Page 75 of Axios
I watched my nephew, who had such a curious nature, and smiled as he went toward my sister’s garden to tear her flowers from the soil. He had Leanna’s dark hair, but he resembled Haden in the face. He was called Leonidas, and Haden had admitted he named him after Sparta’s former king, the one who’d led the army at Thermopylae.
“You have heard correct,” I spoke, glancing from Leonidas to look at her. “Olynthus has refused to leave Pella. They’ve raged war and King Amyntas of Macedon has asked for assistance to force them from his lands. We leave at dawn.”
A year earlier, Olynthus had been asked to help Macedon fight an invasion from Illyria, and they had obliged that request. However, once Amyntas asked them to return the borders he’d allowed them to temporarily control, the Olynthians refused and took the capital. The Macedonian king then sent an envoy to Sparta, and since we were the upholders of the treaty that guaranteed the autonomy of the Greek cities, we were responsible for providing aid.
Leanna’s face fell. “I thought an army had already been sent to aid them. Were they not successful?”
The other army, commanded by the Spartan general Phoebidas, had first been sent to aid Macedonia. However, they become involved in political affairs in Thebes while passing through Boeotia, and had stopped their advance to seize control of the acropolis and take over the city. Thus, another force needed to be sent.
I told my sister of this.
Her eyes held my stare before she averted them to gaze upon her son. She might have fought against the responsibilities of being a Spartan woman, but I saw the joy she expressed at having a family. A strong, loving husband and a beautiful child. Motherhood suited her, as did the married life.
“I fear Leonidas will grow to not know his father,” she whispered, and while her voice held traces of her grief, she did not shed a single tear. “What do I tell him if my beloved should fall in battle? What do I say when he is grown and asks what his father gave his life for?”
She did not ask the next question, but I saw it in her face. Her son’s future was not all she concerned herself with.
If Haden fell in battle, it would shatter her soul.
I took her hands into mine and met her gaze once more. “If such a thing were to happen, you tell him his father fought and died for his home. That he died a true hero. There is no greater honor.”
“And what of his uncle? My brother?” she asked with a trembling lip and touched my cheek.
Leanna was not one to express such weak emotions, and yet, she could not hide them that day. Even though my stomach churned with worry and apprehension, I remained brave and confidant so I wouldn’t add to her unease.
“Do not fret over me, dear sister,” I spoke, placing my hand over hers where it still rested on my cheek. “I am not the timid boy I used to be, nor am I the little brother you used to overpower and tackle in the grass.” She laughed at my words and pulled me into a tight hug. I held her and rested my head against hers. “Well, I stillamyour little brother and always will be. But I am not so small now and can fend for myself.”
I also felt a strong compulsion to ensure Haden’s safety. Which was silly because his skills far outweighed mine, but I made the promise to myself anyway: no matter the price, I would bring him home to his family.
Leonidas squealed and toddled forward with his arms stretched outward. That’s when I saw Haden enter the courtyard, his eyes on his son and a smile warming his face.
Haden picked Leo up and held him to his chest before tickling the boy’s sides and making him squeal louder. He was an excellent father, and similar to Leanna, I’d never seen him happier or more proud than when he was with his son.
Seeing the three of them, I wished to give them their privacy. That was the last night they’d spend together before we left for campaign in the north.
Haden glanced my way and nodded. “I believe someone is waiting for you. He said you’d know where to go.”
My heart ached as the urge to be near Eryx slammed into my chest, and the eagerness to be in his presence was overwhelming. I said farewell and left them, knowing exactly where Eryx waited without giving it a second thought.
It was our last night in Sparta, so he would be in the one place where nothing could touch us.
I could walk the path with my eyes closed, having memorized each and every turn, familiar with the trees that stood tall and swayed in the late summer breeze and the hills that lay in between.
Some days I had chased Eryx through the meadow, and others he’d chased me. So many memories lay within the field, most of them good but others were less kind, such as the times we had set out to hunt helots or the day I’d been angry with Eryx and stormed away from him.
With the passage of time, some of the memories had faded, but the feelings they’d stirred had not—excitement, anxiety, amusement.
Love.
When I arrived at our secret place and passed through the bushes and low-hanging branches, I saw Eryx sitting on the bank with his back to me.
His knees were raised and he rested his arms on them, watching the water that moved along the current.
“I am going to miss this,” he said, still facing away from me. “The sound of the stream as it rushes from place to place, the birds as they fly overhead, and the tranquility of being here with you, away from everyone.”
I sat beside him. “There will be other streams on our travels. Other birds.”
“But they will not be the same,” he said, viewing me at last. A faraway look clouded in his green eyes. “I often tell you to be strong. To be not afraid. And now I am the one who fears change. We have never gone beyond Sparta’s borders… never left home.” He tore his gaze from mine and grabbed a rock, throwing it into the water. “By the gods, I wish to be brave! Yet, my worrisome thoughts plague me, and here I sit afraid. Perhaps, I am my father’s son after all. A coward.”
