Page 85 of Axios
After the meal, Eryx and I walked to the field where our boys waited.
“Are you going to tell me now?” he asked, bumping against my arm.
“Very well,” I said with a sigh and met his stare. “As we ran, I imagined sucking your cock and lost my footing.”
His lips twitched, but he did not erupt into a laugh as I’d assumed he would. Instead, he held my gaze and responded, “After training, you can show me exactly what it was you imagined, and perhaps we can make it reality.”
My body stirred at the thought, and I wished training would hurry and end.
The closer we became to the field, the more he changed from the lovable man I knew to the powerful man others knew him as, and he exuded authority by simple presence alone.
Upon arrival, the boys all stood in an orderly line, having learned from experience that Eryx preferred them that way. He demanded order, respect, and all things a true leader should and did not take anything less.
“Good morrow,” Nikias greeted us with a nod and disfigured smile.
Since our return, he had given us back our command over theephebes, but he still lingered around the arena to assist when needed.
In all honesty, we did not need his help, but it pained my heart to see him—a man who used to be so strong, now reduced to life as a cripple—and I refused to turn him away. He was only a handful of years older than us, and I did not want him to believe his life was worthless just because he could not march with our armies. Every life had purpose.
Eryx nodded to him and strolled to the middle of the field where he narrowed his gaze to the youths.
“Balen! Forward,” he demanded in a deep tone.
The boy did as instructed and stood before his trainer, awaiting further command. And then Eryx punched him. His tactics had surprised me once upon a time, but I’d become familiar to them.
It was not meant to be cruel, but to ensure that the boys knew how to act on impulse.
Balen might have been hit by the first swing, but when Eryx tried again, he was ready and ducked before attempting a hit of his own.
“He truly is a glorious sight,” Nikias said from beside me. His blue eyes followed Eryx’s movements and the corner of his mouth curved downward, an expression that was frozen on his face from the scars. But even with the scars marring his face, he was still handsome. “From the moment I took charge of your group, I saw his potential. Yet, he kept a humble nature to him, even when he surpassed all other boys his age. I’ve never beheld another like him before, someone so resilient and extraordinary in every way.”
Something prickled at my insides, and I shifted my stance to my other leg, attempting to shake off the feeling.
I did not favor the way he’d said the words, as if he fancied Eryx.
“I mean no offense,” he said, looking at me with widened eyes. I hadn’t realized I’d been snarling. “I have no intentions of pursuing him. It is clear he only has eyes for you. I only said those words to tell you this: there will come a time when you must make a choice, and from what I’ve learnt of Eryx, he will never defy his orders and he will hold all Spartan principles close until he draws his final breath.” His face softened and he returned his stare to the man who was on both of our minds. “But he listens to you. If you ask it of him, he will obey.”
Confused, I held my tongue, not exactly certain of his meaning.
“During my time in war, something happened,” he continued, his voice now different, as if the memory of battle took him from this place. “It was when we were passing through Argos. I was with King Agesipolis when he visited the oracles at Delphi. He took only a handful of men and I was chosen as one of them. I will never forget what I witnessed in that temple. A young girl with pale hair whose eyes clouded all white and speaking in a voice that was not meant to come from her body. She gave the king the answers he sought… but then she looked at me.”
Chills crept up my spine and settled in my nape.
“What did she say?” I asked.
Nikias moved his stare to me. His ashen face made his blue eyes appear even lighter, as if crystals glistened within the depths.
“Nothing,” he answered. “She said nothing. But as her white eyes were on me, I saw something in my mind’s eye—glimpses of events that had not yet come to pass. Almost like a dream, but more vivid and real. War. Death. A clear sky suddenly darkening as arrows blocked the sun and rained down upon the men. And then I felt a searing pain in my leg… the very one I limp with now. The next day, I was wounded in battle.”
The story he told was captivating and extremely unsettling, but I struggled with understanding how it pertained to what he’d said of Eryx.
I mentioned that to him.
“The battle I saw was not the one I fought in,” he spoke in a raspy voice. The retelling of events disturbed him. “I saw Spartans fighting Thebans on a great plain and within the enemy lines there was a unit of three hundred men. They fought fiercely, protecting the men at their sides as if they cared deeply for them—deeper than the connection most soldiers share.”
He hesitated, and I got the impression he regretted telling me even this much.
“What more did you see?” I asked, the anticipation too great to resist.
