Page 116 of Eryx

“Love?” I stopped on the path and turned to him.

“Yes.” He stopped walking and faced me. “A red rose is lovely, yet the thorns on the stem can make you bleed if you aren’t careful. Same as love. It can be both beautiful and painful, depending on how you treat it.”

“You amaze me, Axios,” I said, moving my hands to his waist.

“The feeling is mutual.” His breath tickled my neck as he stepped into my embrace. “Why did you ask?”

I wanted to spare him from the dark direction my thoughts had led me earlier. And so I said, “Only curiosity.”

“Curiosity,” he repeated, pulling back to look at me. “Do you wish to know what I see when I think of the color green?”

“Grass?” I guessed.

“No.” Axios touched my jaw. “I think of home. Each time I look into your eyes, Ery, I know I am where I’m meant to be.”

His confession caused a lump to form in my throat, and I did my best to swallow it down. “We should continue to your sister’s. She is expecting us.”

When we reached the house, Haden exited the front door holding Leonidas, who was almost four years of age now. Leonidas squirmed in his father’s arms upon seeing Axios, and once his feet hit the ground, he ran toward us.

Axios picked him up and spun him around, both of them grinning ear to ear. The boy squealed when Axios tickled his belly before setting him on the grass. The toddler then ran in circles around us. When he tripped and fell, he stood up and continued running.

“You are growing strong like your father,” Haden said, sweeping him back up. Leo slapped at his father’s face and giggled. Haden frowned. “Yet, you have your mother’s spirit.”

Axios laughed, and his joy sparked my own.

Leonidas, once being set down, wandered through the grass chasing insects.

“He’s beautiful, Haden,” I said. Then, I smiled and added, “I do not see how someone so ugly could have helped make him.”

“Says you,” Haden said, shoving me back a few steps. “My beautiful wife believes me to be handsome, so your opinion matters not.”

“What is it you speak of?” Leanna asked, approaching us with a wooden platter of fruit and nuts.

Haden pulled her to his side. “Only that your opinion is all I care to hear.”

An autumn wind blew through the trees, bringing with it crisp air and the smell of meat cooking over a fire. Leanna nipped at Haden’s nose, and he ran his fingers through her long dark hair.

Axios smiled at them and stepped closer to me. I kissed his temple, letting my lips linger on his skin.

I very rarely allowed myself to fully enjoy moments such as these. The threat of war was constantly in the back of my mind. However, as Axios slipped an arm around me and cuddled close to my chest, I let happiness bloom in my heart.

A happiness that was crushed when we returned to the barracks.

Our brothers sat around the fire pit, staring into the flames. Quill sat close to Theon and Ian and Melias were on the other side of them. Nikias stood behind them and limped over when he saw us.

“Have you heard?” he asked. “Another army is being sent north under the command of King Agesipolis.”

“What of the army that is already there?” I asked.

“Teleutias led a raid into Olynthian territory without waiting for assistance from our allies,” Nikias explained. “He sent his army to destroy the fruit trees and fields outside the city. I can only imagine as a way to anger the enemy and abolish a food source at the same time. The Olynthians sent a cavalry to meet them. Much fighting ensued afterward and men from both armies perished.”

My chest tightened at the grim look on his face.

“Messengers have said that Teleutias was doing well, but then the tides changed, and the enemy gained the advantage,” Nikias continued. “Our army was hit with the enemy’s heavy infantry and were then charged from the opposite side by more cavalry soldiers. Teleutias and over one thousand of his men were killed.”

I looked at Axios as my gut churned. If we hadn’t been sent back to Sparta, he might’ve been among the men who’d died on the battlefield. For nearly a year, I had been so angry that we’d been sent home. And now, I felt ill.

“When do we leave?” Axios asked, assuming we’d be the ones to answer the call.