Page 109 of Axios

“So confident you are,” I said in mock astonishment, going to stand beside Theon and Quill. “Let us see how long that confidence lasts.”

We played all afternoon and only stopped when it was time for evening meal. Ian and Melias had joined us, as did another man from our syssition named Menexenos who had made the teams of even number.

Eryx’s team had won, which was the expected outcome because he never lost, but it had still been fun. And I had needed the distraction.

Days passed and there was still no word about the other armies, the siege in Olynthus, or when we would be packing up and returning to battle. When those days turned to a fortnight and then longer, my mind relaxed and I began settling into life in Sparta once again.

A life I had always dreamed of having.

Eryx and I spent our time training our herd of boys, chatting and dining with our companions, and making love every night. Some days we trained together, and he pushed me harder than anyone—not ever softening his blows or showing me mercy. But that was how I preferred it. After our rougher sessions, he doctored any wounds I might have had, and would then spend the rest of the night kissing my skin and treating me as if I was the world’s greatest treasure.

It was our own piece of paradise. However, I knew that paradise would not last. Our time in Aphytis—the tropical and beautiful city by the sea—had been wonderful, but it had eventually been taken from us.

And soon… this will too.

When winter arrived, so did envoys carrying news.

Olynthus had surrendered and swore to become our allies, but with the ending of the Olynthian war came tension with Thebes. Two exiled Theban generals rose against Sparta and our allies and had attacked the Cadmea where one of our armies was stationed, forcing the Spartans to surrender.

The attack had been the spark that ignited the war with Thebes.

Years ago, a Spartan army had captured a Theban citadel—the Cadmea—while traveling north on another expedition. The city was taken and was given a new government under Spartan command. It seemed as if the consequences of that action were finally upon us. At the time, it had angered Thebes, but they had not retaliated.

Until now.

“Are you nervous?” Eryx asked as we lay together that night after receiving news we’d be leaving soon.

“No.” And I wasn’t. Not really. “I am only saddened for now we have to leave home again. Leave our life here while we go fight a war I do not believe in.”

Eryx lightly ran his fingertips along my chest. Comforting me. “What do you believe in then, if not war?”

“You,” I answered, turning my head to gaze at him. His hair was in disarray from me entwining my fingers in it while we’d made love, and I reached to brush aside one of the golden strands from his face. “Us.”

The expression in his eyes softened, and he leaned into my touch.

“I believe in us as well,” he said. “And that is why we must go. If we do not, our enemies will think us weak and the fighting will never come to a close. The home you wish for us to share someday—the one near a stream and surrounded by fruit trees—will never be unless we win the war. Only then will we find the peace we seek.”

Since our return to Sparta, my vision of our life together had changed from a house beside the sea to one of more likelihood. Just a simple home there. As long as Eryx was by my side, we could live in a tree for all I cared.

He was all I needed in my life.

In only four years’ time, we’d be of age thirty and would be allowed to move from the barracks and into a house on our own property. To begin living the life I had always wanted for us.

If war continued, then that dream would never come to pass.

“Let us speak of something else,” I requested, flipping to my side and cuddling against him.

“What do you wish to discuss?” Eryx asked, putting his arm around me and moving his fingers up and down my spine.

“Tell me a story?” I asked, peering up at him. “It’s been too long, and I miss them.”

With heavy lidded eyes, he met my eager stare and smiled. “Many tales I have told you. Yet, there is one that comes to mind. One of a city by the sea.”

I grinned. “What made this city so special?”

He raised his eyebrows with his excitement and answered, “The water glistened like sapphires, you see. Beautiful and unlike anything ever before seen. But if one looked closer… deeper… they would see the treasures that waited beneath the waves. A forgotten underwater kingdom.”

As he talked, I closed my eyes and listened to the melodic tones of his voice, allowing them to soothe the worry and sadness in my bones.