Styxx (Dark-Hunter 22)

Instead of following orders, the large, burly soldier wrapped his arm around the girl's waist. "She's spoils, Highness." He sneered the title.

"She's a girl, not property. Now release her or you will regret it."

"What? You'll have your men whip me?" He laughed. "I'm a Thracian. We don't bow down to a Didymosian crown and we hold no fear of your men."

The Thracians with him cheered in support.

Undaunted, the prince approached him like a fierce predator who was aware of every sword around him and yet feared none of them. "Then it's time you learn to fear me."

They all laughed at Styxx's bold words.

Wanting a closer view, and to make sure the terrified girl wasn't harmed in any way, Bethany flashed herself into the girl's body. Her arms burned from the soldier's brutal grip.

He buried his face in her neck. "She smells sweet for an Atlantean whore. I'm sure we can find one for you, prince. Now go back to your own men and leave this to those of us old enough for pubic hair."

Styxx's celestial gaze didn't waver as he slung his arm out. An instant later, the soldier released her and fell back, dead, with a small throwing knife planted between his eyes.

Bethany's jaw went slack at the sight.

Styxx had killed one of his own men?

To protect her people?

Drawing his sword, the prince put himself between her and the men who'd come here with him. "Get to your mother, girl. Fast."

Stunned at his flawless Atlantean, she obeyed then watched in absolute fascination as he stood alone to defend his enemies from his own army.

The Greeks attacked him.

He downed six of their soldiers before his reinforcements arrived to stand with him against the rest of the angry Thracians. His men quickly subdued them, and drove them back.

Styxx grabbed the one who had stood beside the first man he'd killed. "Send word to your Thracians that we are not here to rape wives, sisters, and daughters. Our fight is with the Atlantean queen, her soldiers, and their gods, not their women or children. Any Greek who defies my orders will be castrated and offered as a sacrifice to the Atlantean god Dikastis for their crimes against his people."

"Do you think they'd be so kind to our women?"

Styxx shoved him away. "That is why we're on Atlantean soil, fighting them before they reach our homelands. We're here to protect our families from Atlantean slavery, and I will not shame our innocents by slaughtering and debasing theirs. Now go and warn your men."

The prince returned to Bethany and the small hut where the girl had been hiding with her mother and sisters.

To her complete stupefaction, the prince retrieved a fallen doll just outside the hut then came to kneel in the doorway, on the ground by the girl's little sister who was probably no older than ten.

He held the doll out to her as she clung to her mother's skirt. "It's all right, little one," he said again in flawless Atlantean. "We are not here to harm you or your family. You have my word."

She looked up at her mother for confirmation.

Her eyes wide, the mother snatched the doll from his hand then stepped back to protect her daughters.

Styxx bowed to them before he stood. "Tell your villagers to gather together here in the square and I will personally see all of you taken to your city walls to be protected. If anyone is unable to walk or travel, let us know and we will carry them."

She eyed him suspiciously. "Is this a Greek trick?"

"I swear on my life that it's not. Please, good mother, for the sakes of your daughters, hurry. I don't know how long my army can hold the other Greeks back should they choose to fight my orders. We must get you to safety."

He went to relay his intentions to his own men who acted as if the orders were typical and expected from him. It wasn't until he stumbled and caught himself against his horse that Bethany realized he was badly wounded. Blood trickled down his left leg.

Yet he let no one know it as he quickly wiped it away and mounted.

True to his word, he helped round up her people and escort them to safety. Never in her life had she seen anything like this. A Greek who killed his own men to protect his enemy's women and children ...

It was unheard of, especially from a prince who'd shown no mercy to his enemies over the last few months as he fought them. The one thing everyone knew about Styxx was that he'd been ruthless on the battlefield. His army alone, remained undefeated by the Atlanteans. Utilizing new tactics that were radically different from the rest of the Greek forces, Styxx had waged a malicious and successful campaign against her people.

And while he was showing mercy to the people right now, she knew once they were gone he'd order the abandoned homes searched for supplies and then burned to the ground. It was another thing he was known for.

Even more curious about him than before, she paused by the side of his horse. Still in the guise of the girl he'd saved, she looked up to watch the prince as he oversaw the removal of her people.

He held himself with the same rigid arrogant stance that had irritated her the first time she'd seen him in Halicarnassus.

