, 325 BC; characters: Alexander, Adea Eurydice, Hephaestion; implied Alexander/Hephaestion 

The King’s friend (from the same universe of Taking a risk): Halicarnassus, 334 BC; characters: Hephaestion, Aristonous, Lysimachus, Balacrus (son of Nicanor); implied Alexander/Hephaestion 

An unexpected reward (same universe of Taking a risk): India 326/5 BC; characters: Peucestas, Hephaestion, Aristonus 

Conflicts (same universe of Taking a risk again): Gandara 327 BC; characters: Alexander, Adea Eurydice, Hephestion, Roxane; implied Alexander/Hephaestion, Alexander/Roxane 

Chapter Text

Adea of Macedonia was watching the men in the tent, while they talked about what they could do to prevent a full-scale revolt by the soldiers, tired of the incessant march eastward to conquer territories that were unlikely to remain long under their king’s control. They wanted go westward and return at least in Persia, if not to their real home, Macedonia. Still, after years of campaigns in Asia under Alexander's command, they had resigned themselves to the fact that their king had no intention of returning to Macedonia so Persia would be enough for them.
Adea was only thirteen years old and she could not understand how Craterus, Perdiccas, Leonnatus, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, Peithon, Coenus, Attalus, and even Aristonus were all so afraid of Alexander's reactions that they did not point out to him that the soldiers were tired and that continuing to advance towards the Ganges was simply a risky and useless waste of time.
She could understand the silence of Eumenes, who was often not considered as military man, and also that of Peucestas, as he had just been exceptionally promoted to the king's bodyguards for saving his life during the siege of Multan, but not the fear of the others. Without forgetting the silence of Hephaestion, usually the only one not afraid to confront Alexander, but this time he also was ignoring the problem and for her it was completely unjustifiable. Of course, she knew better than anyone else how much Alexander wanted to reach the infamous Ganges, and she shared that desire, but they were in and hostile territory, where the climate and disease were doing even more damage to the soldiers than the local populations they had to fight constantly, so it was time for Alexander to come to his senses and face reality.

"This damn march must end before the soldiers' patience with Alexander's crazy dreams runs out, otherwise a revolt will break out. One of you should talk to Alexander," exclaimed the girl, irritated by the indecisiveness of the various generals.

“With all due respect, basilissa, trying to change our beloved sovereign's mind when he has set his heart on something is impossible, and trying to talk to him would serve no purpose other than to risk our lives,” replied Perdiccas, among the general agreement, in his most formal tone, using the title coined for Adea five years earlier, when Alexander had married her to appease the discontent of the soldiers that believed he was becoming too orientalized. The fact that Alexander had taken a Macedonian as his queen had placated the resentment of the troops, partly because, although Adea was still too young to share her husband's bed, she was very popular with the soldiers. This was because both Adea's parents belonged to the royal family, and she was of almost pure Macedonian bloodline, and also because the little Amazon had inherited her mother's talent and passion for weapons and horses, and was very determined.

"I tried to bring up the subject, but Alexander wasn't in the mood to listen, and I don't want him to lose his mind. There's really nothing we can do," Hephaestion tried to justify himself.

“I understand that since none of you want to do anything, it will be up to me to try to reason with him,” the young woman continued, looking at them with a flame in her eyes.

"Don't do anything foolish, Adea. You should know that Alexander can become very dangerous when he gets angry” intervened Craterus, who was her cousin.

“The worst he could do is kill me. And I'm not sure I'll live here much longer. Shall we bet that I'll be able to reason with him instead?” she added defiantly, as her Argead temperament was taking over her usual way of dealing with things.

Adea was surprised to hear no response and to see the others frozen. Guessing what had happened, she turned and sighed, meeting the eyes of her husband Alexander, who must have entered the tent while she was speaking. She could see that the young hypaspist who had escorted him was really uncomfortable and that was not a surprise as Alexander of Tymphaea was Attalus’ cousin.

“I would like to know exactly what you were talking about, since I understand that my friends think I have gone mad,” said the king coldly, in total silence, and the fact that everyone, including Craterus and Hephaestion, had lowered their eyes without answering him did not improve his mood.

Alexander, King of the Macedon, Pharaoh of Egypt, and Great King of Asia, knew very well that he did not have an easy character, but his most trusted friends' reluctance to speak worried him greatly. Adea was the only one present whom he had ignored since his entrance, but now he had captured her into his arms, hoping that the contact with her body would give him the usual comfort.
Of course, he didn't need the others to explain what was worrying them: he wasn't stupid, and he had noticed the soldiers' discontent himself, even though they had all tried to hide it from him, fearing his reaction. But the situation must have been more serious than he had thought if even Adea was against him, as usually she was the only one who truly understood him because she shared his desire to push beyond limits and explore.

"Alexander, I'm sorry, but the situation is becoming untenable. If you don't want to see a total revolt of the troops, you'll have to give up reaching the banks of the Ganges," the girl explained, burying her face in his shoulder, hoping he would give in.

“You can forget it,” was Alexander’s reply, but he did not let her go.

"I came to tell you that the scouts have returned. The Ganges is only six days' march from here, and I'm certainly not turning back now," exclaimed the king.

