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"And that&039;s why he plots your murder, Father," Styxx spoke up finally "Don&039;t let a woreatest weakness They prey on our guilt and our love of them How many times have you told me that? You can&039;t listen to them They think with their hearts and not their minds"
Her father&039;s face turned to stone "I will not let hiet aith it this time"
Tears flowed freely down her face at her father&039;s blindness "This ti?"
She blinked away the tears in her eyes as she tried to make him see reason "Beware the viper in your closet Isn&039;t that another thing you&039;re always saying, Father?" She cut a lare at Styxx "Ambition and jealousy are at the heart of all betrayals Acheron&039;s only aht and were he to have jealousy, it wouldn&039;t be directed at you But I do know of another ould gain ione"
Her father backhanded her "How dare you implicate your brother"
"I told you, Father She hates me I wouldn&039;t be surprised if she hasn&039;t bedded the whore too"
Ryssa wiped the blood from her lips "The only person in this family that I knoho sleeps hores is you, Styxx I wonder if Acheron was supposedly seen in your favorite stew" With that she turned and headed out of the room and to the street
"Leave us!"
Acheron could barely recognize the sound of his father&039;s voice through the throbbing vicious pain No part of him had been left unviolated or free of abuse It even hurt to blink
Once the room was empty, his father approached him where he lay on the stone slab
To his coht hi the king to hurt him worse with it
He didn&039;t His father actually lifted his head and helped him to drink from it But for the fact it would kill Styxx, he&039;d think it poisoned
"Where were you last night?"
Acheron felt a single tear slide from the corner of his eye at the question that had been asked over and over again The salt froed, agonized breath "Just tellhurt anymore"
His father slammed the ladle down on the stone by Acheron&039;s face "I want the names of the men you met with"
He didn&039;t know the names of the senators They&039;d seldom offered one before they&039;d screwed him
Acheron shook his head "I met with no one"
His father buried his hand in his hair and forced him to look at him "Give led to think of soator, he cale truth "I didn&039;t do it I wasn&039;t there"
"Then where were you? Have you a single witness to your where-abouts?"
Yes, but she&039;d never come forward Maybe if he were StyxxBut Artemis would never stand up for a worthless whore "I have only er He reached for him, but before he could make contact, he froze
Acheron held his breath as he tried to understand as happening An instant later, Artemis appeared beside hi other than stare at her
"Your sister told me what they&039;d accused you of Don&039;t worry, your father will have no memory of this Nor will your brother"
Acheron sed as he tried to understand what she was saying "You&039;re protecting me?"
She nodded An instant later, he was back in his roorateful than words could express But even so it didn&039;t erase the pain of what he&039;d been through Anyto overthrow his own father
What was he going to do?
Artemis materialized beside him Her expression was sorrowful as she brushed his hair back from his face
"Will Ryssa remember us?" he asked her
"No From this moment forward she won&039;t even remember that you and I know each other I should have done it sooner perhaps But she seemed to keep her mouth closed Noon&039;t have to worry"
That was for the best
He stared at Artemis amazed at what she&039;d done No, she hadn&039;t stood up for hih from the last time she&039;d left hi for me"
She laid her hand to his cheek "I wish I could take you away from here"
She was the one person who could But her fear was too great Maybe she was right What good would it do for her to be ruined over him?
He wasn&039;t worth it
Acheron kissed her on the lips even though he was still cold inside He had nowhere to go and he was tired of being here with people who hated him
Styxx
In the blink of an eye the simplest answer to his predicaht of it before?
Pulling back froo before someone stumbles in here"
"I&039;ll see you tomorrow"
Not if he had his way "Tomorrow"
Acheron watched as she faded and the second she was gone, he immediately made plans for as to co as his life was tied to Styxx&039;s and Styxx was plotting the death of his father
The ansas so simple If he killed Styxx, his father would be safe and he&039;d be free
Peace He would finally have peace
February 19, 9527 BC
Acheron waited until the palace was completely silent In less than an hour the sun would rise
And both he and Styxx would be dead Theelse he could iht in his hand as he snuck past the guards and crept through the door of Styxx&039;s room He shut it with only a whisper of a noise Like a shadow, he e feather-stuffed bed where his brother slept Heavy curtains hung to shield the heir from a stray breeze
But they couldn&039;t shield hiaze dark, Acheron pulled the curtains back Naked except for his royal e on his side, completely vulnerable
All the years of abuse, of Styxx h his mind, as well as theto see him punished for the treason Styxx had coer One slashone cut
Peace
Do it!
