FIC: Betrayal

[heroineanilem]

An October night in Zarangiana was not much different from the summer nights of Macedonia; the air was hot and muggy, dripping with humidity. It was only  by sudden whiffs of cool air, rushing through open doors and windows and unnoticeable cracks in the walls of the aged castle, that one could notice the first signs of refreshing autumn. Yet,

Comments

[stonestepper]

Extremely interesting and thought provoking. You brought me right into the room of torture and again in the rooms of the king. Not only could I feel Alexander and Hephaestion's pain and angry bewilderment, I also enjoyed the way their minds worked in figuring out the puzzle as to why the king was betrayed. Conflicting human feelings of revenge and duty were very well written. A powerful story.

Wendy

[heroineanilem]

Thank you for you kind words. It's encouraging to know that I succeeded in what I planned. I really tried to present their anguish, bewilderment and thoughts realisticly.

[parisad]

Very interesting story! It tries to shows Alexander's and Hephaestion's feelings in that difficult moment. Well done!
I find the episode of Philotas' death and Hephaestion's involving in his torture very interesting: I've written a short fic about it, did you read it?
Personally, I think that Alexander and Philotas' friendship was not so strong as someone could think: the motivation for the plot against Alexander, involving Philotas and (probably) Parmenion came from far, IMO, probably since Alexander's became King.

Nice story :)

[heroineanilem]

Thank you,dear. I'm happy that you liked it. I do agree with you; I don't think either that Alexander and Philotas were close friends at all. However, he did trust him,because of Parmenion or his own capabilities, I don't know,otherwise I doubt he would let him command Companion Cavalry in all major battles with Darius. I tried to bring across idea that it wasn't a move of passion, but that it had been lingering for quiet long time. After all I think that Phillipos' alite was tightly connected among themselves.

[coraldawn]

Great treatment of a difficult period and an episode in Alexander's life that is very controversial. It is so difficult to know now what exactly happened; why Alexander dealt with this seeming betrayal in such a messy fashion, given he was always a brilliant tactician. I think if Philotas acted as he did today - for example, somebody informed him of a terror plot in which he himself was not involved, and he kept quiet about it - he would most certainly be answerable. But the way you have the two friends, Alexander and Hephaistion, reason through it all, and come to the conclusion that Philotas was simply taking advantage of the pages' conspiracy to achieve a goal he himself had long wanted, is very nice. I also liked how you brought in Philotas' friendship with Amyntas, Alexander's cousin, and his family's ties of loyalty to Alexander of Lyncestis. Since Alexander was childless, had no viable strong brother left, it would be an ideal opportunity for Philotas and his supporters to kill him, get rid of the Argead line and carve up the

[heroineanilem]

Thanks for such an encouraging comment. Oh, it's a nice question you posed here; I never thought much of Barsine's son,but, yes, the whole incident could have shaken him to the point that he started thinking seriously about growing empire and consequences of his death. Not that he hadn't before, it's just that before he had to keep safe from an outside enemy, while this brought him into reality.
As for my English, I'll repeat what I told Fiona: I should run and hide in a mousehole:)

[coraldawn]

There is absolutely NO need for you to hide in a mousehole. You should be standing proud for writing a powerful story and not letting grammar get in the way! It will be great if Fiona can help!

While reading your story, the timing of Barsine's son's conception, struck me again. It's always a bit of a mystery why she had her child after four or more years with him. Why not sooner? If he was not too interested in her, why at all? But it would make sense if he was rattled enough to want an Argead heir ASAP! It would also make sense if he then sent her off to the safety of her own lands and people in Western Asia, to keep this heir safe!

[parisad]

Uhm...very interesting this matter about Barsines and her son...unfortunately now I'm too busy with my studies of modern History (and my BIG book by Marc Bloch "Historians and History" waiting for me...)to elaborate about this, but...*eh eh* I think a child doesn't come just when you want to...it's possible that Alexander made love with Barsines but he didn't make her pregnant for years...;0) Ok, it's not a particularly intelligent hypothesis, I admit, but it's a possibility...:)

Ok I'm feeling a bit stupid today :P

Hoping to make a contribution

[anonymous]

Hey - I am definitely happy to discover this. cool job!

Re: Hoping to make a contribution

[heroineanilem]

I've found your reply a bit late, but it's always nice to know that people appreciate the work. Thanks!

[anonymous]

It's dark fic and usually I don't like those, but this one I enjoyed.

[heroineanilem]

This is a very late reply, as I'm not really active on LJ anymore. However, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Personally, I dislike unnecessary dark emo fanfic drama, but this one I did based on primary and secondary sources, so it's all actual history (obviously apart from my descriptions),