“I think the soldiers can accept that. But we'll get to the river, look at it, and turn back, right? No crossing, no bathing, and we definitely won't follow the river, not even for a short distance, right? And then we'll return to Persia passing through Carmania, without any more explorations or dangerous adventures, agreed?" asked the young woman hopefully, as her greatest fear was being forced to part from Alexander, because she would be unable to endure the journey on the road he choose to take.

"You surprise me, Adea. I didn't think you were so eager to hand over your crown to Stateira, but I can accept it. Provided the soldiers don't make any more fuss, because in that case I might change my mind," replied Alexander, alluding to the daughter of the late Darius III, whom he planned to marry as soon as he returned to Persia, although he was far from certain that he would make Stateira his queen after the wedding.

“I can tolerate it, if it means I don't have to live in a military camp anymore, you know?” replied the girl, without trying to get free from his embrace, confirming once again in Alexander's mind that she was already an excellent queen, as well as being extremely popular with the soldiers, a popularity that would surely increase, given that he fully intended to credit her with his decision to turn back.

This time, Adea may have won her bet to make him reconsider his plans, but he had definitely won his bet five years earlier when he married her, as well as the one eight years earlier, when he had ordered to his terrible half-sister to send her only daughter to Asia as a hostage to guarantee her behavior. His little Amazon had turned out to be exactly what he needed as Adea was the only one who understood and shared his dreams, passions, and desires in a way that even Hephaestion had never been able to. So he had no problem granting her these small victories, even though he would never have let anyone else have them.

Chapter Text

Cynane, princess of Macedon by birth and marriage, was well known for her military attitude and forceful personality. Many at her father’s court often stated that, if she had been a male, neither her cousin Amyntas nor her younger half-brother Alexander would have any chance to succeed her father Philip II. But she was only a woman, so the contest for the crown had been between the other two (as her other half-brother Arrhidaeus was a halfwit), while she had been given as wife to Amyntas, which she had hated, more the marriage than the husband, because Amyntas had been a good man who did not deserve his fate. Unfortunately, he was caught in the crossfire that had followed her father’s terrible murder, and his death was something she would never forgive Olympias or the late Parmenion for. She could understand Alexander’s reasoning, as Amyntas had claimed the Crown against him, and he had no way to refute it, as he was also related to her father’s young last wife on their mothers’ side, and after she and her baby daughter were murdered on Olympias’ orders, he had no choice but to rebel. Sure, Amyntas’ cousin and friend, Menelaus of Beorea, had remained neutral in the rebellion and unsuccessfully attempted to persuade her husband to make peace with Alexander, also offering to mediate between the two. Nonetheless, Amyntas had been bound by his honor and pushed by Parmenion’s false offers of support and his assertions that Olympias’ murder of Eurydice and Europa had alienated many from Alexander, so Amyntas had claimed the Crown and led a rebellion against Alexander, only to die betrayed by Parmenion and his sons. Her only consolation was that most likely the damned traitor had truly been an opponent of Alexander and simply miscalculated the strength of the support he could muster against Alexander, as he had continued to plot against the King, pushing also Alexander of Lyncestis to a fate similar to that of her husband (at least Alexander had been merciful enough to send Amyntas’ body to her and the one of Alexander of Lyncestis to his widow Andromeda) but in the end he and his two elder sons were executed for their treason once their facade of loyalty had stopped to be enough to continue deceive her half brother. Archelaus of Beorea, Menelaus’ younger brother, who had joined Amyntas but was sent to her by her husband before her death to protect her and especially their baby daughter Adea, told her that another of their cousins, Craterus of Orestis, was the one that was finally able to force the King to see Parmenion’s treachery.
But that was in the past, and now Craterus, like all the other generals vying for a share in the rulership of Alexander’s Empire following his untimely death, was an opponent of her and her plans to restore order and the power of her family. Her other half-brother, the halfwit Arridhaeus, was currently the nominal King of the Empire, albeit under the power of regents, under the name of Philip III, because the army was still far too loyal to her dynasty to accept a ruler who was not of Argead blood, and this provided her with an unexpected opportunity to gain power. Adea, her fourteen-year-old daughter and only child, should resign herself to giving up any romantic stupidity she had in mind and do her part, because she had not raised her to see her wasting her life in a useless love match, whoever was the boy she thought she loved. Her daughter was born to be Queen, and Cynane had hoped that Alexander would take her as wife, but since that had never happened, she had decided that her daughter would marry the new King. Menelaus, likely warned by his brother, attempted to dissuade her, pointing out that if she had wanted the Crown, she should marry the idiot herself rather than sacrifice her daughter. But she was already in her mid-30s, making it unlikely that she would bear another child, not to mention the fact that she had sworn to never let another man share her bed after her husband’s death and her half-brother needed an heir for putting aside the claim of Alexander’s posthumous son, born by the barbarian concubine whom the late King had obstinately called wife.
She had cautioned the two men not to cross her, threatening to leave behind Archelaus if they continued on that path, and then had forced her daughter to swear obedience to her orders. She had heard her daughter’s scream all night, but she had put the young girl (and Archelaus) under the strict surveillance of her most trusted men to prevent Adea from sending any letter to anybody, reminding her she had raised a warrior, not a stupid, useless romantic. She had needed to slap her daughter to persuade her to accept her fate, but Adea eventually ceased protesting, and they departed for Asia, evading easily enough the surveillance of the hated Antipater, Regent of Macedonia, and crossing the Hellespontus without incident. Naturally she had taken a trustworthy armed escort, Adea’s bridal trousseau, and several of her beloved little slaves, as she had no intention of depriving herself of their nighttime company, neither during the journey nor once arrived at her destination. It was unfortunate that Adea had no interest or inclination in that direction and had repeatedly refuted her offer to share her toys, as she doubted her daughter would ever find any happiness in the idiot's bed. Nonetheless, the girl had to do her part and provide Philip with some fully Macedonian heirs, while she would rule the Empire in place of her unfit half-brother and son-in-law. Archelaus, likely acting on his brother’s orders, was still attempting to persuade her to renounce, or at least to marry herself the idiot and spare Adea, as her daughter was both too young and had already suffered too much, but she had no intention of listening to it any longer when they were informed of the presence of a large force, led by Alcetas, the younger brother of Perdiccas, the Regent in Babylon. Well, if they intended to attack Philip II’s daughter and granddaughter for preventing a royal match that everyone should have been glad for, she would fight. She would die before abandoning her goals, but first she would make an appeal to the soldiers, hoping that they would join her mission rather than try to stop her. She had been correct, since the soldiers had joined her, and Alcetas now was approaching her, unarmed, without doubt ready to beg for her mercy. Cynane, still in her armor and enjoying her victory, considered him a good hostage for persuading his brother not to cause trouble, so she accepted with grace and just a triumphant smile his surrender, ordering to keep him under custody and to his former men to guide her and the young Adea to King Philip as soon was possible.

