Styxx glared at his uncle as his father embraced Estes, resenting the affection his father had for him. Over his father's shoulder, Estes raked him from head to toe with a lecherous, taunting grin. Averting his gaze, Styxx caught the smug smiles of his uncle's friends. And when Nestor winked at him and dropped his gaze to Styxx's groin as he licked his lips, he all but ran up the stairs and into the palace.
Ryssa met him just inside the door and swept his body with a sneer of her own. "You must think you're something truly special now. Having gone off with Uncle and his friends like you're their noble equal. But you're not a man, Styxx. You're still a pathetic, spoiled child."
He'd never wanted to punch her more than he did right then. How could she look into his eyes and not see the horror inside his heart? Not see how shaken and upset he was? It took everything he had not to put her through the wall behind her. "And you're a stupid bitch."
She gasped as he stormed past her. Shrieking, she ran to tell on him.
Honestly, he didn't care. There was nothing worse his father could do to him now. No beating that could possibly hurt more than this did.
He started past the upstairs larder then paused and opened it to grab two jugs of wine. With them in hand, he retreated to his room and bolted himself in. He had no intention of leaving the safety of these four walls until long after Estes and the others were gone.
Pulling the pillow from his bed, he placed it on the floor to cushion his sore body and guzzled down the undiluted wine, wanting it to take away his shame. But all it could do was create a very temporary shelter and he knew it.
Over and over, against his will, his mind kept replaying the utter misery he'd just survived. No matter what he did, he heard their voices and felt their hands on his flesh.
Please, gods, talk to me and drown it out.
But all he heard was Estes and the others laughing and mocking him. How ironic that the only thing he'd found to fully silence the sounds in his head were memories he'd sell his soul to banish....
August 30, 9533 BC
For two full days, Styxx stayed barricaded in his room until he heard the horses gathered in the drive for his uncle's departure. Making sure to stay out of sight, he opened his window only enough to look down and verify the sounds.
Thank you, gods, they're leaving....
"Where's the prince?" his father demanded on the steps below.
Ryssa made a derisive face. "No one's seen him, Father. Most likely he's off impregnating a servant. After all, he went a whole week without one. Gods forbid."
Styxx despised her for that.
Estes shrugged Styxx's "rudeness" off. "Don't worry about it, Xerxes. I'm not offended. I'm sure he feels like he's had enough of me this past week. Give him my regards when you see him and tell him that I can't wait until my next visit. I look forward to being his riding partner in the future."
Styxx's stomach shrank at those hated words and the veiled threat beneath them.
"You are far too kind, Uncle." Ryssa kissed him lightly on the cheek. "May the gods speed you home."
"May the gods overturn your chariot and spill your guts, far and wide," Styxx snarled. "Or better yet, send your boat to the bottom of the sea."
"Gods speed you, brother."
Styxx didn't feel like he could breathe again until he saw his uncle and his entourage ride out the gates. Only then did he lean back and relax. He expelled a long breath.
His nightmare was finally over. The bastard was gone and couldn't touch him anymore.
He was safe again....
But his relief was short-lived as guards pounded on his door. At first he wasn't going to answer it at all, but when he heard them calling for a battering ram, he knew if he didn't come out, his father would never be placated with a simple apology.
Forcing himself to stand strong, he opened the door to find four burly guards waiting to escort him down to his father's study.
Styxx braced himself for his father's fury and lecture.
They marched with him all the way inside his father's study and didn't pull back until he neared his father's desk where the king sat with Ryssa standing behind him. His father glared at him with a venom Styxx wished was lethal.
"What have you to say for yourself, boy?"
"I don't feel well, Father. Please forgive me. I think I caught something." And hopefully it wouldn't be some venereal disease.