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Styxx carabbed their father&039;s sword and would have killed Acheron had their father not stopped him

"Take him out and beat him," his father snarled

"No!"

Acheron looked up to see Ryssa in the doorway

His father&039;s expression was one of complete disbelief "What did you say?"

She folded her ar and determined in the center of the opened doors "You heard &039;s face flushed with fury "You do not tell ht," she said calmly "I can&039;t order you about I have no power over you, but as the mistress of Apollo, I do have soards to fully froain "I&039;estured to Styxx "Look at your brother He&039;s bleeding"

She looked at Acheron and nodded "He&039;s bled aze went to the gown on the floor "And for his cruelty I&039;d say he received a light sentence"

Styxx glared at her "One day, Ryssa, I will be your king You&039;d do well to rery sneer levelly "And I&039;od You&039;d do well to remember that, brother"

Styxx shoved her aside as he walked out of the room Their father shook his head "Women," he snarled before he left theown froize for him, but there&039;s no excuse to be found" She snorted "I only wish I could have used that argument to save you earlier Little do they know Apollo couldn&039;t care less what I thought But that will be our secret, won&039;t it?"

Acheron shrugged as he moved to the bed and pulled the sheet around hiaze "I&039;d only be shocked if Father showed , sad breath "Should I have a tray of food sent to the bathing roo there again"

"You have to bathe"

Not really Maybe if he stank enough no one would bother hiue with his sister "You should go and rest while Apollodorus doesn&039;t need you"

She gave hi before she left

Ryssa had barely closed the door before Artemis stepped out of the shadows

She smiled at hiritted teeth"

She gaped at hier "You&039;re not grateful?"

Acheron threw his hands up in surrender "I don&039;t want to fight with you, Artie Honestly I just want to lick my wounds for a while"

She ainst her "I&039;d rather lick the over her caress, Acheron pulled her hand away froroin "Given that it&039;s been less than a week since I had my nuts cut out, Arteust "Don&039;t be such a baby You&039;re intact now Let&039;s celebrate by putting them to use" She blew in his ear

Acheron jerked away froive her what she wants Otherwise this would only continue to the point she&039;d get angry and probably attack hied out

Of course, they&039;d only regrohich made hi even without Arte this It wasn&039;t like he hadn&039;t been forced to have sex with people he detested before All an arguain

You et it over with as quickly as possible

He turned to face her "Where do you want me?"

The words had barely left his lips before he found himself on his back, in her bed with her naked on top of hied as she sank her teeth into his neck and then he did what he always did He pleased her and took nothing for himself

She didn&039;t even notice except to say that she liked it when they weren&039;t asher while she purred in satisfaction

And Acheron was still empty inside

Arteo back now Hades is hosting a party in Zeus&039;s teht and I have to make an appearance"

He didn&039;t even have time to open his lips before he was back in his rooh with for the ti bowl and poured a little water out of the pitcher to clean himself with and shave, then he dressed

Soul sick, he considered going to a play, but why bother? It would take much more than that to ease as hurt inside hiaze was drawn to the wine that Ryssa had brought Unfortunately it wasn&039;t strong enough to fill the e his coin purse and cloak, he left the palace and went to the street where all the stews in toere relegated It didn&039;t take long to find his old merchant Short and plump, theon a corner outside the worst brothel in town

Euclid smiled thetis You have any Morpheus Root?"

He licked his lips greedily "Of course I do Howyou have"

He arched a brow at that "You got enough coin?"

Acheron held his purse out to him

Impressed, Euclid pulled out a small wooden arc from the wheeled cart that to the uninitiated or naive appeared to hold only rags He handed the arc to Acheron for his inspection Acheron opened it and lifted the herbs to his nose The pungent lavender wasn&039;t enough to overwhelm the herb that would ease him

Acheron closed it "My thanks I&039;ll need the cord and pots for it as well"

Euclid handed thee for more coin "I&039;ll have more of it next week Anytime you need some, let me know and if you haven&039;t the coin for it, I&039;ed one dirty finger down the side of Acheron&039;s face

He didn&039;t knohy that offended him After all it was a common practice for whores to barter their bodies for supplies, but for so his coer, he h the dark alleys back to the palace and his room

There in the darkness, he opened the lid and e how he could still recall the exact amounts to use

"Inhale this, boy It&039;ll htened as he heard Estes&039;s voice in his head The first tiround and forced him to breathe it in After that, Acheron had needed very little coaxing His uncle had been right, it&039;dmuch more tolerable since it took away all of his conscience and fight It&039;d made him a mindless supplicant to whatever deviant act they wanted to perforhtly to get theht a his eyes, he picked up the claythat hurt stopped

His head swi, he stumbled to his bed and lay down so that he could watch the ceiling tilt and spin

Apostolos? Where are you?

