Feel the pain of Ias as he thought of his children and wife. His worry over their welfare.
Acheron had never known that kind of unselfish love. Neither before nor after his death.
“Give me Ias’s soul.”
Artemis gave him an arched look. “Are you willing to pay the price I ask for it, and to the terms for their release?”
His heart shrank at her words. He remembered the youth he had been long ago.
Everything has a price, boy. Nothing ever comes to anyone for free.His uncle had taught him well the price of survival.
Acheron had paid dearly for everything he’d ever had or wanted. Food. Shelter. Clothes.
Paid with flesh and blood.
Some things never changed.
“Yes,” he said. “I agree. I’ll pay.”
Artemis smiled. “Don’t look so unhappy, Acheron. I promise you, you’ll enjoy it.”
His stomach tightened even more. He’d heard those words before too.
It was dusk when Acheron returned to the cave.
He wasn’t alone as he walked up the small rise. He led two men and four horses.
“What is all this?” Callabrax asked.
“These are to be the shield-bearers for you and Kyros. They’ve come to show you both to the villas where you will live. They will see to anything you need and I will come by later to finish our training.”
“What of me?” Ias asked.
“You’re coming with me.”
Acheron waited until the other two had mounted their horses and left before he turned back to Ias. “Are you ready to go home?”
Ias looked surprised. “But you said—”
“I was wrong. You can go back.”
“What of my oath to Artemis?”
“It’s been taken care of.”
Ias embraced him like a brother.
Acheron cringed at the contact, especially since it aggravated the deep welts on his back. The even deeper welts that resided in his soul.
He’d always hated for anyone to touch him.
Gently, he pushed Ias away.
“Come, let us see you home.”
Acheron flashed them back to Ias’s small farm where his wife had just sent their two children to bed.
Her beautiful face paled as she saw them by her hearth.
“Ias?” She blinked. “They told me this morning that you were dead.”
Ias shook his head, his eyes bright. “Nay, my love. I am here. I’ve come home to you.”
Acheron took a deep breath as Ias rushed to her and hugged her close. It went a long way in ebbing the pain of his back.
“There’s still a couple of things, Ias,” Acheron said quietly.
Ias pulled back with a frown.
“Your wife will have to release your soul back into your body.”
Liora scowled. “What?”
“I swore myself to serve Artemis,” Ias explained, “but she’s going to let me go so that I can come back to you.”
She looked baffled by his words.
“What must we do?” Ias asked.
“You’ll have to die again.”
He paled a bit. “Are you sure?”
Acheron nodded, then handed his dagger to Liora. “You’ll have to stab him through the heart.”
She looked horrified and appalled by his suggestion. “What?”
“It’s the only way.”
“It’s murder. I’ll be hanged.”
“No, I swear it.”
“Do it, Liora,” Ias urged. “I want to be with you again.”
Her face skeptical, she took the dagger in her hand and tried to press it into his chest.