Must the Flowers Die

Chapter 2: Bright Memories

Liam sat on his bed for a while after Mia left. The girl Mia touched something. She tugged at him, provoked in him feelings that had been dormant since Atlanta's death, of camaraderie and something else. He felt at a loss for words. His mind wandered to when he was just Aniketos and life was still fresh. It had been so long since he had thought about his childhood, when he only cared about having a fast horse and a minute of his father's attention.

B.C. 1258

Atlanta and Aniketos were in the stables looking at Father's new horses, a gift from King Menelaus for Father's loyal advice and service to Sparta. He had dragged Atlanta to the stables. Atlanta hated horses. She hated their smell and their heaving muscles. Despite all Aniketos's promises to the contrary, she refused to believe that these creatures were dependable and steady. To Atlanta, horses meant a loss of control. She much preferred her own strong legs. She was the best runner in the kingdom. Well aside from him. It was hard to beat the son of a goddess though.

Aniketos sneaked a glance at Atlanta. He and Atlanta were both twelve this year, and she and his slave servant Ajax were his closest friends. They were the only ones who spoke to him like he was a normal person. Atlanta was also different in other ways. The other girls around him were soft and timid. They would never agree to explore the rugged coast with him or dive with him to the depth of the river, assuming they ever actually mutter more than polite pleasantries to him. Atlanta was different. She was her father's only child, and he seemed determined to make her into a son, to the chagrin of her mother. His plan worked. She shot, wrestled, and fought like the best of the boys. Her crowning achievement was her running. Though she was only twelve years old, her long limbs stretched before her with the power, grace, and ferocity.

"Aniketos!" Ajax tore through the stable. The horse he was petting skittishly shied away, its neigh a censure against Ajax's suddenness. Atlanta looked at him sideways, her expression self-satisfied, as if she had personally just scored a point in a critical game.

Aniketos glared at Ajax. Ajax was out of breath and flustered, but he was oblivious to Aniketos's aggravation. Perhaps his nurse was right – he should not treat Ajax so well.

"Aniketos! Your father wants you back at the villa!"

He was surprised. Father, Tavi, rarely asked for him. For the most part, he treated Aniketos with remote courtesy. Aniketos tried not to mind, but sometimes he would catch a glimpse of Tavi rough-housing with his half-brothers, and it would hurt. Tavi always stopped right away when he realized Aniketos was watching, but that almost made it worst.

Rumor had it that Tavi went hunting one day, and his beauty overpowered the goddess Aphrodite. Aniketos appeared outside his door ten months later, with a golden quiver wrapped in cloth. One would think most men would be honored to be chosen by a goddess and to have a demigod as a son, but not Tavi. Tavi tried to keep Aniketos's origins a secret, but it soon became apparent that he was no ordinary child. Scrapes and bruises healed before they even really began. He walked by his second month, his body already that of a one-year old toddler. His beauty was unsurpassed in the kingdom, and it was rumored that women sometimes weeped upon seeing him in the arms of Elpis, Aniketos's mortal mother.

Perhaps Tavi chaffed at being a mere plaything for a goddess. Perhaps he hated the pain he caused Elpis, with whom he had an unusually loving relationship. All Aniketos knew was that he grew up in the shadows of maids and nurses who took care of his every physical need, but no one touched him unnecessarily. No kisses at night. No strokes of his hair.

So with Ajax's words, Aniketos's hope swelled despite himself, like the slow pulling of the ocean before a storm. It was likely nothing. Perhaps he was to have a new tutor, or maybe he was to appear at a banquet, but he craved the personalized attention, no matter how minute. He began to follow Ajax back to the main house, nodding goodbye at Atlanta.