Except for the whore brand on Styxx's groin ...
Acheron frowned in confusion as he looked to Ryssa for an explanation.
I'm sorry, Acheron. I didn't want you to know. Ryssa's thoughts were loud and clear. She'd been lying to Acheron all this time. Telling him that their father loved him and would welcome him home.
Stupid bitch. Why would she be so cruel?
But that answer he knew ... No woman can ever be trusted. They are all treacherous beasts. His mother had schooled him well on that knowledge.
"What is he doing here?" their father demanded.
Styxx wasn't paying much attention to them as Acheron locked gazes with him. His brother looked so happy to see him.... It definitely wasn't the same reception Acheron had given him in Atlantis when Styxx had tried to set him free.
In many ways, this wasn't the same Acheron at all. The man in front of him was much more akin to the brother he'd once known. The brother Styxx had risked his life for.
And the thought that their father would send Acheron back to Atlantis horrified him.
Why didn't you run farther than this, brother?
Why hadn't his stupid sister taken Acheron someplace really safe?
"Guards!" his father shouted.
Styxx winced, wishing he could grab his brother and run. But they would catch them and there was no telling what their father might do to them.
What Estes would do or say over it.
Ryssa gaped. "What are you doing?" she shrieked at her king and father.
There was no mercy in their father's eyes. "I'm sending him back where he belongs."
Acheron's jaw went slack as he turned toward Ryssa with terrified eyes.
She shook her head. "You can't do that."
Their father turned on her with a glare so hateful it made her take a step back in fear. "Have you lost your mind, woman? Why would you coddle such a monster?"
"Father, please," Acheron begged, falling down on his knees before him. He wrapped his arms around the king's leg. "Please don't send me back. I'll do anything you ask. I swear it. I'll be good. I won't look at anyone. I won't hurt anyone." Acheron kissed the king's feet reverently.
Styxx thought he'd vomit at the sight that reminded him of when he'd been tortured in the Dionysion. He'd made the same pleas, and his father had walked out on him with no compassion or regard.
Just as he did Acheron.
"I am not your father, maggot." He kicked Acheron away then glared at his most beloved Ryssa with venom. "I told you, he doesn't belong with this family. Why would you defy me so?"
"He's your son," she sobbed. "How can you deny him? It's your face he has. Styxx's face. How can you love one and not the other?"
Because he doesn't love me, bitch. Not really.
Their father reached down and gripped Acheron's jaw tightly in his hand. He pulled him roughly to his feet so that Acheron faced Ryssa. "Those are not my eyes. Those are not the eyes of a human!"
Ryssa turned to him then, weeping. "Styxx ... He's your brother. Look at him."
He glanced to his father in panic, unsure of what his father would do if he stood up for Acheron right now. In the mood his father was in, he was as likely to turn on Styxx as he was Acheron.
Better to let the old man calm down than to anger him further.
Sorry, brother. Last time I put my ass on the line for you, you handed me over without a second thought or ounce of remorse.