His father scowled. "I didn't think you'd been training since your return."
"Master Galen wasn't there. I trained on my own."
Frowning, the physician pulled back. "Then how did you bruise yourself?"
"It was with the staff and spear," Styxx quickly added.
The physician sighed before he spoke to the king. "I think to be safe, we should bleed him."
"No!" Styxx roared as raw, pure fury burned through his veins. After what the priests had done to him, he couldn't bear the thought of being bled again. Never mind the matter of his having suckled a god on his blood.
"Styxx!" his father snapped.
"Beat me. Kill me. I do not care. I will not be bled. Ever!"
The physician shrank away from the bed as if terrified. "Is he possessed again, Majesty?"
Styxx's fury gave way to panic. "No. Father, I am fine. I swear to all the gods."
The doubt in his father's eyes set his heart to pounding.
"Please, Father. I beg you." Don't send me back there. Please, I can't....
Time hung still until his father shook his head. "If you need to be bled-"
"My nose bleeds. Surely there's enough on the bed already."
"Sire-"
His father held his hand up, cutting the man off. "I will defer to the prince. But if he's not well by morning, we will proceed with your remedy, physician. Now leave us."
With a curt bow, he departed.
Scowling, his father moved to stand next to the bed. "What is wrong with you?"
"I was bled to the brink of death by the priests, Father."
"And they healed you."
You stupid bastard. "No, Father. It weakened me in ways I can't explain. Suffice it to say, I've had enough of a cure I know for a fact doesn't work. This will pass on its own, please trust me."
"And if you're possessed?"
He could almost laugh at that. How could he be possessed by the gods that had abandoned him? "Father, please. I've had nosebleeds the whole of my life. As for the other ... a stomach ailment. I've felt unwell since this morning and didn't want to bother you with the complaint. It's nothing."
His father inclined his head. "I shall defer to you then. And I'll send a servant to tend you."
"I'd rather be alone."
He scowled. "You're-"
"Father, please ... I don't want someone in here, disturbing me in any way. I shall be fine on my own."
"I will leave someone posted at your door. Call if you need anything."
"Thank you."
As soon as his father was gone, Styxx rolled out of bed to the chest where he'd hidden his small purse. His hands shaking, he seized one of the suppositories and quickly administered it, along with the numbing gel.