Styxx (Dark-Hunter 22)

He shook his head. "You better do it. She'd prefer it from you, I think."

And he'd prefer not to see her at all. Most of the times he was with their mother, she looked at him as if she could go through him. "Shall we get this over with?"

"I'm game if you are."

Honestly, I'd rather have my eyes gouged out and fed to me.

But part of being a king was doing things you didn't want to without complaint or hesitation. Head high. Back straight. Show no emotion. Even if you were only seven years old.

Styxx clutched the box to his chest, dreading it already. "Maybe she'll still be passed out and we can leave it with her maids."

Hoping for the best outcome, he took Acheron's hand and led him through the back hallways of the palace to their mother's rooms.

At the door, Styxx hesitated for so long that Acheron moved around him and knocked in his stead. A few seconds later, the oldest maid opened it to stare down her nose at them.

Styxx ignored her disdain. "We've come to wish the queen a happy birthday. Is she awake?"

Without a word, the maid stepped back, opening the door wide enough to allow them to enter the room. Their mother sat in a chair near the window, staring out it.

Unsure of her mood, Styxx hesitated. Why did his powers always fail him when he needed them most?

"Is she sober?" Acheron whispered in his ear.

"I don't know."

Their mother let out an exasperated sigh. "Will you two stop whispering. Either come in or leave. Preferably the latter."

Styxx started to go.

Acheron pushed him forward.

Thanks, brother....

Crossing the room, Styxx held the box out toward her.

She frowned at it. "What's this?"

"Happy birthday, Mother," they said in unison.

A rare smile lit her face as she took the box and opened it to find the shell bead necklace Styxx had bought in the marketplace. Hoping to please her, he'd traded one of his carved horses for it.

"Thank you." She pulled him into a cold, mechanical hug.

Bug-eyed, Styxx met Acheron's gaping stare. Before he realized what Acheron was doing, his brother stepped forward.

"Happy birthday, Mother." Acheron moved to hug her.

Shrieking in outrage, she slapped him hard across his face. "Get away from me, you repulsive monster!"

Styxx's nose exploded with blood as pain permeated his cheek, skull, and eye. Damn, for a sot, his mother could pack a wallop.

She continued to rail against them as they ran for the door and then down the hallway. They didn't stop until they'd reached the bottom of the stairs.

His breathing labored, Acheron turned to face him. "Why do they do that to me?"

"I don't know. They're crazy."

"What in the name of Zeus happened to you?"

Styxx flinched at the sound of his father's angry voice as he wiped at the blood on his face. He cringed over the sight of blood droplets on his white chiton. Few things upset his father more than for him to be disheveled in public.

"Did you hit him?" he accused Acheron.

Acheron shook his head.

"Liar!" He moved to take his arm.

"Father, no!" Styxx blocked him from attacking his brother.

Acheron ducked then ran like mad up the stairs and out of sight.

His father started after Acheron, but Styxx grabbed his arm and held him in place. "He didn't do it, Father. It's just another nosebleed. I get them all the time."

"Xerxes?"

Styxx glanced past his father to see his uncle closing the distance between them. "Uncle, please tell him that Acheron didn't harm me. It's nothing."

Estes passed a skeptical look from Styxx to his father. "It doesn't look like nothing to me, child. Rather, that's a severe injury on your face. It's obvious someone hit you."

"It wasn't Acheron." Styxx let go of his father so that he could hold his nostrils together to contain the bleeding. "I shall be fine, Father. I'm sorry for the mess." Hoping he'd given Acheron enough time to hide, he left them and went to his room to clean his nose and change his clothes.

He'd barely finished dressing a few minutes later when he heard Acheron and Ryssa yelling. What in the name of Olympus?

Normally, he was the one screaming with Ryssa. It wasn't like Acheron to get crossed up with her for anything. But as he left his room, he realized it was something far worse than a fight between siblings....

Soldiers were dragging his brother down the stairs, toward the front door. Terrified, Styxx ran after them. He didn't catch up until they were in the drive outside. He tried to reach his brother, but his father held him back while Estes carried Acheron away in his arms.

Styxx glared at his father. "What's going on?"

"Estes is taking him to live in Atlantis."

That was an even harder blow than the one that still stung his face. "What? No! No!"

Styxx tried to break out of his father's hold to get to his brother, who was fighting Estes every bit as hard.

"It's for the best. He's a danger to all of us, especially you."

How could they be so stupid? His brother was the only one who would never intentionally hurt him. "Acheron! Please, Father! Don't take my brother from me! Please!"

"Styxx!" Acheron held his hands out toward him while Styxx did everything he could to get to him.

No one listened to them. Nor did they take pity or mercy on the boys.

Heartbroken, Styxx fought his father's hold and watched as his uncle and brother rode out of sight. And as they went, he knew that Estes hadn't just taken his brother from him.

He'd taken everything....