So what if the god was exceptionally handsome? She despised the way he dismissed her as if she were insignificant. The only thing worse than his treatment of her was her father's insistence that she was blessed to be in the god's presence.
If this was blessed, she'd hate to see cursed.
She turned her head as she caught a glimpse of a servant hesitating in the doorway. Pretty and timid, the girl was a year or two younger than Styxx. "Is something wrong, Hestia?" she asked the maid.
Hestia looked at the men fearfully before she made her way to Ryssa's side so that she could speak to her in a soft tone. "His Majesty wanted me to report if . . ." Hestia's gaze returned to the king before she finished the statement, "the royal prisoner stopped eating."
The royal prisoner. Acheron. Ryssa's heart pounded in fear. "Is he ill?"
She cleared her throat. "I know not, Your Highness. I haven't seen him in days. I leave food and when I return it's untouched. No one's slept in his bed."
"What?" her father's roar made both of them jump. "Guards! Follow me." He stormed from the room in the direction of her wing.
Terrified for her brother, Ryssa ran after him.
"What's going on?" Apollo asked Styxx as the two of them followed in her wake.
Styxx made a sound of disgust deep in the hollow of his throat. "It's Acheron. He's a worthless slave who used to be a tsoulus. Unfortunately his life is tied to mine so we have to keep him healthy. Although I feel fine so I'm sure he's only doing this for attention. May the gods forbid we ever be allowed to forget his presence here for one single day."
Ryssa ground her teeth. The last thing Acheron wanted was any attention from either Styxx or their father. But in Styxx's selfish mind he couldn't fathom Acheron wanting to hide from their glorious presences.
Her father stormed into Acheron's room, then drew up short. She entered behind him and paused to scan the empty interior. There was no sign of Acheron.
Her father turned on her with a furious glower. "I told you he couldn't be trusted."
Ryssa ignored him as she went to the one place her brother frequented. The balcony.
At first she didn't see him, but as she stepped forward under the awning that shielded her from the passing storm, she saw a figure out of her peripheral vision. It was Acheron sitting to the side with his knees bent and his arms folded over them. Completely naked, he stared into space as if unaware of the frigid cold and the rain that poured down on him. His hair was plastered to his head and at least two days' growth of beard dusted his cheeks.
Careful to stay out of the rain, she approached him slowly. "Acheron?"
He didn't respond. There was something about him that wasn't quite right. It was as if he'd died, but his soul hadn't left his body yet.
She knelt beside him. "Little brother?"
He turned those eyes on her with a fury she hadn't seen since the morning he'd thrown her out of his brothel. "Leave me," he growled in a tone so ferocious it honestly scared her.
From the corner of her eye, she saw her father's anger. "Don't you dare speak to her that way."
"Fuck you, you bastard."
Styxx growled low in his throat as he rushed Acheron.
Ryssa fell back as Acheron came to his feet and ran at Styxx with the same fury. She covered her mouth as the two of them clashed in the pouring rain. Never once had she seen Acheron strike another living soul. But he fought Styxx with everything he had.
Apollo snatched her back so that they didn't accidentally hit her.
Styxx had been trained to fight from the age of five by the best instructors her father could hire. And he beat Acheron down in the rain. Even so, Acheron fought as hard as he could.
But in the end he was no match for his twin. Styxx kicked him in the ribs. "You're pathetic."
Acheron rolled in the water and pushed himself up. As he went for Styxx again, Styxx knocked him back. The rain ran down his face, mixing with the blood that ran from his eye, nose and mouth. Still he ran at Styxx, over and over again as if he thought his sheer will alone would be enough to defeat his twin brother.
"Guards, take him," her father ordered.
Acheron tried to fight them as they came forward to subdue him, but he was already weakened by Styxx. They hauled him back into his room where her father waited.
Her father buried his hand in Acheron's wet hair and snatched his head back so that Acheron could see the full contempt the king bore his eldest son. "Beat him until there's no skin left on his back. If he passes out, wake him and beat him again."
Acheron laughed coldly. "I love you, too, Father."
Her father backhanded him. "Take him out of here."
"Father?" Apollo asked with an arch stare.
Her father scoffed. "He calls me that, but he's no son of mine. My former queen whored herself and begat that abomination."
Ryssa felt her tears fall at her father's condemnation. "He's human, Father."
They all laughed at her. Unable to stand their ridicule, she followed the guards to offer comfort to Acheron.
By the time she reached the courtyard where they beat him, he was already bloodied. But unlike the other times they'd punished him, he fought against his restraints.
"Hit me again!" he shrieked at the guard. "Harder!"
The unbridled rage in him shocked her completely. He was actually laughing at the guards as if he took pleasure in what they were doing.
Had he gone mad?
What had happened to him?
Acheron taunted them until he passed out from the beating. The guards exchanged a wary look between each other before the taller one reached for a bucket of water to revive him.
Ryssa placed her hand on his arm. "Please don't," she begged.
"Highness . . . your father will be angry if he learns we didn't carry out his orders."
"I won't tell if you don't. Please. He's been through enough."
The guard nodded, then went to cut him down. She saw the pity in both their eyes as they carried Acheron back to his room and, under her direction, placed him face down on his bed. They turned and left her alone with her brother who looked so pathetically vulnerable lying on the bed, bleeding.
Ryssa had no idea where Apollo and her brother and father had gone off to. Honestly, she didn't care. They could all rot for their cruelty.
Her hand shaking in pity for her brother, she brushed the hair back from Acheron's cheek. He was burning with a fever. "Don't worry, Acheron. I'll take care of you."
Well, that was highly entertaining."
Artemis dragged her gaze away from her koris who were swimming in the fountain outside her temple to see her brother beside her. "What is?"
"My pet has an illegitimate brother they hate."
Her heart stilled at the mention of Acheron. "Really?" she said, hoping he didn't detect the catch in her voice.