Chapter 9

Kat

Ihissed as I glared into those eyes I hated, refusing to even flinch when he backhanded me. I felt blood begin to trickle from my mouth where his blow had cut my lip against the metal cage. I had a feeling it was only the first of the blood that would flow tonight.

"Kataramenos," Maalik growled. "Someday you will learn your place."

Even though Maalik was my half-brother, just like Vlakas, the two couldn't have been more dissimilar. Maalik had only ever used his power to help one person: himself.

The tightening grip on my hair made me focus on my tormentor. I could do nothing but glare futilely at Maalik. He just laughed.

"I had planned on fucking the little prince and enjoying his sweet tears, but this could be just as much fun," he began, circling me.

I shuddered as he trailed his hands down my sides. God's! He couldn't mean that, could he? We were his half-brothers! Surely, he wouldn't… I felt the lace on his coat brush my skin as he moved around me. I tried to pull away from him, but I was bound too tightly to the contraption.

"Oh, yes," his oily voice rolled over me as he leaned across my body to grab my hair again, jerking it back so I could watch him unzip his pants as he moved behind me. "I will enjoy your tears instead."

In the following hours I screamed, and bled, but I did not cry. When the pain finally became too great, everything went blessedly dark.

◆◆◆

The first time I woke it was to the sound of arguing. Maalik was yelling at someone, hurling insults, while Master Hestus' ice-cold tone cut through.

"What the fuck were you doing watching me?" Maalik demanded. "Don't you know who I am?"

"I know precisely who you are, Prince Maalik," Hestus responded coldly. "Which is exactly why I required an observer. I have explicit instructions from your father to return this man to the Legion in reasonable condition. After what happened with the last pair my house cannot afford…"

The voices faded and darkness claimed me again.

#

Sometime later I opened my eyes, or rather, I tried to. They seemed to be swollen and matted with blood. My eyes struggled to focus on what was in front of them. Carpet. I was on blue carpeting. The floor of the Indigo Room. The House of Eros. I started to move but agony wracked my body. Maalik. Maalik had… My mind shied away from the last things I remembered. The pain had been intense, but only at the beginning. Eventually it had all run together in one large haze of agony. Maalik had wielded a variety of implements on me. I remembered… Blood. Pain.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the memories. I finally resorted to just refusing to think about it. I couldn't afford to remember right now.

"Drink," a familiar voice said. I forced my eyes open enough to see Kyris was sitting next to me on the floor, their white robe pooled around them, a cup in their hand. As they stretched it toward me I noticed a series of scars on their muscled arms that I hadn't seen before. They traced their body like light tattoos over their skin.

I refused to open my mouth as they offered me the cup. Being drugged once was enough.

Their eyes softened.

"It's safe. See?" They took a sip from the cup.

Spying Jozel standing by the door I realized I didn't have a choice. Refusing was just likely to bring additional punishment, and I wasn't sure I could survive much more right now. So reluctantly, I opened my mouth and sipped from the cup. It was just water. Until the first drops hit my tongue, I hadn't realized how terribly thirsty I was. I reached for the cup and began gulping, the pain shooting through my hands secondary in that moment.

"Easy," he whispered, voice low and soothing as they pulled the cup away for a moment. "I don't want you getting sick."

I gasped as I again tried to move, pain arcing through me as I tried to catalog my injuries.

Besides the pain in my ass and my mouth, I could feel the burn of the whip marks on my back and thighs. Maalik had beaten my feet with a metal rod. Maybe… I took a deep breath, the pain in my side catching my breath. Maybe broken ribs? My hands… There had been… goddess! I looked at my hands, which were bloody and swollen. I remembered the feel of the needles under my nails before Maalik had used the pincers and torn them off. My sides ached where he had repeatedly punched me, but I felt a grim sense of satisfaction. He may have forced my screams, but he had never earned my tears. I had refused him that victory, at least.

He'd been furious at his inability to make me cry, and the look on his face when his rage was finally spent was the petulant anger of a child denied his treat. The spite of it warmed my heart.

