Axios: A Spartan Tale (Axios Series)

by Jaclyn Osborn

“I treasure you,” he finally spoke. “Not a day passes where I do not thank the gods for placing you in my life.”

“I see someone who is kind and who stops to see the beauty of the world. Someone who likes to watch the birds fly in the sky, wondering where they go… wondering what it’s like to soar amongst the clouds. I see an intelligent mind who ponders what makes the sky blue and where the sun goes at night. But mostly… I see my truest companion.”

“A true warrior fights for what’s in his heart.” His fingers trailed along my jaw before he stepped backward. “You may not see it now, but when the time comes for us to go to battle, you will be brave for your heart is bigger than any I know.”

“I knew there was strength in you somewhere, boy. Your own life may not be of concern, but his,” he nodded to Eryx, “he is what you will fight for.”

Your weakness, my friend, is caring too much. Your heart is kind, but this is no place to be of tender heart.”

“You can only stay above the flames for so long before you fall back to earth and burn,”

“Then I will be reborn from the ashes,” I responded after a moments consideration.

“Once a thing is broken, there is no mending it. Like this thread of grass. Parts of it lie in shreds at my feet, and nothing can again make it whole.”

“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.”

Eryx might not be the cold-hearted beast the men wanted us to be, but he didn’t show his gentle side to anyone apart from me. To the rest of the world, he was stern and lacked compassion. He was disciplined and unwavering in his ability to strike a man down. The perfect makings of a soldier—a leader. But to me… he was my home.

I might not have known if I’d die for Sparta, but I knew for certain I’d lay down my life for his.

“Not even death could keep me from you. My soul will forever find yours. In this life and the next.”

I was his. I had been since the very first day I laid eyes on him. The golden-haired boy who had watched me with concerned, green eyes and beckoned me to stand and fight had come to mean more to me than my own life.

I finally believed in paradise. It was right there with Eryx.

“I crave a life where we can live in peace.”

“Where love is seen as a strength and where our days are spent lounging by our stream, lost in conversation for hours on end. There’d be no sorrow, pain, and no darkness. Nothing but happiness and light. Love. However, I’ve come to the realization that dream will never be.”

“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.”

He was the very air I breathed and the water that sustained me. A life without him was a life not worth living.

“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.”

We lived such brutal lives, and yet, we’d found a rare calmness in each other. Eryx was the anchor that kept me from drifting out to sea. My safe haven from the storm.

As a soldier, our mortality would loom over our heads like a dark cloud. Each rising of the sun would be a blessing. And each kiss could be our last.

My warrior. My lover. My heart.

“There are times when a lie is more forgiving than a truth, Axios.”

“You once told me you’d turn the whole world to ash for me,” I said, pinning him with an unwavering stare. “And yet, you now stand before me, prepared to toss me away so easily. You truly are the perfect Spartan, aren’t you?”

“I knew your devotion to Sparta… I just never imagined you would choose it over me.”

“Our lives may take us to unexpected places and it might alter many a things, but I will forever be yours.”

“And I swear I will forever choose you. When the day comes and we are asked to settle down with wives, I will refuse them. Sparta can have my life, but she cannot take my heart.”

“I know we may not ever have the life you wish to have, but I hope having my word is enough. My heart and my body are yours until the end of our days. I swear it to you, by the gods.”

“A man without fear is not brave. Bravery comes from being afraid, but doing a thing anyway. To be courageous is to fear death, and yet, charge at the enemy anyhow. Fear does not make you a coward. But overcoming it makes you a man.”

“Even in dark days, we must always seek the light. Once we surrender to darkness, we lose hope, and without hope… we have already lost.”

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.”

They are too precious for words

He was my sanctuary and my anchor that kept me from detaching from this world.

“We wear red so our enemies do not see us bleed. We are gods in their eyes. Powerful. Invincible.” And it was then I knew that Spartan arrogance would kill us all.

“We never see ourselves how others see us,” he responded. “But that does not make them wrong.”

there will come a time when you must make a choice, and from what I’ve learnt of Eryx, he will never defy his orders and he will hold all Spartan principles close until he draws his final breath.”

“But he listens to you. If you ask it of him, he will obey.”

“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?”

“It is no surprise he fell for you too. You are everything that is beautiful and right in this world. I do not deserve you.”

Eryx was too beautiful for words, even after spending the last sixteen years with him by my side, ten of them with him as my lover. Even after countless kisses and an immeasurable amount of touches, I craved more. No amount of time with him would ever be enough.

“Do not ever leave me, Ax,” he said, gripping the side of my neck and pressing his forehead to mine, still moving inside of me. “By the gods, I could not bear it. My whole world is right here in my hands. Without you, I am nothing.”

“What do you believe in then, if not war?” “You,” I answered, turning my head to gaze at him. His hair was in disarray from me entwining my fingers in it while we’d made love, and I reached to brush aside one of the golden strands from his face. “Us.”

“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.”

I did not expect this book to be so heartbreakingly wholesome

“No,” he said, taking my hand from his cheek and interweaving our fingers. “Sparta is not my home. You are.”

Eryx’s green eyes focused on me, and he said quieter, “Do not leave me.”

“If we are to die, we do so together. You have always been by my side, and that is how it will forever be.”

“It has been an honor to fight by your sides these many years, brothers,” he said, his voice breaking on the last word. “Until we meet again.”

“In all the ages, there has never been a love like ours. No one has ever loved another as I have loved you. If we fall today, my soul will find yours. For I am eternally yours… in this life and the next.”

“Do not be afraid,” he said, brushing my hair from my face and staring into my eyes as if I was the sun and he was the plant needing my light. “Death is not the end.”

I’ll see you in the stars, my warrior, I silently told him, feeling myself slip away. And then I fell into the dark abyss, hoping he waited for me there.

THIS HAS KILLED ME. send help please, I am not well