Page 7 (2/2)

"You take him to my bed or I will see you beaten for your insolence"

Indecision played across his face for several uard to fetch food and drink while I followed the I couldn&039;t believe the shell of a huuard&039;s ararden How could my father have done this to hi uard placed him on my bed, then left immediately I sent my maids for water and linen so that we could bathe some of the filth from him

It was so horrible to be near him like this He smelled so bad, looked so weakHow could anyone suffer such a tragedy? And I felt co my sheet, I tried to wipe some of the dirt from his face

My ht

I cradled Acheron&039;s head as I carefully fed him small pieces of bread But he didn&039;t seem to want to chew I didn&039;t know if he was too weak or too far gone to even knoas bread in his mouth

"My lady," Kassandra said, "You&039;ll ruin your clothes touching him like that"

"I don&039;t care" And I didn&039;t All thathis life I dripped wine slowly into his mouth "Eat, Acheron," I breathed

Weakly, he turned his head away froed, hoarse whisper "Let me die"

Tears choked me as I realized hewithout food, praying for death to come and free him fro I could do would be to let hio

But I couldn&039;t I wouldn&039;t just lose him, I&039;d lose Styxx as well and I loved both my brothers

"Stay with me, Acheron," I whispered

But he didn&039;t do it for ht for death and the days passed as I watched my father&039;s physicians violently force feed him while he tried to spit the food out They were merciless in their attention

They kept him tied to my bed and pried his lips apart so that they could pour milk, wine and honey down his throat He would try to spit the food and drink out only to have them beat him and hold his mouth and nose shut until he sed it

He cursed them and he cursed hter in co his every need Meanwhile bruises marred Acheron&039;s skin, especially his jahere they continually pried it apart The physicians demanded that he be "fed" at least every two hours

Every tis, he&039;d stiffen and cast er, the fights beca at all The hateful angry glares were replaced by a hopeless resignation that hurt me even more Still they left hied his position Only his location was different

My brother&039;s reality was ever the same

November 1, 9529 BC

Today Father had Acheron moved to a new roole on the bed, but at least this tis continued, but now they only occurred five ti Acheron every chance I could and every time I saw him my heart brokeas if he were i around him

"I wished you&039;d speak to me, Acheron"

He acted as if I weren&039;t even there

"You have to know that I love you I don&039;t want to see you like this Please, little brother Could you at least look at ered ainst hih by the insults of uards and servants who fed hie, I left him and continued my preparations for Apollo

Nove on his bed He stared at the ceiling as always, ignoring me while I tried to talk to him

"I wish you&039;d speak to ether You were my best friend The only person I could ever talk to whoain, there was no response

What would it take to e me? Surely he couldn&039;t continue to lie in bed like that Then again, given the fact that he&039;d been sitting in a tiny hole these rownfor hi odd Frowning, I headed to the bedpost where his ankle was secured by a metal shackle It tookat Fresh and dried blood coated theskin that was mostly hidden from my view by the cuffs So Acheron wasn&039;t always inert like this Fro, I could tell he&039;d been fighting fiercely for his freedom whenever he was alone

As I saw the blood, h of this abuse

My fury s, I left his room to find our father

After a quick search, I learned he was out in the training area watching as Styxx practiced his sword fighting

"Father?"

He gave itated stare that I&039;d dare to interrupt his encouragements to Styxx "Is there a problem?"

"There is indeed I want Acheron freed I demand it"

He sneered at my request "Why? What would he do with it?"

I wanted hi to someone who&039;d never caused him harm Someone as his own flesh and blood "You can&039;t leave him tied like a beast, Father It&039;s cruel He can&039;t even attend his basic needs"

"Nor can he shame us"

"Shame us how?"

"Women," he snarled "You&039;re ever blind Can you not see him for what he is?"

I knew exactly who and what my brother was "He&039;s a boy, Father"

"He&039;s a whore" There was more venom in those words than in the snake pit where my father threw his enemies

It made my ire seethe "He was a tortured slave you turned out into the street What was he supposed to do?"

