Page 90 of Eryx
Haden rolled his eyes.
“She is nearly ready,” Axios added, moving his gaze to Haden. “She wished for me to tell you not to let her win. Otherwise, she will gut you.”
When Haden smiled, it lit up his entire face. I thought it interesting how he had so firmly proclaimed years ago that Spartans didn’t believe in love… and yet, he glowed with the emotion at the mention of his soon-to-be bride.
Love conquered even the most stubborn of men.
Soon after, we left the courtyard as a group and walked toward the field where the wedding ritual would take place. Women were already there when we arrived, and they giggled and moved in circles around Leanna, singing as they moved their arms in the air in a fluid dance.
“I feel ill,” Haden said, staring at them with wide eyes. The normally arrogant male had become a bundle of nerves.
“Do you fear you’ll lose to a woman?” Theon asked, jabbing his elbow in Haden’s stomach.
“She is no mere woman,” Haden responded. “She is a goddess with the spirit of a lion.”
Leanna stepped forward from the circle of dancing girls, her dark hair flowing down her back in soft waves. A flower was tucked behind one ear. However, I knew she was not as delicate as she appeared. She was a fighter, a woman who smiled with ease yet could also take a man down just as easily.
“I have not seen the capturing ritual before,” Axios said, watching the two of them slowly approach each other.
Neither had I, but even so, I found myself watching him instead. His hair had grown longer, touching the tops of his ears and falling a bit across his brow. No longer in theagoge, our hair could now be as long as we desired it. I had allowed mine to grow, too, and it had a tendency to curl at the ends.
When I had mentioned shaving it off, Axios had begged me not to. He liked twisting the golden locks around his fingers and admiring them.
I glanced at Haden and Leanna, who stood several feet apart. The crowd that had gathered for the wedding shouted encouragement. Haden lurched forward, intending to hit Leanna down low as we had learned in our training was a quick way to knock your opponent to the ground, but she jumped out of the way and twisted in the air, landing a kick to his back.
“Axios?” Quill said. “Remind me to never anger your sister.”
Axios chuckled and stepped closer to my side. The ritual didn’t last long. Haden finally managed to wrap his arms around Leanna and lifted her up and over his shoulder. The men from oursyssitioncheered as Leanna growled and slapped his backside. Haden swung her around a moment before setting her back down.
Leanna slapped his chest before gripping his biceps and tugging him in for a kiss. More cheers followed. When they pulled apart, Haden brushed his knuckles along her cheek, gazing at her as if she was the sun and he was the earth needing her warmth. The women then rushed forward and grabbed Leanna’s hand, leading her off the field in a flurry of excitement. She would need to be prepared for the second part of the ceremony—the bedding.
Haden walked over to us, a shy smile on his lips. “Stop this gawking, brothers. Let us have a drink.”
He was clapped on the back and playfully shoved as we made our way to the dining hall. As was customary, oursyssitionwould drink in celebration of his union and dine with him before he was to journey to the chambers where Leanna waited for him. We sat at the table as a helot poured us wine.
The slave had a unique shade of hair, silver like the moon. He reminded me of the one I had killed all those years ago. I glanced at my hands, half expecting them to still be stained with red.
“Are you nervous?” Theon asked Haden, as he chewed a cube of cheese.
Haden had only become more unfocused the longer we ate. His mind was elsewhere. Where he should’ve been the loudest man at the table, boasting of how he intended to bed his bride, he instead sat quietly and picked at his food.
“Swallow your food before you speak,” Quill chided Theon, bumping his arm.
“Kiss my ass. You aren’t my mother,” Theon countered, shoving Quill in response. His dark eyes flickered to Haden and he repeated, “Are you nervous?”
“Nervous about what specifically?” Haden asked.
“About bedding her!”
“At last, you will know a woman’s touch,” Quill said, nodding. “I have heard other men speak of sex by saying women are very wet… you know, down there between their legs. Like oil.”
Axios, who had been about to take a bite of bread and honey, set it back down and pushed the plate away from him. Leanna wasn’t my blood relation, yet it wasn’t pleasant for me, either, to think about her partaking in sex.
“Has anyone spoken to Nikias?” Melias asked, and Haden nodded his thanks at the change of subject.
An army had just returned to Sparta, following the end of the war. Nikias had been amongst them.
“Aye,” I answered. “He is alive, though he bears the mark of a hard battle. The injury he carries will prevent him from fighting alongside us as soldiers from this day forward.”
