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"He is not my son!"

I shook ht all along Father had intentionally sent him away and he would never allow him to return Why had I not seen the truth earlier? Because I loved

At least now I knew the truth

Now I saw him for what he really was Heartless

"So that whole story you told ?"

"What are you talking about?"

He didn&039;t even remember his own lies "You toldit to protect hiether as it would be an added target for ene Acheron hoh You never intended to return hiht of him and Styxx truly sickened me just then And with every step that took me away from my father, I lost respect for a man I had once adored

How could he do this? How could he not care? How could the same man who coddled me and Styxx turn his back on his heir?

I returned toon the balcony He had his legs bent, his chin resting on his knees, and his arain His eyes were hollow and empty He looked so ill and frail How could my father fear a boy ouldn&039;t even aze?

I knelt beside him and reached to touch him He tensed as he always did

Acheron didn&039;t like to be touched No doubt he&039;d suffered enough touching to last his lifetih I choked on the words

How could I tell this boy the truth? I&039;d begged for his trust, only to find out that I was a fool

How could I tell hiain be sent to Estes to be prostituted to anyone illing to pay for him?

I couldn&039;t let hio back to Atlantis

"I&039; to take you to the summer palace to wait on hiuilt roost into take him someplace safe Secure Someplace where no one would hurt him or shame him

I stood up and motioned for him to follow me and he folloithout question

We moved down the back hallways the e&039;d entered the palace-like petty, fearful thieves instead of the heir and princess of this land Acheron didn&039;t knoere being secretive or that I was terrified of ould happen if anyone saw us

Luckily they didn&039;t and in no ti how long I could stay away before Father dragged me home

What would happen to Acheron then?

November 18, 9532 BC

The summer palace was completely empty this time of year Only a small handful of servants were in residence Petra our cook, her child and her husband as also the groundskeeper A housekeeper and overseer finished out the small number

Luckily, they were all loyal tohere with a guest who bore a striking resemblance to the heir I didn&039;t explain Acheron&039;s existence and they didn&039;t ask They merely accepted it and made a room ready for him that was only two doors down from my own

Acheron was extremely hesitant as he entered the roo back to his old room where uncle had sold him to others

"May I speak, Idika?"

I hated whenever he called me that "I&039;ve told you repeatedly that you don&039;t have to ask me to speak, Acheron Say whatever is on yourout of turn that he couldn&039;t see this room with?"

My heart wept at his whispered question He still had a hard ti that he didn&039;t have to use his body to pay for every kindness or staple "It&039;s your room, Acheron You share it with no one"

The relief in those silver eyes hten

"Thank you, idika"

I wasn&039;t sure what to despisehing, I patted hiently on the arht in for you to wear"

He turned away before he spoke again "He&039;ll be angry should he learn I&039;ve touched thery, Acheron Believe round my teeth at his subservience While Styxx went so far as to be obnoxiously do of power he had over the done to hi I could do to make him feel safe and more comfortable, I left him in his room and went to rest inabout hi I&039;d noticed was that older people seemed more immune to whatever it was Acheron possessed Or if not immune, they were less likely to act upon it

Not to mention, the staff would realize he was family and that alone would keep them away from him

I hoped

Weary, I went over to my desk and wrote a quick note to Father to let him know that I needed some time away from Didymos He was used to my travels as I often visited my ed aunt in Athens or would come here to the summer palace so that I could just be alone Like Acheron, I valuedas I had Boraxis withand whereabouts, ent of my impulsive trips

The only place he&039;d forbidden me to visit had been Atlantis-now I knehy And to think, I&039;d honestly believed hierous a trip for a girl e to make without proper escort Little had I suspected it was to protect his brother and his licentiousness

I&039;d just finished writing the note telling my father I was in Athens, when I stood up and paused My attention was caught by arden At first, I couldn&039;t believe what I saw

It was Acheron

How unlike hi without express permission He would barely move unless he was told to do so I had to blink twice just toBut no, it was definitely he

Even though it was a h to need a cloak outside Yet there he stood, barefoot, walking in the grass by the fountain He had his head bent low and appeared to be curling his toes in the grass It looked as if he was enjoying the sensation, but since he never s?

I grabbed my cloak and headed outside to check on him

As soon as he saw ainst the far stone wall With no place else to go, he sank to his knees and held his arive me, Idika Please, I-I-I meant no offense"

I knelt beside him and took his face in my hands to soothe him He tensed so much at my touch that it was a wonder he wasn&039;t brittle frory at you You&039;ve done nothing wrong Shh"

He sed as his fright turned to confusion Dear gods, what had they done to hi to warrant it?

"I was only curious why you were out here without your shoes on It&039;s cold and I didn&039;t want you to catch a fever"

My concern baffled hiestured toward his room that held a sarden The door was still ajar "I didn&039;t see anyone here so I thought it safe I just wanted to feel the grass I-Ito return to my room as soon as I finished I swear it"

"I know," I said, stroking his face again before I released hiree now that I didn&039;t touch hiht I&039;m not upset at you But I don&039;t understand why you&039;d want to feel the grass as cold as it is It&039;s all dried up this time of year"

He brushed his hand over it "Does it not always feel like this?"

I frowned at his question "You&039;ve never touched grass before?"

"I think I did when I was small But I don&039;t reentle action that wrung my heart "I only wanted to touch it once I won&039;t leave ain, Idika I should have asked per his head down

I wanted to reach out and touch hiain, but I kne much he hated that "You don&039;t have to ask my permission, Acheron You may come here anytime you wish You&039;re free now"

He looked at his branded palm that held his slave&039;saped at his disclosure "You&039;ve been locked in your room since you arrived at Atlantis?"

