Acheron 9529 BC–7382 BC 2 страница

It was an elusive dream he dare not allow himself. People like him didn't have friendship. Any more than they had love or kindness. Yet he found a foreign part of himself aching for want of it.

Aching for want of her.

"So, are we friends? I promise you, you'll never regret it."

This had to be the strangest moment of his life and given the oddity of his existence, that said a lot. How could a whore be the friend of a goddess?

Acheron pulled the blanket from the bed and wiped himself clean. "I think you would regret being my friend."

She shrugged. "I doubt that. You're human. You'll only be alive... what? Another twenty or so years? That is so little time that it hardly matters and I doubt I shall be your friend once you grow old and unattractive. Besides regret isn't something an Olympian feels."

She smiled as she traced his lips. "Kiss me. Kiss me and let me know that we are friends."

It was a ludicrous thought and yet he found himself doing just as she asked.

Friends.

The two of them. He wanted to laugh at the thought. Instead, he closed his eyes and breathed her in. Her hands were sublime in his hair. And as they kissed, he wanted her friendship with a desperation that made him ache. His only hope was that he'd be worthy of it.

December 13, 9529 BC

"What are you doing?"

Acheron opened his eyes to find Artemis standing on his balcony a few feet away from him. Even though it was freezing cold, he was sitting on the railing, leaning back against a column while he listened to the turbulent sea below. "I was getting some fresh air. What are you doing?"

She pushed her lower lip out into a becoming pout. "I was bored."

That amused him. "How can a god be bored?"

She shrugged. "There's not that much for me to do really. My brother is off with your sister. Zeus is holding council and I'm never invited to those. Hades is with Persephone. My koris are bathing and cavorting with each other and ignoring me. So I'm bored. I thought you might have some idea of something we could do together."

Acheron let out a long, tired breath. He knew where this was headed and yet he was still compelled to ask the rhetorical question. "May I at least go inside where it's warm before I remove my clothes?"

She frowned. "Is that what humans do when they're bored?"

"It's what they do with me."

"And you enjoy that?"

"Not really," he answered honestly.

"Oh." She paused a second before she continued. "Well then, what do you do for fun?"

"I go to plays."

Crossing her arms, she approached him. "That's those made up stories where they have people pretending to be other people, right?"

He nodded.

By her face he could tell that she had no understanding of why he might find that entertaining. "And you like that better than being naked?"

He'd never really thought of it quite that way before, but... "Yes. It makes me forget who I am for a while."

She looked even more puzzled. "You like to forget yourself?"

"Yes."

"But isn't that confusing for you?"

Not half as confusing as this conversation. "No."

Artemis tapped her fingers against her upper arm. "I guess if I weren't a god I wouldn't like remembering who I am either. I can see why people would feel that way. So, is there a play we can go to now?"

"There's one every afternoon in town."

"Then we should go," she said firmly.

He snorted, wishing everything was as easy as she seemed to think it was. "I can't leave."

"Why not?"

He glanced to his closed bedroom doors that had been slammed and locked since the last time he'd been thrown in here and left to rot. Oh wait, that would have been yesterday. "My previous guards were beheaded for allowing me to leave. The new set is much more cautious. If I try to speak to them, they draw their swords and push me back into my room, then lock the doors."

She shrugged. "They're no problem for me. I can take you into town."

Acheron swung his legs down from the railing as hope swelled inside him. He hated being trapped like a rabid animal. He always had. All he'd been doing for the last two days was dreaming of escaping this place if only for a brief time. But the only two ways to leave his room were through the doors behind Artemis or jumping from the stone balcony that dropped a hundred feet to the rocks below. "Really?"

She nodded. "If you'd like to go, yes."

It felt as if something in his chest was lifted at her words. He could actually kiss her for this. "I'll get my cloak."

Artemis followed her new friend into his room and watched as he pulled a cloak from beneath his straw mattress. "Why do you keep your cloak under your bed?"

He shook it out as he answered. "I have to hide my cloak or else the maids will burn it."

"Why?"

He gave her a blank look. "I told you I'm not supposed to leave here."

She didn't understand that. Why would they keep him locked inside this small room? "Did you do something wrong to be imprisoned?"

"My only crime was being born to parents who have no use for me. My father doesn't want anyone to know his eldest son is deformed so here I'm to stay until I die of old age."

A foreign pain fluttered in her stomach as she felt sad for him. There were times when she felt imprisoned, too, though no one had ever made her feel freakish by any means.

She looked down at his muscular legs. "Is that why your feet are bare?"