Or was it arrogance? Now that she was closer, she saw the torment and pain inside those blue eyes. The wary resignation and exhaustion that made him seem much older. And more vulnerable.

"Highness?"

His emotions evaporated into an expression of stoicism as he looked down at her. "Yes?"

She placed her hand to his black and bronze greave and noted where exactly in his side he was wounded. "Thank you for your aid."

He inclined his head respectfully to her.

Boldly, she lifted her hand to brush the hard calf muscle that bulged between the laces of his greave. "For your kindness, I'd like to offer you my services."

He nudged his horse away from her. "While I appreciate your offer and am truly flattered, I must decline."

Confused, she started away.

"Elea?" he called out.

Amazed that he remembered the girl's name from when her mother had used it almost an hour ago, she paused to look back at him. "Highness?"

"Don't let anyone, especially yourself, barter your body for any purpose. The temporary and immediate benefits are not worth the eternal cost to your soul." Leaning forward, he gently tossed an expensive brooch at her.

She caught it in her hand and saw that it bore the same phoenix emblem as his shield. It was the badge of his Stygian Omada.

Without another word, he wheeled his horse about so that he could personally carry an infirmed woman and her small granddaughter to the walled city, farther inland.

Stunned by his unexpected wisdom and kind charity, she went to join them in their trek to safety. A part of her still waited for it to be a trick of some sort.

As they walked, she scanned his men, looking for her Hector. But these were all cavalry. There wasn't a foot soldier among them. Another unexpected honor to her people that he used noblemen and his best-trained soldiers-not peasants-to protect them.

And as she watched him, something about the prince reminded her of her love, but Hector wouldn't be wounded. Not if he wore her charm, and he'd had it on the last time she saw him. There was no reason to think he'd remove it. Plus, the prince appeared a bit older than Hector. Definitely more stern and sure of himself. Hector was bashful and reserved. He would never rush into a fight so recklessly.

No, Styxx was not the man who set her on fire.

But now she finally understood why Athena had chosen this prince as her pet. He was honorable when others weren't. And he treated everyone around him with respect ... as if they mattered.

Even his enemies.

Still, this good deed changed nothing. They were at war and she would eventually destroy him for daring to come to her shores and kill her soldiers. His compassion today had won him a small reprieve while she saw to their followers.

Tomorrow, however, she would be after him with everything she had.

Entering the city walls, she watched as Styxx gently carried the old woman into Agapa's temple, which had been set up to receive those left homeless by these invaders. He turned her care over to a young priest, but not before he said something that made the old woman smile and kindly lifted her granddaughter up to sit next to her.

Honestly, it surprised her that none of the Atlanteans attacked his soldiers. It would be an easy way to end the war now.

But her people weren't as treacherous as the Greeks. They never had been. Instead, they honored Styxx and his men's decent intentions and allowed them to deposit the villagers then leave without incident.

Come morning, though, they would be at war again.

With that thought foremost in her mind, she left the girl's body and went to find her great-grandfather at his temple just down the street from here.

The Atlanteans were invoking his name and making sacrifices. Not that they needed to. Misos would have been with them regardless.

Unseen by their people, her great-grandfather arched his brow at her approach. "What news do you have?"

"The Greek prince is wounded in his left side, three ribs down. He will barely be able to hold his hoplon with that arm."

"Good work. We will see him dead on the morrow, and send his putrid Greeks home with their tails tucked between their legs."

May 24, 9531 BC

It was just after midnight and, as usual, Styxx couldn't sleep. As a boy, the voices in his head had kept him from rest. Now it was his conscience and recent memories that beat him so brutally. He hated everything war forced him to do to protect his men and his people.

Everything.

He cradled his aching head in his hands, wishing he were with his Bethany. The thought of her sweet touch and scent brought a rare smile to his lips as he wondered how she fared. If she'd found the letter he'd had delivered to their meeting spot. And if she was being cradled by Morpheus in her dreams tonight.

"Highness?"

He opened his eyes to see Galen entering his tent. "Yes?"

"I just received word that the Thracians are angry, but complying for now."

Styxx sighed heavily. "Tell me the truth. What rankles them most, Master Galen? The fact they can't rape any woman they find, or the fact that a child calls their orders?"