Page 20 of Eryx
“Speak,” I said.
Although such a gentle action had no place in Sparta, I brushed my hand along his cheek. This boy with his curious mind and tender heart made me do and feel things I never thought I’d be capable of.
“The odds are stacked against us this day.” Axios pressed his face into my touch before pulling away. “What honor comes from them being armed with whips while we are defenseless?”
I glided my hand down his side as I pondered his question. And what a fair question it was. The boys with whips would have the advantage, much like Pericles the day before when I was being restrained while he hit me.
“The test is not for them, but for us,” I answered. “In battle, there will be times when we are outnumbered or with no weapon and we will have to rely on other strengths, such as strategy, stealth, and intellect. This is just another phase of the training. To prepare us.”
“I wish I could see the world as you do, Ery. It matters not what they do—how they beat us or what challenges they place in our path—you continue to see the positives within it. You search for ways to overcome any obstacle.”
Overcoming obstacles wasn’t a choice. When faced with a challenge, I found a way around it. I looked for the weak point to gain the upper hand. It’s how we survived.
“I must,” I answered, releasing him and lying flat on my back. “We are warriors, Axios… or we will be someday. Our entire lives are shaped around defending our home and dying for it if we must. There is nothing more.”
“What if I want more?” he whispered.
His question stumped me. I turned my head to look at him. His yearning expression pained me in ways I couldn’t explain. He wanted more than a warrior’s life. The years by his side had taught me much about myself. Axios had taken the walls I’d once kept around me and torn them down. For the first time in my life, I struggled with choosing between my duty as a Spartan and my loyalty for my friend.
If Axios decided to abandon his sense of duty and leave Sparta, could I allow him to leave my side? Could I watch him leave me behind?
The door burst open as Gaius barged through. He kicked a sleeping boy and roared for the rest of us to wake. There were grumbles and yawns as the youths in our herd stood from their beds and filed out of the barracks.
Axios watched me a moment before rising to his feet. I had a feeling this discussion wasn’t over, but we had to set it aside for now.
We walked toward the hall for morning meal in silence. Some boys were enthused about the day’s event, boasting about how they’d be the best in the arena. Other boys, like Axios, kept their mouths shut and appeared to be miles away.
“Are you all right?” I asked Axios, after we’d eaten.
Slowly, he nodded. “Years of training have toughened both my skin and my will. I’ve been beaten too many times to recall, and I’ve been whipped until blood oozed in streams down my back. It is not the pain I fear, Ery, but rather the humiliation of failure.”
He was afraid of failure? Not the pain or the possibility of death?
Always surprising me. Unpredictable like a shooting star.
“If we fail, we will learn from it,” I said. “Disgrace comes from failing and surrendering to that failure. But we must never give in. We must keep fighting.”
“Failure in this could very well be our end,” he said.
“I know a story about that,” I said, smirking when Axios cocked his head in my direction. “A story of men who believed the battle to be lost, believed failure to be in their midst.”
“What happened to these men?” Axios no longer appeared worried. No, only curiosity plagued him now. He was a lover of information.
In that instant, I learned a very valuable lesson: the way to distract Axios’ mind was to tell him stories.
“Before I tell you of their fate, I must start from the beginning,” I said, leaning against the column outside the dining hall. The sun had only begun to rise, but the air weighed heavily, clinging to my skin and making it sticky. “Years ago, the Persian King Xerxes left Greece following the naval battle at Salamis. Mardonius, his general, stayed behind to continue fighting. He had a massive army that far outmanned the Greek forces. I believe this played into his arrogance. Mardonius then made camp at Plataea in Thebes.”
“The Battle of Plataea?” Axios interjected. “Isn’t this the battle we honor during thediamastigosis? The battle took place during the Persian invasion of Greece. They say we honor the men who fought by being scourged at the altar.”
“Axios?” Though I hid it well, I was greatly amused by his interruption. “Ssh.”
“Did yousshme?”
“Do you want to hear the story or not?” I put a hand on my hip. With a small grin, he nodded. “When fighting once again broke out at Plataea, it was a bloody, brutal affair. The Persians waged a full-scale attack on the Greeks, raiding the Greek supplies and cutting off their water supply. Greeks were outnumbered, starving, and losing faith. They were led by Pausanius of Sparta, and as a Spartan, he believed not in surrender. It mattered not how grave the situation seemed, he would not back down.”
“What happened next?” Axios asked, resting against the column and turning his head toward me.
“Some of the Greeks retreated,” I answered. “And with the Greek forces disorganized, Mardonius took the opportunity to attack. Such an arrogant fool he was to go up against a Spartan commander. Persians fancy their bows and arrows, their weapons that kill from a distance. But in close quarters?” I leaned toward Axios, thriving on the excitement in his eyes. “The Spartan forces crushed the Persians and Mardonius himself was killed. So you see, Ax, even when hope seems lost, you must keep fighting. The night is dark, but not even the darkest of nights can conquer the sun when dawn breaks. And we, my friend, are the sun.”
