Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon
No one would call her a peasant in this.
“It’s perfect.”
“Very well then. Whatever mischief you’re up to, I wish you luck.”
“Thank you.” She kissed her aunt on both cheeks then went to see how Maahes was progressing.
A slow smile curled her lips as she saw the small army he’d assembled. Huge and well muscled, they were dressed in short shendyts made of leopard skins with jeweled collars and anklets. Even better, he’d brought along eight of his personal pet lions, which were lying next to her gold seat.
Maahes wore an elaborate headdress and mask in the shape of a lion’s head that had a uraeus at the top of it. His shendyt was made of lion skin and covered with a gold drape and belt. Like hers, his ankh collar was massive and encrusted with rubies, and he had matching gold wristbands and armbands.
His dress surprised her. “You’re coming?” she asked.
“Absolutely. No one insults my girl without a severe thrashing from me.”
She tsked at him. “No bloodshed.”
He poked his bottom lip out playfully. “Can I have a little, please?”
“Maahes…”
He pouted even more. “One eyeball? Or a testicle? Please give me something, Bet, my pet.”
Laughing, she hugged him. “Please restrain yourself, cousin. This is a peace mission.”
“Don’t say that P word around me. It causes me great agony.”
She shook her head then took her seat on the barge.
Maahes gave the signal and they were dropped in an area just in front of Didymos so that they could make a grand appearance at the docks without raising human suspicions.
As soon as they were moored, Maahes had his men bring an elaborate gold jewel-encrusted litter up from storage to carry her in.
Ryssa was about to get a severe lesson in manners she hoped the snotty bitch choked on.
* * *
Styxx jumped as
someone pounded on his door.
Angry at being interrupted again, he answered it to find a guard there.
“His Majesty summons you, Highness. Immediately.”
He started to tear the man’s head off, but refrained. It wasn’t the guard’s fault he’d been sent on this errand, and Styxx didn’t want to bring an innocent man into conflict with his king. However, his father would have the same reaction to Styxx’s appearance that Ryssa had, since Styxx was still filthy.
And covered in Galen’s blood.
Screw it …
He followed the guard downstairs to where his father and Ryssa were waiting in the foyer.
As expected, his father scowled at his bloodstained clothing.
“What?” Styxx asked irritably.
For once his father didn’t comment on the disrespect. “We have an envoy here from Egypt. Judging from the report, I think it might be Nefertari.”
Styxx rubbed at his forehead as he tried to understand what was going on. “Why would
she
be here?”
His father shrugged.
Styxx passed an irritated glance to Ryssa who was still angry at him over Bethany then he looked back at his father. “I really don’t want to deal with this right now.”
“You never want to deal with your duties,” Ryssa sneered.
Their father stiffened. “And I will have words with you later over what you said earlier to your sister.”
I really don’t care.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Styxx hung back in the doorway as his father and sister went outside to greet the impressive envoy that came through the palace gates.
There was so much gold wrapped around the people and litter that it was hard to look at them directly. There were twenty-five men in all and one elaborately dressed woman. Six huge Nubian males set the litter down and a man dressed like a lion helped the tiny woman out of it. He tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and led her up the stairs with eight massive lions leading the way for them.
It wasn’t until the couple rudely bypassed his father and Ryssa that Styxx recognized the woman through the heavy eyeliner and makeup she wore.
“Bethany?” he breathed, rushing forward.
She let go of the man escorting her. “Styxx?”
Reaching her, he pulled her into his arms. “It’s me,
akribos
.”
Bethany held him tight against her as Maahes and his men closed rank around them to keep anyone from approaching them. Styxx trembled in her arms as his tears fell against her neck. Her heart shattered at the loss she knew he felt. “I know, precious. I’m so sorry about Galen. I loved him, too.”
“Excuse me?” the king demanded. “What is this?”
Maahes growled deep in his throat. “None of
your
business.”
“Do you know who I am?”
Maahes gave a rude snort. “Not a clue. Don’t care, either.”
“But you might care about
us
.”
Styxx lifted his head as he heard Apollo’s irate voice. Damn, he thought that tone was only reserved for him whenever he defied the god. The Olympian stood beside Athena, and neither of them appeared pleased.
