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He was right, and deep in my heart I knew it All I&039;d done in my stupidity was to hurt him more I had shown hiiven choices

Noould have no say in anything about his life He would be less than nothing in Atlantis

I sobbed as a guard grabbed hihly by his arm and forced him into a chariot Acheron never looked back at me I realized he must truly hate me for what I&039;d done to him and I couldn&039;t blame him for it

Heartsick, I stood there and watched as they rode away

"Acheron!" Maia screa out of the doorway

Only then did he look back His face was stoic, but I saw the tears in his eyes as he waved good-bye to her

Falling to my knees, I pulled Maia into my arms as she sobbed with the heartfelt sadness that haunted one and there was no hope of ain Father would make sure of that

Then I remembered the words the old priestess had uttered the day of his birth

May the gods have mercy on you, little one No one else ever will

I knew just how right she&039;d been Acheron was right, the gods had cursed him

Otherould have had our three days

June 23, 9530 BC

It had been one year since I last saw Acheron Maia and I sat in the orchard of the su about hi How he fared I told Maia that I was sure he was fine, but inother than fine There was no telling as being done to hi on olives and cheese while playing in the warm sun

I&039;d sent numerous letters to Acheron in Atlantis to no avail No one would tell inally contacted me had died under suspicious circumstances-that much I&039;d overheard in a conversation betweenafter Acheron had returned to Atlantis

Estes hasn&039;t spoke to me since

I&039;d attempted to ask my uncle on his last visit about Acheron He brushed me aside with a bitter dis and he will no longer acknowledge me in the least

I&039;m dead to my uncle Not that it really matters to me at this point He died to me the moreed

But it ht about me anyged now that he no longer even recalledhiain Because of what I&039;d done, Father now keeps er have the freedom to travel without his express per out the stables and replaced with another guard who refuses to even speak to es my presence

"How can you let your oin suffer so?" I&039;d asked him barely a week after Acheron had been taken

"Estes would never do such a thing It&039;s another of your lies designed toyet I&039;d have you whipped for such treachery"

I&039;d wanted to choke hi were the rumors I&039;d heard of political trouble between Greece and Atlantis Our truce seemed to be threatened What would happen to Acheron should war resuh Father and Styxx denied it, Acheron was still a Greek prince He could easily be taken prisoner and executed

I wondered if Father had considered the fact that if Acheron were killed, he&039;d lose his precious Styxx in the process Most likely, he&039;d forgotten that bit of prophecy

But I remembered and I ached for a brother I doubted I&039;d ever see again

Acheron was lost to me now

If only I could see him one last tio while he was staying with us on Didymos Styxx and my father were naturally heartbroken But I wasn&039;t so stricken While a part of me was saddened by his untih Estes had been rather young to have had the seizure that claimed his life, I couldn&039;t help but wonder if it hadn&039;t been sent by the gods to punish him for what he&039;d done to Acheron Perhaps it was uncharitable of me to think that Still, I couldn&039;t help but wonder

We were headed now for Atlantis to collect Acheron and bring his

Because of the i ith Atlantis, Father intended to close Estes&039;s house and sell it I couldn&039;t be more thrilled by the prospect And I was sure that Acheron would be even more so No doubt he wanted to see it kept even less than I did

Before we&039;d left home, a suite had been prepared for Acheron at the palace I couldn&039;t wait to see hiain What I could al, Father and Styxx allowed me to accompany them Of course that was only so that I could keep Acheron away froain

Just a few days more and we&039;d reach Atlantis This time, when I collected Acheron, he would stay where he was safe

September 26, 9529 BC

I was excited beyond excited when I saw Estes&039;s house again Not ed since my last visit Even the same servant opened the door He seemed surprised to see the three of us, especially my father

"I&039;ve come to collect Acheron," loomy old man led us down the same hallway I&039;d traveled once before Down to the roohts

My happiness died as we reached it and reality ca

I knew it before the servant opened the door

When it swung open my worst fears were confirmed with crystal clarity

"What is this?" my father roared

I covered my mouth with my hand as I saw Acheron on his bed with aentwined on the linen sheets I was horrified by the sight of what they were doing to Acheron Of what he was doing to them

In all my life, I&039;d never seen such depravity

The man pulled back fro of this?" he demanded in an equally i that he was an Atlantean of wealth and power "How dare you interrupt us!"

Acheron gave one last playful thrust and lick to the woman&039;s body before he rolled over onto his back He lay unabashedly naked on the bed, sryXerxes of Didymos"

That took some of the bluster out of the prince, but not much

"Leave us," athered his clothes and his companion and did as my father ordered

Acheron wiped his ray cast to it He was even thinner than he&039;d been the last tiaunt He was again adorned with the gold bands on his neck, arms, wrists and ankles

Worst of all, I saw the balls on his tongue flash in the light as he spoke No longer did he clench his teeth as if embarrassed by what he was Noas as if he took pride in it

"So what brings you here, Majesty?" Acheron asked, his toneand cold "Do you wish to spend time with me, too?"