Alcetas was furious to see the way in which Cynane had taken control of his men, persuading them to support her plan to marry her only daughter to the King, with all the intention to use such wedding for getting control over her half-brother. The young princess do not looked enthusiast at the idea of marrying the halfwit King, and that was understandable as the girl was barely fifteen, so rather young for marrying (as while Macedonian girls were seen as marriageable already at fourteen years old, usually they married between sixteen and twenty years old), but Alcetas doubted that his brother could use this reluctance to his advantage.
After arriving at destination Alcetas had to suffer his brother’s scold for his failure in stopping Cynane, while the two women were left to Aristonous’ surveillance.

The meeting with the newly arrived princess Cynane and her daughter Adea left Aristonous disgusted by the behavior of Philip II’s eldest daughter: he wondered if the woman had not realized how much her daughter, practically still a child, was scared by the idea of marrying her mother's idiot half-brother. Or Cynane knew that but do not cared at all for what the girl wished or felt, seeing her only as a pawn in her quest for the power?
And if that alone was not bad enough Adea's first meeting with the King had been a true disaster: Cynane had left the room just after introducing her daughter to her half-brother. She had told them that in this way they would be able to know each other better, without her interference but Aristonous suspected that she didn't want to spend too much time with the King. Adea, clearly frightened, had tried to put on a brave face and be nice with Philip, agreeing to play with him, but the King had quickly started to see Adea as a plaything, trying to force her to do what he wanted, under the terrified gaze of the girl's bodyguard, Archelaus of Beorea. At a certain point Philip had become too aggressive with the child, forcing Archelaus and Aristonous to take her out his hands. After that they had taken Adea in another room, far from the halfwit King, where the little girl had started to cry desperately, while Archelaus tried to comfort her. Eumenes, informed of what had happened, had joined them, and seeing the state of the girl had not objected when Aristonous told him who he didn't give a damn about what Cynane wanted. Adea was only a little girl, and she clearly needed to be sent back home, and kept well away from that madwoman who she had for a mother. If Cynane wanted so much control her half-brother with a royal marriage, she would have to marry him herself. He refused to contribute to such farce and endanger the little girl's life just to avoid the risk of damaging Perdiccas’ plans as his loyalty to him was not so strong.

Eumenes was surprised by Aristonous' fervour but was unable to deny that he also feel the need to protect the little girl, after seeing her in this physical and psychological state. Moreover, Eumenes knew for sure that Perdiccas would be happy to have an excuse to send away at least the girl, considering that Roxane, Alexander's widow and mother of the young Alexander IV, as soon as she was informed of the arrival of a prospective bride for Philip III, had rushed to the study of Perdiccas, with whom she had started a relationship, complaining about this possible marriage and demanding to know who this future wife of Philip's was, from where she had arrived, why they had decided to marry Philip to her and above all why, if Philip really had to get married, she wasn't the chosen bride. Unfortunately, at that moment Cynane was also present in the room because she wanted Perdiccas’ collaboration for start organising the royal wedding immediately, and she had demanded to know who was the other woman and what right she believed to have to interfere in things that were not of her competence. Perdicca had introduced the two women, hoping they would calm down, but the two had come to blows sending insults at each other (for Eumenes the best was undoubtedly Cynane's “barbarian whore” to Roxane, because Alexander's widow had blushed and became even more enraged without being able to find anything as effective against Cynane) to the point that the regent was forced to call the guards for separate the two women and ordered to take them back to their apartments, forbidding them to leave until the following morning. Eumenes truly pitied the poor soldiers forced to look after the two women and those who would take the turns guarding them to be sure they remained in their rooms as both women could easily be intolerable.
And even if Perdiccas hadn't agreed, he, like Aristonous, had no intention to see the little princess falling victim of either Philip's abuses, as the King the majority of times didn't realize what he was doing and was often uncontrollable for his mental problems, or of the crossfire between Cynane and Roxane.
In any case, Eumene was relieved to see that he wouldn’t have to worry about Perdiccas’ reaction as the Regent’s eventual anger would be directed entirely at Aristonous. The other man had already taken aside Archelaus of Beorea, the bodyguard of little Adea, and the two men were talking in low voices and Eumenes had no doubt about the argument of their conversation, as he could see clearly the expression of relief on Archelaus’ face.
True that Archelaus had never gotten along with Cassander of Aloros, the eldest son and heir of Antipater, the powerful regent of Macedonia, but surely he couldn't consider him a worse husband than Philip for his young protégée, and they could prove that the late King Alexander had planned this other match for Adea.

