Mnesarchus rained his fists across Maia's face. She whimpered and cried, not looking her husband in his cold, black eyes for fear of the hatred she would see there. She kept quiet, not only to avoid upsetting Mnesarchus, but to also keep her sons from waking. Behind her, she felt another presence. Her husband stopped his beating and glared at the newcomer.

"Go back to your bed, Pythagoras." he snarled.

"No." the teenager's voice was quiet, but resolved. Maia gazed at Mnesarchus, hoping that he would not strike their eldest.

"Now!"

"You, stop hitting her." He still sounded like a child, his voice young and high, yet he stood his ground like a man. Maia felt pride for him, but also terror.

Mnesarachus strode towards Pythagoras, who stepped back, all too familiar with what he knew would happen next. "I'll teach you to respect your betters, you ungrateful, insolent rat!"
He clenched his fist and drove it towards his eldest's throat. Pythagoras fell to the ground and gasped, massaging his neck. That was Mnesarchus' preferred way of discipline It hurt and weakened the recipient. Satisfied he would not be interrupted again, the dark-haired male turned his attention back to his terrified wife. Raising his hand, he was surprised to feel small, yet determined hands grab his shoulders. Whipping around, he was astonished to see the boy had managed to recover and was looking...well, angry.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mnesarchus sneered. "You are just a weak child and you can't stop me."

Pythagoras glared with all his might into his father's eyes. "Stop hurting her."

Mnesarchus pushed him away, the previous look of fury he had been wearing replaced with a sadistic smirk. "Never. I own you both." He grabbed his son's arm and began twisting it. Maybe a broken limb would teach the boy...

Somehow, somewhere, Pythagoras snapped. He pushed at his father with all his might. He could never have anticipated what would happen next.
Mnesarchus, one of the most feared men in Samos fell. His head slammed into the dining table with a sickening CRACK!

Thud.

Silence. Maia looked at her son, who was staring down at his father. Blood was starting to pool around the tyrannical patriarch's head, like a shining, crimson halo. Pythagoras knelt down by his father and started desperately peeling back his father's dark curls.

"Father, oh, Father, please awaken!" Pythagoras pleaded.

Maia ran to fetch a rag to stem the bleeding. Her son snatched it off her and pressed it against the older man's head. The bleeding would not stop.

"Mother."

She crouched by Pythagoras, tenderly placing her arms around him. "Yes, son?"

"Forgive me. Oh, please forgive me..."

She pulled Pythagoras away from Mnesarchus and into her embrace. He started sobbing and threw his arms around her, clamping onto her middle. She soothed him as she wept. This was not his fault. He had been defending her, defending himself. How could he be blamed? Yet, she knew the king would not see it that way. Should this be discovered, Pythagoras would be called a murderer. Yet he wasn't. He was a protector. She knew what she had to do.

"I'm sorry. I killed him. He's dead because of me..."

"No." She told him, kissing his cheek. "Not at all. You didn't kill him because you wanted to. You are not a killer. This was an accident. But we must tell no one."

"Will you forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive. I love you, my son." She released him. "I must go to find a healer. Maybe there is something he can do."

There wasn't. The healer took one look and shook his head, sorrowfully. When he asked what happened, Maia told him there had been an attempted burglary and Mnesarchus had been attacked. Pythagoras simply nodded.
The worst part of it was not the fact that he had killed a man. It was telling Arcas, his beloved 2 year old brother, that Father was dead. They didn't tell him that he was murdered, neither having the strength to tell the young child.

Ten years later, Pythagoras let it slip that it had been a murder. Arcas had cried. He swore revenge. Pythagoras listened, with growing fear and Arcas described what he would do to the man if ever he caught him. He decided he could never tell Arcas the truth. It would kill them both.