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“Alexander, where are we going?” Hephaestion stopped on the mountainside, squinting up at Alexander haring off over the rocky ground above him. He was out of breath, hot, and his legs were beginning to tremble underneath him because Alexander had set such a fast pace.
“To the top of the mountain,” Alexander replied cheerfully, stopping to look back at Hephaestion, one leg up on a rock and looking more than half-goat.
“Why?”
“Because we can.”
“Yes, but why?”
Sensing something amiss, Alexander came nearer to Hephaestion who stood obdurately below him. “To see what’s over the other side.”
“We know what’s over the other side. More bloody mountains.”
Alexander smiled. “Yes, but don’t you want to see what they look like?”
“No.”
“But you will be able to say that you have reached the top of Mount Parnassus. Dionysus’s mountain, home of the Muses.” He smiled beguilingly.
Hephaestion just looked at him.
“Come on,” Alexander coaxed. “It’s not far now.”
“You always say that,” Hephaestion said, bending over and leaning his hands on his trembling knees. “And every time I get to something that looks like the top, there’s another bloody slope in front of me, even steeper than before.”
Alexander chuckled. “You know you love doing it really. Just us, and the wind and the sky. Besides, what would you be doing instead?”
“I don’t know. Enjoying myself.”
“Doing what, sitting around being lazy? You know you’d get bored stupid.”
“Yes, but why do we have to do it in such a rush?”
“Because there are other things to be doing,” Alexander replied brightly. “And anyway, the weather might change. There’s still snow up there.”
“I know. It’s not going anywhere. Nor’s the mountain. It will still be here tomorrow.”
“Yes, but we might not be,” Alexander said quietly.
With a groan, Hephaestion straightened and began to climb again. Alexander, after a brief moment of surprise, moved quickly after him and fell into step beside him.
“Shall we stop for a rest?” he asked, trying to look at Hephaestion’s bent face.
“No.”
He couldn’t let Alexander down. He couldn’t let him follow his dreams alone. If Alexander wanted to stand on top of the world, then he would be beside him.
After a few moments of silent climbing, Alexander said softly, “Not many people can say they’ve touched the sky.”
Hephaestion flashed a look at him, and Alexander said, “We will be able to say we have. We will be able to see the gods face to face, to breathe the same air as them. To feel their breath in our hair.”
“Oh, God Almighty!” Hephaestion said, stopping and covering his face with his hands. Why did he have to go and fall in love with such a dreamer?
“What?” Alexander asked alarmed, stopping too.
Hephaestion dropped his hands and looked at Alexander. “You’re not going to go to the top of the mountain and throw yourself off to see if you can fly are you?”
Alexander laughed in surprise. “No. Why should I?”
“Because it’s blasphemy if you’re going up there to talk to the gods. The wind could catch us and blow us off, and it could be the hand of the gods punishing us.” Hephaestion had frightened himself now. “How do you know they want to talk to us? That they aren’t going to pelt us with ice and hail to make us leave?”
Alexander stilled, his eyes becoming round like an owl’s, and he got that look about him that there was no gainsaying, that obdurate, unreachable look that brought his dreams to life.
“They won’t,” he said.
Hephaestion stared at him, anxiety in his eyes. There was never any question that he wasn’t going to the top with Alexander. He just doubted his own ability.
Alexander stared back at him, his eyes softening as he slowly smiled. “You can do it,” he said. “We’ll have a rest, and one last push should do it.”
Hephaestion’s lower lip tightened and he staggered slightly as the loose rock under his foot slipped. He sat down suddenly, and pulled his bag off his back.
“It’s a good job I thought to bring some food with us. All you brought is your precious self.”
“Ah, you’re wrong,” Alexander said, sitting down beside him. He slipped his rolled up cloak off his shoulder and opened it to reveal apples, figs and sweetbreads. “Oh, you’ve been carrying water.”
With a wry lift of his eyebrows, Hephaestion passed him the heavy waterskin, then proceeded to pull loaves of bread, cheese and onions from his bag. He laid Alexander’s share in his lap as Alexander drank thirstily from the skin.
With an impish grin, Alexander handed the water back to Hephaestion and said, “I knew there was a reason I brought you with me.”
Hephaestion rolled his eyes melodramatically as he took a long drink of water. “What would you do without me?”