He nodded as he wrapped the cloak around his body and raised the cowl over his head. "I'm ready."

"What about your shoes?"

He looked baffled by her question. "I haven't any. I told you, I'm forbidden to leave."

Now that she thought about it, she realized he hadn't been wearing any shoes in her temple either. "Won't your feet be cold?"

"I'm used to it."

She curled her toes in her shoes as she considered walking over winter stones barefoot. It would be a miserable feeling that not even a human should bear. Shaking her head, she manifested a pair of warm leather shoes on his feet. "There now, much better."

Acheron looked down in amazement at the dark brown shoes lined in fur. They felt so strange against his skin. But they were incredibly warm and soft. "Thank you."

She smiled at him as if the shoes pleased her as much as they did him. "You're welcome."

The next thing he knew, they were in the center of town. Acheron gaped at the sight of them standing by a well. No one in the busy crowd seemed to notice the fact that they'd just appeared out of nowhere. He immediately drew his cowl lower over his face to make sure he was shielded from those around them.

"What are you doing?" Artemis asked.

"I don't want anyone to see me."

"Oh, that's a good idea." An instant later, she wore a richly woven cloak that was pulled up around her face in a way identical to his. "How do I look?"

Before he could prevent it, a smile curved his lips at her innocent question. He quickly banished it. He knew better than to smile. It always got him into trouble. "You're beautiful."

"Why does saying that make you uncomfortable?"

Acheron clenched his teeth at the simple truth that had haunted him the whole of his life. "People destroy beauty when they find it."

She cocked her head. "How so?"

"By nature, people are petty and jealous. They envy what they lack and because they don't know how to acquire something, they try to destroy anyone who has it. Beauty is one of those things they hate most in others."

"Do you really believe that?"

"I've been attacked enough to know it for a fact. Whatever people can't possess, they try to ruin."

Artemis was stunned by his cynicism. She'd heard such comments from some of the gods. Her father, Zeus, was always making similar statements. But for such a young human...

Acheron was strangely astute at times. She could almost believe his claim of divinity, but she knew better. He was just a little more perceptive than most humans.

"Where do we go?" she asked, changing the subject.

"The common gate is over here." He led her toward a small door where a group of unwashed and filthy humans gathered.

Curling her lip in repugnance, she pulled him to a stop. "Should we be going through the common gate with common people?"

"It costs to go through the others."

How could that possibly be a problem? "Don't you have any money?"

He frowned at her. "No."

Sighing, she manifested a small purse and held it out to him. "Here. Get us decent seats. I'm a goddess. I don't sit with common people."

He hesitated before he obeyed her. Hesitated. No one did that. Yet he seemed oblivious to the fact that she was divinity. On one level it insulted her that he could be so cavalier and on another it intrigued her. She liked the feeling of being nothing more than a woman with a man.

Especially one so incredibly handsome.

But he did need to respect her godhood. She was, after all, the daughter of Zeus. She could kill him if she chose to.

Then why didn't you? His dare echoed in her head and she again saw him so proud and defiant in her temple. He was definitely an odd human.

And she liked that second only to his beauty.

Artemis stayed by his side as he purchased their seats and led her to an area that was sectioned off from the peasants. The seats here were less crowded and filled with nobles and the families of senators. Acheron paid more money to buy her a stuffed pillow that he set down on the stone for her comfort.

"Aren't you getting one for yourself?" she asked as she took a seat on it.

"I don't need one." He returned the purse to her.

Wrinkling her nose, she stared at the hard stone where he sat oblivious to the cold. "Aren't you uncomfortable?"

"Not really. I'm used to it."

He was used to a lot of things that weren't natural. Something odd went through her chest. It actually bothered her that he was abusing himself. He shouldn't have to do without things and most definitely not while he was with her. Snapping her fingers, she created a pillow underneath him.

He looked up with a startled expression that was almost comical.

"You shouldn't have to sit on cold stone, Acheron."

Acheron touched the padded blue cushion beneath him in disbelief. Only Ryssa had ever cared about his comfort. Well, and at times Catera. But Catera's care had come from a desire to make more money from him. Artemis had no reason to care whether or not he was bruised or cold. He was nothing to her and yet she'd done something truly kind for him. It made him want to smile, but he didn't trust her fully yet. He'd been fooled too many times by people's kindness that had been motivated only by their selfishness.

His chest tightened as his memories surged and he recalled the time he'd been homeless after his father had cast him out of Estes's house.

"I'll give you work, boy..."

He squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to banish the horror that followed his blind trust. Truthfully, he hated people. They were users and they were cruel to others.

All of them were cruel to him.

"Wine for my lord and lady?"

It took Acheron a moment to realize the old vendor was speaking to him. Stunned by the show of respect, he couldn't formulate an answer.

"Yes," Artemis said imperiously. She handed him coin and he in turn gave her two goblets of wine.

The vendor bowed low before them. "Thank you, my lady. My lord. I hope you enjoy the show."

Acheron couldn't speak as he took the cup from Artemis's hand. No one had treated him with such regard since the time he'd spent with Ryssa and Maia at the summer palace. And no one had ever bowed to him before.

No one.

His throat tight, he slowly sipped the wine.

Artemis paused to study him. "Is something the matter?"

Acheron shook his head, unable to believe that he was actually seated next to a goddess. In public. Wearing clothes. What a strange turn of events.

Artemis dipped her head, trying to meet his gaze.

Out of habit, Acheron averted his eyes.

"Why don't you look at me?" Artemis asked.

"I do look at you."

"No, you don't. You always avert your gaze whenever someone comes near."

"I see you though. I learned how to see without looking directly at things a long time ago."

"I don't understand."

Acheron sighed as he turned the cup in his hands. "My eyes make people uncomfortable so I try to keep them hidden as best I can. It prevents people from becoming angry at me."

"People get angry at you for looking at them?"

Acheron nodded.

"What does that feel like?"

He swallowed at the memories that cut him all the way to his soul. "It hurts."

"Then you should tell them not to do it."

If only it were so easy. "I'm not a god, Artemis. No one listens to me when I speak."

"I listen."

She seemed to, and that meant a lot to him. "You're unique."

"True. Perhaps you should spend more time around the gods."

He snorted at the very idea. "I hate the gods, remember?"

"You don't hate me, do you?"

"No."

Artemis smiled. His words relieved her and she wasn't sure why. Intrigued by him, she reached over to touch his back. The moment she did, he sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth and pulled away. "What's the matter?"

"My back's still tender."

"Tender from what?"

Somehow he managed to give her an insolently droll stare without looking directly at her. "I told you I was forbidden to leave my room. My trip to your temple cost me."

"Cost you what?"

He sighed as the play started. "Let's watch the play, please."

Turning her attention to the actors, she listened as they told some insipid story that held no real interest for her. The human beside her... that was another matter. He intrigued her greatly.

Anytime she'd ever approached a human of any stature, he or she would grovel and beg for her approval. Even royalty. Or they'd stare at her as if she were sublime, which, of course, she was. But this one didn't do any of that. He seemed oblivious of the fact that she could kill him with a glance. Even now he was ignoring her completely.

How very strange.

"Why does that group keep singing?"

"It's the chorus," he whispered, his attention firmly on the actors below them.

"They're key-off."

He frowned at her. "Key-off?"

"Their tune... it's not right."

"Off-key," he corrected as he turned away from her again. "No, they're not. They sound fine."

She arched a brow at his peeved tone. "Are you arguing with me?"

"I'm not trying to argue with you, Goddess. I'm trying to hear what the actors are saying. Shh."

No... no, he hadn't really shushed her! Anger whipped through her. "Excuse me? Acheron? Shh?"

For once he met her gaze and there was no mistaking the agitation in those swirling silver eyes. "I'm not the one talking, Artemis." He turned back toward the stage.

Aggravated at him, she snatched the cowl from his head to get his full attention. The instant she did, she realized she'd made a mistake. Every person near them was suddenly fascinated by Acheron whose face had lost all color.

Without a word to her, he covered himself and rushed for the exit. Several of the people around her headed after him.

Curious, she followed up the stairs and out of the stadium to find Acheron as he was becoming surrounded by people. He appeared panicked as he tried to push his way through the crowd that continued to try and talk to him.

One of the men grabbed him roughly by the arm.

"Let me go," Acheron snarled, shoving at the stranger.

The man tightened his grip so much that Acheron flinched from it.

Enraged over the abuse of her friend, Artemis sank her nails into the hand of the man who then grimaced in pain. He let go of Acheron and the moment he did, she took Acheron's hand and teleported him back to his room.

She expected his gratitude.

He gave her none of that. Instead, he turned on her with fury pouring out of his entire being. "How dare you do that to me!"

"I saved you."

His intolerant gaze was as accusatory as his tone even though he kept it at her feet. "You exposed me!"