It was then I realized the hurt boy I&039;d saved was gone The ry Defiant

This wasn&039;t the youth who&039;d fearfully snuck out of his roorass on his feet

This was a man who had been used one time too many And he wanted the world to know exactly how much he hated it and everyone as part of it

"Get up," my father snarled "Cover yourself"

One corner of hisexpression "Why? People pay five hundred gold pieces an hour to see et to look for free"

Father strode over, grabbed hihly by his arm and pulled him from the bed

Acheron covered Father&039;s hand with his own and tsked at hiold pieces an hour if you want to bruise me"

Bile rose in my throat

Father backhanded Acheron so hard he fell to the floor where he sprawled naked on his back

Laughing, Acheron licked at the blood on his lips before he wiped it away on the back of his scarred hand "It&039;s fifteen hundred to usting"

With a wry grin, Acheron rolled to his side and gracefully pushed hiht actually hurt s" He walked aroundhiot Whores don&039;t have feelings We have no dignity for you to offend"

"I am not your father"

"Yes, I know the story well It was beaten into o You&039;re not my father and Estes isn&039;t my uncle It saves his reputation if everyone thinks I&039;ave shelter to It&039;s fine to sell a hoar, a worthless bastard But the aristocracy frowns on those who sell their blood relatives"

Father backhanded hihed, unfazed by the fact that his nose was now bleeding along with his lips "If you really want to hurtfor the whips But if you continue to strike ry He doesn&039;t like anyone to mar my beauty"

"Estes is dead," my father roared

Acheron froze in place, then blinked as if he couldn&039;t believe what he&039;d heard "Estes is dead?" he repeated hollowly

My father sneered at him "Yes Would that it were you in his place"

Acheron took a deep breath and the relief in his eyes was tangible

I could alhts in my head

It&039;s over It&039;s finally over

Acheron&039;s obvious relief made my father furious "How dare you have no tears for him! He sheltered and protected you"

Acheron looked at him drily "Believe me, I&039;ve paid hiht when he took me to his bed Every day when he sold me to whomever paid his price"

"You lie!"

"I&039;m a whore, Father, not a liar"

Father attacked him then He beat and kicked furiously at Acheron who didn&039;t bother to fight or protect himself No doubt he&039;d been trained to take that too I ran to Acheron, trying to shield him

Styxx pulled Father back "Please, Father," he said "Cal you need is to tax your heart I don&039;t want to see you die as Estes did"

Acheron lay on the floor once more His face covered in blood and bruises, had already started to swell

"Don&039;t," he said, pushing me away He spat the blood from his mouth to the floor where it landed in a stark red splatter

"Get out," Father snarled at hihed at that and cast a look to Styxx "Rather difficult for that, isn&039;t it?"

Father started for hiain, but Styxx put himself between them

"Guards!" Styxx shouted

They appeared instantly

Styxx indicated Acheron with a jerk of his chin "Put this trash on the street where it belongs"

Acheron pushed himself to his feet "I don&039;t need their help I can walk out the door on my own"

"You need clothes and ,"but our scorn"

Acheron&039;s battered face was completely stoic "Then I am rich indeed from the abundance of that which you&039;ve shown me" At the door, he paused to s tiaze went to Styxx "But then it&039;s not me you really hate, is it? What you truly despise is how badly you want to fuck your own son"

My father bellowed in anger

With his head held high, Acheron left the rooo what Estes was doing with him and you denied it How can you blame him for this?"

My father snarled at me "Estes didn&039;t do this Acheron did it himself Estes told me of the way he parades himself around The way he tempts everyone He&039;s a destroyer just as they said at his birth He will not rest until he ruins every person he&039;s around"

I was appalled How could a man renowned for his practical sense be so blind and stupid?

"He&039;s just a confused boy, Father He needs a fausted by hiht up to hi the house and pulled him to a stop The torhelse, he ?" I asked

"Does it matter?"

It did to me But I kneouldn&039;t answer

I pulled my cloak off and wrapped it around his shoulders so that at least his nudity would be covered I raised the cowl to shield his head and beauty, knowing it would be modest protection from the world around hiht hand to his bloodied lips and kissed the knuckles

Without another word, he turned and left

I stood in the dooratching hih the crowded street and realized that he rong He did have dignity He walked down the street with all the proud bearing of a king

May 17, 9529 BC

I was in thewith my maid Sera when I saw an exceptionally tall ht it was Styxx, especially when a sudden gust of wind blew the cowl off of his head and I saw his incredibly handsome face

But as I started to call out to him, I noticed that he wore the scarlet chiton of a prostitute-it was forbidden by law for prostitutes to appear in public wearing anything else and their headsprostitute was caughtwith people without that mode of dress to warn "decent" people what they were, they could be executed on sight

Acheron quickly covered his head again as he h the crowd

He looked much better than he had the last tiolden and tanned, and he was no longer painfully thin His chiton covered one shoulder, leaving the other bare An engraved golden cuff encircled his left biceps over an arm that finally had serious muscle to it

My word, he ithout a doubt the most handsome of men-even if he wasSera to browse over cloth, I followed after hirateful to find him alive and well

But it brokehimself

He met an attractive older wo up to him