But if that was true ... "Are you telling me I'm Atlantean?"
"Didymos was our outermost island at one time."
Strange ... he'd never heard that before and he wasn't sure if he should believe it.
"If you doubt me, Highness, there are maps still in existence in the city's capital building that show it."
Fascinating. "When did we become Greek?"
"Twelve hundred years ago, the king married a Greek princess. His heir was just a babe when he died and the queen invited her brother to rule until the child was old enough for the throne. Her brother immediately began converting the Atleantean temples to your gods, and the child grew up with them and their ways, thinking himself Greek. His mother never told him differently. Didymos has belonged to Greece ever since."
Styxx started to deny it, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Didymos was physically closer to Atlantis than Greece-which was why it was so important to hold it strategically. It would also explain why the Didymosian temples had more in common with Atlantean temples than Greek. "Am I part Apollite, then?"
"No. Your lineage was pure Atlantean. From one of our oldest houses. But sadly, your blood is polluted now. There is very little Atlantean left inside you."
Still not sure he should believe that, Styxx returned the conversation to the previous topic. "So does the goddess now sit and wait for her Aricles?"
"Sadly, she has no cognizance of him at all. To keep her from mourning him, her father removed the memory of Aricles with her heart. She holds no knowledge of her previous existence and role."
"How is that possible?"
"Her father had her reborn from Sorrow and she was told that she is a descendent of Bathymaas and that they share some powers. But until her hero returns, she will never know the truth. The world can't afford for her to."
Styxx scowled at the story. "How is it you know something your goddess doesn't?"
"Because I was there when it happened and I was one of the creatures who helped bind her."
Styxx stepped back as the priestess transformed into a tall, robust demon.
"How dare you defile the temple of Agriosa, Greek pig! You may have been born of the House of Aricles, but you are not he! You are nothing but a human dog, unfit to breathe Atlantean air." The demon shoved him back. "And our goddess has a fierce bounty on your head that I intend to collect."
Styxx barely had time to draw his sword before the demon attacked. The beast spit acid at him. Ducking, he stabbed the demon and twisted away.
It grabbed the back of his armor. Styxx felt his Apollo mark heat up before something blasted the demon against the garden wall. The demon fell into a heap on the ground. Laughing, it wiped at the blood on its face. "Careful of the gods who protect you, dog. One day, they will all turn on you and show you what vermin you truly are." It vanished into a foul-smelling cloud.
Styxx scanned the garden, looking for other attackers as he backed his way out of the temple and returned to the street.
So, Agriosa had a bounty on him. Perfect, just perfect.
As for Apollo ... Styxx was grateful the mark had protected him from the demon, but honestly, he'd have rather been gutted than go through the horrors of that one night. He still had panic attacks and flashbacks from it. And he had no doubt that Apollo would eventually turn on him. The god had turned on every lover he'd ever taken.
Just don't let me die here. Alone. Not in this godforsaken country that had never housed anything but utter misery for him and his brother.
If he had to die, he wanted to be like his esteemed ancestor and die in the arms of the woman he loved, with her beautiful hazel-gold eyes being what he carried with him into eternity.
But deep in his gut was the fear that it would be Apollo who killed him and that bastard's cold gaze that was forever implanted in his mind.
August 8, 9530 BC
One year later
Styxx looked up from his map table as he heard a loud fanfare outside. What the...?
He knew his father wouldn't deign to visit a war camp, especially not one on foreign soil. And definitely not after all this time. Curious, he went outside to investigate the ruckus then froze at the unexpected sight of his men gathered around his tent.
Were they revolting?
Other than their collective smell, which was highly offensive ...