"Hello, voices," he breathed They were always louder when he was high

We want you to come home, Apostolos Tell us where to find you

He looked around the roohed "I&039;hed, then rolled over onto his sto against his body He drew a ragged breath as his cock hardened Arte hiain, she didn&039;t really care for the mess he made Every time he came in her bed, she wrinkled up her nose distastefully It hy it was easier for him to just screw her and please himself later when he was alone

He sucked his breath in sharply as the sheet rubbed against his nipples The pleasure was excruciating But he refused to touch himself

He didn&039;t want release or any kind of pleasure He just wanted peace

More than that he wanted to be touched by soave a fuck about him And that certainly wasn&039;t him

Nove the chill winds freeze hi him He motioned for her to co iood to

Ryssa narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she neared hi Absolutely nothing" He barely had the strength to eat

She shook her head in anger "You&039;ve been taking those drugs again, haven&039;t you?"

Acheron looked away

She gripped his face in her hand and forced hi?"

"Don&039;t start on me, Ryssa"

"Acheron, please," she said, her voice strained as she released hi down, he turned his wrist out to look at the perfect unblemished skin There was no trace of the cut that had severed his skin and veins "I can&039;t kill ods know I&039;ve tried There&039;s no way out for ods end my life, while I try to stay out of everyone&039;s way"

She brushed the hair back from his eyes "You look terrible When was the last tiry over the question "The last time I bathed, I was accused of rape and then castrated No offense, I&039;d rather smell"

She shook her head "When was the last time you ate?"

"I don&039;t know" He scratched at the beard on his cheeks "What difference does itto let me starve to death I&039;ll eat when I have to When they rabbed his ear in a tight pinch "You&039;re going to eat right now"

"Hey!" Acheron snapped, but she refused to let go With a deter and forced him to follow her to her room She was so much smaller than hile to keep up with her frenetic steps "You do know that I&039;er than you," he reminded her

"Yes, but I&039; a lasting sting on his lobe

Frowning, he rubbed his ear

She pointed at her dressing table where a plate of fruit, bread and cheese rested "Sit down and eat Now!"

"Yes, Your Majesty" As Acheron reached for a bit of cheese, he caught his reflection Sunken eyes, tinged by red stared out froy He looked like an old man instead of a youth

That was okay, he felt even older than he looked Averting his gaze, he placed the cheese in his oblet of wine

She left him to walk over to the door that led to her maid&039;s quarters "Nera? Would you have them draw me a bath in my room? And find me a razor"

Acheron didn&039;t speak as he ate Honestly, he was starving Thefood for hiiven the way his father had reacted the last ti roo Apollodorus The baby smiled the moment he saw Acheron and reached for him

Unable to deny his, bit How have you been?"

He squealed in response

Acheron look up at Ryssa as she folded cloth for a diaper "He&039;s grown since I last saw hilanced at the baby&039;s thinning hair "You&039;re getting bald too"

Ryssa laughed suddenly "You did the sa All of your black hair fell out and then it caed at his beard

Acheron held the baby out to Ryssa "I&039;m too dirty to hold hilad to see his uncle again He&039;s ed the baby close even as he glared at his sister "That&039;s unfair, Ryssa You knoould befall me if Father ever found me here And if he ever saw me near Apollodorus"

She placed her hand on his shoulder "I know, Acheron"

The door opened to ade tub and hot water Ryssa took the baby while Acheron ate more

Once the bath was ready, she left him alone

Withhot water and sighed It&039;d been so long since he last had a bath that he&039;d alood it felt Even so, it wasn&039;t worth the risk to him

"I love you, Ryssa," he whispered She was the only one who really cared about hioddess and hers was a selfish love-veryas he pleased her, she was kind Granted she wasthan Estes had ever been, but there were still limits on what she&039;d do

What hurt most with Arte He craved that innocence on his part That feeling that he&039;dnot to think about it, he reached for the razor to finally scrape his cheeks sed himself out of the tub and reached for his clean clothes

After he was dressed, he knocked on the door to the maid&039;s room "I&039;m finished Thank you"

Ryssa joined him before she closed the door so the maid couldn&039;t hear thes, Acheron I don&039;t like what they do to you" The concern in her pale blue eyes scalded him

"I&039;ll wean myself"

"Promise?"

He nodded "But only for you"

She smiled at him "You look so much better Anytime you want a bath, come here and I&039;ll have one drawn for you" She lifted herself up on her tiptoes to hug hiave her a squeeze, then withdrew He&039;d stayed here too long already They both knew the risk was too great for him to be in her cha his rooain, he stared at the arc of Morpheus Root on his table

Throw it out

No, he couldn&039;t He&039;d be sick again if he stopped cold His existence was h without that He&039;d do what he promised Ryssa He&039;d wean himself back off it

"Acheron?"

He tensed at Artemis&039;s voice How did she know the precise oddess

"Greetings, Artie"

She flashed in behind hiood"

It was the bathback, she scowled at hie Are you ill?"