My stomach shrank at her words. 'What do you mean?'
She twisted her hands in the sleeve of her dress. 'How old are you, my lady?'
'Three and twenty.'
'Are you a maiden?'
I was offended that she would dare ask such an intimate question. 'That is not your concern.'
'Forgive me, my lady. I meant no offense. I'm merely trying to see if you will understand what they do to him. Do you know what a tsoulus is?'
'Of course, I…' Absolute horror consumed me. It was an Atlantean term that had no real Greek translation, but I knew the word. They were young men and women trained as sexual slaves for the wealthy and noble. Unlike prostitutes and others of that ilk, they were very carefully trained and sequestered from an early age.
The same age my brother had been when they took him away from home.
'Acheron is a tsoulus?'
She nodded.
My head reeled. This couldn't be. 'You lie.'
She shook her head no. 'It's why I told you to come, my lady. I knew you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it for yourself.'
And I still didn't believe it. It wasn't possible. 'My uncle would never allow such.'
'Your uncle is the one who sells him. What do you think paid for this house?'
I felt sick with the news and still part of me denied what was truly obvious. 'I don't believe you.'
'Then come, if you dare, and see for yourself.'
I didn't want to and yet I followed her into the back passageways of the house. We walked endlessly until we reached the antechamber where Acheron had been bathing.
She held her finger to her lips to caution me to silence.
It was then I heard them. I might be virgin, but I wasn't naive. I had overheard others copulating at the parties my father forbade me to attend.
But worse than the sounds of pleasure were the cries of pain I heard from my brother. The man was hurting Acheron and he was taking great pleasure in the pain he caused him.
I started for the door only to find the woman in my way.
She spoke in a low, deadly tone. 'Stop them, my lady, and your brother will suffer in ways you cannot imagine.'
Her whispered words went through me. My soul screamed out for me to stop this. But the woman had been right about everything so far. She knew my brother and uncle far better than I did.
The last thing I wanted was to see him hurt more.
Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, there was silence.
I heard heavy footsteps cross the bedchamber, then the door opened and closed.
Stunned, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move.
The maid opened the door to his room to show Acheron chained to the bed by those circles. The ones at his wrists and ankles had been slid onto the bird beaks that decorated the four posts.
And I'd stupidly thought them to be hooks for bed curtains.
Those words tore through me as I watched the woman unfasten him.
I couldn't take my eyes off the sight of him lying there, naked. Injured. Bleeding.
My brother.
Tears filled my eyes as I remembered him the last time I'd seen him. His plump face had been hurt, but not like this. Now his lips were split, his left eye swelling, his nose bloodied. There were red handprints and bruises forming over most of his body.
No one deserved this.
I took a step forward at the same time the far door opened. The overseer motioned me out of the room.
Terrified, I rushed to the shadows where I could hear but not be seen.
A curse rang out. 'What has happened here?' I recognized Uncle Estes's voice.
'I'm fine, Idikos,' Acheron said, his voice thick and pain-filled. It sounded as if he left the bed and stumbled.
I expected my uncle to be angry at the man who'd hurt Acheron. He wasn't. His wrath was for my brother.
'You're worthless,' Estes snarled. 'Look at you. You're not worth a lead sola like this.'
'I'm fine, Idikos,' Acheron insisted in a voice so obsequious it turned my stomach. 'I can clean my-'
'Fetch the block and scold,' Estes said, interrupting him.
I heard Acheron's protest, but instead of words, his voice was muffled as if something prevented him from speaking.
I wanted the courage to barge into the room and tell them to stop, but I couldn't seem to make my feet obey me. I was too horrified to move.
I listened as chains clinked and then I heard the sound of wood striking flesh.
Acheron cried out, a muffled sound of pain.
The beating dragged on and on until Acheron was finally silent. I sank to the floor, weeping for him. I held my fist to my mouth, silencing my tears as I tried to think of what I should do. How I could stop this?
Who in the world would ever believe me? Estes was my father's most beloved brother. There was no way he'd take my word over his. None.
'Put him in the box,' Estes said.
'For how long?' the other man asked.
I heard Estes's disgusted sigh. 'Even with his ability to heal quickly, it'll be at least a day before he's well enough to entertain again. Find Ores and make him pay us for our losses. Cancel Acheron's appointments and leave him in there until tomorrow morning.'
'What about food?' the female overseer asked.
Estes snarled, 'If he can't work, he can't eat. He hasn't earned his food this day.'
I heard a door open and close.
'Now, where is my niece?'
'She's in the greeting room,' the man said.
'She wasn't there when I came in.'
'She said she was going into town,' the overseer quickly supplied. 'She'll be back shortly, I'm sure.'
'Let me know the instant she returns,' Estes snarled. 'Tell her Acheron is away, visiting friends.'
The men left the room.
I sat there on the floor, staring at the bathing pond. Staring at the mirrored walls of this room.
How many clients had my brother entertained? How many days had he lived with what I'd just witnessed?
He'd been gone for nine years. Surely it hadn't always been like this for him. Had it?
The very thought sickened me.
The overseer returned. I saw the horror in her eyes and wondered if I held the same look in mine.
'How long have they done this to him?' I asked.
'I've worked here for almost a year, my lady. It's been going on since before I came.'
I tried to think of what I should do. I was a woman. Nothing in this world of male power. My uncle wouldn't listen to me. For that matter, my father wouldn't listen to me.
He would never believe his brother could do such a thing. Just as I couldn't believe the uncle whom I had always loved and adored could do such a thing.
Yet there was no denying this.
How could Estes come to our palace and sup with me and Styxx, knowing that while he was here at home, he was selling a boy who was identical to Styxx in every way, but for his eyes?
It didn't make sense.
The only thing I knew was that I couldn't leave Acheron here. Not like this.