He started the doard motion, then stopped before he made contact with the prince&039;s throat
Silently, he cursed as he realized a horrible truth about himself He couldn&039;t do this Not in cold blood Not this usted, he stepped back as he realized he was a coward
No, not a coward No matter what had happened in their past, they were brothers Twins He couldn&039;t kill his own brother Even if the bastard deserved it
Your pain won&039;t stop until you do this
He wouldn&039;t show suchto see hielded and even killed if his father had been able to do it
Styxx had no mercy for him, no pity or even compassion and if he allowed the man to live, Acheron&039;s abuse would continue It would most likely worsen once Styxx killed their father And once their father was gone, Styxx would hurt Ryssa
He&039;d already made those threats Repeatedly
She Styxx could kill with impunity Acheron&039;s blood ran cold with the reality of it If not for himself, he had to protect his sister and her child
Styxx had to die
"Forgive me, brother," he whispered an instant before he stabbed Styxx straight through the heart
Styxx gasped as his eyes flew open Acheron staggered back, into the shadohile his brother tried to crawl out of bed Falling onto the floor, Styxx collapsed as blood ran froed, Acheron waited for death to claim him too
It didn&039;t and with every continued heartbeat, panic began to set in
He felt the same as ever How could that be?
Maybe Styxx wasn&039;t dead Terrified he&039;d only wounded his brother, he went to him and pressed his hand to his neck There was no pulse at all NoStyxx over, he saw that his skin and lips were already turning blue, his eyes were open and glazed
Styxx was dead
Yet Acheron lived
Horrified, he ran for the door and then past the dozing guards, down the hall back to his own rooh his mind over and over as he tried to make sense of this If he died, Styxx died If Styxx died
Nothing happened to hiods have done that? It didn&039;t make any sense
You&039;ve killed your own brother Your twin
Acheron leaned against his closed door as absolute horror filled him They would kill him if they ever found out the truth His father wouldn&039;t forgive this They would tear hih the palace as guards shouted to each other and clah the hallway
They&039;ve already discovered his body Gods help me!
Someone knocked on his door
"Acheron?"
It was Ryssa Acheron opened the door to see her there, her face pale and hair own "I wanted to ht Soht"
Tried? No, he&039;d fucking succeeded "What do you mean?"
Before she could answer, he saw Styxx behind Ryssa, his face flushed with anger as he led the guards through a search of the rooms "Find my attacker! I want him now Do you hear me? Search every corner until we have him!"
Acheron blinked in disbelief
Styxx was alive? He was completely unprepared for what this meant Styxx had been resurrected
Why?
Ryssa shook her head "Have you seen anyone?"
"I was inhih he was covered in blood there was no sign of the wound that had killed him "Guards!" he roared
Acheron stepped back in fear
Styxx pointed to hiht realize that to killhis back at all tiods that he didn&039;t
"What a horrible night," Ryssa said "I&039;d best go to Apollodorus I know all this commotion will have hih the crack in the door, he watched the guards swar rooet past that one fact
So their lives weren&039;t truly bound together At least not in a traditional sense If he died, Styxx died If Styxx diedthere was no effect on hiods protect hi into his rooain quiet Once he was sure he could leave and not be seen, he wrapped his cloak around himself and headed out into the dark streets
He reh the alleys to Apollo&039;s temple Once there, he knocked on the door
"We&039;re closed"
"I&039;m from the royal house," Acheron said forcefully "It&039;s imperative that I see the oracle"
The door opened a partial degree until the old wizened priest caught sight of his face His deed to one of subservience "Prince Styxx, forgive me I-I didn&039;t realize it was you"
Acheron didn&039;t bother to correct hirateful they were twins "Take me to the oracle"
Without further hesitation, the priest led hih the columned ay to the back where small rooms were set aside for the priests and attendants The oracle&039;s rooer than the others It was bare and stark with only a small drapery-lined bed
"Mistress?" the priest called as he headed for the bed "The prince wishes a ith you"
A blond woman who couldn&039;t have been much older than fifteen sat up on the bed and with the priest&039;s help she stood, then walked toward hied Heavily
The priest led her to a tall chair that was set over a boith vapors By the scent of it, he&039;d guess it contained Morpheus Root mixed with Risi Opsi, a co he&039;d only taken once after Euclid sang its praises, but that had been enough It&039;d left hihtmares for two days
"Leave us," she snapped at the priest "You know the law"
He withdrew instantly
The girl pulled the cloak up on her head as she added water to the boiling herbs to make them smoke more "You&039;re not the prince"