The fire had burned to ash in the fireplace, and I forced a hoarse question from my abused throat.

"H-how long?" I asked.

"You have another day and a half of your Calling," Kyris said sadly, their eyes dropping from my own.

Fuck. Despite my earlier boast that I could survive anything for three days, I didn't know if I would survive another thirty-six hours with Maalik. I tried to sit up but could barely move.

"Jozel," Kyris called. "Help me get him to the bed."

Jozel let out an exasperated sigh but came over and put an arm under one side. With Kyris on the other, they were at least able to get me to a sitting position on the floor.

"You should bathe him first," Jozel muttered, wrinkling their nose in disgust. "Hestus will whip us if he bleeds all over the linens."

I couldn't really blame them. Even through my broken nose I knew I smelled of cum, blood, piss, and other things I didn't want to identify. Maalik had… he had…

I struggled to my feet rather than follow that train of thought. Not now. Maalik would wait. Vengeance would wait. I needed to get through the next two days. I couldn't afford to let myself think about what had been done to me. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to wash the bastard's scent off my body.

"Shower," I managed to croak.

They half dragged me, half carried me, but between the three of us, we were able to get me into the attached bathing room. It wasn't nearly as large as the ceremonial one I had been bathed in at the start of the Calling, but it had a wide, deep tub. I ignored the chains and metal loops screwed into the walls. I really didn't need to think about Maalik adding water torture to his repertoire.

I wanted a shower, but the pain in my feet refused to let me stand for long. I left bloody footprints on the tile of the bathing room with each step. After the second time I started to collapse under the stream of the shower, the eunuchs had had enough.

"Tub," Jozel ordered. I was lightheaded from pain and blood loss, and I couldn't argue. Kyris ran the water, the temperature just barely above room temp. Jozel stood at the door, their face screwed into a permanent scowl.

With gentle hands, Kyris washed my wounds with a soft rag and soap, their strong arms strangely tender. I noticed almost distantly the slight silver that showed in their eyebrows and the lines at the corner of their eyes. Kyris was a good deal older than I had originally thought.

The water quickly became dark with blood and other things, so they drained the tub and refilled it, this time with water hot enough to begin to relax the ache in my muscles. The soap burned and stung my cuts, but the warmth of the water was comforting.

Kyris left the room for a moment, returning with a tray in his hands.

I had just emerged from under the water after rinsing my hair a second time when they got seated. Maalik had ripped pieces of my scalp away, and I saw bloody black and white strands floating in the water.

Kyris sat the tray on the side of the bathing pool. The tray contained a jug of water and a cup, a silver comb, a few vials of liquid, and a metal box.

After deeming me sufficiently clean, the eunuchs let the water drain, then helped me to take a seat next to the tub. With swift, efficient hands they used the liquid in the vials to cover the worst of my injuries. Some of them stung with astringent, others blessedly numbed the worst of the pain as Kyris opened the metal box to display a suture kit. They removed needle and thread from the packaging and began stitching up some of the larger cuts that still oozed blood.

"You're good at that," I whispered hoarsely as they tended to my injuries.

"I used to be a medic," Kyris whispered, eyes flicking to glance at Jozel who seemed to be ignoring us. "Before."

That explained why he had been made a eunuch, and not just executed. Medics were in high demand. A House like this one would need a knowledgeable medic to make sure their victims survived. When they finished stitching, Kyris opened a plastic bottle that had been hidden inside the metal box and took out two small pills.

"This will help with the pain," they said, whispering furtively, gesturing to the one on the left. "And this with the swelling."

I started to shake my head. I never wanted to have my will stolen from me again as it had been by that drugged wine.

"Please, Kataramenos," Kyris said as Jozel shifted by the door, too far away to hear what the older eunuch was saying. "It is not the same as the wine. It will leave your will intact but will also dull the pain. Please. Let me help."

Since just sitting was about the limit of my endurance currently, and even that was fucking painful, I finally nodded. Again, what choice did I have? I could see Jozel was just itching to Suppress me again.