Once Eumenes informed him of the existence of a document, signed by the late King Alexander, in which he promised the hand of his niece Adea to Cassander, Perdiccas agreed immediately to send the girl to him. After all Cassander was the brother of his current wife Nicea, so Perdiccas wasted no time in calling Adea for informing her that in a couple of days she would be leaving fore Macedonia, without her mother and under escort, to be delivered directly to the man to whom King Alexander had betrothed her, evidently without having time to make known his will to Cynane. And if her mother had known Alexander’s wishes for her future and chosen to ignore them well he had no intention to do the same. As Cynane was still under surveillance in her rooms for another couple of days, because she and Roxane had started again to fight as soon they had been allowed to go out of the respective apartments, Adea was forbidden to contact her mother before the departure, with the regent promising her that she would be allowed to say goodbye to her mother before departing.

The next day Adea had been allowed to enter, alone, in her mother’s apartment while Archelaus, loyal to her as always, was waiting her outside the door. She knew to have just an hour, then she would depart, with a strong escort, for returning in Macedonia and being consigned to the man that her other half-uncle, the late King Alexander, had chosen as her husband and she hated the fact that Perdiccas had not bothered to tell her the identity of the man she should marry. Well, she doubted that any match her uncle had chosen for her would be worse than marrying the halfwit King, as she was still scared by him after their first and only meeting. In any case she had no reason for rebelling now, as returning in Macedonia, and without her mother, was a good start for her plans to do what she wanted. After arriving there she could escape from whatever match the late Alexander had planned for her, either running away or trying to get help from her father’s aunts or cousins as she knew that Menelaus of Beorea would surely help her and Cassander, as he was Archelaus’ older brother and had been a close friend of her father. She had no doubt about the willingness of her cousin Craterus, who had recently married Cassander’s half-sister, to do the same, as everything she had heard about him make clear that he was not a match for his own mother and her sister, and both Aristopatra and Andromeda had been always strong supporters of her match to Cassander.

Her last meeting with her mother was not happy as Cynane, as soon was informed of what was happening, was predictably enraged, harassing her and prompting Archelaus to enter in the room. Adea started to relax once her protector had put himself between her and her mother as she feared that her mother would vent her rage hitting her again, as she had done before their departure. She was surprised when Archelaus suggested to her mother to marry herself her half-brother if she believed to need a wedding for exercising control over him, as both Archelaus’ tone and her mother’s crossed expression suggested her that this was not the first time that such option was offered. Adea immediately told to her mother that she would surely became a great and powerful Queen, if she choose to take that road, and then kissed her goodbye, before explaining that she had no idea of what expected her back in Macedonia as nobody had yet told her the identity of the man to which she had been promised by King Alexander.

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Perdiccas arrived, followed by Aristonous, and told her that she had a little more time before departing and Aristonous would be at the head of her escort as Nicaea had expressed the wish to join her party, for a short visit at home.
Aristonous explained that as they needed to bring her in Macedonia and then return back and Cassander would likely marry her as soon he could arrange the wedding, as he would not risk to lose her again, Perdiccas had nothing against his wife’s desire to partecipate at her brother’s wedding.
Rethinking to that moment in future, Adea would never understand how she was able to not betray herself and her joy in hearing that she was to marry Cassander. Likely the reason was that she was used to keep her feeling concealed from her mother and so had simply kept her emotions for herself, as usual. She felt the gaze of Archelaus over her and sent him a little smile for reassuring him. Still she doubted that she would stop to smile soon, now that she knew that not only she had escaped from her mother’s clutches and the marriage to King Philip, but she would return home for marrying her beloved Cassander. She wondered why he never told her that her uncle Alexander had agreed to their marriage, but then she remembered that she had not seen Cassander between his return from Babylon and the arrival of the news of Alexander’s death, and she could remember that Cassander had looked pretty demoralised then. Well, that explained everything, and she would ask him the whole story once she was reunited to him.
Her mother, still in punishment for her fights with Roxane, was not been allowed to going out of her rooms for saying goodbye to her, so only the Regent was present to see her and Nicaea’s departure. Nicaea’s half-brother Iolaus, the one who had escorted her to Perdiccas and remained at Court with her, had unluckily departed two days before Nicaea had caught her chance for a short return home for a mission of ten days so he could not join their party, but Nicaea do not looked at all displeased for that.
When Perdiccas asked her to promise to be good and follow Aristonous’ instruction until she was consigned to Cassander, Adea had readily done it as she had no reason for provoking someone who was giving her exactly what she wanted. Still she had caught a satisfied exchange of look between Aristonous and Eumenes, the former secretary of Alexander, now satrap of Cappadocia, and wondered about its meaning for a moment.

