Folding his arms over his chest, Xerxes leaned against the wall behind him. "What do you honestly think of Styxx?"
Estes gave him an arch stare. "How so?"
Xerxes hesitated and debated with a matter that plagued him constantly. One he didn't dare breathe a word of to anyone other than his brother. While he might doubt Styxx's paternity in private, the boy was the only heir he had. Publicly, he must always act as if there was no question about his loyalty to Prince Styxx. If Styxx didn't inherit, civil war would tear his kingdom apart and there was no one else strong enough to put it back together.
And while Estes would be strong enough to hold it in his lifetime, he would never father an heir. Which would ultimately destroy the proud House of Aricles.
Xerxes could never allow that.
Didymos had to have a strong, uncontested king on her throne. Even if it meant putting a man there he hadn't fathered.
"Does he seem ... odd?"
Estes leaned back in his wooden chair and thought about the question. "He's at that awkward point where he's neither boy nor man, but a combination of the two, brother. His body is changing and growing faster than he can keep up with and he's being assailed with potent desires he's never known. He's also facing the reality that one day, after you're gone, he will rule and be responsible for the largest Greek city-state and her army and people. Honestly? We were all odd at his age. You more so than I."
Xerxes laughed. "No one was odder than you, brother." But Estes was right. At Styxx's age, Xerxes was terrified every day of losing his father and being saddled with a throne he wasn't ready to ascend. He'd been so nervous about it that he'd driven his father to madness with his constant concern for his health.
And he'd barely been ten-and-seven when his father had succumbed to a sudden illness.
Yet he didn't sense that from Styxx. The prince was extremely distant and withdrawn from him and everyone else. At times, he even feared the boy might make an attempt on his life.
Xerxes sighed. "Perhaps. But he doesn't really favor us, does he?"
"Are you mad? He has the same blond hair and blue eyes. The same broad shoulders."
"His features-"
"Are his own. Granted. Still, most men would kill to have a boy so handsome. If you doubt it, offer him up at market and see how rich you'll be."
"I'm not going to sell my son!" Xerxes growled.
"Then you admit he's yours?"
Xerxes snorted at his brother's trickery. Estes had always been able to outmaneuver him. It was what made his brother such a brilliant military commander. He could always think nine steps ahead of anyone else and he knew how to manipulate people to get them to do exactly what he wanted.
Even so, Xerxes couldn't get past the feeling in his gut that told him Styxx had a father other than him. That Styxx was more Acheron's brother than Xerxes's son.
Estes rubbed at his beard. "Brother, have you seen the scars Styxx carries?"
Xerxes scowled. "What scars?"
"He's your son. How have you missed them? They cover the poor child. Down his back, across his groin and ribs ... Not to mention his own mother tried to kill him and his older sister berates him every time he speaks and many times when he doesn't, and all the while you laugh at her attacks and think her disrespect is cute. Given all that, I should think he's entitled to being a little strange from time to time. He's been through more tragedies and challenges in his short life than most men experience in a lifetime."
That might be part of what he sensed.
But there were times when he felt absolute hatred for him radiating from the boy. Times when he felt like Styxx was plotting and conniving against him. "He keeps things from me."
"Should I remind you of the secrets we hid from Father? Starting with that red-haired slave girl we shared when we were at our Uncle Arel's?"
He laughed at the memory of two of the best weeks of his life. "She was a sweet treat."
"Indeed."
Maybe Estes was right, after all.... "I suppose I am overreacting. I just worry about him and our kingdom."
"That is what kings and fathers do."
Xerxes laughed. "Then I am great at both."