Page 7 (1/2)

Afraid of being slaves to the superior technology of the Atlanteans, the Greek city-states had been fighting with everything we had

Unfortunately, it didn&039;t seeh Apollo favored the Atlanteans and the Apollites he&039;d created who shared Atlantis with theht of day, they were invincible

The Greek kings were at their end So the priests and oracles had gathered to see what, if anything, could return Apollo&039;s favor to the people who&039;d originally worshiped hiod can only be distracted and tamed by the most beautiful of all princesses," the oracle of Delphi had proclaimed to them all

Some lunatic had then named me as said princess

Thatin the wake of him and Styxx They were headed toward the Senate rooh, Ryssa," he said sternly "The decision is made You are to be offered to Apollo We need hiainst the Atlanteans So long as he continues to favor and aid them, ill never stand a chance If you are his lover, he will look ht be swayed to our cause"

It stuck in my craw that I was to be bartered and sold without so ht of Acheron I finally understood exactly how he felt Understood what it was like to have no say in as done toNo wonder he&039;d thrown me out of his room No doubt in my innocence I&039;d see of

However, I wasn&039;t through with them Determined, I followed Father and Styxx into the back corridor

As we approached theout in the atrium stopped me dead in my tracks

"He looks just like Styxx"

My father and Styxx paused as they heard them, too

"What say you?" another voice asked

"It&039;s true," the first senator said "They couldn&039;t look more alike had they been born twins The only difference is their eye color"

"His eyes are eerie," a third senator interrupted "You can tell he&039;s the son of sood, but he won&039;t say which one"

"And he&039;s in a stew you say?"

"Yes," the secondyou, Krontes, you have to visit hi he&039;s Styxx has helpedwith the royal prick Spend an hour with Acheron on his knees and the next time you see Styxx, you&039;ll have a whole new perspective"

They laughed

I felt the blood drain from my face as Father and Styxx&039;s turned red with fury

"You should have been at our banquet last night," the first man said "We dressed him in royal robes and passed him around like a bitch in heat"

I felt suddenly sick

Father charged into the group, calling for his guards to arrest the Styxx in such a way

Styxx defahter welled up inside me as I doubled over in pain Zeus forbid Styxx ever be insulted It didn&039;t raded and made to serve them

Acheron never mattered

At least not to anyone but me

June 23, 9529 BC

It was dahen I left the palace alone It was a foolish quest I was about, but I couldn&039;t stop myself Today Acheron turned nineteen

In iven him a present for the anniversary of his birth I wondered if he even knew the exact day when he&039;d coht about the celebration I had planned that our father had ruined by returning hiift under h the abandoned streets to the stew I had gone to before

I knocked on the back door and asked for Catera After a brief wait, she appeared with a frown

"My lady? Why are you here?"

I sain Just for a few minutes"

Sadness darkened her eyes "I wish I could help you, er here"

Cold dread seized o?"

"I know not where he was taken"

"Taken?" I whispered the word cautiously, hoping she didn&039;t ht she did

Unfortunately, she did "He was arrested several uards cah the front door and demanded to be shown the royal imposter Acheron was pulled from his bed while he still slept and bound into chains, then they dragged hi since"

My fingers nuift fall to the floor as I stood there too stunned to move

My father had taken him?

Of course he had I should have realized that myself No doubt he&039;d sent hisWhat kind of fool was I not to check on that?

But then I&039;d been too busy thinking aboutAcheron first There was no telling what they had done to hie that father couldn&039;t kill hi Styxx too

Catera picked up my wrapped present and handed it back to me

I thanked her out of habit and left

Acheron had to be so to find hiet him out

June 23, 9529 BC

It was midday before I finally found Acheron&039;s whereabouts I knew better than to ask er towardI didn&039;t already know, so I resorted to bribing the palace guards

Even that was easier said than done sinceat all and those who did were too afraid of my father&039;s wrath to speak of it

But at last, I had the answer My brother had been taken to the lowest part of the palace, beneath the foundation where they kept the worst sort of cri prince whose father hated him for no reason other than he&039;d been born

I didn&039;t want to go down there where you could hear the cries andflesh and torture It was only the knowledge that Acheron was there that e I needed to visit

I was quite sure that if he&039;d been given a choice he wouldn&039;t have been there either

I walked down the twisting corridors, pulling my cloak ever closer toNot even my torch could banish the dankness

As I passed the cells, those who could see the light called out for my mercy However it wasn&039;t my mercy they needed to be free It was my father&039;s

Unfortunately, he had none to spare

The captain of the guards led me to a small door at the very end of the corridor, but he refused to open it I could hear the sound of water dripping fro else There was a fetid stench perplace

"Just hand over the key to uard&039;s face paled "I cannot, Your Highness His majesty made it clear that anyone who opens this door will be sentenced to death I have children to feed"

I understood his fear and had no doubt whatsoever that ods knew, he&039;d killed men for far less So I thanked him and waited for him to leave me alone before I knelt on the cold, daned to pass food from the hallway into the cell

"Acheron?" I called "Are you in there?"

