House of the Rising Son Read Free Page B

love with Claudia and had planned on marrying her. To pay her father’s bridal price, he’d been working three jobs in addition to his home chores.
    But a farmer was the last thing she’d wanted to be tied to.
    Now, it was too late to become a priest.
    Perhaps it was bitter irony that he’d ended up in the service of a goddess, after all.
    *   *   *
    â€œ What are you doing?”
    Bathymaas looked up from her sfora at Malphas’s question. The small orange ball allowed her to spy on their recruits. “I wanted to make sure that our two newest additions didn’t meet with resistance from the others.”
    â€œAre they mixing well?”
    â€œThey seem to be.” She studied Aricles as he continued to masterfully whittle while his brother diced with the others. “Do you think we made a mistake forcing Aricles to leave his farm?”
    Caleb gaped at her question. “Is that doubt I hear?”
    â€œI don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Mortal feelings are beyond me. But I know how complicated sensory beings are. I don’t want him to be in pain because of our decision.”
    Caleb arched a brow at that. In all the centuries he’d served his goddess, he’d never heard her question a decision before. Stunning, really.
    Nor had she ever cared about someone’s feelings. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. Or what it was about Aricles that would cause her to doubt her decisions now.
    Weird.
    â€œSentient beings adjust … in time.”
    She met his gaze. “You’ve never adjusted to being without Lilliana.”
    He winced at a bitter truth that stung him hard. “I’m a demon and very different from them. Besides, Lil changed me from what I was, and then was violently taken from me. It’s not the same as leaving home to serve a goddess and defend my people.”
    Bathymaas pulled back from saying anything else. She knew how much it hurt Caleb to talk about his wife. And for the first time, she felt a strange ache in her chest for him over his loss. She wasn’t sure why.
    Yet there was no denying it was there.
    If only she knew why she felt this now.

October 28, 12,252 BC
    Bathymaas watched Aricles sitting alone on the bank of a small stream. Since they had moved the Ēperon from her Theban temple to the Atlantean island that was centrally located in the Aegean, she’d kept a close eye on her men. They were targets now. Not just from the Chthonians, but from the gods as well. And the last thing she wanted was for them to be attacked before they stood ready to defend themselves. While they were all valiant warriors, it was harder to fight against demons and gods than mortals.
    And while the other five were eager to take their places as elite warriors, Aricles stood alone with his reticence for battle. As with now—while the others were off to seek fleshly comforts—he sat on his grassy bank with no other company than his shadow.
    Frowning at him, she had no idea what it was he did there, or why he appeared so content with it. Nor did she understand why he wasn’t with his brethren.…
    Aricles cocked his head as he felt Bathymaas’s presence behind him. Strange how he was so attuned to her. Even before the scent of sweet lilies reached his senses, he’d known she was here with him. “Am I needed, my goddess?”
    â€œNo.” She paused by his side to touch the handmade pole he held in his hands. “What is it you do?”
    He pulled at the line. “I’m fishing.”
    â€œFor what?”
    â€œFish.”
    Her frown deepened. “Is this how it’s done?”
    â€œIt is. Would you like to try?”
    â€œI’m not sure. What does one do to fish?”
    Aricles smiled at her innocent question. While the other members of his band lost patience with her inability to understand human activities and emotions, he found her quite beguiling and