The journey was mercifully quick and short and so they soon arrived in Macedonia. Cassander surely was warned of their arrival, and likely more than once, as he expected them in the port of Pella, so Adea was quickly caught in his arms just after leaving the ship. Nicaea was looking to them with a little envy as Perdiccas do not cared at all for her, but Cassander soon left Adea to Archelaus’ care and reached her, telling her to relax and that she would not be forced to return to Perdiccas, if she do not wanted, whatever their father thought. The regent Antipater was not happy to see either of them and still less to discover the reason for which they were in Macedonia, but Aristonous’ presence reassured him about the fact that at least Nicaea and Perdiccas’ marriage was still unbroken.
Obviously the regent was unhappy for the discovery of his son’s engagement as his relationship with Adea’s mother was almost as bad as the one he had with Olympia, and he had the strong suspicion that his son’s engagement had been the price that Alexander had paid for securing Cassander’s loyalty to himself and the Crown also against him, if he and the King arrived to an open fight. Seeing the way in which his son treated the young girl had left him no doubt about the fact that Cassander was the first to wish this marriage, and would likely betray him for her, reason for which he would be satisfied to see that Adea looked to reciprocate his son’s feeling. Clearly the girl had not inherited her mother’s worst traits, so she would likely become a decent wife, and in any case she was his son’s own choice. At least that was everything that Antipater was able to discover in the 20 days that between the arrival of his daughter and future daughter-in-law and the celebration of the wedding, as Adea was taken in custody by Menelaus of Beorea, another relative of hers, who was also the older brother of her trusted bodyguard.
Still, once reassured about the fact that Adea had taken little from her mother, Antipater had no reason to object to his son match: he had sought either the widowed Cleopatra or her half-sister Thessalonice as wife for Cassander and Adea had much more royal blood than her half-aunts (and a far stronger claim to the Crown, if in the end things evolved in that direction) as three of her four grandparents were Argeads and the fourth had been an Illyrian princess with a Macedonian mother. Plus the girl inherited all her father’s possessions and the fact that she had barely reached the age for marrying meant that she would most likely give many children to Cassander and royal blooded grandchildren (as he would count only the heirs of his old friend Philip II as the true Macedonian royalty. Well he could have counted the heirs of Philip’s own father, Amyntas III, as such but it would not make any difference as the young Adea was the only descendant of another of his children still alive) were something that Antipater keenly desired. After choosing to show to support his son’s match he had asked to include all the women of the family in Adea’s bridal party: all his four daughters, his niece and great niece and also his only granddaughter, for all that the girl was barely twelve yers old. Andromeda and Aristopatra had nothing to object on that, being the mothers-in-law of his two elder daughters, as they had all the intention to give to Adea a very big bridal party, so they included also all the three daughters of Menelaus and some of their more distant relatives from Elimiotis and Eordaea.
Adea and Cassander’s wedding, for all that it was quickly arranged was a great celebration, as was expected for a marriage between the eldest son and heir of the popular regent and a daughter of the royal house. The common people of Pella had cheered a lot for the couple, more than for what they represented than for themselves as neither of them was much well known. Craterus and Phila’s wedding, an almost equally sumptuous affair, celebrated few months earlier, was more cheered but that was expected as Craterus’ popularity among the soldiers extended to the common people, and while Phila’s only claim to fame was the one to be his daughter, it had been more than enough for the population. For all that Cassander was always in his father’s shadow, Antipater had been the only true representative of the royal authority since Alexander’s departure more than a decade earlier and so his children enjoyed a great popularity by default.

In the end Nicaea never returned to Perdiccas as her husband had used her absence for repudiate her and marrying Cleopatra as he had long planned, but Cassander and Antipater had quickly arranged for her a better match with the satrap of Thrace, Lysimachus, who would always respect her and treat her well. Shortly after Cassander and Adea’s marriage, his youngest half-sister Eurydice married the satrap of Egypt, Ptolemy, securing another ally for her family.
The regent Perdiccas got far less advantages from his wedding to the Dowager Queen of Epirus than he had hoped as Cynane had needed little time for persuading Arridhaeus to marry her after Adea’s departure, and she had started to plot for establish herself as her husband’s regent with little results but still causing a lot of trouble for the regent. Few months after Perdiccas’ marriage to Cleopatra, the tensions between between the two factions of the various satraps became open warfare and Perdiccas died during the war, that ended with Craterus replacing the late Perdiccas as main regent. Cynane, or better Queen Eurydice, as she had taken that name after her remarriage was not happy at all, as it signed the end of her tentatives to establish herself as the main power behind the throne. Eventually the ambitious Queen Eurydice accepted the situation, as Craterus at least was not corrupted and his ambitions do not included any desire to take the Crown for himself. Plus his matrimonial ties to the family of Antipater and his strong dislike of Roxane meant that he was not opposed to the Queen’s tentatives to secure the succession to her halfwit husband to her own eldest grandson at the expense of Alexander’s posthumous son by Roxane.
As not only Alcetas, but also their sisters Atalante had followed their elder brother Perdiccas in the grave, Craterus and Cassander, reaching an understanding with the remaining major leaders of the faction of Perdiccas (meaning Eumenes, Aristonus and Perdiccas’ former brother-in-law Attalus of Tymphaea as Seleucus, Peithon and Peucestas had already left him) had offered to Attalus a new marriage with Berenice, daughter of Cassander’s cousin Antigone, who had lost her husband during the war.
Roxane, deprived of any ally and surrounded by enemies, and Olympias, likewise hated by the majority of the regents and governors were the greatest losers of the war, for all that Craterus, Aristonus and Eumenes had all agreed to put both of them, the young Alexander and also Cleopatra, again widowed without children, under the protection of all of them.

