May the gods have mercy on him, he wanted her with everything he had.
What can you offer a woman so fine? You're a scarred, worthless whore. She would be horrified to know what she'd held today.
Would she have been so kind if she knew the truth of him? Or would she curl her lip and run? But she didn't know who or what he was. To her, he was just a normal man.
And to him, she was perfection.
Counting down the seconds until he could see her again, Styxx dismounted in the drive then slowly climbed the palace stairs.
Damn, it hurt.
Did they really need so many?
The guards opened the door to the palace. Styxx had just reached the stairs that led to his room when his father's voice stopped him.
"What happened to you?"
He paused at his father's approach and let out a tired breath. His father would be furious at his unkempt state. "I slipped from my horse."
"Your tutors said that you didn't attend your lessons, nor your training."
No, shit. Really? The man truly couldn't see his pain. He was filthy, covered with bruises and cuts, and blood and mud and dirt.... Still his father berated him.
"I fell, Father. I had meant to return much earlier, but had to find my horse. Please forgive me for my inconsideration to all of you."
As I bled my way home ...
His father's gaze sharpened in warning. "Careful of your tone, boy. Now, should I call the physician for you?"
Styxx shook his head. "I shall live," he said bitterly. For now he knew the truth of what the wise woman had proclaimed at his birth. He could only die if Acheron died first. So long as his brother lived, he lived, too. Or perhaps they were both immortal. Either way, he had no need to fear death now.
Thanatos would never come for him.
Maybe if I were beheaded ...
Then again, did he want to test that theory? It could be rather grotesque to walk around carrying his head in his hands.... Given the perversity of the gods, anything was possible.
Yet as he thought of Bethany, he no longer minded living in this stygian nightmare. Not if he could spend another day with her like this one.
Only, more preferably, he'd be awake for it.
His father's brow drew tight as he finally realized that Styxx wasn't bleeding for no reason. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"Fine, Father." Styxx took a step then paused. "Majesty? May I ask a favor of you?"
His frown deepened. "Yes. Of course."
Styxx doubted his father would be so accommodating once he heard it. But he had to try even if it meant more humiliation for himself. "Might we please bring Acheron home?"
Rage darkened his father's eyes. "You know how I feel about that. He was sent away for your protection. Why would you have him return?"
Because he's my brother ...
And he couldn't stand the thoughts of what was being done to him. Regardless of what Acheron said or thought, he didn't want to leave him in Atlantis. Not with Estes.
"Doesn't it concern you that he could be harmed while away from us and thereby cause me harm?"
"Estes keeps him guarded. There's no danger to him there."
To be so highly intelligent, you're so stupid.
Why was his father so blind to Estes's vices and no one else's? Styxx couldn't even imagine having someone love him like that. Someone who would never judge or hate him, no matter his committed atrocities.
And none of that mattered right now ...
"Please, Father. I've never, in my entire life, asked you for anything else."
"And it is the one thing I will never give you. Understood? Now get yourself cleaned up. Your filth and stench offend me. You smell like a woman."
Yes, he did. He had to bite back a smile at the memory Bethany's scent awoke. If he could, he'd carry the smell of her on him forever.
Styxx started past his father only to have him grab his arm in a tight grip. He narrowed his gaze as he gave Styxx a hard, fierce stare.
"I know you keep secrets from me, boy. You always have."
Because whenever I tried to tell them to you when I was a child, you slapped me for them.
Now those secrets would only give his father a real reason to hate and resent him.
"And I don't believe you about today. I think there's more to where you were."
Styxx kept his features blank, his eyes hooded. "As you can plainly see, Father, I fell and was badly injured." The only thing he'd lied about was his intention to return home.
"Get out of my sight." He pushed him away.
Gladly. Styxx headed upstairs as best he could.
As he turned toward his room, he slowed down at the approach of his sister and mother in the upper hallway. Their laughter died the moment they saw him.
He inclined his head to them respectfully. "Mother. Ryssa."
A deep frown creased his mother's brow. "What happened to you?"
For a moment, he thought he might detect a note of maternal concern. But the additional curling of her lip that derided him said it was either nonexistent or fleeting.
"I was thrown."
"From what?" His mother laughed bitterly. "A whore's bed? You reek of her stench. You must have been wallowing in her for hours."
"She's not a whore," he snarled before he could stop himself.
"Men," his mother sneered to Ryssa. "They are ever fickle with their affections. Pray, daughter, that you never give your heart over to one. They couldn't care less about it so long as you welcome them to your body." She turned her hate-filled eyes back at him. "In the future, I suggest you put yourself in order before you return home. You are a prince of this realm. I don't think it's too much to expect a modicum of decorum and dress from you when you leave your whores behind."
Styxx felt his jaw tic. "I know, Mother. I offend my entire family. If not my manner or speech then my dress, and above all, it's my penis that offends you and Ryssa most."
They sucked their breaths in sharply.
"Xerxes!" his mother shouted.
"Have me whipped. It won't change anything. You speak to Ryssa about men when you know nothing of us. You've never bothered to learn. We're simple creatures, really. You just have to be nice to us." He cocked his head at the sound of his father's approach.
"You called?" his father asked.
Styxx answered for her. "She's going to tell you how I've offended her and Ryssa with the truth, Father. How I've used inappropriate language before ladies. Do you wish me to bathe before or after I'm beaten?"
His father scowled. "You're not the same as before. What has changed you?"