As I thought about it, I was surprised that an Elusian had been made a eunuch. That was usually a punishment reserved for humans like Kyris. I wondered what kind of crime they had committed to receive such a harsh punishment. No way I was asking, though. I took the proffered pills from Kyris and downed them with water from the jug.

After straightening the room and disposing of the bloodied cloths and bandages they both again helped me stand, wrapping me in thick towels. Before returning to the room, I insisted on brushing my teeth. I wanted that bastard's taint completely removed from my body. By the time they helped me back to the bed, I could barely put one foot in front of the other, but at least the throbbing pain was receding. Kyris had been true to their word. I hated being this weak, this vulnerable, but at least I had my own will.

They had just gotten me seated on the bed when a knock on the door made Kyris and I stiffen. Jozel opened the door, then moved out to the corridor to respond to a question from a young man in page's livery.

"Why?" I asked suddenly, gripping Kyris' hand as they moved to comb through the tangled mess of my hair. "Why have you been so kind?"

Kyris eyed me sadly.

"You didn't choose this," they said waving at my body then at their own. "Any more than I did. I will not add to your misery, Mageia."

"I'm not Mageia yet," I responded automatically. "I'm a Hoplite."

A small, sad smile tugged at the corner of their lips.

"That is the Elusian Legion's designation for you. They take everything from you, even your name, just like they try to strip me of my identity by calling me ‘they'. You are a Son of Hecate. You were born Mageia. You will be Mageia all your days, regardless of what anyone else says," they responded, resuming their work on my hair. "Just as I am more than the genitals they took away from me. I was born an Illyrian male. I had a wife and I have a son who I hope is still alive. Someday, I hope to return to him and be the father he deserved."

I looked at him in shock as his words sunk in. Alexandrian custom was to refer to all eunuchs as "they". I hadn't really considered how important that pronoun could be to someone who had lost everything else they held dear and had no control over their lives.

"Would you- Would you prefer that I refer to you as ‘he'?" I asked hesitantly.

The smile that spread across his face was stunning.

"Please," he responded, then continued working the comb through the snarls of my hair.

"So, you're Illyrian? Mitera was Illyrian."

He reverently touched my hair, the white streaks lightening as it dried.

"You called her Mitera? Do you know that word means ‘mother' in Illyrian?" they asked.

I shook my head.

"If she was Illyrian, she probably didn't want them to know her true name, which makes sense. You bear the mark of a Tesseris Mageia," they said, gesturing to my hair.

"Tesseris? What does that mean?" I asked, unfamiliar with the word.

Kyris glanced nervously at the door but seemed reassured that it remained closed.

"Tesseris Mageia are mages who can control all the elements, not just one," he said.

"That's a lie," I responded automatically. "No Mageia can control more than one element. It's impossible."

The comb snagged in a knot on my hair, and he stopped speaking a moment to focus on the tangle.

"No, the lie is what the Elusians teach, to keep you compliant. A lie to keep themselves safe," Kyris whispered, sending another fearful glance at the door as they worked the snarl free.

"Our goddess, Hecate, and god, Elus, designed all things to be in balance. Earth and Air. Fire and Water. Magic and Suppression. Mageia and Elusian. Hecate and Elus created a world of harmony. But the Alexandrian Elusians became greedy. They craved power and control, so they stole it. To cover their actions, the Kings of Alexandria set about destroying all knowledge of Tesseris Mages."

He continued working the comb through my tangles, his voice taking on an almost sing-song quality.

"A Tesseris Mage, one who has found and joined with their Somatophylakes, is a glory to behold. Not only can they control all four elements, but they can also block or destroy an Elusian's ability to Suppress the Mageia powers. They guard their Mageia's body so the Mageia can focus on weaving the elements."

"It sounds like a fairy tale," I said slowly. "But that word… I've heard that word before. Somatophylakes. Soma, right? What are they, exactly? Are they human?" I asked as Kyris began braiding my hair into a queue.

