Island of Samos, 440 BC

As the days on the ship dragged on, Alexander brooded on the last few days. He tried to stay angry with his mother, but now that he knew his error, he couldn’t. He could only feel guilt and shame. He wanted it to be her fault, he wanted to have a reason why he’d run away, but he knew he had to take responsibility. He had finally snapped after years of bullying about his pale skin and his red hair. He had turned on the bullies and decided he was Thracian after all. That wouldn’t have caused a major problem except that he had gone on from that point and had very aggressively attacked Greece in general and Athens specifically. He didn’t really mean any of it, his father was Athenian after all, but the words had hit home and the backlash fr...

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