Page 130 of Eryx

“At it again?” Haden asked from the doorway. Theon and Quill were with him. All three of them grinned.

Axios seemed embarrassed that we’d been caught, but it mattered little to me. We’d all seen each other naked plenty of times.

My cock slipped from Axios as I rolled to my side and draped an arm across his stomach. I returned Haden’s smirk. “Just because your wife is miles away and you cannot stick your prick in anyone, does not mean you need to be so jealous, my friend.”

Haden snarled and went to his bed. His hand would be the only thing to bring him relief that night.

As Theon and Quill went toward the same bed, Axios raised his brows in interest.

“Why do you stare?” Quill asked, rolling his eyes as he removed his cloak and slid onto the cushion. “You should be all too familiar with boys bedding each other by now.”

“So you twoarebedding?” Axios asked.

Theon grinned while Quill scowled. Neither gave an answer, but it was no longer a mystery. The two of them lay down together.

“Any news on our king?” Theon asked, resting his head on Quill’s chest.

“Not as of yet,” I answered, closing my eyes. “Perhaps we will know more on the morrow.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“I will miss this when we return to Sparta,” Haden said the next morning, holding a piece of fish.

“The food is decent,” Theon agreed, picking at the fruit on his plate. “But the view is even better. I never imagined a place so beautiful.”

A head of pale hair caught my eye as a man entered the dining hall. The helot who had traveled with us to Aphytis. I had forgotten his name but remembered his face. The city had treated him and the other slaves well since our arrival in winter, giving them their own accommodations and finding work for them during our stay. He held his head higher and smiled more, as if the time there had brought him a sliver of happiness.

“Pardon my intrusion,” he said as he reached our table, lowering his gaze. “I was sent to retrieve you.”

“For what purpose?” I asked.

“To see your king, sir,” the helot responded in a steady tone. “His condition has turned for the worse.”

“Thank you, Pyrrhus,” Axios said, promptly standing from the table.

Pyrrhus lifted his gaze to him in shock. I had not recalled his name, but Axios had. My warrior treated every man with respect, regardless of their standing in society.

Axios stepped away from the table and headed for the door. His eagerness to see the king outweighed all else.

“You are dismissed,” I said to the helot before following Axios.

Haden, Quill, and Theon sprinted after me as I caught up to him. The five of us then walked down the corridor toward the king’s chamber. Every structure in Aphytis had a multitude of windows and open archways that let in the light of day. The sun streamed through the large windows as we walked, and a warm breeze tickled my skin.

Normally, such things would make Axios smile… but he only frowned.

A woman exited the room as we neared it. She had a blood-stained cloth in her hands and a grim set to her face. Axios stared at her, his lips parted as though he wanted to speak but was afraid to do so.

“How does he fare?” I asked.

“We have done all we can to ease his pain,” she answered, folding her hands in front of her, the cloth scrunched between them. “Yet, I am afraid that is all we can do. His burning fever will not break, even after making him elixirs from bark of the healing trees and having him drink.”

With each word she spoke, I saw Axios lose more and more of his light. His expression shifted from concern to sorrow, and his breaths came quicker.

“He continues to perspire and shake with chills, and his mind is slipping,” the woman continued. “There are moments where he speaks nonsense and there are others where he is himself once more. With fortune on our side and mercy from the gods, his condition may improve, but it is my belief his time with us is nearly at an end.”

“You are certain?” Haden asked.

Axios regarded the woman, a tiny spark of hope still alive in his eyes. When she nodded, confirming that the king would pass from this life, that hope crumbled into dust.