"Somas are… different. Stronger. Faster. Hecate created them to be arbiters of justice. They can take the forms of animals and use their abilities to defend both Mageia and humans."

"Why doesn't everyone seem to know about them? They seem more myth than fact." I asked.

"The Alexandrians are afraid of the power of a Tesseris Mageia because it blocks their own. They knew that linking with a Soma was the key to unlocking a Mageia's power to wield more than a single element, but they needed the slave labor of the Mageia to keep their society running. Two hundred years ago, the Alexandrians began a campaign to eliminate all knowledge of the Somatophylakes and began killing any they could find. They needed a way to limit the risk a Tesseris Mage represented."

"Somas were deemed… expendable in the eyes of the Alexandrians," Kyris continued, his eyes shadowed in remembered pain. "They were too resistant to control, too much of a threat to the society the Alexandrian Elusians wanted to create. Still, Illyria held its own for a while. We began taking in the Mageia who fled the other countries, matching the refugees with Somas born both at home and abroad. Until the Alexandrian physicians developed a blood test that could identify if a child had potential to become a Soma. They couldn't identify who might be Elusian or Mageia, but Somas they were able to detect.

"Once identified, the Alexandrians began a secret campaign to murder the next generations of Somas to keep the Mageia from reaching their full potential. It was disguised as the Shaking Fever, but the Illyrians never accepted that story."

Kyris caught my attention with their comment about the Shaking Fever. I had lost my little sister, Eila, to it when she was three and I was nine. I didn't remember much about her, only that she had the most gorgeous green/gold eyes I had ever seen.

I also remembered the tutors talking about the toll of the Shaking Fever from around one hundred fifty years ago. Thousands had died, almost exclusively children. There were still flares of the disease almost annually, and the death count was always greatest amongst the young. Could all that have been a lie? What was I saying, of course it could be a lie. This was the Elusians we were talking about.

"Why hasn't Illyria done anything?" I asked angrily. "If they knew this was happening, surely they could have stopped it."

Kyris shook their head sadly.

"We fought," they said with a shrug. "We still fight. Somas are both warriors and healers, so they knew something was going on when so many children began dying in Alexandria territory from the Shaking Fever. We knew the fever was easily treatable. There was no reason for so many children to die--unless they were being murdered."

"No one knows? Why hasn't anything been done? Why doesn't anyone know?" I demanded. If what they said was true, this could change everything for my people.

"Illyria has tried, but the reach of the Empire is long," they said sadly, tying the braid off with a bit of cord. "When I was taken, we were just barely hanging on. Somas were always uncommon, just as Mageia and Elusians are. Illyrians tend to breed almost exclusively Somatophylakes, or humans. This made us a huge target for Alexandria. We have very few Illyrian-born Mageia. We had to rely on Mageia coming to us from other countries, but as Alexandria's influence has grown, that influx has slowed to a trickle.

"Even in Illyria, Somas aren't immune to an assassin's blade, or to poison. Once a Soma has died, their Mageia usually loses the ability to void the Suppression. Alexandria has been systematically eliminating our people."

I mulled over what Kyris had told me, wondering how much of it might be truth. It sounded like the truth. It felt like the truth. It answered so many questions I'd had since childhood. Perhaps if my mother hadn't told me about Somas before she died, I would have doubted more, but it all fit.

"Thank you," I whispered. "I won't forget this. Is there anything I can do for you?

Kyris smiled at me as they gathered their sundries and stood to leave.

"Stay safe. Escape if you can. Illyria would welcome you. Good fortune, Son of Hecate. May the Goddess shine upon you."

◆◆◆

While the pain medication didn't take my will, it did make me drowsy. I woke to the sound of the door clicking shut. A quick glance around the room confirmed I was alone. A covered tray sat on a nearby table. I forced myself up, my stomach growling.

I was still stiff and sore, but no longer in agony. The bandages didn't show any new bleeding. I stretched gently, my Legion training kicking in and automatically cataloging what hurt when I moved and how it might restrict my movement in a fight. Fight. Yeah, right. No way I could fight with an Elusian around.

