The overseer returned. I saw the horror in her eyes and wondered if I held the same look in mine.
"How long have they done this to him?" I asked.
"I've worked here for almost a year, my lady. It's been going on since before I came."
I tried to think of what I should do. I was a woman. Nothing in this world of male power. My uncle wouldn't listen to me. For that matter, my father wouldn't listen to me.
He would never believe his brother could do such a thing. Just as I couldn't believe the uncle whom I had always loved and adored could do such a thing.
Yet there was no denying this.
How could Estes come to our palace and sup with me and Styxx, knowing that while he was here at home, he was selling a boy who was identical to Styxx in every way, but for his eyes?
It didn't make sense.
The only thing I knew was that I couldn't leave Acheron here. Not like this.
"Can you get my guard to this room without being seen?" I asked her.
The maid nodded.
She left me and I waited in my corner too afraid to move.
When she returned with Boraxis, I finally found the courage to stand.
Boraxis frowned as he helped me to my feet. "Are you all right, my lady?"
I nodded numbly. "Where is Acheron?" I asked the maid.
She led me into his bedchamber.
Again I saw the bed that was still mussed and bloodied. Averting my gaze, I followed her to a door.
When she opened it, Acheron was inside, kneeling on a hard pad that had rough bumps on it so that it would bite into his knees, causing him pain. The inner room was so tiny, that I knew it had been built for no other purpose than to be a punishment for him. He was naked, his body bruised and bloodied. His wristbands had been joined together behind his back, but what captured my attention most was the bottoms of his feet.
They were blackened by bruises.
Now I understood the sound I'd heard. What better place to punish someone when you didn't want their body damaged? No one would see the bottoms of his feet.
As gently as we could, the overseer and I took him from the room. There was a strange strap buckled around his head. As the maid removed it, I realized it held a large barbed ball underneath his tongue. There was fresh blood leaking from the corners of his mouth.
I cringed as she pulled it away and he hissed in pain.
"Put me back," he said between his clenched teeth as the maid freed his hands.
"No," I told him. "I'm getting you out of here."
Still he kept his teeth firmly clenched. "I'm forbidden to leave, my lady. Ever. Please, you must put me back. It's only worse when I fight them."
My heart broke at his words. What had they done to him that he was too terrified to even attempt to leave?
He tried to return to his torture room, but I cut him off and forced him back.
"I won't let them hurt you anymore, Acheron. I swear it. I'm taking you home."
He looked at me as if the word was alien to him. "I have to stay here," he insisted. "It's not safe for me outside."
I ignored him and turned toward the maid. "Where are his clothes?"