"Not always When idikos returns fro room I&039;m always the first one he wants to see Then sometimes idikos chains o to the dining hall and to the ballrooht he slept in Estes&039;s bed He&039;d already told lanced at ht hi silver eyes "I&039;m allowed to sit on the balcony between clients so that my skin isn&039;t so pale Meara will even let me eat out there sometimes"

I&039;d learned from him that Meara was the maid who&039;d written to me and who&039;d helped him escape She&039;d been the kindest of his keepers and the only one who&039;d made sure that he ate and was co I&039;d learned from him was that Estes used food to control hi to others How much he was allowed depended on how many clients he&039;d seen that day and how happy they&039;d been with hiht sickened me

"You love Meara, don&039;t you?"

"She&039;s always kind to me Even when I&039;m bad, she doesn&039;t hurt h with Acheron and left atheh and he allowed it, he was punished for it If he didn&039;t allow them to hurt him, they were displeased and Estes punished hi them what they paid for Acheron couldn&039;t win this battle

I clenchedout to touch hiather hihtmare that had been his life was completely erased from his memory

But ho could I make him understand that he was safe now? That no one would ever touch him without his explicit invitation? That he was free to make his own decisions and that no one would beat hi outside to feel the grass on his feet?

It would take ti back to my room" I pointed to the doors that opened intoas you like When you&039;re hungry, tell Petra, the tall older woman you met on our arrival, and she&039;ll make you whatever you wish If you need me, don&039;t hesitate to come to my room The day is yours, little brother All I ask is that you please put on your shoes so that you won&039;t fall ill"

He nodded and didn&039;t h distance between us that he was sure I couldn&039;t strike hi to be done except to show him that I , I returned to my room where I watched hi under his cloak Then he explored the s that was there, feeling the texture and sun to set that he made his way back to his room I waited a few minutes before I went to the kitchen and had Petra take hihness?" she asked as I started to leave

"Yes, Petra?"

"Our guestis he all right?"

"He&039;s fine He&039;s just bashful and quiet"

She nodded before she hter, whose name I couldn&039;t recall, smiled at me from the corner where she played by the fire

"You&039;re friend seehness Like the puppy I found last summer At first he was scared to let anyone near hi hi a few feet fro in the world He never leavesin the world needs kindness, child"

She nodded, then went back to playing

I watched her for a iven toys even before Estes had taken him away Back then, I would share irl was right My brother was sadly lost I just hoped that in ti obviously was That he would learn to feel welcome in a world that so obviously hated him

Nove to It was almost the noon hour before I awoke And what awakenedof all

It was the sound of a child&039;s laughter

I got up and pulled my red woolen cloak around me before I walked to theso that I could look outside

There in the garden was Acheron with the cook&039;s young daughter They sat on a cloth with bread, airl would squeal with laughter every so often

When the girl decided to stand, she reached out and touched Acheron&039;s shoulder He didn&039;t cringe at all To my amazement, he actually picked her up and set her on her feet so that she could run inside

For the first time since I&039;d found him, he was relaxed He ate without fear and his features weren&039;t pinched He glanced about openly and would actually look the girl in the face

The girl returned with her doll which she handed to Acheron He took it and pretended to feed it an olive The girl squealed in delight

Enchanted by their play, I headed outside to join theht went out of his eyes I watched as he literally pulled back into hio, Maia," he whispered to the girl

"But I like playing with you, Acheron You don&039;t get angry atquestions"

"She can stay," I added quickly "I didn&039;t aze locked on the ground

I sighed before I glanced to the girl "Maia, would you fetch hness I&039;ll be right back"

As soon as she was gone, I turned to Acheron ithdrawn and fearful again "Have you been around many children?"

He shook his head "It&039;s forbidden"

"But you seehter around hi from me other than a playmate To her, I&039;m no different than any other adult She doesn&039;t mind my eyes and she isn&039;t aware that I&039;m unnatural"

"You&039;re not unnatural, Acheron"

He looked up at me with those eerie eyes "You feel the pull of me You haven&039;t acted on it yet, but you feel it just like everyone else Your heart quickens when you watch oes dry as your eyes dilate I know the physical signs I&039;ve seen them too many times not to"

It was true and I hated the fact that he could see inside me so easily "I would never touch you like that"

A tic started in his jaw before he looked away "Gerikos and others have said that, too And when they can no longer resist it, they hate me and punish me as if I have control over it As if I aze, I saw the anger that burned deep inside him "Sooner or later everyone who&039;s around nited my own "And I will never touch you like that, Acheron"

The doubt in those eyes burned throughto show him that not everyone was an animal out to mount him "She never touched you like that, now, did she?"

The look he gave me told me the answer My stomach shrank

"She was kinder than most"

No wonder he didn&039;t trust me How in the name of Olympus could I ever convince him that I wasn&039;t like that when everyone else had used him? Yes, I felt that unnatural allure he spoke of But I wasn&039;t an anies It sickened me that others had so little control that they would have used him so

"I will prove myself to you, Acheron You can trust me I promise"

Before he could respond, Maia returned with my wine I offered her a kind so bathe and dress"

After rising to my feet, I headed toward my room At the door I paused to look back at the the dice while Maia held her doll He was right, there was an unnatural so about him that called out to my body Even when he was unhealthy in his appearance, he was beautiful Colanced away before I entered my room

"You&039;re my brother, Acheron," I whispered "I won&039;t hurt you" It was a promise not only to him, but to myself as well

Deceh some days even to venture outside without cloaks

Over a month had passed since I escaped with Acheron My letters sent to my father with false locations helped to keep us safe As did the s of us in other cities I just hoped he continued to buy intowhen it would be safe for us to travel

The drugs were gone fronized the boy I&039;d found chained to a bed