Page 26 of Axios
He sat there a moment before his eyes found mine. “Iwasangry with you. Not only for your reluctance to stand up for yourself, but because I did not favor the way you looked at the helot.” His jaw tightened as he looked toward the wet earth and snatched a long strand of grass, tearing it apart in his hands. “Seeing you fancy another was like a dagger to my heart, Axios. And I must confess that a part of me enjoyed slitting his throat.”
Many times I’d wondered if he felt the same pull toward me as I did him. The times we’d tackled the other, our bare bodies sliding skin against skin and our stares locking, I’d experienced a stirring deep within me—one that made me crave more. But I had not known if he, too, felt such a way.
“And the other part of you?” I asked, breaking the silence. “What did it feel upon killing him?”
Eryx focused on the torn piece of grass he held. “Once a thing is broken, there is no mending it. Like this thread of grass. Parts of it lie in shreds at my feet, and nothing can again make it whole.”
He tossed the rest of it to the ground and stood. When he walked toward the tree, I followed him. The rain was but a mist now and carried with it a slight chill.
“Death is that way,” he continued, leaning against the trunk before grabbing an overhanging branch and pulling himself up to sit. “I suppose I never truly understood the finality of it untilIwas the one holding the blade. The one with blood on my hands.” He looked at his palms. “I wonder what he felt right before the light faded from his eyes… where he went afterward, if anywhere at all. Is he at peace?”
My thoughts turned to Darius, the life I’d taken so long ago. I understood Eryx’s words. I had wondered the same.
“One day we will know the answer,” I said, lifting myself on the branch beside him. “But it is not this day.”
When he looked at me, his eyes were pained. “I should not have hit you so hard. Forgive me.”
He reached and wiped his finger across my bottom lip. The blood had mostly dried, but the wound still managed to bleed some.
“I feel fine.” I grabbed his wrist and placed his hand upon my cheek.
Our faces were close, but I needed to be closer. To feel him as I’d never felt him before.
Eryx watched me with a slightly narrowed brow. He cupped my cheek, and I leaned into the warmth of his touch.
“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to mine. “I would kill any man, go any distance, and burn the whole world down if it meant keeping you safe.”
His words rang true. I felt it in every part of my being—in my soul. Felix had been correct. There had never been anyone like me and Eryx. We were connected on a level that was beyond comprehension.
The urge was too great, and I could no longer resist. I captured his lips.
He tasted of rain and the earth, as well as a flavor that was unique to him. Sweet, just like the berries we plucked and ate on our walks together, but sweeter still.
He froze as our lips connected, and I almost pulled away. But then his hand moved from my cheek to the back of my head and he grabbed a handful of my hair, drawing me more to him and moving his mouth on mine.
I sighed and melted into him.
The kiss was innocent, yet opened me up and made me feel more vulnerable than ever before. Intimate. As a Spartan, we were taught to never show weakness, and feelings were weakness. One reason we were pulled from our homes at age seven was so we would not be weakened by such nurturing that came from a mother’s arms.
Yet, I could not stop the way my heart sang in Eryx’s presence—in his embrace—and how he made me tremble with just a kiss.
“Hey, you birds in the tree!” Haden called from below, causing us to break apart. He stood beside the lowest branch and held a leather ball, staring up at us with a sly grin. “Come down from your nest and play. We need you to make the teams of even number.”
He’d seen us, but he wasn’t fazed by the sight. Then again, he was one of our closest friends and probably already suspected something between us.
“Are you certain you wish me to join?” Eryx said with the confidence back in his tone. His hand caressed my lower back as he shifted and hopped down from the tree.
Not only was he great at drills and fighting, but he was undefeated in sports as well. There was nothing he didn’t excel in.
“Of course,” Haden answered with a smirk. “You shall be on my team.”
Chapter Seven
Some days were better than others. Happier. Days where I felt more like a youth of fourteen rather than a man whose primary purpose was to kill or be killed—bred since birth to train and one day die for my homeland. The life of a soldier loomed over me like a dark cloud constantly blocking the sun, but on days like today, that cloud drifted off and finally allowed the sun’s rays to reach me.
Allowed me to truly appreciate life.
Weeks had passed since the day Eryx and I had shared a kiss in the tree. And in the late hours of the night, his lips would find mine again, if only for a moment. It never went beyond a light kiss, however—just a gentle touch of our mouths before sleep and sometimes when we awoke in the morning. But it was enough—a rare comfort.