Apollo glared at Bethany and the men with her. “What are you doing here, Maahes?”
The man in the lion mask shrugged nonchalantly. “We’re here on a mission of peace to pay respects to a fallen Greek hero. But if you want to start some shit…” He stepped down toward Apollo. “It’s been awhile since I had Greek for dinner.”
Bethany put her hand on Maahes’s shoulder. “Please, behave.”
He gestured toward Apollo and Athena as if to say they were the problem then deflated with a sigh. “All right, Bet, my pet. But you’re killing me.”
Athena stepped around her brother to address Bethany. “Why are you
really
here?”
Bethany placed her hand on Styxx’s arm. “For Styxx, who suffered a harsh tragedy today. I tried to come earlier and was very rudely insulted and denied entrance to the palace by Apollo’s bitch-whore. And you’re all
very
lucky I’m not calling out for her blood over the public embarrassment she maliciously and willfully caused me.”
Maahes lifted his mask and bent down to Bethany. “Oh, I expect blood. I need that bitch beaten for any insult dealt to you.”
Bethany touched his arm again and shook her head. “No war today.”
Maahes screwed his face up as if in agony. “All right, pet. I really, really love you. Today I prove it. Next time, though, gut me. It’d be less painful.”
Apollo started forward, but Athena caught his arm and shook her head.
Athena nodded to Maahes and Bethany. “Please, pay your respects. We are deeply honored by your presence and homage to one of our own.” She gave her brother a harsh glare. “There will be no war today. Only peace.”
Confused, but not wanting to cause any more of a spectacle in public, Styxx led Bethany into the palace. Maahes and his men and lions followed after them.
As soon as they were inside and out of hearing range, Xerxes turned to Apollo. “Who is that?”
Athena answered for him. “The man in the mask is Maahes, Lord of the Massacre. He’s the Egyptian god of war and serves his mother Bastet and aunt Ma’at. Bet is known by all as the Princess of Thebes. Her father is the Egyptian god Set, the embodiment of pure evil and chaos. Bringer of war and storms. And she is the light in his darkness. There is absolutely nothing Set would not do for his most cherished daughter and only child. Not to mention that the rest of the Egyptian pantheon is every bit as loyal and protective of her.”
“
That
is Styxx’s Bethany?” Xerxes glared at Ryssa who took a step back.
“How was I to know, Father? She was dressed as a peasant.”
Apollo ignored them. “What should we do, sister?”
“Bet, I trust. Maahes … he’s not devious, just bloodthirsty. He loves war above all. We will stay and make sure he leaves without incident.”
* * *
Bethany bit back
a sob as she realized what Styxx had been doing on her arrival. “Is no one helping you with Galen?”
“No.”
She opened the door and had four of the men come in to take over the body preparations. Styxx started to protest, but she placed her finger to his lips.
“You’re too upset for this. Come, my love. Let me take care of you.”
He kissed her hand. “Someone should be taking care of you.”
“Shh,” she breathed then she whispered, “Maahes doesn’t know, and we can’t risk him telling my father before I do.”
Styxx frowned at the men and the wealth that dripped from every piece of expensive fabric and jewels they wore, and the elaborate outfit on Bethany. Even her sandals were made of gold and trimmed in coral, turquoise, and pearls. When she’d said her father was wealthy, she had greatly understated his means. “Who exactly is your father?”
She bit her lip. “I didn’t want you to find out like this. Please promise you won’t be angry at me.”
“I could never be angry at you.”
Still, she hesitated. “We’re about to test that theory, my love.”
He frowned at the fear and reservation on her face. Was he a famed pharaoh? “Beth … I won’t be angry. I promise.”
She pressed her lips together and put both her hands on his face to feel his expression. “My father is the god Set.”
For a full minute, Styxx couldn’t breathe as the room closed in on him.
That,
he had to admit, he hadn’t seen coming.
Just what he needed. Another god screwing with his life and angry at him.
He should have known.…
No wonder she’d been so reticent to tell him or let them meet. The daughter of a god.