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At the end of the journey

Alexander III, King of the Macedonians, Pharaoh of Egypt, and Great King of Asia, was finally contemplating the turbulent waters of the Ganges River, the final destination of his conquest of India. He knew full well that he would never see them again, and also that getting there had been perhaps an excessive gamble, and that almost certainly the borders of his kingdom would stop at the Indus, the other great Indian river, but he did not care. Part of him wanted to go further, but he saw before him a river that was difficult to cross, which, moreover, flowed in the wrong direction...
In any case, he had promised Adea and his soldiers that they would turn back once they reached the river, and he had no intention of breaking his word. And in part he was glad he had made that vow in front of his troops, because it had taken away any choice he had: the Ganges was simply the end of his adventure in India.
Alexander turned around, hearing footsteps coming toward him, smiling when he saw his beloved Amazon.
“Come and look at the river with me, Adea,” he invited the girl to join him, then took her in his arms.
Half an hour later, they were joined by two of his somatophilakes, the Seven (or better the Eight, since he had exceptionally added an eighth member to his bodyguards to reward Peucestas, who had saved his life during a siege in which he had once again gone too far), with news to give him, and Alexander was not at all surprised to recognize Hephaestion, his best friend, and Aristonous, because they were the two who feared his possible outbursts the least.
“What's new?” Alexander asked the two, rising and a little annoyed because Adea had escaped his embrace.
“The camp has been set up near the river, and the men are asking for four or five days of rest before setting off again. The march here has been exhausting, and at least there is plenty of water,” replied Hephaestion.
Alexander smiled, satisfied, before agreeing. If the soldiers wanted to rest a while in this place, that was fine with him. This way, he would have plenty of time to look at the river before leaving the place. It was a pity he couldn't follow it all the way to its end, but he realized perfectly well that it would be sheer madness. Being bound by the promise he had made to Adea was not a bad thing at all, because it gave him a way out of a situation that would otherwise have been very complicated. But in this way, turning back was a constraint, not a surrender, and everyone would be willing to put up with his bad mood, starting with his very young queen and Hephaestion. Not to mention that his other wife, the beautiful but unbearable Roxane, who had been complaining about the journey for months, would continue to keep her distance, fearing yet another outburst. Alexander, unnerved by these thoughts, had become gloomy, and this had prompted Adea to move closer to him, allowing him to capture her again in an embrace and return to playing with her blonde locks, even though his enjoyment was diminished by the undeniable fact that Adea was now slightly taller than him and would surely become even taller...
Hephaestion, who was about six inches taller than him, burst out laughing when he saw his expression, probably because he had guessed the direction of his thoughts. If anyone else had done that, he would be irritated, but he knew well that neither Hephaestion nor Adea, who had always been rather tall for her age, could understand his concern and now he had grown accustomed to that fact...
Perhaps the only positive thing about Roxane, other than her stunning beauty, was that she was shorter than him and would not become taller, since she had already reached her final height when they first met.
Adea's laughter, likely caused by Hephaestion sharing with her the reason for his nervousness, snapped him out of his thoughts, and he resumed to run his fingers through the girl's hair, before asking her what was so funny without getting an answer...
A few minutes later, Adea freed herself from his embrace and said goodbye, because she was tired and had no intention of staying outdoors when she could find some comfort in her tent. She walked away, followed by Aristonous, leaving Alexander and Hephaestion alone.

“Here we are at the end of our journey, together again,” said Alexander, looking at his best friend and right-hand man.
“You know I will always stay with you as long as I breathe, unless your orders take me elsewhere,” replied Hephaestion, sitting down next to Alexander, even though he wasn't very interested in looking at the river.
“Don't think that the day will ever come when I no longer need you by my side, Hephaestion,” replied Alexander, staring into his eyes.
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Alexander, please. It's the only thing that could truly break my heart, and we both know that things will change in two or three years," replied Hephaestion bitterly, unable to hold back.
“I don't understand you. There's no reason why our relationship should change...” continued Alexander, before realizing what was frightening Hephaestion so much and bursting out laughing.
“You're a fool, Hephaestion, if you think having Adea in my bed will change anything between us. At least she understands this, instead of complicating her life with useless jealousy,” Alexander replied, before kissing him passionately.
After a few minutes, the king decided to follow Adea's example and retire to his tent, dragging Hephaestion with him after taking one last look at the river. They would be staying there for another five days, so he would have plenty of time to contemplate it again in the days to come. For now, excited by their far too short kiss, he just wanted to enjoy Hephaestion's company in his tent.

