My appetite left me at his words.
"Eat in peace, little brother," I said, my voice cracking from my unshed tears. "Eat as much as you want."
I sipped my wine, trying to settle my stomach and watched him eat his food. He had perfect manners and again it struck me how slowly he ate. How meticulously he moved.
Every gesture was beautiful. Precise.
And it was designed to seduce.
He moved like a whore.
Closing my eyes, I wanted to scream at the injustice of this. He was firstborn. He was the one who should be heir to the throne and here he was . . .
How could they have done this to him?
And why?
Because his eyes were different? Because those eyes made people uncomfortable?
There was nothing threatening about this boy. He wasn't like Styxx, who'd been known to have people locked up and beaten just because they offended him. One poor peasant had been beaten because he'd come to the palace without shoes on his feet. Shoes he couldn't afford.
Acheron didn't play pranks on me, or laugh at others. He didn't judge anyone or make them feel small.
Rather, he merely sat there silently eating.
A family came in and sat at the table beside us. Acheron paused as he noticed the boy and girl. The boy was a few years younger than he and the girl probably his age.
By the look on his face, I could tell he hadn't seen a family sit down together before. He studied them curiously.
"May I speak, my lady?"
"Of course."
"Do you and Styxx sit down and eat with your parents like that?"
"They are your parents too."
He returned to his food without commenting.
"Yes," I said. "We sometimes dine with them like that." But Acheron never had. Even when he'd been at home with us, he'd been banned from the family table.
After that, he didn't speak. Nor did he look at the family. He merely ate with those impeccable manners of his.
I choked down a few bites, but found I wasn't very hungry after all.
I took us back to our quarters to wait for the driver to finish his rest and feeding the horses. It was nearing dusk and I wasn't sure if we would continue to travel through the evening or not.
I sat down on the small chair and closed my eyes to rest. It had been a long day. I'd only arrived in Atlantis that morning and hadn't anticipated so quick a return. Not to mention the undue stress of stealing my brother away from my uncle. At the moment, all I wanted was to sleep.
I felt Acheron in front of me.
Opening my eyes, I saw him naked again save for his bands.
I frowned at him. "What are you doing?"
"I owe you for my food and clothes, my lady." He knelt down at my feet and lifted the hem of my himation.
I bolted upright and grabbed his hand. "You don't touch family like that, Acheron. It's wrong."
Confusion creased his brow.
And then I knew the most horrid of truths. "Estes . . . does he . . . Do you . . ." I couldn't bring myself to say the words.
"I pay him every night for being kind enough to shelter me."
I'd never wanted to cry so much in my life and yet I found my eyes strangely dry—even as anger and disgust welled inside me over what had been done to my brother. Oh, if I could only lay hands to my uncle . . . "Put your clothes on, Acheron. I have no need of you to pay me for anything."
He left me and did as I asked.
For the rest of the evening, I watched him while he sat silently in the corner without moving even a single muscle. Obviously he'd been trained to do that, too. I walked my mind through the horrors of the day's revelations.
Through the horror that must have been his life.
My poor Acheron.
I told him how glad father would be to welcome him home. How happy mother would be to see him again.
I told him stories of our palace and of how grand his room would be.
He listened silently while his eyes told me he didn't believe a single word I spoke.
Whores don't live in palaces.
I could hear his thoughts plainly.
And honestly, I was beginning to doubt those words myself.
November 4, 9532 BC
Acheron remained so silent for the rest of our journey to the docks that I began to worry. He didn't look well. In fact, he was prone to break into a sweat and shake for no apparent reason. There was an awful ashen cast to his skin.
Whenever I asked if something was the matter, he would only say that it sometimes happened to him.
As we were around more people, he became more nervous.
"Estes won't find you," I told him, hoping to alleviate his fear.
It didn't work. If anything, he grew more apprehensive.
Boraxis returned with our tokens for the journey across the Aegean that would take us home to Didymos. I knew I wouldn't truly stop being scared until the boat sailed.
At any moment, I was afraid my uncle would find us and take Acheron back.
It was just after midday that they allowed us to board the ship. Boraxis led the way with me in the middle and Acheron following.
The first mate took the tokens from Boraxis and gave him directions for our quarters, but as we walked past, he stopped Acheron.