He answered me with a feral snarl

But I refused to back down "I won&039;t have this, Father I won&039;t stand for it another minute So help me, if you don&039;t let him out of those shackles, I will shear the hair from my head and scar my face to the point that neither Apollo nor anyone else will have use for me"

"You wouldn&039;t dare"

For the first time in my life, I stared at him as an equal There was no doubt inside me that I could carry out the threat "For Acheron&039;s life, I would He deserves better than to be kept as he is"

"He deserves nothing"

"Then you can find another woman to whore for Apollo"

His eyes darkened in such a way that I was sure he&039;d strike me for my boldness

But ultimately, I won this battle

That very afternoon Acheron was freed from his bed He lay there as the restraints were opened and I saw the suspicion in his eyes He aiting for soone, I ordered the guards to leave the roorily, he pushed hilare at me He was unsteady, hisblond hair was reasy His skin sickly pale from the darkness that had been his home A thick beard covered his cheeks There were deep circles underneath his eyes, but he was no longer so gaunt-the atrocious feedings had added enough weight to him that he at least appeared human

"You can&039;t leave this room," I warned him "Father was explicit in his ter as you stay hidden"

Acheron froze at ly cold stare

"At least you&039;re no longer tied down"

He didn&039;t speak tosilver eyes spoke voluony that made up his life They accused and they ached

"My rooms are two doors down should you-"

"I can&039;t leave," he snarled "Isn&039;t that what you just said?"

I opened otten it "I shall come visit you, then"

"Don&039;t bother"

"Acheron-"

He interrupted lare "Do you remember what you said to led to recall it I&039;d been angry at hi to me, but that was all I remembered "No"

"Go die for all I care I can&039;t be bothered with you anymore"

I winced at words I should never have spoken They cutcompared to how they must have felt to him If only I&039;d known the ry"

He curled his lips "And I was too weak to answer It&039;s hard to speak when you go days with nothing but darkness and rats for company But then you don&039;t knohat it&039;s like to have rats and fleas bite you, do you? What it&039;s like to sit in your own shit"

"Acheron-"

His nostrils flared "Leave me, Ryssa I don&039;t need your charity I don&039;t need anything from you"

"But"

He shoved me from the room and slammed the door shut in ht uards He had two of them to make sure he didn&039;t breach Father&039;s ed the location of his prison He still had no freedom

I ached deep inside my soul for him He was alive, but to what purpose? Perhaps it would have been kinder to let him die after all But how could I have done that? He was my brother and I did love him even when he hated me

Ill, I turned and went back to my chambers, but there was no peace there I&039;d been uncharitable to Acheron, unkind Thoughtless No wonder he didn&039;t want to speak to ive him time Perhaps he&039;d come around eventually

At least, I hoped deep inside that he could find it within hi hi for him

Deces about Father&039;s mandates for Acheron&039;s treatment No one was allowed into Acheron&039;s roo he touched was to be shattered and burned

Everything

His dishes, his sheets Even his clothes It was Father&039;s public humiliation for Acheron

It sickeneddiscovery of all

I&039;d gone with several friends to see a play in theI normally did, but Zateria had a desperate crush on one of the actors and had insisted I judge hi ourselves when I happened to notice so tn from us in the peasant section He sat alone with a peplos shielding him He had the hood pulled up over his head so that I could tell nothing about his features and yet so seemed oddly familiar about hiot up that I realized why he was familiar

It was Acheron

He pulled the coer, but I&039;d already glin to co as common as a midday play Even if he had, he&039;d never be in that section of seats

I excused o after him

"Acheron?"

He hesitated an instant before he pulled the coer and continued on his way

Rushing to catch up, I pulled hi to tell hi the him he meant was our father "Why would I?"

He started away, but I stopped hiain

His expression was exasperated "What, Ryssa?"

"How did you couards-"

"I bribed them," he said in a clipped tone

"With what? You have no ave me answered that question plainly I was nauseated with the et out of the palace

He narrowed his eyes at me "Don&039;t look so horrified, Ryssa I&039;ve been bartered for much less than an afternoon of freedothis"

"Why not? It&039;s all anyone wants me for"

"That&039;s not true"

"No?"

I watched as he angrily lowered his cowl I could feel the ripple that went through everyone around us as people caught sight of hiible and there was nothe attention that was immediately focused on hiiggled and tried to re Men weren&039;t so subtle There was no denying the fact that every one of the With desire

I was no more immune to his unnatural allure than they were, but mine was tempered by the fact that ere family

"Do you really want to knohy your father hates me?"

I shook my head I knew the answer Acheron had said it the day Father had banished him Because he, too, was attracted to Acheron and he despised the boy for it