Chapter Text

Halicarnassus 334 BC

Hephaestion, son of Amyntor, had long been aware of the price he had to pay for Alexander's friendship and love. Four months younger than the king, he was one of his closest friends since childhood. And he also paid the price for not being, according to some, a true Macedonian: his father Amyntor, son of Demetrius, was one of the leading nobles of Pydna, belonging to the faction linked to King Philip, but still of Attic origin, while his mother Berenice, daughter of Cleander, was a Macedonian noblewoman from Elimiotis.
His father was already one of Philip's “Companions” at the time of his birth, and that guaranteed him a solid position at court, among Prince Alexander's companions practically from the beginning, and then among the Royal Pages, but he learned early on, even before his studies at Mieza, that the price to pay for Alexander's friendship was to be envied and hated by others. With time, he learned not to give it much weight, but now he could not ignore the gossip and fear the opinion of his new companions, since Alexander had promoted him to his bodyguards, the Seven, as soon as he had the chance, which came with the death of Ptolemy.
Hephaestion was sure that he would not make friends among the other six, but he was only interested in protecting Alexander.
Aristonous at least had welcomed him without comment, assigning him his duties for the following days, almost all of which were shifts guarding Alexander, which made him very happy, while Balacrus had told him to ignore rumors and comments and focus on his duties, in case he hadn't already learned that. Hephaestion was not too surprised by this advice, of which he could easily guess the origin: Balacrus was several years older than him, came from an important family, and had been one of Philip's somatophilakes for several years, but evidently the gossip had not spared him either. Yet Balacrus, already widowed since some years of his first wife, had remarried to one of the daughters of the powerful regent Antipater only a few months before the expedition's departure.
Then Lysimachus had told him privately that he was very happy that he was no longer the newcomer or the youngest of the group, nor the only one not considered entirely Macedonian, for all that Arrybas came from Epirus.
Hephaestion had smiled bitterly at those words, thanked the other man, then returned to his duties, reassured by the fact that at least three of his new companions had nothing against him. This allowed him to settle into the group and protect and serve his beloved Alexander to the best of his ability in his new role.

Chapter Text

India 326 BC

Peucestas, son of Alexander, had not expected anything more than the King's thanks, and perhaps his gratitude and a public recognition, as a reward for saving his life during the siege of Multan, because in that moment he had only done his duty: he was one of the Royal Hypaspists and therefore protecting the king during battles was a specific duty of his and his companions.
Of course, protecting Alexander was never easy, and in that occasion had been harder than usual, and both of them had seriously risked their lives, but it was not only his merit if the King had survived with only minor injuries.
In any case, he would never have expected, even in his wildest dreams, to become one of the Seven, the Somatophilakes, the King's bodyguards, not least because Alexander had exceptionally added him as the eighth member of the group, without removing any of the current members, making the honor even greater and more unusual, and he was afraid that the others would not accept him: he was only a twenty-three-year-old boy, even though he had already distinguished himself among the Hypaspists, to the point that Alexander already entrusted him with the command of a trireme on the Hydaspes, but this was something completely different. The current group of Seven was made up of some of Alexander's closest friends and most loyal followers, and all of them were among the officers most respected and admired by the soldiers: Aristonous, Hephaestion, Perdiccas, Leonnatus, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Peithon, and he feared that he would never be able to measure up to his companions.
He approached his new companions for the first time and froze when he saw that Hephaestion and Lysimachus were looking at him amused by something. Aristonous's welcome reassured him, although the veteran immediately warned him that now he must get used to have little rest, because keeping an eye on Alexander and Adea was far from easy, and things would become worse when the king would start again to give some of them other assignments away from the main camp. Aristonous then commented that he remembered well the day when first Lysimachus and then Hephaestion had joined the group, with expressions very similar to his own, and Hephaestion immediately confirmed that they were chuckling for that very reason. Then he added that if Alexander had not chosen to add Peucestas to their group, he would have suggested to the King to assigning him the task, perhaps together with a couple of companions, of acting as Adea's bodyguard, because keeping their very young queen under control was not much easier than doing so with the King.
Peucestas smiled, waiting to receive his duties, and stopped wondering how he would be received: Aristonous and Hephaestion had been very clear about the fact that now he was one of them, so he just had to show everyone that he was up to the task performing his duties perfectly.

Chapter Text

“I don't understand. Could you repeat what happened, Hephaestion, and stop teasing me?” Alexander of Macedonia couldn't believe what his friend and right-hand man just told him.
“Adea and Roxane practically came to blows few minutes ago. And it only didn't happen because Lysimachus prevented the Bactrian from hitting Adea. All I know is that she started it, and your new wife must have hurled quite a few insults at Adea, judging by her expression, even though she was trying not to react,” Hephaestion explained again, amused.
“I have no doubt that Rossana was the one who did practically everything. Are we sure there were no misunderstandings on the part of the interpreter? I mean, I don't know what language they could have spoken without an intermediary,” Alexander continued, annoyed by the situation.
"Persian, of course. Or have you forgotten, again, that Adea learned it and now speaks it perfectly? I'm told, by the way, that she speaks it much better than Roxane, who is, after all, only the daughter of a low-ranking Bactrian nobleman," replied Hephaestion, not missing yet another opportunity to point out some flaw in Alexander's new wife, who decided to let it go, partly because this quarrel between the two wives, the eleven-year-old cousin he had married three years earlier to appease the rebellions of the soldiers who believed he was becoming too orientalized, and the beautiful nineteen-year-old Bactrian, unfortunately a little wild and lacking in proper manners, for whom he had lost his head three months earlier, deciding to marry her five minutes after seeing her, was a problem he would gladly have done without and needed to resolve as soon as possible. Above all, because he feared he knew what had triggered the quarrel and that he would have to set the record straight before Adea's patience ran out, also because the girl did not usually react to provocations with today's calm.