Oh, but not just
any
god. One of the most violent, lethal, cruel gods imaginable.
“Styxx?” The tears in her voice cut him. “Honey?”
He took her hand and held it as he struggled to breathe. So many emotions slammed into him at once that he couldn’t even identify them. Rage, betrayal, fear, irritation …
“I need a moment, Beth.”
“Please don’t hate me. I hid for the same reasons you did, and I didn’t want to tell you because I know how you feel about the gods.… How much you hate them. And my father’s a really big one.”
Who’d been known to cut the genitals off other gods—his own brothers—never mind a mortal man who dared to sleep with his beloved daughter. Having his head speared to the wall was the least of Styxx’s concerns right now.
But the terror on her face as she dreaded his reaction made him feel like a complete shit.
He pulled her against him. “I don’t hate you, Bethany. I can’t afford to.” Tears filled his eyes and choked him. “You’re all I have left.”
“And that’s why I’m here. I knew you were alone and I couldn’t stand it. Your sister wouldn’t let me in. The only way I could think to bypass her was to fetch my cousin and force them to open the gates.”
He cupped her head in his hands and pressed his cheek to hers. “Thank you for coming.” Then he let out a half laugh as he saw four of the lions that were circling them while four more rested on the floor. “And here I bought you a dog to protect you … how stupid am I?”
“You’re not stupid at all. It was wonderful and I adore Dyna.”
But she didn’t need a dog to protect her. No more than she needed him for a husband.
And yet here she was, for him, and willing to be bound to him in spite of her detestation of marriage. She could have had any man in the world. But he was the lucky bastard she’d claimed.
Never had he loved her more.
April 8, 9527 BC
Styxx let go of Bethany’s hand as he greeted the envoy that he’d sent after Galen’s daughter. Even though he’d never met Antigone, he felt as if he knew her. Her dark hair was pulled back from a face that was every bit as beautiful as Galen had claimed. She had her youngest son, who was a year old, in her arms while six more children, two boys and four girls ranging in age from three to eighteen, were with her. Her husband carried their youngest daughter in his arms.
When Styxx had been at war, Antigone was the only one who’d written a personal letter to him to ask how he was doing and to make sure her father hadn’t lied about his own health for her sake. Styxx should have made a point of meeting her before now. But he’d stupidly thought he had plenty of time. “Antigone?”
Her eyes teared as she saw him. “Prince Styxx?”
When she started to bow, he stopped her. “I am the one who should be bowing to you, my lady. I am so sorry that he’s gone. He loved all of you so very much.”
Tears flowing down her face, she squeezed his hand. “Thank you, Highness, and I am so sorry for you, too. My father adored you like a son. I know him. He wasn’t one to say it. But he talked about you endlessly, and it was obvious how much you meant to him. When our Philip died, a light went out in his eyes and never reignited until you kindled it again.”
Styxx cleared his throat. “And he talked about nothing but you and your children when he was with me. I might have been the light in his eyes, but you were his heart and soul.”
When she started away, he pulled her toward the royal dais. “Please sit with me for the funeral.”
“Thank you.”
Styxx helped her and her husband with their children. He gave them the choicest seats and took a seat behind them, with Bethany who held his hand throughout. Saying good-bye to Galen was the hardest thing he’d ever done. And as he watched the fires burn, his anger took hold of him. It was so unfair. If any human had ever deserved to die in his sleep at an ancient age, surrounded by the family he loved, it was Galen.
And he was dead because of him. Why had he not seen the attacker first?
Bethany laid her hand to Styxx’s cheek as she felt his mood. She knew how much he hurt. How very much he’d loved Galen even though he stayed strong and said nothing. But what truly angered her was the fact that none of his family attended this with him.
Not a single member. Not even the king who had ordered Galen into battle to save his own crown.
How could they leave Styxx alone like this? But then why was she surprised? His father had sent him to war when he’d scarce been more than a child. Ryssa had no love for anyone but herself, and Bethany knew nothing of his brother—not even what he looked like. Though at this point, she didn’t want to know anything about Acheron. Not if he could leave his brother to suffer alone. It was an act of complete cruelty.