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It was then I truly knew the power Eryx contained. Not just with his skills as a warrior but also his power of influence. The boys watched him with the type of respect I’d not seen them give to anyone else. Not Felix, Gaius, or any of the trainers. It was an admiration that couldn’t be forced or bought, but rather earned. And Eryx had earned it.
“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to mine. “I would kill any man, go any distance, and burn the whole world down if it meant keeping you safe.”
I might not have known if I’d die for Sparta, but I knew for certain I’d lay down my life for his.
“The only thing that matters to me in this life is you, Ery.” I kissed the side of his head and entwined my fingers in the short waves of his hair. “Gods, man, creature… I will kill them all if it means saving you.”
“I do not fear death because I’m afraid of dying, Ery… I fear it because it would take me from you.”
“You are my heart,” he said unexpectedly. The amount of care in his voice settled over my chest like a warm cloak. “I do not easily confess emotions in the way you do, but know I feel the same. The words I once spoke to you hold true: I will kill any man and turn the whole world to ash for you, my warrior. I fear neither battle nor death, but I fear the day you are not by my side. Never question where my heart lies, because it is forever yours. In this life and the next.”
You and I will never part, my warrior. In this life and the next, we will be just as we have forever been: side by side. There is not a thing that can take me from you, neither the slashing of a sword nor the impalement from a spear, for I will always find you.”
He kissed my forehead, such a simple action, but one that made me feel cherished. Beloved and treasured in a life that called for brutality. And then I welcomed sleep.
“For as long as there is breath in my lungs, I will love you. Only you. And even when I leave this world, I will still belong to you, for my soul will forever seek yours. In both this life and the next. Remember?”
“When you are near, it’s as if my soul reaches out to touch yours,” he spoke, moving his fingers along my jaw and staring at me with a look that made my stomach flutter. “To reconnect with a missing piece. And when we part, I leave that piece with you.”
Sparta. A place I could wander with my eyes closed and envision every tree and every meadow. A place that had once brought me pain, but I had learned to appreciate the pain—to overcome it and see the beauty lying within. The place I had met a boy with the most intriguing golden hair, so many years ago, and fallen in love.
Maybe there were only a set amount of close companions a person could have in their lifetime. Other people may come and go, but only those rare few truly stayed by your side, through the good and the bad. Life and death.
“No,” he said, taking my hand from his cheek and interweaving our fingers. “Sparta is not my home. You are.”