She didn't understand why he was blaming her for something that wasn't her fault. "You were ignoring me."

"I was trying to watch the play. That was why we were there, wasn't it?"

"No. We were there to keep me from being bored. Remember? I was getting bored again."

That didn't placate him in the least. If anything, it seemed to anger him more. "Then you can go be bored somewhere else."

Artemis was aghast. "Are you throwing me out of your room?"

"Yes."

Rage clouded her vision. No one had ever taken such a tone with her. "Who do you think you are?"

"The one who almost got attacked because you're thoughtless."

"I am not thoughtless."

He gestured to the door behind her. "Just go. I don't like being around people. I'd rather be alone."

She frowned at him. "You are really, truly angry at me, aren't you?"

He actually rolled his eyes as if he were exasperated with her.

Shocked, Artemis gaped at him. "Human beings don't get angry at me."

"This one does. Now please leave."

She should and yet she couldn't make herself go. She was too compelled by this man who should be infuriating her and yet she wasn't really angry. A part of her was even tempted to apologize to him. But goddesses didn't do that to humans.

"Why did those people surround you like that?" she asked, wanting to understand him and his unwarranted hostility toward her.

"You're the goddess. You tell me."

"People don't normally do that to others of their kind without a reason. Were you perchance cursed?"

He laughed bitterly. "Obviously so."

"What did you do?"

"I was born. Apparently that's all the gods need to ruin someone." He snatched the shoes off his feet and held them out to her. "Take your shoes and go."

"I gave those to you."

"I don't want your gift."

"Why not?"

His gaze was on the floor, but there was no missing the fury and contempt. "Because you'll make me pay for it eventually and I'm tired of paying for things." He dropped the shoes and turned to walk out onto his balcony.

Ignoring the shoes, Artemis followed him. "We were having fun. I liked it until you angered me."

He dropped his gaze to the floor as all the anger evaporated from his face. "Forgive me, my lady. I didn't mean to offend you." He sank to his knees in front of her.

"What are you doing?"

"My will is yours, akra."

Artemis yanked his cloak off. He didn't flinch or move. He merely stayed there like a mindless supplicant. "Why are you behaving like this?"

He kept his gaze on the ground. "It's what you want, isn't it? A servant to entertain you?"

Yes, but she didn't want that from him. "I have servants. I thought we were friends."

"I don't know how to be a friend. I only know how to be a slave or a lover."

Artemis opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the door behind her swung open. She made herself instantly invisible as she stepped back into the shadows.

Two guards came in.

The moment Acheron saw them, he rose to his feet and backed up on the balcony as they made their way toward him. His face went cold and stoic.

Without a word, they grabbed him roughly and pulled him to the hallway. Wondering about their intent, she followed them, making sure to keep herself hidden.

Acheron was taken to the throne room where she'd popped in on him three days ago. The guards forced him to his knees before the thrones that were occupied by an elder human and a young man who was identical in looks to Acheron. Only he didn't have Acheron's silver eyes and he lacked the same compelling nature. The one on the throne was the same as any human and she took an instant dislike to him.

"As per your instructions, he hasn't left his room, Sire," the guard on the left of Acheron said firmly. "We've made sure of it."

The king's blue eyes were piercing. "You weren't in the square earlier, teritos?"

Artemis's eyes widened at the word that meant slug.

Acheron gave the king a defiant glare. "Why would I have been in the square, Father?"

The king curled his lip. "Thirty-six lashes for his insolence, then return him to his room."

Acheron closed his eyes as the guards grabbed him by the hair and hauled him through a set of double doors that opened into a small courtyard. Scowling, she watched as they stripped him bare, then tied him to a post. His perfectly formed back was covered with dark bruises, red welts and cuts. No wonder he'd recoiled in pain when she'd touched him. It had to hurt fiercely.

Unable to detect her presence, the younger guard walked to her side and pulled a whip from the holder before he returned to Acheron.

Acheron stiffened and braced himself against the post as if he knew what would happen next.

The whip whistled through the air, then tore through his bruised back.

Gasping, Acheron gripped the post so tight that every muscle in his arms and legs was taut and outlined. It was as if he were trying to merge himself with the post...

Mesmerized by the sight, she watched as lash after lash rained down on his back. Never once did he cry out or beg for mercy. The most he would do was gasp or curse them and their parentage.

When it was over, the guards freed him. His face ashen, Acheron picked his chiton up from the ground where the guards had thrown it but didn't have time to dress before they dragged him back to his room and threw him inside. The doors rattled as the guards slammed them shut with an echoing clatter.

