Page 108 of Axios

It mattered not that I was of age twenty-six, Gaius still saw me as the boy I used to be. A large part of me believed he had grown fond of me but refused to let it show.

“I was not aware that a man outside of the royal bloodlines could become king,” I answered, walking beside him as he retrieved the blunt swords he’d used in training.

Gaius scoffed and slapped the back of my head. “Ya earned that slap, boy. Polybiades is only replacing his command at the siege in Olynthus. Agesipolis’ brother, Cleombrotus, is replacing him as king.”

My face heated. “Well, politics in warfare are not familiar to me. I am only a soldier. That is all I know.”

“Doubtful you even know that much,” he replied.

With Felix still away at war, Gaius seemed more distracted, but he was still just as mean. Not as if I expected anything less. His bitterness was not taken to heart, though. It was who he was. I would have been bothered if hehadn’tinsulted me.

We had just finished training for the day. Eryx and I had trained our youths, and Gaius had trained—and tormented—his own group. It had been a while since I had seen him, so I had decided to stop by before joining Eryx in the barracks.

The years had changed him, but not drastically so. Several gray strands lay within the darker ones and his face appeared weathered from all of his days in the sun. He still had his bulk and strength, but his stamina had lessened and he tired easier. Although he had not ever mentioned his age, I assumed he must have been close to fifty.

“Why have you never married?” The words had left my lips before I could stop them.

It was not my place to ask such a thing, and I expected him to be angry at my inappropriate question.

Gaius turned to me, and with a pensive look on his face, he answered, “My only wife is Sparta. I do not wish for another.”

“Have you never wished for children? A son?”

He did not answer at first. He only regarded me with a slightly annoyed expression. “I have all the sons I need. Now enough of these questions, boy.”

I smiled at his statement, certain he was referring to us. I had always thought of him as cruel—which he was to an extent—but beneath that cruelty there was also a good man. Deep down.

Even though he had dismissed the thought of more questions, I asked another anyway. “When do you believe we will leave again?”

We had only been assigned to escort the king’s body home. Nothing more. So it was only a matter of time before we were sent back to battle.

“Axios!” Haden interrupted and approached us, holding a worn, leather ball. When he saw Gaius, he gave a courteous nod of his head. “Gaius.”

Gaius excused himself and left, heading toward theagora. I stared after him a moment, wondering what he would have said to my question.

“What is it you want, Haden?” I asked, looking at him before moving my attention to the ball he held. “And do not tell me you wish to play as if we were children again.”

“Afraid you will lose?” Haden smirked and tossed the ball into the air before catching it.

When he threw it into the air again, I snatched the ball from him and took off running. He yelled from behind me and started a pursuit, but I kept going.

In the midst of my running, I glanced over my shoulder to see how close Haden was, and then I collided with something in front of me.

Theon was no match for my size, and we both tumbled to the grass on impact. Haden, who had been close on my heels, tripped over my leg and crashed on top of us. Poor Theon had both of our weights on his small body, and he wiggled around beneath me and shouted obscenities, pushing against my chest to shove me off.

Once I pushed Haden’s colossal body off mine, I rolled off Theon, stared up at the sky, and laughed.

It almost felt wrong to be so happy when so much darkness was in the world—when a man who meant so much to me had just been buried days before. But if I did not seek out the light, I would be consumed by the darkness, and life was too beautiful for such a thing.

A shadow then passed over my face.

I tilted my head to see Eryx standing there, looking down at me with a playful grin. He reached for my hand and helped me to my feet before gently kissing my lips.

“So, can we play?” Haden asked, sitting up and grabbing the ball from the grass. “Eryx is on my team.”

“Remember that I adore you,” Eryx said to me, taking several steps back to stand beside Haden. “Especially when my team beats yours.”

If we were to leave again soon for war, we might as well make the best of the time we had remaining.