I'd learned from him that Meara was the maid who'd written to me and who'd helped him escape. She'd been the kindest of his keepers and the only one who'd made sure that he ate and was comfortable . . . when not entertaining. The other thing I'd learned from him was that Estes used food to control him.
Acheron ate only when he was pleasing to others. How much he was allowed depended on how many clients he'd seen that day and how happy they'd been with him.
The very thought sickened me.
"You love Meara, don't you?"
"She's always kind to me. Even when I'm bad, she doesn't hurt me."
Bad. Defined by Estes as anytime a client was rough with Acheron and left a mark on his body. Acheron was charged with pleasing them in any way they wanted and yet if they wanted to be rough and he allowed it, he was punished for it. If he didn't allow them to hurt him, they were displeased and Estes punished him twice as hard for not giving them what they paid for. Acheron couldn't win this battle.
I clenched my hands into fists to keep from reaching out to touch him. I just wanted to gather him into my arms and hold him until the nightmare that had been his life was completely erased from his memory.
But how? How could I make him understand that he was safe now? That no one would ever touch him without his explicit invitation? That he was free to make his own decisions and that no one would beat him for voicing his opinion?
Or for walking outside to feel the grass on his feet?
It would take time. "I'm going back to my room." I pointed to the doors that opened into my chambers. "You can stay out here as long as you like. When you're hungry, tell Petra, the tall older woman you met on our arrival, and she'll make you whatever you wish. If you need me, don't hesitate to come to my room. The day is yours, little brother. All I ask is that you please put on your shoes so that you won't fall ill."
He nodded and didn't move until I'd put enough distance between us that he was sure I couldn't strike him. I wanted to weep over that.
But there was nothing to be done except to show him that I meant what I said. His life was now his own.
Withdrawing, I returned to my room where I watched him as he put on the shoes he must have been holding under his cloak. Then he explored the small garden for hours. He must have touched everything that was there, feeling the texture and smelling it.
It wasn't until the sun had begun to set that he made his way back to his room. I waited a few minutes before I went to the kitchen and had Petra take him a tray of food.
"Highness?" she asked as I started to leave.
"Yes, Petra?"
"Our guest . . . is he all right?"
"He's fine. He's just bashful and quiet."
She nodded before she made his tray and left with it. Her daughter, whose name I couldn't recall, smiled at me from the corner where she played by the fire.
"You're friend seems lost, Highness. Like the puppy I found last summer. At first he was scared to let anyone near him, but I kept talking to him and leaving him food." She pointed to the dog that was sleeping a few feet from her. "Now he's the best dog in the world. He never leaves my side."
"Everything in the world needs kindness, child."
She nodded, then went back to playing.
I watched her for a moment as old memories surged. Acheron had never been given toys even before Estes had taken him away. Back then, I would share mine with him, but they were all he'd ever had.
The girl was right. My brother was sadly lost. I just hoped that in time he would become as comfortable here as the dog obviously was. That he would learn to feel welcome in a world that so obviously hated him.
November 19, 9532 BC
I'd slept late today without meaning to. It was almost the noon hour before I awoke. And what awakened me was the most startling thing of all.
It was the sound of a child's laughter.
I got up and pulled my red woolen cloak around me before I walked to the window so that I could look outside.
There in the garden was Acheron with the cook's young daughter. They sat on a cloth with bread, meat, olives and figs while they talked and played a dice game. I couldn't hear what was being said, but the little girl would squeal with laughter every so often.
When the girl decided to stand, she reached out and touched Acheron's shoulder. He didn't cringe at all. To my amazement, he actually picked her up and set her on her feet so that she could run inside.