The covered tray held some hearty stew and soft, sweet bread. I ate slowly, chewing carefully on one side where some teeth seemed to be loose. One more gift to thank Maalik for.

My best guess would be that another six or eight hours had passed. Which, from my previous experience in a House meant I should be expecting another client soon. The thought of dealing with Maalik, or someone worse, turned my stomach. I tried to focus on the reason I was here: protecting Vlakas. I could survive just about anything Maalik dished out. Vlakas couldn't.

To my surprise and increasing tension, the door didn't open. The hours went by, and I searched the room, nervous energy filling me as suspense built. The bathing room had latrine facilities, but nothing else. I took another hot bath, soaking more of the soreness from my muscles with the hot water. I toweled off, then ended up going back to bed.

I woke sometime later to the sound of the door opening. I was up and on my feet before the door was fully open. I knew I looked ridiculous, clothed in nothing but the robe I'd been given. Two guards entered the room, carrying a chain with cuffs attached. Maalik strolled in behind the guards. My glare turned into a snarl when I saw him.

Maalik's smiled grimly as he looked at me. I could feel… could feel his hands… I narrowed my eyes but refused to drop my gaze. This fucker would NOT break me.

"Ah! You are awake, good," Master Hestus began, interrupting our staring match. Then he gestured at the two guards. "Take him."

I fought them, but immediately felt the gasping pain of Suppression even though I hadn't used my powers. I saw Maalik's look of intense concentration. Bastard. They cuffed me then pulled the chain through a hoist on the wall, my body stretched painfully, my feet barely brushing the ground in a gross parody of the move I'd used on Vlakas a few days before.

"Enough, my Lord," Hestus insisted. "If you wish to have him conscious."

Maalik cursed, obviously not overly concerned about my health, but the Suppression lifted slightly.

I gasped, struggling to ease the pain in my limbs. The position had ripped open some of the careful stitches sewn into my skin. I could feel the hot trickle of blood down my side.

"You present an unusual challenge, Hoplite Kataramenos. I haven't seen many survive so long in the Indigo Room under the care of our Prince. The law, however, defines how much we can inflict on any one person during a Calling," he continued with emphasis on the word, pointedly looking at Maalik, as if this was a conversation they'd had at length.

"But an offering was made by the King on behalf of his son for the celebration of his birth, and the Calling must be fulfilled. It is not protocol, of course, but this is a very unusual situation. So, we are forced to move to the next Hoplite in rotation."

The wall of mirrors suddenly faded as lights came on beyond the glass, and I realized for the first time that they weren't mirrors at all, but darkened glass.

My first thought was of who else might have witnessed my degradation. The thought made bile rise to the back of my throat and adrenaline cleared my head as the light showed what was beyond the window.

A room, appointed much like this one, was lit with a low glow, a fireplace opposite the one in this room. I shuddered as I saw the horse in the center of the room, and my stomach sank as I realized there was a man already mounted on it. His head was down, his body strapped to the torture implement, hair hung forward covering their face, much as I knew my own had been.

Then I saw it and my blood ran cold. On his right shoulder blade was a tattoo. A sun and stars flooded with black ink. It was the tattoo of the King's household, the same one that adorned my shoulder. And Maalik's. At some unheard signal the guard in the other room grabbed the man's hair and jerked it up to face the mirrored wall, his eyes wide with fear.

Vlakas.

"No!" I yelled at Maalik, struggling against the chains. "Maalik, you fucker! He's just a kid!"

Maalik continued to smile at me. Now I knew why he looked so smug. He would get to fuck both of us.

"He's a Hoplite," Maalik said dismissively. "And all Hoplites must answer their Calling."

"God's dammit, I will fucking kill you, Maalik! I swear to the Goddess, I will rip you apart limb from limb if you touch him! He's done nothing to deserve this!" I yelled in impotent fury.

"He was born Mageia, Kataramenos," Maalik said. "Just like you. That's reason enough. But I'll make sure he knows how concerned you are for him… as he sees you in here, relatively untouched while he, well, he won't be untouched anymore, now, will he?"

