Page 93 of Eryx

“Paris?” I asked, staring at him in shock.

“Aye.” Galen smiled and scratched at the dusting of hair on his jaw. “I never asked for your forgiveness for how I behaved after his wedding. A broken heart and too much wine do not pair well.”

“You do not need to ask for forgiveness,” I told him, still stunned. Had he forgiven Paris for marrying another? “I fail to understand. Paris is married, is he not?”

“An arrangement was made,” Galen said, as we walked in the other direction toward a section of homes.

“What type of arrangement?”

“One I did not favor in the beginning, yet it was the only way to keep him. Or at least a part of him.” He smiled before adding, “And now, I want nothing more than what I have.”

His cryptic words provided no answer, so I held my tongue and continued down the dirt path. Moments later, we entered a small courtyard where Paris stood holding a toddler. The home behind him was simple but pleasant, much like Leanna’s.

A young woman stood in the doorway, smiling as we approached.

Galen greeted the child, kissing her dark curls before lifting his head and kissing Paris lightly on the lips. My gaze flashed to the woman, and my confusion grew when she only smiled at them. Then, Galen approached her and kissed her on the lips as well.

“Eryx,” Paris said, walking toward me. The girl in his arms turned her head and grinned, causing her already chubby cheeks to become more apparent. “It’s good to see you, old friend.”

Friend.It was the first time he had ever referred to me as such.

I clasped his forearm. “Same to you.”

I had heard tales of some women in Sparta having multiple lovers. A man had even been known to allow an unmarried man to bed his wife to produce an heir. The relationship before me appeared different, however. They all seemed to be equals, no man above the other.

The woman came toward me and bowed her head. “I am called Rhea.”

I introduced myself, before she invited me inside for refreshments. The three of them were constantly touching or staring at the other. Not only Galen and Paris, but Rhea too. They were happy.

My visit with them opened my eyes. Gave me hope. Two mencouldbe happy in Sparta. Galen and Paris were proof. I could never lay with a woman and refused to take a wife, but their nontraditional marriage made me believe that Axios and I could find our own form of happiness.

Somehow.

Later in the afternoon, I was sitting in the courtyard outside the barracks when Axios returned. I stood and greeted him with a soft kiss to his temple before we dropped to the grass, behind the shrub we had hidden behind so many times before. He smiled as I glided a hand up and down his back.

I asked about his visit with Leanna.

“I have never seen her so happy,” Axios answered, staring at a bird that had landed several feet in front of us. It pecked at the ground before flapping its wings and flying away. “Yet, my heart aches.”

I stilled my wandering hand and focused on his face. Had someone upset him? I would rip out their throats.

“Do not be alarmed,” he said, offering a reassuring smile. “I only meant that the idea of marriage leaves a small hole in my heart.”

The guilt I carried for ever suggesting we marry women someday would never leave me.

“If you worry about me marrying—”

Axios placed his fingers to my lips. “No. I know you are mine.” When his hand fell away, I grabbed it and returned it to my face. His eyes softened as he traced my lips. “My heart aches because you and I will never experience marriage. I will never be able to call you my husband. Our union will never be recognized by the state. I do not need these things to know them in my heart, yet it still causes me grief.”

I absorbed his words as I stared at the setting sun.

“You wish to be married?” I asked.

“I know it can never be,” Axios said, resting a hand on my thigh. “Spartans do not marry for love. Only out of duty and for childbearing.”

A face as beautiful as his should never look the way it did in that moment—crumpled by a deep-rooted sorrow.

I leaned over and rested my chin on his shoulder, looking up at him. He softly smiled as his eyes searched mine.