Adea smiled when she saw Alexander enter the tent, followed by Hephaestion and Aristonous, plus Eumenes (who did not want to miss the show), confident that he would put his new wife in her place. After all, Alexander's new marriage to the barbarian had not been very well received by the soldiers, who had tolerated it only because she was Alexander's queen, so she did not fear losing her crown, at least not before Alexander also married Stateira, Darius' eldest daughter. But that was another matter, and if she could accept being supplanted by the daughter of the late Persian king, she certainly would not tolerate it in favor of a low-ranking, provincial, arrogant, and presumptuous noblewoman.

Alexander paused to observe the contrast between the two women: Adea, dressed in Macedonian clothes, was clearly dressed for riding or perhaps for training... she was little more than a child, but she promised to become very beautiful, with long blond hair and blue eyes, and she had clearly inherited the pride and temperament of the Argeads, combined with excellent manners and a better self-control than his own. Roxane was the opposite: beautiful, with long black hair and dark eyes, she had a somewhat wild beauty and exuded charm and seduction. It was a pity that her education and manners left something to be desired, and the very luxurious Persian clothes she wore, perhaps a little too decorated, did not erase the angry expression with which she was still looking at Lysimachus, who had only let her go after his arrival.
“Can someone explain to me what happened?” asked the king, just to give Adea the chance to give him her version of the story first, since Roxane was forced to wait for the interpreter, or rather for someone to find the interpreter, who had probably run away to seek shelter from Roxane's fury as soon as he realized that his services were not indispensable.
"She came to cause trouble, demanding to be honored as a queen and treating me like a low-ranking princess. I simply set the record straight, and let's just say she didn't like my response, judging by the torrent of venom and insults she spat out before and after Lysimachus intervened," explained the young woman, confirming her husband's suspicions as she looked at the other woman with contempt. The king had not responded, unnerved by the situation, which he had vainly hoped to avoid or at least postpone, and thanking the Gods that at least Adea knew how to behave and had decided to show herself superior, ignoring her rival's provocations.
“Roxane is wrong, isn't she, Alexander?” Adea had asked, with a hint of fear in her voice, even though she did not believe that Alexander intended to make Roxane his queen.
“Of course she's wrong, Adea, and rest assured that I will clear up the misunderstanding,” Alexander had comforted her, embracing her. Adea was still too young to share his bed, but that didn't mean she didn't already have an important place in his heart, since, despite her young age, she was the only one, along with Hephaestion, with whom he confided. Roxane glared at him furiously, but he continued to hold Adea close, then placed a light kiss on her forehead, before noticing with satisfaction that the interpreter had arrived, along with Ptolemy, Perdiccas, and Leonnatus (so his bodyguard was almost complete now, with only Peithon absent) and four other generals, all among those who least tolerated his new marriage and clearly did not want to miss the scene. He could understand his bodyguards and Craterus, who was Adea's other cousin and very protective of the young woman, but Coenus, Attalus of Tymphaea, and Seleucus could very well have avoided joining the group. He let Adea go and turned his attention to the angry Roxane, asking her for her version of events which, net of the necessary embellishments needed to paint her as a victim, confirmed what he had heard from Adea and suspected from the moment he had been warned of the problem.
He caressed Roxane and begun his speech with numerous compliments to appease her, firmly reiterating that she was his wife, but at the same time that she was simply his second wife and a minor bride, while Adea, who was his cousin and a princess of royal blood as well as his first wife, was and would remain the queen, and that he hoped Roxane would accept the situation as soon as possible.
When he had finished speaking, he turned to leave, noticing Roxane's angry expression and barely restrained rage, and ordered her to return to her tent and resume studying Greek, because he did not like to have interpreters around. Alexander thought that, given Roxane's mood, it would be best to stay away from her for a few days, to give her time to calm down and avoid his beautiful wife making him pay for his alleged mistreatment in bed. He had already realized that Roxane was as beautiful as she was dangerous and presumptuous, and this was a worrying combination.
It was a pity because she was a lot of fun in bed, but Hephaestion would undoubtedly be delighted to have his full attention again over the next few nights.
As he left the tent, followed by his officers, after warning Adea not to get into trouble, he noticed that the girl, having got what she wanted, definitely had the expression of a satisfied kitten, confirming once again, in the king's mind, the comparison between his very young queen and that particular feline, as graceful and lovable as it was dangerous depending on the moment... and he definitely preferred to see Adea metaphorically engaged in purring and playing with a ball of wool, rather than pulling out her claws...