Artemis walked through the locked doors to find Acheron lying on the floor where he'd landed. His bloodied blond hair was tangled and fanned out behind him while blood seeped from the wounds on his back. He made no move to cover himself or to cry. He merely lay there staring into space.

"Acheron?"

He didn't speak to her.

She materialized in front of him, then knelt by his side. "Why were you beaten?"

He drew a ragged breath as he tightened his grip on the wadded up chiton. "Stop asking me questions I don't feel like answering."

Her heart hammering, she reached out to one of the bleeding welts that curved over his right shoulder. He hissed in response to her touch. Withdrawing her hand, she frowned. His warm, sticky blood coated her fingertips. She drew back, staring at his naked body. For the first time, she felt a wave of guilt stir in her breast.

His punishment was her fault. Had she not taken him out of his room, they wouldn't have done this to him. Part of her was even angry that he'd been injured.

"I don't like you like this," she whispered.

"Just please leave me alone."

But she couldn't. Wanting to comfort him, she placed her hand on his shoulder and closed her eyes before she healed him.

Acheron panted as a searing pain tore through his battered body. A second later, all the pain was gone. He tensed, expecting it to return.

It didn't.

"Is that better?"

He stared at the goddess in disbelief. "What did you do?"

"I'm a goddess of healing so I healed you."

Rolling onto his back, he was amazed that the pain didn't return. For the last three days, he'd been beaten at various intervals because he'd dared walk to the temple with Ryssa. Honestly, he'd begun to fear that his skin would never heal completely.

But Artemis had helped him. "Thank you."

The goddess smiled at him as she brushed his hair back from his face. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

Acheron covered her hand with his before he kissed her palm that tasted like roses and honey. To his complete shock, he felt his body stirring. For that alone, he expected Artemis to jump on top of him.

Instead she watched his cock as he hardened even more. "Does it always do that?"

"No." He rarely got hard unless it was required of him or he was drugged.

Her brow drew tight as she touched his chest. He was used to people being curious about him. Since the assumption went that he was the son of a god, everyone wanted to touch him, to explore his body.

Yet she was hesitant. Her hand drifted over his abdomen lightly as if she were afraid to touch the part of him she was staring at.

"I won't do anything you don't want me to," he told her quietly.

Her eyes flashed. "Of course not. I'd kill you if you did."

No one had been quite so blunt before, but that threat had always hung over his head. He'd had plenty of clients after leaving Atlantis who'd threatened him for numerous reasons. Mostly political or possessive. They were afraid he'd tell on them for what they wanted to do to their Prince Styxx or they didn't want to share him with anyone else.

Three times he'd almost been killed.

He didn't know why people reacted to him the way they did. He'd never understood it. Artemis, even with her divinity, didn't seem any different than anyone else.

Except her touch set him on fire.

Acheron closed his eyes as her hand lightly brushed the tip of his cock. The need inside him for her was unexpected and shocking. He should be angry at her for what she'd done to him and yet he couldn't find any anger inside himself right now. Only a desire to please her that he didn't comprehend.

A noise sounded out in the hallway.

Artemis pulled back with a sharp intake of breath. "We could be seen."

The next thing he knew, they were inside a bright, white marble bedroom. Acheron shot to his feet as he turned around slowly, trying to understand where he was.

There was an incredibly large bed against one wall. The sheets and curtains were as white as everything else. The only color to be found was gold trim.

"Where am I?"

"Mount Olympus."

His jaw went slack. "How?"

"I brought you to my temple. Don't worry. No one ever enters my bedchambers. These are sacred to me."

Artemis approached him with a smile on her face. She rubbed her cheek against his an instant before a red chiton appeared on his body. "We can be alone here."

Acheron couldn't even form a coherent thought as he looked at the splendor surrounding him. The ceiling over his head was solid gold and carved with brilliant forest scenes. How could this be? How could a whore be in the bedroom of a goddess renowned for her virginity? The mere thought was laughable.

Yet here he stood...

Artemis took him by the hand and led him toward her balcony that let out onto a garden resplendent with flowers. The riot of color was almost as beautiful as the goddess beside him.

"What do you think of it?" Artemis asked.

"It's wondrous."

She smiled. "I thought you'd like it."

He frowned at her. "How could you be bored here?"

She looked away and swallowed. A deep sadness darkened her green eyes. "It gets lonely. There's seldom anyone who wants to talk to me. Sometimes I walk in the woods and the deer come to me, but they don't really have much to say."

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