While Styxx went to clean himself, Estes started a small fire. By the time he returned for his clothes, his uncle was sitting on a blanket, mixing herbs into a small clay pot.
"What are you doing?"
Estes motioned him closer. "Have you ever heard of Eycharistisi?"
Styxx shook his head. "What is it?"
"Another special plant they grow in Atlantis. Truly, it is a place of wonder and marvel. They have the most advanced medicine you've ever seen." Estes set fire to the herbs then blew the flames down to low embers. "Would you like to try some?"
Styxx hesitated. They didn't look particularly appetizing, but then neither did the meat, and it was exceptionably tasty. Kneeling beside his uncle, he reached out to take the herbs with his fingers.
Pulling the pot back, Estes laughed. "You don't eat them, dear boy. You inhale their fragrance." He held up a small cup that was attached to the pot. "Put this over your nose and mouth and breathe in deeply."
"Is it safe?"
"Very. You know I'd never hurt you. I love you too much for that."
You are definitely going to enjoy this, little squirrel....
Styxx scowled at his uncle's thought. "What does it do?"
"It'll ease your headache and the soreness you had from the ride out here."
He'd do anything short of cutting his head off to get the throbbing pain to lessen. Between his uncle, Estes's five friends, and the four guards who rode with them, his head had been nothing but a cacophonous mess of their thoughts. They were so overwhelming, he couldn't even understand more than a random word or two at a time.
If this worked to silence the noise, he'd buy bushels of it.
Pulling the cup to his face, Styxx did as Estes had instructed. It smelled like some exotic fruit and it made his head reel. But the best part was that it completely shut out the voices of the gods and people in his head.
For that silence alone, he was grateful beyond measure.
"Here. Have more wine."
Styxx took the skin and drank deeply of it. But this was different from what he'd had earlier. Spicier. It hit his stomach then fanned out through his veins with a warm thickness he could feel. The calmest peace he'd ever known settled over him, like he was sleeping while awake.
Then out of nowhere, his body felt as if it was engulfed in flames. He blew cold air across his skin.
Estes took the wine from his hand and set it aside. "It's all right, Styxx. Don't fight it."
Don't fight what? It burned and ached. He rubbed at his neck, trying to cool down his flesh. "I'm so hot...."
"It'll pass in a minute."
Styxx licked his suddenly dry lips as the fire in his body went lower ... straight to his groin. The instant it did, it gave him an erection unlike any he'd ever had before. Every part of his body ached with a ferocious need to be touched. Eyes wide, he stared at Estes, who smiled.
Estes moved to sit behind him. Rising onto his knees, he brushed the hair back from Styxx's face and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "Are you virgin still?"
"Yes."
Suddenly afraid, Styxx tried to get up, but Estes held him fast. Before he could escape, his uncle pinned him facedown on the ground with his arm twisted behind his back. Panic filled him as he realized what his uncle had planned for him.
Praying he was wrong, he cringed as Estes buried his hand in Styxx's hair and used his knees to wedge Styxx's thighs apart. "What are you doing, Uncle?"
Estes tossed his chiton down beside them and pressed his naked body to Styxx's. "You've no idea how hard it's been for me to wait until you were old enough for this. I was forced to sell Acheron's virginity to recoup the loan I had to make for his training. But yours, little squirrel, I intend to savor taking for hours to come."
August 28, 9533 BC
"We have to sober him up."