Sherrilyn Kenyon: Acheron

To admit someone unknown into our private residence was a crime punishable by death. Yet this man thought nothing of leading us through Uncle's home.

Once we reached another hall, the older man in front of me turned back to look at Boraxis. "Will your guard be joining you for your time with Acheron?"

I frowned at the odd question. "I suppose not."

Boraxis sucked his breath in sharply. There was worry in his deep brown eyes. "Princess…"

I put my hand on his arm. "I should be fine. Wait here and I'll return quickly."

He didn't look pleased by my decision and honestly neither was I, but surely no harm would come to me in my uncle's home. So I left him there and continued down the hallway.

And as we walked, what struck me most about my uncle's home was how eerily silent it was. Not even a whisper could be heard. No one laughed. No one spoke.

Only our footsteps echoed down the long, dark corridor. Black marble stretched as far as I could see, reflecting our images back at us as we made our way through the opulence of carved naked statuary and exotic plants and flowers.

The servant led me to a room on the far side of the house and opened the door.

I stepped inside and hesitated as I realized it was Acheron's bedroom. How very strange for him to admit me here without knowing I was Acheron's sister. Then again, perhaps he did. That would explain much.

Aye, that must be it. He must have realized I looked a great deal like my brothers. Except for Acheron's divine silver eyes, we had identical coloring.

Relaxing, I glanced about. It was an exceptionally large room with an oversized hearth. There were two settees before the stone hearth with an odd, pole structure between them. It reminded me of the punishment block, but that made no sense. Perhaps it was something unique to Atlantis. I'd heard all my life that the people here had bizarre customs.

The bed itself was rather small for a room this size, with four tall posts intricately carved into the design of a bird. On each post, the bird's head was turned upside down so that the beaks curled outward like hooks to hold bed curtains back, yet there were no bed curtains there.

Like the foyer leading to the room, the walls were a shiny black marble that reflected my image back to me perfectly. And as I looked about, I realized there were no windows in this room at all. Nor was there a balcony. The only light came from wall sconces scattered about. It made the room very dark and sinister.

How very strange…

Three servants were making Acheron's bed and a fourth woman oversaw them. The overseer was a frail woman, slight of stature who appeared around the age of forty or so.

"It's not time," she said to the man who had led me through the house. "He's still preparing himself."

The man curled his lip at her. "Would you have me tell Gerikos that I kept a client waiting while Acheron dawdles?"

"But he hasn't had time to eat yet," the woman insisted. "He's been working all morning without a single rest."

"Fetch him."

I frowned at their whispered words and behavior. Something was very wrong here. Why would my brother, a prince, be working?

The woman turned toward a door on the far side of the room.

"Wait," I said, stopping her. "I'll get him. Where is he?"

The woman passed a fearful look to the man.

"It's her time with him," the man said firmly. "Let the lady do as she wishes."

The older woman stood back and opened the door to an antechamber. As I stepped through, I heard her and the man gather the servants and leave.

Again, how very peculiar…

Hesitantly, I stepped into the room expecting to find Styxx's twin brother. An arrogant youth who thought he knew everything about the world. An insulting, boastful man-child who was sullen and spoiled who would wonder why I was bothering him with so foolish a quest.

I was completely unprepared for what I found.

Acheron sat in a large, bathing pond alone. He had his flawless bare back to me and was bent over with his blond head against the rim as if he were too tired to sit up while he bathed himself. His long hair hung just past his shoulders and was damp, but not wet.

My heart pounding, I moved forward and noticed a strong scent of oranges in the air. A small tray of bread and cheese was set on the floor beside him, untouched.

"Acheron?" I whispered.

He froze for a moment, then rinsed his face in the water. He left the tub and quickly toweled himself dry as if completely unabashed by the fact that I had intruded on his bath.

There was an air of power that surrounded him as he toweled himself with short, quick strokes, then tossed the towel toward a small stack of them.

For an instant, I was captured by the youthful, masculine beauty of him. By the fact that he made no move to dress or cover himself. All that adorned him were gold bands. He had a thin one around his neck that held a small pendant of some sort. Thicker bands encircled each of his biceps at the top of his arm and at the crook of his elbow with another band around both wrists. A chain of smaller circles connected each band down the length of his arms. And a band of gold with a small circle attached was worn around each ankle.

As he approached me, I was stunned by what I saw. He was Styxx's twin in physical looks and yet I saw few similarities between them.

Styxx moved fast. Mercurially.

Acheron was slow. Methodical. He was like a sultry shadow whose every movement was a poetic symphony of muscle, sinew and grace.

He was thinner than Styxx. Much thinner, as if he didn't get enough food to eat. Even so, his muscles were extremely well shaped and honed to perfection.

He still had those eerie silver eyes, but I only glimpsed them briefly before he averted his gaze to the floor at my feet.

There was also something else. An air of hopeless resignation surrounded him. It was one I'd seen countless times from the peasants and beggars who came to collect alms from the back palace gate.

"Forgive me, my lady," he said softly, his voice strangely seductive and quiet as he spoke between clenched teeth. "I didn't know you'd come."

His chains jingling softly in the quietness, he moved behind me like a sleek, seductive wraith. He reached around my neck and unfastened my cloak.

Stunned by his actions, I didn't think to protest when he removed the garment and dropped it to the floor. It wasn't until he brushed my hair back from my neck and moved to kiss the bared flesh that I bolted from him.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He looked as puzzled as I felt, but still he kept his gaze locked on the floor before me. "I wasn't prepped on what you paid for, my lady," he said quietly. "I assumed from your looks that you wanted me gentle. Am I wrong?"

I was completely baffled by his words as well as the fact that he continued to keep his jaw locked. Why did he speak that way? "Paid for what? Acheron, it is I. Ryssa."

He frowned as if he had no memory of my name. He reached for me again.

I stepped away and grabbed my cloak up from the floor. "I'm your sister, Acheron. Do you not know me?"

His eyes flashed angrily as he met my gaze for an instant. "I have no sister."

My thoughts whirled as I tried to make sense of this. This wasn't the boy who wrote letters to me virtually every day, the boy who told me of his days of leisure.

"How can you say that after all the gifts and letters I've sent you?"

His face relaxed as if he finally understood. "Ah, this a game you wish to play with me, my lady. You wish me to be your brother."

I glared at him in frustration. "No, Acheron, this isn't a game. You are my brother and I write to you almost every day and you, in turn, write to me."

I could sense he wanted to look at me and yet he didn't.