I lay flat on the filthy floor to peer through the sle bit of flesh or clothing or light

Finally, I heard sohtly

"Ryssa?" His voice eak and scratchy, but it filled h the opening as an offering to him "It is I, akribos"

I felt his hand take ers were thin, skeletal, his grip gentle

"You shouldn&039;t be here," he said in that raspy tone "No one is allowed to speak to ed breath I wanted to ask hiht living in a srip on his hand "How long have you been here?"

"I don&039;t know There&039;s no way to judge day frohed bitterly at that "No, Ryssa I have no "

I wanted to weep for hio, Princess You don&039;t belong down here in this place"

"Neither do you" I tried to reach hi save the dirt floor "Acheron?"

He didn&039;t answer

"Acheron, please I just need to hear the sound of your voice I need to know that you&039;re all right"

Silence answeredti he would retake it He didn&039;t While I waited, I kept talking to hih he refused to speak to ry and sullen I couldn&039;t ih the streets to lock hiht nity? It disgusted ht his dinner A bowl of thin soup and fetid water I stared at it in horror

Tonight Styxx would dine on his favorite foods and eat until he was full and content while nobles would gather to wish him well and dote upon his every whim Father would heap presents upon hiood wishes

And here Acheron would sit in a filthy cell Alone Hungry In chains

My eyes full of tears, I watched the servant close the door and leave us

"Happy birthday, Acheron," I breathed, knowing he couldn&039;t hear me

October 22, 9529 BC

For the last fewforhours before the palace began stirring with activity, I&039;dwith Acheron at his cell He seldoet a word or two out of him

I cherished every one of them

I only wished he&039;d participate more in our discussions Sad to say that at tiry Ihim tidbits of bread and sweets The very least he could do was be se toowith Father, Styxx and the High Priest in Father&039;s study to discuss what I would have to wear for the cereinally the council had wanted to offer od completely naked Luckily the priest had talked theown and jewelry

As the scribe took notes, Styxx fell suddenly ill Too weak to stand, he collapsed on the floor where he lay like a s Every heartbeat seemed to make him paler Weaker

Terrified, I watched as Father picked him up in his arms and carried hiht have possessed hihtI wanted was to see him hurt

Father laid him on the bed and called for a physician II could do Styxx couldn&039;t even speak He breathed as if his throat was parched and his lungs were daed He stared atto hi for him, I took his hand into mine and held him the way I&039;d often done Acheron It was rare for Styxx to tolerate my touch which told me just how ill he was

By the tiaunt

I moved away so that they could examine him and while they worked, I watched fretfully

"What is it?" ht with concern

The physicians appeared baffled "I&039;ve never seen anything like it, Sire"

"What?" I asked, hed "It&039;s as if he&039;s about to die froh I know he&039;s never le meal From the looks of him, I doubt he&039;ll live out the day It doesn&039;t make sense How could a prince have these symptoms?"

My heart stilled at his words and instantly I knew the source of Styxx&039;s illness "Acheron," I said to "

My father didn&039;t hearat the physician to heal his heir

"Father!" I shouted, shaking his ar because Acheron is dying Do you not recall what the oman said when they were born? If Acheron dies, so does Styxx Acheron is the one who is starving to death in his prison cell If we heal hiuards and ordered the Acheron to the throne room

I ran after them as they walked the breadth of the palace and went to the below-ground cells to retrieve him As always, it was dank and smelly I hated this place and it bothered me much that Acheron had been confined here these , I stood back as they opened the cell door Finally I would see hi me Acheron

Never in my life had I cursed aloud, but I cursed foully when I sa they&039;d kept my brother

The room was so small that he&039;d been forced to sit doubled over inside it It was even smaller than the one Estes had used in Atlantis to punish hiht whatsoever inside it

My brother had lived in total darkness and filth for almost a year now Unable to move or stretch, or to even relieve himself Not even animals were treated this poorly Why had Acheron never told uard tried to pull him out Too weak to protest, Acheron spilled across the hallway floor The stench of him and the room was so rancid that it made my stomach lurch I was forced to pinch my nose closed so as not to vo shallow and faint He was so thin that he didn&039;t look real lying there I could see every single bone in his body A thick beard covered his face and his hair hung around him like a frail spiderweb He looked like an old man, not a boy of nineteen

I knelt beside him and pulled his head into my lap "Acheron?"

He didn&039;t respond Like Styxx, he was too weak to do anything more than stare blankly at uard

He curled his lip in repugnance "My lady, he is foul"