I screamed at Maalik as he and Master Hestus left the room, fighting through the suffocating feel of the Suppression the guards maintained as I begged them not to do this. The tears Maalik had been unable to wring from me by violation threatened to spill as I saw him enter the room my brother was held in.

Then I was forced to watch my brother suffer… everything.

They left both rooms lit the entire time. I witnessed everything he did to Vlakas. Every torture. Every humiliation. I wanted to look away, to not see the horrors they inflicted on his body, but Vlakas locked his gaze with mine. He seemed to draw strength from the connection between us like it was a lifeline. The more they inflicted on him the more stoic his response.

After one particularly brutal blow his head hung, unmoving, for long moments. I thought Maalik might have finally broken him, but then Vlakas raised his head as Maalik leaned down to gloat, a long gash over one eye, the other so swollen I doubted he could see out of it. My brother spat, the blood from his mouth landing squarely on Maalik's face.

In that moment, I could understand why men had followed his family for a thousand years. My heart still ached for him, but I was proud of the young man. He had grown so much since he had joined the Legion. His strength of will allowed me to regain some control of myself. The tears still burned in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

Maalik's impatience grew but the more damage he inflicted on Vlakas, the less reaction he got, from either of us.

"Well, there's certainly more than one way to break you, mikros prinkipus," he growled, unbuttoning his pants. I had held out some small hope that Maalik would spare him this. I should have known better.

I could sense my brother's terror, his hurt. V's eyes were wide in fear and disgust as Maalik trailed his hands down his bound body, but he refused to look away from me.

I think I went a little mad when Maalik moved behind Vlakas, my own brain remembering the feel of him forcing himself inside my body. The bastard was not touching my brother, goddess damn the consequences.

I strained with all my might against the Suppression Maalik had maintained on me. He had been splitting his attention between V and I, and I hoped it had made him weaker.

At first, I thought my effort would be in vain, but then my power burst from me in a sharp thrust, the glass wall shattering under a fist of Air. The Air-sharpened daggers of glass flew around Vlakas as if he were covered in an invisible shield and winged their way toward Maalik.

My heart soared when I saw a shard heading straight for Maalik's throat, but Maalik must have seen the same thing as his hand flew up, and I felt the full force of Suppression crushing down on me again. This time I screamed, and Vlakas did as well.

When the Suppression was finally withdrawn, I saw Maalik still standing, his face suffused with fury, his cheek sliced to the bone, blood pouring down his face. Dammit, the glass had missed his throat. Then I saw him look down in confusion as a crimson stain began spreading across the crotch of his leather leggings. Right next to the long dagger-like shard of glass that protruded like a real-life mockery of the House of Eros seal.

I could see my face reflected in the glass wall. It was twisted and shattered, like some monster out of a story. My hands still bound above my head, blood staining my teeth and body while I laughed, and Maalik collapsed to his knees. At least he wouldn't be using that particular tool of torture on V.

The noise of the shattering glass and Maalik's screams as he saw the spreading crimson stain on his leggings brought a host of Elusians down on the room, and for what seemed like hours they kept both Vlakas and I so far under Suppression we could barely breathe. By the time they had removed Maalik and lifted the Suppression we were both so exhausted we could barely move.

"V…" I whispered. His head jerked. They had hung him from the ceiling, like they had me, and I could only imagine the pain he was enduring. As an Air Mageia I could at least draw ambient energy through the air. Suspended as we were, Vlakas' Earth magic would do him little good.

He raised his head, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, lips swollen grotesquely. Multiple cuts marred his face and body, ugly purpling bruises peppering his skin. Like me, whip marks crisscrossed his skin.

"Can… can you hear me?" I whispered.

He nodded.

"—o… …urrndah," he slurred, but I knew what he was saying.

"No retreat," I answered. He nodded, then his eyes rolled back in his head and his body went slack in his bonds.

I screamed his name without response. I swore right then that if Maalik wasn't dead, I would tear him apart with my power. Then we would burn this city to ash.