Killing Pythagoras (Mediterranean Prize Winner 2015) Read Online Free PDF

walked forward. People moved out of his way, imagining in horror what would befall the man who had up to then been Glaucus’ personal wine servant. A man he had trusted, always at his side with a goblet of Sidonian wine, attentive to his signal whenever he was thirsty.
    “Pick him up!”
    Thessalus squirmed on his back in a pathetic attempt to escape. Boreas caught him in an instant, lifting him with one hand as if he were a mouse. His huge fist enclosed the wine servant’s forearm as he dangled from the giant’s outstretched arm.
    “Nooo!”
    Yaco’s desperate cry surprised everyone. He ran across the hall toward Glaucus.
    “Let him go, please. Do whatever you want to me, but leave him alone.”
    The slave threw himself at his master’s feet. Glaucus looked at him with sudden affection.
    “You love him, don’t you?”
    Yaco raised his blue eyes, hopeful at the change in Glaucus’ tone and the fact that he had started to stroke his cheek with the back of his hand.
    “Yes,” he confessed ingenuously.
    Glaucus continued to caress him for a few seconds before speaking to Boreas without taking his eyes off the boy.
    “Kill him.”
    The giant pressed Thessalus’ back to his chest and squeezed him tightly. Yaco screamed in desperation, clinging to his master’s legs. Boreas stopped and looked at Glaucus, waiting for confirmation.
    Akenon felt paralyzed. Suddenly, it was as if he were back in the Pharaoh’s torture chamber, only this time he couldn’t look away.
    “Kill him,” Glaucus bellowed.
    Boreas tightened his grip little by little, prolonging Thessalus’ agony on his own initiative. A smile curved the giant’s lips when Yaco released Glaucus’ legs and hurled himself at his.
    He’s a monster . Akenon instinctively grasped the hilt of his sword.
    Thessalus’ eyes bulged so that they looked as though they would shoot out of his head. His face went from crimson to purple. There was an initial crack, followed by a second and a third soon after. The unfortunate man’s mouth twisted in a silent scream. He tried to kick Boreas who didn’t even notice. When Thessalus seemed at the point of death, the giant relaxed his grip a little, then took a deep breath, clenched his jaw, and jerked his arms violently. There was a spine-chilling gelatinous crunch, and Thessalus’ chest was crushed like a trampled plum.
    A shiver ran through the hall.
    The giant opened his arms, letting Thessalus’ dead body fall onto his young lover.
    Glaucus had observed the entire scene with lips parted.
    “Thessalus was your last lover, I can guarantee you that.” The handsome slave was whimpering, his face pressed to the floor, not daring to look at Thessalus’ remains. “You are going to spend the rest of your miserable life chained to an oar. You won’t last a month, accustomed as you are to the pampered lifestyle I’ve always lavished on you.” He paused. “But before that, Boreas will take care of you.”
    Yaco’s body, soaked in Thessalus’ blood, curled into a trembling ball on the floor. Glaucus continued talking to the giant.
    “I want you to brand his face with a red hot iron until his appearance is abhorrent. Get rid of every trace of his traitorous beauty.” His voice broke as he uttered the last word.
    Boreas nodded. With one hand, he lifted Yaco and threw him over his shoulder. The teenager screamed, writhing like a pig being led to slaughter. Just before he left with the boy, Akenon caught sight of the monster’s face breaking into a cruel smile.
    The energetic crackle of the fire filled the hall. Everyone fearfully awaited Glaucus’ next move. The Sybarite was livid, concentrated on the increasingly faint echo of Yaco’s cries. When he could no longer hear them, he let out a shrill cry and collapsed on all fours.
    “Out,” he stammered, from the ground. “All of you, get out!”

 
     
    CHAPTER 5
    April 17 th , 510 B.C.
     
     
    Sybaris was sunk in a disturbing silence.
    It looks like an abandoned