Maybe he should be as cruel. It was what his father preached relentlessly. Some days, he was tempted. But unlike his father, he didn’t really enjoy hurting others. Rather, he saw it as an unfortunate necessity that came with war and power.
Because sadly, there were those who only responded to threats. Or violence.
As typical, Grim pulled up the rear of their army with the swagger of someone who begrudged Leucious the summoning. Leucious was well aware of how much the former death god hated him even though they were allies. It literally bled from every pore of Grim’s body. At any moment, he expected the former god to try and slide a blade through his back.
Honestly, he had no idea why Grim traveled with them. Grim was one of the generals who had served the original Malachai—a demon so fierce and angry that the Malachai was feared by all of its kind and most of the gods. Which made sense as the Malachai was descended from Apollymi—the first goddess of death and destruction.
Leucious had only gone up against the current Malachai as a child, when he was serving in his father’s army. Thankfully, he’d been too young to fight the demon who had laid waste to ninety percent of his father’s troops. Even his father had barely survived and had lost an eye for his effort.
It was that battle that had caused Grim to defect to their side. He’d saved Tesiah’s life, and Leucious’s father had granted him amnesty for it. Not that anyone really trusted Grim.
How could they?
Once a traitor, always a traitor. Only a fool would forget that, and Leucious was never foolish.
“Where are we riding to, my lord?” Grim asked.
Leucious glanced at him over his shoulder. “Ledea. My father is already there with a contingency of men. We’re to combine forces and take on the Ikkidians.” Provided their king didn’t surrender as soon as he learned of their approach. It was what anyone with a brain would do.
But there were still enough brain-dead kings who wanted to fight. Who thought they could win against Tesiah. And they might have stood a chance had Leucious not been born. For whatever reason, he’d yet to fail in battle. Seldom had he been wounded and even then, only a minor scratch or bruise. For whatever reason, Leucious appeared invincible. So much so that even their own troops were beginning to fear him.
They believed him to be a demigod or demon. But no one said that out loud. To disparage Leucious’s mother was a crime he punished personally and violently.
Still, he heard their fearful whispers.
Evil bastard. He reveled in the title as much as his father did. Better to be feared than respected.
And he was feared.
Except for an adorable little girl with black pigtails who’d laughed in his face.
Even now, the thought of Simi made him smile … something his father would punish with a backhand. Men didn’t smile. It was a woman’s trait.
And yet he kept seeing Acheron’s daughter and her impish, adorable courage. Which made sense given the unholy power of her father. No one was quite sure who or what Acheron was. Tesiah called him a necromancer who’d come to their court when Leucious was a young boy. He still remembered the first time he’d met the giant Acheron who’d towered over everyone, even their tallest warriors.
And those swirling silver eyes …
They said he was of an unnatural origin.
Which made him curious.
Leucious slowed his horse’s pace so that he rode beside Grim. “What do you know of Acheron?”
Grim narrowed his gaze on him as if he were trying to understand Leucious’s sudden curiosity. “He’s the son of gods.”
That made sense. “Which ones?”
“Apollymi and Archon.”
Apollymi … she was Braith after Braith had forsaken her siblings and gone to live among the Atlantean gods after the Primus Bellum. Archon was the king of the Atlanteans. At least until Apollymi had destroyed him.
And if that was true … “He’s half-brother to the Malachai?”
“To the original one, yes. The latest … he is an uncle many times removed.”
“So, he’s cousin to you, then?”
Grim nodded.
